Mary"s fundraising golf blitz a terrific success

It was a tall order - but Mullingar"s Mary Hamill executed it with all the style and panache of some of the world"s top golfers. On Friday last, August 8, Mary - a Parkinson"s Disease sufferer - completed a tour of Ireland"s top golf courses to raise money for research into the fight against the illness.Her plan was to play a hole in eighteen different golf clubs in eighteen Irish counties, and all in one day. She played her first round at Citywest, Dublin at 7am on Friday morning, and finished at her home club at Mullingar after 10pm on Monday night.Her itinerary included all the top golf courses: Citywest, Druid"s Glen, PGA National, Knightsbrook, Nuremore, County Louth, Slieve Russell, County Sligo, Castlebar, Galway Bay, Roscommon, County Longford, Roscrea, Mount Juliet, Mount Wolseley, The Heritage (Killenard, Laois), Tullamore before returning to Mullingar, where she was greeted by a large crowd of supporters.She travelled by helicopter kindly provided by the Mansfield group, and piloted by Bill Curry. She was joined by Mullingar man John O"Reilly, who co-ordinated the fundraising project for her, and a number of other golfers and supporters.Mary, who has a 26 handicap and has been playing golf for the past 20 years, is delighted with the level of support she received for her whirlwind trip around the country"s top golfing venues.The determined Mullingar native impressed on the greens, notching up plenty of pars, and having the chance of indulging in her favourite sport while supporting - and earning thousands of euros in support - for a worthy cause.In a busy week for the Hamill family, Mary"s sister Ann was unlucky to lose out by two points in the final of "Heat", an amateur chef competition run by RTÉ. Ann lost out narrowly to Dubliner Paul Mahon in the decider, which was televised on RTÉ One on Sunday night last.