The Old County club held an Open night last night which was advertised in the local area for weeks. The Dublin Board were invited along and we were delighted that some Payzone staff turned up to check out our game! I think it’s fair to say that it was a very successful evening, for all concerned.

We have been discussing nights like these at recent Dublin Board meetings, to help advertise and grow the game, but Old County were already ahead of us with a date in the diary.

The Old County club avertised in the local area via posters, word of mouth and a dedicated day in a local shopping centre where they had a desk and handed out fliers to anyone interested.

Doors opened at 3.00pm and various members were on duty to co-ordinate proceedings, clubs and balls at the ready and a cup of tea as always, at this very welcoming club.

The club/course was busy right from the off, with plenty of interest from locals, friends and Payzone staff. Everyone learned about the game, fun was had and new members were gained there and then. The old County club will give us some stats on the day at our next Board meeting, but my goodness – what a great initiative and well done to all involved.

We are delighted to announce that Paul Hayes, coaching & development manager for the PPUI, will be attending our board meeting on Monday night in Shandon (18/06/2018). Meeting commences at 8.15pm as normal.

Paul has agreed to come along to discuss GDPR and developments in our game. Paul is more than happy to take any questions you may have in these areas. We appreciate you coming out Paul – thankyou.

We look forward to seeing you all then.

On Sunday it was the Gent’s turn to take on the Ierne course. Out in the very first group the Intermediates started their quests for glory with CPM’s Gareth Walsh teeing off alongside David Horan of Glenville and Dave Maloney of the Loughlinstown club. It was a blistering start from Gareth as he lead from the very front and literally blew the field apart with a magnificent -9 round of 45. An amazing turnaround as he was the final qualifier in Lucan! This was to be well clear of playing partner David Horan who was to finish on -1. He would be joined by CPM’s Barry Gorey also on -1 with Paddy Gaynor of RGSC also shooting a 53. Loughlinstowns Trevor Ward to battle to a 52 and put himself into second 7 shots behind our leader. The leader though was not stopping and kept producing birdies at the right times, firing a very respectable -3 round for a total of 96 shots on -12 and leave the chasing pack reeling. David Horan would again post a -1 round of 53 to get to -2 and secure 2nd position as Trevor Ward and Barry Gorey fell back with 2nd rounds over par. David Hayden II (Lucan) & Thomas Brady (Portmarnock) would shoot 2nd round 52′s to get to -1 and finish in 3rd & 4th respectively. The Championship though was only about one man, CPM’s Gareth Walsh as he stromed to an impressive victory and an equally impressive speech followed from the young man as the wise words flowed and full of emotion for his club CPM and their struggles of recent times. A truly brilliant winner and one for the future just like the runner up David Horan who came into the adults from a successful juvenile campaign last year and is starting to find his feet in the adult ranks.

The Junior Gents Championships was next on the Sunday morning agenda as 13 men took part. With no qualifying needed it was difficult to predict a winner but Lucan’s Stephen Needham put paid to the idea of an open Championship with a dominating display. Of the early groups to start Alan Doyle also of Lucan would take the early lead at +3 but he would struggle to maintain his position in the 2nd round. Colm O’Droighneain of Glenville along with Erin’s Isle’s David Roy were the only other’s to break the 60 barrier as they were sitting in 3rd & 4th with a round to go. Stephen Needham though took the lead in the penultimate group with a 56 to lie one shot ahead. Colm also fell away to finish in 3rd spot just ahead of Alan Doyle on a countback but David Roy improved his position into 2nd after another solid score under 60 to finish on 116. Coming to the 35th hole, Stephen was well clear with 7 shots to spare and despite a sloppy finish, he would still go on to take the title by a commanding 4 shots on +4. A very good performance from Stephen who is constantly challenging for these titles year in and year out and it was to be a 2nd title for the Lucan club over the weekend following on from Brenda Purcell’s success on Saturday. As the Junior Championship came to a close, the Senior Gents were only getting going as a long day awaited the winner over the 54 hole challenge. Out in the early groups, Gary Healy of Loughlinstown laid down a marker as he went around in a superb 46 on -8. This was not to be matched until the final group, when Tom Ryan of Portmarnock also followed him with a 46. They would lead a tightly bunched field in behind with 13 players within 4 shots of them. Both Gary & Tom though would struggle to break 50 in their 2nd rounds and would be level with each other on -12, they were joined on that total as Fred McMahon of Lucan fired a 46 2nd round. Another player to shoot a 46 2nd round was Darren O’Reilly also of Lucan who added to his earlier 49 to finish one stroke ahead on -13. He would also be joined on that number by 2016 Champion, Junior Smith of RGSC, who put together rounds of 47 & 48 but that was still to be just shy of the lead as JR Crangle from Loughlinstown took over at the top with matching 47′s and a one stroke lead going into the final play-off. The cut was to be -6 with Andy Lowe, Tom O’Reilly & Karl Murphy of Old County making it through with Lucan Duo Chris Gallagher & Paddy Noonan. Of those in the earlier groups in the play-off, Chris Gallagher was steadily putting together a decent round which would eventually lead him to a 4th spot finish and a total of -15. His playing partner Tom Ryan was flying through his front nine and turned onto the back nine in real contention on -17. He could not keep that momentum going though and a couple of mistakes saw him drop back in behind Chris on the back 18′s. Fred McMahon and Darren O’Reilly would also finish on -15 also behind Chris on their final round performances. Early leader Gary Healy battled his way to 3rd spot on -16 with a 2nd successive 50 going with his earlier 46 and in doing so produced his best Dublin Strokeplay performance. The battle was certainly on in the final group as the heat was turned up on JR Crangle by a charging Junior Smith. Junior took a 1 shot lead to the 15th tee but a slack pitch left an opportunity for JR to take advantage and he done so with aplomb with an ace and shooting himself into the lead. Junior safely negotiated his tricky up and down and we moved onto the final 3 holes. Par’s by both on 16 & 17 left JR in prime position going to the 54th and final hole. A decent pitch to the right hand side of the green and around 10ft, gave Junior a glimmer of hope and he very nearly produced a grandstand finish as his ball pitched within inches of the right hand side of the hole before spinning across ending up to the left of the hole leaving the crowd gasping. Knowing that Junior was nearly guaranteed the putt, JR was left with a long putt to claim a first victory in this competition since 2009 and he duly rolled the putt in to his delight and a final total of -19. A fantastic finale to a great weekend of pitch & putt in Ierne. Congratulations to all the winners and a huge thank you to our Sponsors Eamonn Birchall, Paul Griffin of The Drain Doctor and Payzone Ireland.

