By SHAY KEENAN

Rosapenna do double at North West

THERE was a Rosapenna double on Saturday as the North Western Golfing Alliance tackled North West GC as members from the Letterkenny-based club won both the gross and the nett category prizes.

Taking the honours in the nett category was Marty McDermott, playing off five, who recorded a 66 to win by one from Clive Davison (15) from Letterkenny, with Odran McGettigan (24) of Strabane the best of the 69s in third place.

And victory number two for Rosapenna came when scratch golfer Enda Kennedy fired a level-par 70 to win the gross, a shot clear of Seán Quigg (3) of City of Derry with Noel Callan, also playing off scratch, in third place after a 72.

Also celebrating was Keelan Quigg who aced the par-three eighth hole with an eight iron, the second successive competition there has been a hole in one. Next up for the Alliance is a visit to Narin and Portnoo on October 22nd.

Luttrellstown Castle best of the locals

LUTTRELLSTOWN Castle are the inaugural winners of the Liffey Valley Trophy, played for by local teams Luttrellstown, Hermitage, Lucan, Westmanstown and Castleknock golf clubs.

The trophy was presented by Eamonn Coghlan, the 2011 captain at Luttrellstown, to foster a bond and social relationship between the members and for the outgoing captains to introduce the captains for 2012. The competition format is fourball Stableford, with each club represented by two players from category one to four, with all scores counting.

Luttrellstown amassed 144 points, with Westmanstown next on 141, Lucan 140, Hermitage 138 and Castleknock 133. The trophy was originally competed for at the Eamonn Coghlan Marathon Golf Classic charity event for Crumlin Hospital in Boston, USA. The chairman was the late George Kimball, Irish Times columnist, who presented the trophy to Coghlan when the event ceased in 2006.

Ardee mark centenary with launch of history of club

ARDEE Golf Club are celebrating their centenary year and the launch of their book, Ardee Golf Club Celebrating 100 years of golf, by Noel Malone, with photographs by Ken Finegan, next Friday in the clubhouse.

The book maps the remarkable progress since its beginnings as a small golf club in 1911 and documents the steps the club took to become what is now regarded as one of the finest parkland courses in the country.

From humble beginnings on a site in Baltrasna to the south of Ardee, the club moved to its current location at Townparks, Ardee, in 1919 and established a nine-hole course there.

Having rented the lands for 46 years from the Land Commission, the club purchased the land in 1965 and built its first purpose-built clubhouse in 1965-1966

The book goes on to document the further developments of an 18-hole course in 1985, the extension of the clubhouse in 1987, the extension of the golf course in 1997 and most recently, the clubhouse extension in 2003 and the dedication shown by a number of individuals, whose actions over the last 100 years has been pivotal in the development of Ardee Golf Club.

The book will be launched by the author and centenary Captain Brendan Healy and centenary Lady Captain Kathryn Whately. Books will be available on the night at €20 per copy.

Lucan land fourball title

LUCAN won the Miele All-Ireland Fourball championship at Kilkenny GC on Sunday when, in a thrilling finish, they beat Faithlegg with a birdie at the fifth extra hole after the sides had tied at 2-2.

Faithlegg’s first pairing, Valerie Power and Vera Harding, closed their match out early with a 4 and 3 victory. Lucan fought back by winning the second and third matches and it all came down to a cliffhanger of a fourth match, with Celia Hill and Pat Tilson from Faithlegg winning by two holes to bring the sides level on six holes each.

This forced a play-off which saw the Faithlegg pairing of Power and Harding pitched against Sandra McCaffrey and Grace Mulhearn from Lucan. With the first four holes halved, Lucan secured victory with a birdie three at the fifth.

The semi-final were equally as exciting, with both decided on holes-up after the sides finished level at two matches each. Lucan won 5-3 on holes up against Mountbellew, while Faithlegg edged out Mannan Castle 6-2.

The Mannan Castle pairings of Karen Forrester/Rita O’Loughlin and Gill Rouiller/Jo Morris secured third place by beating Mountbellew by two holes after the sides finished at two each.

Naas' Lunny off to a flying start

GAVIN Lunny, from Naas, got the Titleist Winter Golf Series off to a flying start at The Links Portmarnock, when he carded a level-par 72 to collect the opening prize of the series which will run until next March.

Lunny finished two clear of Lee McMillan, from Blessington Lakes, in the nett category, while Alex Duff, from The Island, won the gross with 74 on the back nine from Conor Glynn of Carton House.

A new competition will be held this winter – Winter Mondays – an open singles Stableford commencing this week and running until March 2012.

The entry fee is € 45.

McMahon sisters win hat-trick of finals

IT WAS an excellent week for the three McMahon sisters, who each won a club championship final at Malahide Golf Club. Dara (17), Orla (25) and Aisling (34) were in three separate club finals, women’s fourball, singles and the mixed final. There was great jubilation when all three won their matches.

Dara and her partner Alison Taylor, who was a member of the winning All-Ireland Senior Foursomes team, beat Laura Mahony and Aileen Conlon 6 and 5. For Orla it was a great win having been beaten in a three-way play-off for the Lady Captain’s prize in July. Orla beat Liz O’Brien 2 up, while Aisling and her partner Micky Barrett beat brother and sister Colin Gregan and Jean McKeown Gregan 2 and 1.

ON A windy day in the sunny South East, Monkstown coped best with the conditions to finish ahead of the field in the final of the Junior Pro-Am Series at St Helen’s Bay.

The winning Monkstown team, which had qualified for the final by finishing second in the Mitchelstown qualifier in August, produced an excellent team score of 94 points to finish one ahead of the chasing pack.

The Monkstown team was made up of juniors David McElroy, Kevin Martin and Jamie Murphy with their assistant pro, Brian O’Donovan from Douglas Golf Club. Mitchelstown were second on a countback from St Helen’s Bay.