Tom Moore and Breda Conlon win

The competition for the President's (Mr. John Maher) concluded on Saturday evening last with the nine hole play off, when the top twenty seven and ties competed for the coveted and beautiful prizes on offer. Conditions were very heavy after the unprecedented rainfall of the recent past and good scoring in the high pressure situation was going to be at a premium; and as expected nobody burned it up to come out of the 'pack'.The leader after the first eighteen holes, Tom Moore, held his nerve to post a very respectable 36 nett for the nine holes to total 104 nett and win narrowly from this year's Captain's prize winner Peter Purcell, Third spot went to one of the leading three ball, John Keane, while fourth prize was won by Bernard Mc Donnell. Tommy Timmons collected the leading qualifier prize while the seniors' and best gross prizes were collected by Barry Smyth and Des Morgan respectively. After the presentation of prizes there followed an enjoyable social evening.President's prize full results: Winner: Tom Moore (20) 104; Second: Peter Purcell (11) 105.5; Third: John Keane (9) 106.5. Fourth: Bernard Mc Donnell (4) 107; Best Gross: Des Morgan (+3) 107; Seniors: Barry Smyth (11) 107.The ladies President's (Sylvia Tormey) prize took place on the next day Sunday in awful weather conditions, and I would like to compliment the ladies for their turn out for the day and presentation in the evening. The popular winner on a very close tie break was Breda Conlon from Marjorie Donoghue. There is a full report in the relevant section below.Long handicap golfLast Thursday's long handicap competition was generously sponsored by Bobby Begley and again attracted a fine entry. The winning score of nineteen points was returned by Gerry Wallace (17). Gerry won by the minimum from Gerry Caffrey (18), who got the runner up spot, from third placed Seamus Clarke (17) on the tie break rule. Presentation of prizes is on Thursday next.Joy and heart break as mixed team win the silver medals in BandonWe congratulate our mixed foursomes' team on their magnificent achievement on reaching the all Ireland final stage of the 3 sponsored competition in the beautifully presented Bandon golf club on Thursday last by virtue of a hard fought win over the Ulster champions Strabane. We won by three matches to two despite conceding no less than twenty five shots to our opposites. The other semi final was won easily by Portumna golf club that beat the Munster champions Tramore rather easily. All was in readiness for the final on Friday morning as the sun shone on the Castle Bernard estate and we learned that we had to concede a colossal thirty shots (yes 30!) between the five matches and despite some excellent golf, found the burden just a little too much and had to bow the knee to worthy winners from east Galway. Well done to all concerned with this fine squad, club management, branch officers, panellists, caddies etc. for their fine effort and achievement. A special word of thanks is due to the good number of supporters who made the long trek to West Cork for the occasion. This competition commenced in early April and heartbreakingly ended with this narrow defeat now in September. The original entry for this popular competition was in the region of 400, need I say more. Here's to the future in events like this. Those that played in those matches were: Paddy Dunne and Ann Hannon; Gerry Purcell and Ann Marie Conlon; Aidan Tomkins and Bernie Kelly; Bernard and Jeanette Mc Donnell and Frank Mc Ginty and Brege Mc Carrick. The other panellists were - Dan Grehan, Donald Bell, John Kelly, Una Stephens, Joann Killian and Siobhan-O'Donnell Murphy. The team captains Mike Smith and Ann Fagan deserve all the compliments that can go their way as they left no stone unturned in ensuring every good preparation was in place for every one of the nine rounds of matchplay of this competition.Seniors golfOur men's' seniors competition gets off the ground with the Captain's prize on Tuesday next, following which of course we will take part in the annual captain's dinner, after which the name of the incoming captain will be revealed to us all.Matchplay eventsCompliments to all involved in the match play events, particularly for getting them to the concluding stages despite the awful weather over the 'summer' the finals of which we hope to hold on the one evening all going well.Legal Profession Open singles on Sunday nextMembers (and visitors) are reminded that the rescheduled men's open singles, generously sponsored by the legal profession, Mullingar, will take place on Sunday next. See BRS for available times.Ladies BranchLady Presidents PrizeA brief glance at the forcast earlier in the week revealed a great swathe of high pressure sitting tantalisingly close to the south of the country. Hopes were high that it would wend it way northwards to bathe us in some warmth and dry conditions for the Lady President, Sylvia Tormey's Prize. Alas, with hopes dashed again the only high pressure that prevailled was among the 120 ladies who tramped through the muck and rain trying their hearts out to win the penultimate major prize of the year. Breda Conlon was the player who coped best with the difficult conditions. Breda, a steady experienced player with a knack for performing well on the big occasion expressed her delight and amazement at winning. "I left quite a few shots out there" said Breda who could not imagine that her score of 35 points would hold up for the day. Hot on Breda's heels was Marjorie Donoghue who also gathered a total of 35 points. Marjorie admitted that she probably had the better of the conditions given that the rain eased during the latter part of the day. In the end, however Breda's score proved the better of the two by virtue of a better back nine. Best gross on the day went to the ever competitive Siobhan O'Donnell Murphy with 22 gross points. Geraldine Egan took third place with a tidy score of 34 points. Fourth place went to Bernie Mulroy a member of the victorious Challege Cup team also with 34 points. Rosemary Whelehan, another member of the Challenge Cup team was fifth with 34 points of her own.Categories 1, 2 and 3 were won by Dorothy O'Keeffe (14) 32 points, Susan Trapp(22) 33 points and Alison O'Neill (35) 28 points respectively.The Past Presidents category was won by Margaret Fagan. Bernie Kelly was the best in the Senior category with 32 points.Katie Kelly an up and coming junior finished her round with three magnificent pars to record 38 points to win the junior prize.The senior nine hole was won by Marie Woods. The front and back nine prizes were won by Ann Bennett and Lucy Tormey. Breda Whitelaw won the beginner 9 hole category. All told a miserable day was capped with at a vibrant and joyful presentation. Lady President Sylvia paid tribute to the club committees, to Sean Finnegan and all the staff who work so hard to keep Mullingar Golf Club at the forefront.President's prize results: 1st, Breda Conlon (15) 35 points; 2nd, Marjorie Donoghue (21) 35 points. Gross, Siobhan O'Donnell Murphy (12) 22 points; 3rd, Geraldine Egan (17) 34 points; 4th, Bernie Mulroy (36) 34 points; 5th, Rosemary Whelehan (30) 34 points. Senior 18 , Bernie Kelly (14) 32 points. Junior 18, Katie Kelly (27) 38 points Kahn BoutiqueRain was the order of the day again for Wednesdays competition kindly sponsored by Khan Boutique. However despite the poor conditions 60 players donned their rain gear and took to the fairways. Dorothy O'Keeffe playing off 14 won with a fantastic score of 39 points. Second went to Siobhan Ruane (23) with 37 points. Mary McCauley (13) won the gross with 24 points and Emma Keating playing off 25 was third with 36 points. The presentation is to take place on Wednesay 9th September.