Challengers for the AIB-sponsored Lord Mayor's Cup at Clontarf on August 10th to 16th will be pleased to learn that Stephen Walsh has not entered. The way his family have been performing of late, he would have been a short-odds favourite to repeat his victory of 1988.
As it happens, Eoin Murphy of Delgany will be defending a trophy which was inaugurated in 1951 as a matchplay event for junior players. Entries are limited to players with handicaps from five to nine at the date of the qualifying round on August 10th, and 64 go through to the matchplay stage.
Progress is certain to be closely watched by Stephen Walsh's father, Gerry, who is a familiar figure at the North Dublin venue. Indeed he has taken such a keen interest in the development and maintenance of the course over the years that a club wag christened him the Drain Brain.
As it happened, the 63-year-old gained a splendid reward 10 days ago, when he captured the Captain's Prize (Colm O'Rourke) with a net six-under-par 63 off 12, after qualifying with a 65. "It was particularly pleasing to shoot my age, even if it happened to be net," he said.
Then, last Friday, he won again, this time in the Club Seniors' Tournament when a net 65 off 10 secured a trophy which he had previously won in 1995. He attributed both successes to a change to the interlocking grip, which allowed him get more power into his right hand.
Perhaps more important to Gerry was that he showed he could keep pace with other family members in terms of golfing achievement. His wife Maura, for instance, won the Lady Captain's prize at Clontarf in 1991 when she and her son, Stephen also captured the Open Mixed Foursomes.
Then, in 1993, she won the allIreland PGA Tankard and partnered Stephen to another success - in the Mother and Son tournament at Malahide. Two years later, Gerry and Maura's daughter, Anne Hallinan, won the Lady Captain's prize at Clontarf. So, Gerry was entitled to feel that his recent successes were somewhat overdue.
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After spending over a decade without the need to find space on the clubhouse walls for pennants, Tullamore Golf Club is making up for lost time. Last week, the women of the club won the ILGU Midland Plate at the Curragh and, on Saturday, the men also collected a pennant when taking the Leinster final of the Bulmers sponsored Jimmy Bruen Shield at Foxrock.
Tullamore, who beat Abbeyleix in the semi-final, forged out a 3-2 win over Sutton in the final. The decisive point came with a win for Christy Corron and Lar Larkin at the 19th. Tullamore will go in pursuit of further glory next month, having also qualified for the Leinster finals of the Irish Senior Cup. To cap a great week for Tullamore, Una Marsden, a daughter of club captain Aidan, was selected on the Irish girls' team for the Home Internationals at Forfar next month. Una, in fact, has another two years in girls' ranks.
That girls' team for Forfar is: Una Marsden (Tullamore), Jo- anne Black (Knock), Aida Burke (Charleville), Claire Coughlan (Cork), Emily Gallagher (Claremorris), Jenny Gannon (Co Louth), Martina Gillen (Beaverstown), and Pamela Mur- phy (Island). Black, Gannon and Murphy have also been chosen to play in the British Girls' Championship at West Kilbride next week.
