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Captain’s Prize Special Report

The Captain’s Prize to Men is the highlight of the year and the 2015 tournament took place over an extended four-day weekend (Thursday the 9th to Sunday the 12th of July)… and we hear that some were still celebrating into the early hours of Monday morning too. The event was successfully organised by Competition Secretary John Brennan and from a field of 329 players, Brendan Corrigan emerged as the champion. Although he only hits a utility club off the tee, the big man from Ballon played brilliantly and rumour has it that he is now trying out a driver – maybe there’s a lesson for us all there.

Deerpark Diary Carlow Golf Club’s Monthly Newsletter Issue 7: 05 August 2015

In this issue:

Brendan scoops the Captain’s prize… and the bride!

Spanish victory at the Boys’ Scratch Cup

Temple Street Fundraiser – steaks on the bar-b-que and a rare hot summer’s day

Teams and competitions Updates

Around the Course and in the Clubhouse

Captain Thos Hennessy presenting his prize to the winner, Brendan Corrigan.

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The first round took place in mixed weather conditions with Anthony (Ronnie) Ryan heading the leader-board on 65, going into the second day’s play. Flying the flag for Graiguecullen he was joined by Keith Kelly and Shane Kelly in the last 3 ball in the top 99. As usual some of the first round leaders fell away on day two with others coming from the rear – most notably John Webster who shot 72 gross to become a main contender in the 9 hole play-off. The playoff was one of the best on record with some great scoring from a number of players. The lead jumped from Anthony Ryan to Tom Flynn, Keith Kelly and Dave Munnelly with Brendan Corrigan having a great 9 holes. After chipping into the 3rd hole for a two, Brendan played solidly apart from a bad tee shot on the 12th which saw him in knee high rough only 100m off the tee at the same time that Ronnie Ryan and Tom Flynn were playing the 10th. Keith Kelly who was second in 2014 was chasing a win and was playing solid stuff however the invincible Corrigan carded a 5 on the 12th, recovering from a horrendous position. He followed this with a 2 on the 17th and a solid par on the 18th for a well-deserved win.

In his speech Captain Thos thanked the competitors and everyone who contributed to the success of the day. He mentioned that his three highlights of becoming Captain were: being presented with the Captain’s blazer; the Captains Drive-In and the Captains Prize. Thos thanked his family for all of the support they have given him – not just this year but throughout the years. After the prize giving there was a social night to top all nights. There were many fine performances and with John Forde on keyboards Paul Hennessy

Pictured are (left) Derek Kilbride and (below) Tom Munnelly, receiving their prizes from Thos.

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got the show off to a rousing start before he dueted with Tom Hennessy for the Rose of Mooncoin and Delilah. Paul then acted as a backing singer for most of the other performers including the Captain who sang a Johnny Cash number. Ber Shelly got the dancing going with some great numbers on the saxophone. Other performers included Jason "The Flower" Brennan, Tommy Lennon, Brendan Hennessy, Ber Shelly, Mary Hughes, Steve Cronly and many more. Singing and dancing was the order of the night with a La Bamba train exiting the club house, chugging back in through the Members’ Bar, picking up some busy staff enroute before delivering its carriages of exhausted passengers back to the lounge. Captain Thos wishes to thank all the members for supporting the event and all who helped in making it a success. The members wish to thank Thos for the wonderful prizes and for giving everyone a weekend to remember for a long time.

Enjoying the fun at the Captain’s Prize night were many, many Munnelleys!

Above L-R are: Ger Munnelly, Mark Munnelly, Dave Munnelly, Thos Hennessy, Ross Munnelly and Colm Munnelly.

Left are Paul Hennessy and Dan Collier

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The Stars Align for Brendan and Christine

The month of July was certainly a busy one for Brendan Corrigan as not only did he win the Captain’s Prize but he also got married to the lovely Christine Walker. Congratulations to Brendan and Christine.