Old County are hosting an Open evening this Thursday the 14th from 5pm onwards in an attempt to recruit new members and advertise our game. The very best of luck to you with this great initiative.

If you know anyone that may be interested and they live in or near Crumlin, please accompany them down to the Old County Club this Thursday – they will be very welcome.

There will be equipment available on the evening so people don’t need to worry about clubs/balls, etc, if they don’t have any but be prepared if you can. The event is free and the idea is that people get to see what pitch & putt is about, have a game, meet new people and to enjoy the evening with a cup of tea and a snack along the way. All ages and abilities are catered for, so don’t worry if you are a beginner, intermediate player or indeed want to test your Golf skills on a pitch & putt course – it’s a game for everyone, as you know!

If people like the game thereafter and live in or near the Crumlin area – the Old County club would be the ideal one to join.

For others, it will simply be a bit of fun and a chance to try something new, even if it doesn’t go anywhere.

The Old County Website is below for general info

http://www.oldcounty.org/

We hope to link in with other clubs for similar events before the season is out – please get in touch with us, if you put a date in the diary.

Thornberrydt@gmail.com

What a weekend in Ierne for the 2018 Ladies & Gents Dublin Strokeplay! The pitch & putt was just as scorching as the weather  for the entire weekend.

Big shout out to the host club, who presented the course in great condition and looked after the players and officers superbly.

The weekend kicked off with the Ladies on Saturday and the Seniors were out first. Ger Ward opened with a 54 and was the benchmark score for the day according to many of the ladies. Glenda Hoey from RGSC, posted a solid 55 to be in touching distance of Ger and the pair pulled away from the rest of the field. Sheelagh Elmes produced a nice little 53 in the 2nd 18 to boost her score but would have been disappointed with the opening 60 that ultimately gave her too much to do. Sheelagh finished joint 3rd with Helen Greagsby on +5. Glenda finished and posted a 54 this time, leaving her on a total of 109 knowing that any slip ups from Ger Ward could leave her with the title. That slip up did come in the form of a double bogey halfway through the back 9 for Ger but as national Champions tend to do, found two birdies on the way in to win by three in total!

Senior Ladies:

1st: Ger Ward (Portmarnock) 106

2nd: Glenda Hoey (RGSC) 109

The Inter Ladies were out next and was the tightest Grade all the way through the day. Ger Holland, Pauline Balfe and Barbara Furlong, to name but a few, were some of the names mentioned that could go all the way and they didn’t disappoint. Barbara Furlong being the leader after round one with a score of 57. Brenda Purcell from Lucan, hit 58 to be right in the mix with Tracey Smith and Ger Holland closely behind on 60. Lucan were starting to dominate the leaderboard and this was to be the case in the end. Brenda added another solid score of 59 to finish on +9 with Barbara unable to match her first round score and had to settle for a total of +10. Tracey Smith (Lucan), Laura Whelan (old county) Ger Holland (RGSC), Pauline Balfe (Old County) & Kathleen Croke (Lucan) all pushed hard and beat or matched their first rounds scores but ultimately couldn’t quite get to Brenda or Barbara. Brenda being the winner with Barbara the runner up.

