Mullingar Golf Club notes
Men's branch
Club Development Days; March 29, Good Friday Open Fourball; April 1, Easter Monday Open Team of 3.
Open Competition; Monday 22 April, Countess of Belvedere Mixed Open Fourball, kindly sponsored by Breege McCarrick. Visitor €35, Member guest €25, Members €7.50.
Club Mixed Fourball; April 6, Members Mixed Fourball.
Fixtures Books; 2024 books have arrived and are available from the office/bar and locker rooms.
Easter Egg Raffle; Gerry has organised a raffle to raise funds for a new coffee machine; draw on Sunday 31 March at 6pm, €2 per ticket or €5 for 3.
Clubhouse; a selection of tasty sandwiches and soup will be available in the clubhouse every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. Thursday and Friday fresh soup will be available, with the exception of Good Friday Open, sandwiches will also be available.
The season feels like it is in full swing already now, and plenty of competitive golf was played last week, despite the weather.
A gentle and timely reminder in relation to course etiquette, now that the Fixtures List has been issued and available for collection, members’ attention is drawn to page 13, and 12 useful tips of dos and don’ts to help us all avoid slow play.
The tips also encourage us to play our part in repairing pitch marks and replacing divots.
The latter has become a bit of an issue lately, but divot bags will soon be available.
And remember that, even before you rise this last Sunday of March, the clocks will have jumped forward from 1am to 2am, resulting in one hour’s less sleep. So don’t be late for your usual Sunday tee time.
Tuesday 19th was a fine day and the course was open for play; 73 Senior Golfers teed off, and the results were as follows: 1. Tommie Kelly (07) 21pts + 23 bonus, total 44. 2. Billy Moore (05) 17pts + 27 bonus, total 44. 3. Eugene Dunne (10) 18pts + 25 bonus, total 43. Super Seniors was won by Brendan Coady (10) with 17pts + 25 bonus, total 42. Super Super Seniors was won by Seamus Casey (16) on 21pts + 20 bonus, total 41. Best of the day was Eamonn Shaw (07) with a score of 21 points.
The top 10 in the current ‘Order of Merit’, 20 March 2024: 1. Tommie Kelly 131 points, 2. Eamonn Shaw 97pts, 3. Martin Little 93pts, 4. Pat Reynolds 89pts, 5. John Ahern 81pts, 6. Martin Ryan 77pts, 7. Ciaran O’Keeffe 65pts, 8. Michael Duffy 63pts, 9. Joe Martin 57pts, 10. Donald Bell 53pts.
Well played and congratulations to all of last week’s winners.
Interest in the day trip to Strandhill Golf Club,
Wednesday 29 May, is rising and the number is at nearly 30. If interested, add your name to the list posted in the men’s locker room.
The final play-off of the Winter League was played last Saturday 23. Four qualifiers from each category qualified to compete in the final, and the outcome was decided, after some tremendous golf, played in cold showery conditions, as follows: Category 1: 1. Andrew Maslin (8) 31pts; 2. John Plunkett (9) 30pts. Category 2: 1. Rodney Martin (15) 29pts; 2. Finian Whelehan (11) 28pts. Category 3: 1. Pat L’Estrange (20) 30pts; 2. John Traynor (21) 29pts. Category 4: 1. Mark Gavin (25) 31pts; 2. Pat Layde (33) 27pts.
Well played to all competitors. This has been a keenly contested competition and, in the end, it went down to the wire, evident from the results. Commiserations in particular must go to those who came so near and yet so far, often times within a single shot of the winners. Congratulations to the four winners and the four runners-up, and bad luck to all the other competitors. No one comes away a loser in Mick McCarthy’s prize.
Many thanks again to Fairgreen TV and Mick McCarthy for sponsoring this season’s Winter League. It was a great success despite the vagaries of the Irish weather.
Team Captains are busying themselves with team selections and the practice season is now upon players keen to show off their talents. If your name has been included in any of the Interclub Team panels, you will no doubt have responded to your Captain’s call.
Practice is the order of the day, but keep your head down. Many competitive matches await and new friendships will be forged. The best of luck in making the team.
Despite the early rainfall that covered the course at first light, last Sunday 24th picked up noticeably and brightened to provide lovely conditions for the 122 male golfers who competed for the Greville Arms Hotel sponsored prizes.
While keenly contested, we had a new champion as Ted Wright stepped up.
Ted has been knocking on the door for some time now and, having played out of his skin, it was only Wright (oops, sorry Ted!) that he should take the accolades. Well played and congratulations Ted.
Winner: Ted Wright (23) 38 points. Gross: John Plunkett (09) 30 gross pts. Cat 1 (0-9): Scott Hogan (08) 35pts. Cat 2 (10-18): Gerry Austin (18) 33pts. Cat 3 (19-28): Patrick Murtagh (20) 34pts. Senior: Eamon Shaw (13) 33pts. Congratulations to all the winners and many thanks to our sponsor The Greville Arms Hotel.
There is nothing new to report on this competition. Hopefully more match plays will decide all eight qualifiers before the extended final cut-off date of 31 March.
Tue 26 March: Senior Men’s competition.
Fri 29 March: Good Friday is a Club Development Day, Open Fourball any combination.
Sun 31 March: Scratch Matchplay cut-off date for group matches.
Sun 31 March: Men’s Singles Stableford 15 hole competition kindly sponsored by The Healy Family.
Play will be from the white tees. Prizes for Winner, Gross, Cat 1, Cat 2, Cat 3, Senior & Junior (subject to minimum of 5 entrants). Playing h/cap limit of 28.