Felicitaciones to Quim on winning the Carlow Boys Scratch Cup 2015

Hola! We weren’t sure if we were in Carlow or at the Spanish Open when Carlow welcomed four Spanish visitors to participate in the annual Carlow Boys Scratch

Cup sponsored by the Seven Oaks Hotel on 24th of July. John Dillon brings us this report:

Sixteen year old Quim Vidal Mora (pictured left) was the first ever international winner of the competition. Playing off 1 handicap, Quim was one of four Spanish boys coached by PGA professional Eddie Doyle (The Heritage GC) to play in the event over our championship Deerpark course. The event had a particularly strong field and included some fine performances from our Carlow boys with a number of locals also featuring in the prizes. The course was presented in excellent condition and despite a few early showers, the weather held up. Leading after 18 holes was Dean Keogh from Grange Castle with an

excellent opening 69 gross. Dean was closely followed by Quim and Carlow’s James Lennon both on 71, with locals Craig Bolger on 73 and Dale Bolger not far back on 76. However, Quim’s consistency prevailed as he added a second round 72 for 143 which was the lowest winning score for a number of years. Ronan O’Callaghan (1 handicap) from Mannan Castle GC shot steady rounds of 74 and 73 to finish

Pictured below are Paddy Doyle (organiser), Andy Gilbert (PGA), Marc Berdala Galobandes, Lucas Mota Pascual, Eddie Doyle (PGA), Quim Vidal Mora, Manel Beltran Pomedio and John Dillon (competition organiser).

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runner up. Another Spaniard, Marc Berdala Galobandes finished in third place with 148 (74, 74) and James Lennon finished fourth on 149. The best score from the afternoon round was delivered by Carlow’s Brain Cox who shot a superb 71 gross to add to his opening 79. Quim is pictured on the previous page and below receiving his prize from sponsor Daniel McCarthy, (Seven Oaks Hotel) and Captain Thos Hennessy. Our thanks to the Seven Oaks Hotel who have sponsored this event for over 30 years, and have played such an important role in the competition’s continued success.

Above: a number of the competitors and Carlow Boys Scratch Cup prize winners including locals Brian Cox (1st left) and camera shy James Lennon, Dale Bolger and Craig Bolger doing their best to hide behind the sponsor! The photo also includes the honorary starter for the day Fergal Browne (6th from left).

Temple Street Fundraiser 13th July

Con O’Neill sends us this special report: Thirty-seven teams played in the Temple Street Fundraiser which raised a whopping €11,445.00 for the worthy charity and the golf was great too. Weatherwise it was the finest day of the year and competitors and visitors were treated to a bar-b-que with

superb food which is still being talked about. As the evening wore on the beer flowed and everybody

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felt like a winner. Brendan Hennessy stole the limelight as the Auctioneer for the proceedings and a new talk group which will remain anonymous sang their head off until day break. Thanks to all supported and special thanks to the organising committee for this magnificent event: Willie O’Rourke, Ann Doyle, Mary Hughes, Bernie Green (flowers), Mary Farrell (prizes), John L Brennan and Mike Maher (cards), Eimear Hennessy and Bernie Green (Raffle), Brendan Hennessy (Auction), photos Cepta Burke and Karl McDonagh and of course, our Master Chefs Eilis and James on bar-b-que.

Enjoying the fun at the Temple Street Fundraiser

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Teams and Competitions Update

The Junior Scratch Cup

Five loyal supporters of

the event (Cormac

Mullarkey, Justin Mc

Hugh, John Mc Hugh,

John Dillon and Derek

Kilbride) prepare to tee-

off in the Junior Scratch

Cup. Congrats to John

Mc Hugh, a former

winner who shot 151

back in 1993, who

actually finished third

this year.

Stop Press…. Carberry takes Conry to the cleaners!

In a hard fought first round of Club Championship Eoghan Carbery took Derek Conry to the cleaners with a great display of golf to win on the 16th. Last year’s winner, Brian Healy bowed out in first round to Jim McVeigh who recently broke par to win an open singles. Jim is obviously back on form and will take some beating as competition progresses. Peter Murphy has progressed to the second round beating John Barry, and John McHugh also exited in the first round courtesy of James Lennon. John Dillon lost to Paul Dowling after a tight encounter on 16th and Derek Kilbride battled hard but could not get past Paul Bulfin. More news in the next edition!

