Seniors to pair off: Here is a special date for your 2006 golfing diary. A new competition for players aged 55 and over will take place in early April on three of Waterford's finest courses.
The three-day competition will be held on Dungarvan, Gold Coast and West Waterford on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, April 4th to 6th. The format, for teams of two - males, females or mixed - will comprise a two-person rumble, a two-person scramble and a fourball. Aggregates over the three courses will determine the winners. Entry is €€85 for three days of golf and lunch. There are rates for accommodation if required. Details from the tournament director at 058 - 44055.
Boon for travellers
Thinking of playing golf while on holiday but don't want to waste time organising it? Well, "Go for Golf" could be the answer. Budget Travel, in association with TUI Golf, have just introduced a booking system that enables you to conveniently pre-book golfing arrangements. Competitive rates and green fees have been negotiated with hundreds of courses worldwide, giving golfers handy access to cheaper green-fee packages. For further information log onto www.budgettravel.ie.
Mahon tames Westport
Almost 60 players travelled to Westport GC recently for the inaugural Hastings Insurance (Westport) Ltd Mayo Seniors Tournament. Splendid weather contributed to some very competitive scoring in the four categories. Des Mahon (Westport) secured the overall nett with 39 points from Niall Halpin (Westport). The category winners were Pat Kearns (Westport) with 35 points, Dom Molloy (Castlebar) with 36, Jim Finn (Westport) with 36 and Liam Golden (Westport) with 34.
Excellent winter fare
Parkland golf without placing in the winter may be a rare occurrence in Ireland but down at The Heritage GC, Killenard, Co Laois, they achieved it during last winter and are again confident of a repeat this year. In a special winter rate from now until March 12th, breakfast is included in their rates of €80 in midweek or €100 at the weekend.
At Deer Park, the mini-Christmas-party nights (only €25) are also offering a golf extra (€65): 18 holes, day before or morning after, accommodation, full breakfast and use of the leisure centre on December 7th, 8th, 14th and 15th.
Citywest is also offering breakfast and golf for €42 or golf only at €35 on the championship course or €30 and €25 on the links.
Special day at Ardee
Special Olympics Golf achievements were recognised at Ardee Golf Club, Co Louth, last Sunday week when three presentations were made by the captains, Brendan Healy and Imelda Hurst.
The first person to get a prize was Arianna Gannon, who represented Leinster at Level 5. She played 18 holes and won a silver medal. Her achievement is all the more noteworthy as only seven people - three girls and four boys - in Special Olympics play at this level. Karen Long played recently in Elm Park and won a gold medal, while Conor McIntyre won a silver medal in the boys' section on the same day. Both have been playing the game for only nine weeks in Ardee.
Meanwhile, Linda Shannon was Golfer of the Year winner at Ardee for 2005, while the other winners for the year were Sharon McQuaid (ring competition), Kathleen Hynes (Members Cup), Susan Boyle (Seán Kerr Cup) and Niamh Darcy and Dolores Malone (fourball matchplay).
Classic day at Kinsale
The Valentia Island Branch Committee of the Kerry Parents and Friends Association held their Golf Classic at the Old Head of Kinsale last Thursday. A highly successful day produced some excellent golf and afterwards a cheque for €32,000 was presented by Seán O'Shea and Joe C Keating of the organising committee to Rosaline and Mick O'Connell of Tig an Oileáin on Valentia Island.
The Classic itself was won by the Team Spar quartet of John Enright (13), Brendan O'Brien (12), Billy Power (9) and Paddy Walsh (14), whose 82 points beat the field by two points.
Runners-up were the Kerry Parents and Friends team of Seán Coyne (3), Eamon O'Connor (7), Ailish Mulcahy (8) and Frankie Coyne (19), while third with 79 points were Michael O'Flynn (10), John O'Flynn (13), Dougie Burke (12) and Jim Buckley (14) of the O'Flynn Construction team.
Redmond on a roll
Back-to-back victories are hard to come by at the best of times, but Arklow's Seán Redmond bagged two successes in as many days last week. On Thursday, in the 15-hole open seniors singles at the Co Wicklow course, the eight-handicapper won the 60s Category with a superb 35 points. And less than 24 hours later he linked up with Arklow clubmates Turlough Nicholson (12), George Murphy (14) and Brian Purcell to win the open team event. The quartet shot 96 points to win by five from another Arklow combination: Ruben Dover (13), Kevin Lynch (13), PJ Lynch (17) and Jennifer Mullet (19).
The open seniors event - won by Paddy Kenny (18) with 37 points - had provided a host of winners from different clubs. Steven Kelly (11) of Greystones won the 50s section, while Fr Tom O'Keefe (13) of Foxrock was the 70s winner.
Fourth ace for Hearns
Monday, October 24th, was a great day for Slade Valley's Eddie Hearns. Apart from winning a prize in the main competition of the Press Radio Television hamper outing to Skerries, Hearns also had the fourth hole-in-one of his career. After hitting a nine-iron at the ninth, Hearns was as surprised as anyone to find his ball in the hole.
"I thought I had overshot the green," he said. "When I went to look for the ball I went beyond the green as I thought I was too strong. When we couldn't find the ball someone suggested looking in the hole and there it was. I couldn't believe it . . . It was my fourth hole-in-one and the funny thing is I've never seen any of the balls actually go in the hole."
Students struggle in US
Irish students at High Point University, North Carolina, Jenna Kinnear from Belfast and Ann-Marie Dalton from Carlow, finished well down the field in the three-round Stanford Intercollegiate tournament over the Stanford University par-71 course at Palo Alto, California, last week.
Kinnear had rounds of 84, 85 and 82 for 251, while Dalton scored 86, 87 and 79 for 252.
American Curtis Cup player Liz Janangelo won the individual title by seven strokes, firing an 11-under-par total of 202.