Ladies Inters:

1st: Brenda Purcell (Lucan) 117

2nd: Barbara Furlong (Lucan) 118

Last but by no means least, we had the Junior Ladies. The biggest field of the day made for an interesting competition with names like Miriam Salmon, Catherine Fox, Christine Mulvey, Ann O Shea and Susan Ritchie, all obvious names reckoned to be in with a chance. However it was the home player of Oonagh Comerford that left them in her wake after a scorching 59 to leave her three shots ahead of Susan Crinion and at least 8 shots ahead of everyone else. A solid 64 in the 2nd 18 ensured victory by 10 shots with Susan slipping down the field after her second round. Christine Mulvey battled away to beat her first round score by three shots and the reward was second place. Laura Murphy, Deirdre Curran and Susan Crinion finishing 3rd, 4th & 5th respectively.

Ladies Juniors:

1st: Oonagh Comerford (Ierne) 123

2nd: Christine Mulvey (Glenville) 133

I think most would agree though, that the highlight of the day was to see our long time friend, sponsor and leader for so many years, Mr. Eamonn Birchall, attend the presentation like so many years before, after he took ill recently. Eamonn was letting nothing get in the way from attending and was flanked by members of his family. To see Eamonn and his fighting spirit alone was inspiring enough but he topped his appearance with a very emotional speech which led to a standing ovation. Eamonn talked about the game, the courses, the administration and most of all the friends he has made along the way. Eamonn’s spirit and love of the game was inspiring and if you don’t play the game and support the game in every way possible – we would be letting down great men/women like this who helped put the game on the map. Thankyou for attending Eamonn and everything you do for us.

The Dublin Board officers will be at the Ierne venue this weekend, Saturday & Sunday, the 9th & 10th June for our strokeplay finals.

Please return any unwanted or unsold tickets you may have so we can re-distribute them, as best we can.

Thankyou.

The closing date for the upcoming Des Flanagan mixed foursomes has been extended to the 13th June due to the venue change. As confirmed recently, the finals will now take place at the Ringcommon venue in Balbriggan, on Sunday 8th July. Thankyou.

Geraldine Ward of Portmarnock Pitch & Putt once again showed her mettle by taking a fantastic 12th Natiinal Matchplay title in sunny Tullamore.

An early indicator into Ger’s form, came in a 1st round romp over Philo Condron. She then dispatched Mary Quinn on Sunday afternoon before reaching the semi finals on Monday where she would face fellow Dub Ger Holland who had won a tight encounter with Helen Wynne before a good win against Sheelagh Elmes.

Ward though was not for stopping and won the semi final in comfortable fashion and she now faced a regular rival of hers Chrissie Byrne in the final. Ger was off to a good start but Chrissie was turning things around in a high quality final.

By the time they reached the 35th it was Chrissie holding all the aces but Ger is made of stern stuff and birdied to make it a level game going down the last. Ger used all her experience and knowledge to pitch a superb shot to just under 3ft and uphill. Chrissie had a longer and tougher putt which she missed slightly on the low side. Ger though was to make no mistake and coolly slotted her putt home and make it an astonishing hat-trick of hat-trick wins!

Her third Irish Matchplay title in a row just like she had done previously in 1984-86 & 1992-94. She also became one of a handful of players to win All Ireland Strokeplay, Inter-County and Matchplay on the same course.

Some amazing stats courtesey of John Manning.

The men’s event was deservedly won by Cork’s Bryan Delaney who was in fine form all weekend and showed great heart along with quality whrn he looked beaten in a couple of his encounters. He also took the title on the final hole, beating Ray Murphy. Dublin’s best performers could only manage to make it to round 3 as Junior Smith, Chris Gallagher and JR Crangle all fell to players that all made the semi-finals.

We were also out of luck in the Nett Ladies event as Tipperarys Elaine Quinn took the honours. Finally a huge thank you to the Tullamore Club who were fantastic hosts to a quality championships, the NEC for the live feeds and updates and of course the supporters from Dublin who cheered on all players throughout the weekend.

Ierne have informed us that competitors playing this weekend at the Dublin Strokeplay Finals can practice at the following times:

Wednesday after 6pm

All day Thursday

Up to 6pm on Friday

The Dublin Board would like to wish all the competitors the very best of luck in their respective categories.

We would also like to thank our long standing friends and sponsors of the Dublin Ladies & Gents Strokeplay – Eamon Birchall & The Drain Doctor, respectively. Your support is very much appreciated. Thankyou.

The very best of luck to all our players in Tullamore this weekend. We send down real quality in both Ladies & Gents and we are very hopeful for them all.

Please see our facebook page for great profiles of the Dubin players competing.

Best of luck.

The Dublin Board.