Central Towns Trophy and the Leinster Fourball Team Matches

This weekend sees two teams representing Carlow Golf Club in semi-finals. The club has experienced some good fortune in the Central Towns Trophy over the last five years and hopefully this year will be the same. The team under the management of PJ O’Neill and John Webster take on New Forest on Saturday afternoon with matches in Carlow and New Forest (Co. Westmeath). Tee-off 2 p.m. The second team playing a semi-final is the Leinster Fourball Team who will meet Coollattin GC on Sunday afternoon. This team is manged by Brendan Laffan and Seamus o’ Farrell. They have had a long journey to get to this stage and we wish them luck on Sunday. Tee-off 3 p.m. Members: these teams would welcome your support so stick on your club jumpers and get out to the club or to one of the away venues to cheer the lads on.

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The Midland Scratch Cup The 72-hole Midland Scratch Cup competition will take place on Saturday and Sunday the 5th and 6th of September. Entry forms for local players are available through the office. A lot of organising is going on behind the scenes and the return to the 72-hole format is part of the bid to build the Midland Scratch Cup back up to its former glory years. Why 72-holes? Well this format provides higher ranking points for players, attracts higher calibre players and gains a higher profile for Carlow Golf Club. Amateur Golf is gaining lots of publicity of late with a number of rising stars in the game and players like Paul Dunne of Greystones proving that top amateurs can mix it with the best of the professionals, just as he did in St Andrews. The club boasts some great past winners of the Midland Scratch Cup, including Padraig Harrington who has agreed to be the face of the Midland Scratch Cup 2015. Much thanks goes to Ken Doyle, Adrian Mitchell (Padraig's Manager) and Padraig himself for this support. Applications are rolling in and it would be fair to say

that we have a few of our own players who will be knocking on the door, judging by their recent form in the Boys Scratch Cup. *Alternative arrangements for members will be in place for the Oakpark Course for the weekend of Sept 5th and 6th.

Lady Captains Prize to the Men

This weekend, (August 8th and 9th) sees the men compete for the third Major of the season: the Lady Captain’s Prize to the Men. This event has become increasingly competitive over the years and is always hotly contested. With 220 players already on the time sheet the Lady Captain, Ann Doyle is looking forward to the big competition turnout and to a packed Prize Giving on Sunday night at 9:30 p.m. There is also a Ladies Team of 3 on Sunday evening. The timesheet is available on line with the presentation also taking place at 9:30 p.m. Best of luck to all those playing and looking forward to seeing you all on Sunday night!

Around the Course and in the Clubhouse

Congratulations to Gerry Redmond who aced the 3rd hole in the Professional’s (Andy Gilbert) Prize to Men. Unfortunately the competition was rescheduled due to bad weather.

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Big Birthday Surprise for Declan…

…and Lady Captain Ann Doyle, Mary Hughes and Kevin Rea were there to help Declan Doody to blow out all those candles.

Condolences Carlow Golf Club extends sincere sympathy to

Bernie and Brian Cox on the passing of Eddie Cox; Tony O’Sullivan on the passing of his Brother Christy O’Sullivan; Tom Mulhall on the passing of his brother

Paddy Mulhall; Margaret Stacey, Peter and Ger Murray on the passing of Martin Murray; and Maura McEvoy and Fran Fitzpatrick on the passing of Fran’s

brother Tom Fitzpatrick. May they rest in peace.

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Calling all Newshounds

Attention Club members! The Deerpark Diary is written by members for members and we would really welcome your contributions. If you don’t tell us about it we can’t tell everyone else about it! So send us your news, photos and snippets and we’ll include them in next month’s edition.

Special thanks to all who supplied the photos and news this month. If you’re sending anything to us, please submit it by the 20th of the month to ensure inclusion.

You can email us at Newsletter@carlowgolfclub.ie. We look forward to hearing from you!

The Ed’s, John Barry & Jean Cullinane