Castleblayney Men's Golf Club Notes
7th September 2010
Simon Thornton wins first PGA event at Concra Wood.
Royal County Down-based Simon Thornton set a professional course record at Concra Wood in the SkyCaddie-backed PGA Sprint final which took place at Concra on Thursday last. Thornton’s recent promotion to the European Tour completed a remarkable rise through the professional ranks. Born in Yorkshire but now an Irish passport holder after moving to Newcastle, in County Down, he was playing off a handicap of seven just a decade or so ago. “When I first went over to work as an assistant in the pro shop at Royal County Down, I could barely hit it out of my own shadow,” he admitted. But his hard work and perseverance paid off as he progressed firstly through the Irish PGA regional circuit, before moving onto the EuroPro Tour and then graduating to the Challenge Tour last year. Thornton posted two top ten finishes en route to 51st place in the Rankings, but later earned a European Tour card for the first time after successfully negotiating his way through the second and final stages of the Qualifying School.
At Concra , Thornton carded three birdies on the first three holes added another birdie three at the eighth hole to turn in four-under-par 32. He returned with a regulation 36 which included two more birdies on 15 and 17 wiped out by two bogeys on 16 and 18. With the wind in his favour on the last three, his dropped shots on 16 and 18 surprised the spectators who were there in beautiful sunshine to see how the professionals world manage the challenge of the 7,000 yard plus black course.
"This was our first visit to Concra Wood and it is a superb course. Simon's performance was worthy of this Castleblayney venue," enthused Irish Region tournament official Michael Stanford at the completion of play. Like many of his fellow professionals, Simon Thornton was generous in his praise for the Concra Wood course. He described the greens as among the best he has played on this year and Christy O’Connor Senior’s and Junior’s design as an excellent test of golf for golfers of all standards.
On the club scene the club’s weekend competition was sponsored by Shoecity. Gareth Woods played in difficult conditions on Saturday and returned a very creditable 38 points and won first prize. Eddie Murphy took second with 37 points while the Presidents Prize winner Kevin Quinn took third also with 37 points.
Next weekend will see members play for Michael Mc Hugh’s Patrons Prize. This event will run Friday through to Sunday with usual booking system to apply.
Finally the members of Castleblayney Golf Club wish Alan Bolger every success as he heads off on a tour of duty with the UN to the Middle East.
31st August 2010
Kevin Quinn wins Raymond Kernan’s Presidents Prize.
23 putts for eighteen holes on any course is a remarkable achievement, but on Concra with the greens at their best is simply outstanding. This was the story of the day for the 2010 Presidents prize winner Kevin Quinn who played exceptional golf in difficult condition and saw him card no fewer than 5 birdies culminating in a 41 point total and two points to spare from runner up Noel Flanagan Jnr. To his credit Noel was magnanimous in his praise for the winner, Kevin’s single figure handicap and his score but deep down Noel had to rue his pushed 4 iron off the tee on the last which saw him lose a ball and finish eighteen with a no score when a bogie would have won the day. Adrian Kelly won the gross with 31 gross points while Liam O’Connor made the prize winners enclosure in a club major for the first time with 38 points taking third prize. Liam’s back nine was better than Philip Mc Cague’s but with two major competition prizes in one year it is only a matter of time before Philip has to pen a winners speech. The Past Presidents prize was won by PJ Harte while the best senior was the ever improving Tony Carville. The front nine was won by Nudie Hughes while Raymond Mc Hugh took the back nine. Nearest the pin was won by Briege Horgan and the longest drive was won by Noel Gorman. In his winners address Kevin Quinn spoke about the esteem in which the President Raymond Kernan is held in the club. Kevin also commended the greens staff for the condition of the course and the competitions committee for their organisation of the event. Club Captain Brian Coleman in his address spoke about Raymond Kernan’s role in the club in recent years while club vice captain Robert Heavin reminded those present of the fact that Raymond was associated with all three golf courses in Castleblayney namely, Annahale, Onomy and now Concra. Robert also thanked Raymond’s wife Maura and family, Irene and Gareth for their hospitality during Presidents weekend. In reply Raymond thanked Michael Smyth for nominating him as President. He thanked the organising committee for their work and his family for their support.
This week will see Concra host its first PGA event when golf professionals from all over Ireland will meet the challenge posed by Concra from the black tees. Judging by the number of professionals who have practiced Concra in recent weeks many members are looking forward to seeing how some of the best club professionals in Ireland will perform at Concra. Obviously this event is open to spectators with the event running all day.
Full details of this year’s club match play is posted in the clubhouse as are details for this weekend’s competition. Members concerns about the numbers playing the course were taken on board last week and with a ranger on duty and some times on the timesheet blocked out to ease pressue on the course, it is hoped that the pace of play will improve in the coming weeks.
16th August 2010
Super Value Rumble Continues
The annual Musgrave’s Super Valu Rumble continues throughout this week up until Friday 20th August. This is a repeater competition for charity and members can play as many times as they wish. With Castleblayney Golf Club having had great success in this competition over the last few years members are encouraged to play before Friday.
There will be a presentation of all outstanding prizes in the clubhouse next Saturday 21st August at 9.30pm sharp. All prize winners are expected to attend.
The draws for this year’s Trencia Carragher and Society Cups will be made next Sunday 22nd August at 5pm sharp. Members interested in playing in these competitions should put €10 in an envelope with their name and handicap clearly written on it.
Round 2 of the Hi-Low competition must be played by next Sunday 22nd August.
The Cannon Tomeny Cup for juveniles will be played next Sunday 22nd August at 3.30pm.
Congrats to James King and his Junior Cowdy Team who have reached the semi-final of the competition. Dates and times of their semi-final match against Tandragee will be confirmed this week.
This week’s competition will be sponsored by Noel Flanagan Transport and can be played Friday to Sunday off the green tees.
9th August 2010
Bolger by Three
Alan Bolger is currently on leave and with the help of Concra Wood professional Conor Mc Kenna he has turned his golf game from what was at times erratic to something more suited to his new Category One status. One over par is excellent any day but returned for a second eighteen in a day is very impressive. Alan shot 41 points in the James King sponsored weekend competition and was three ahead of the very much in form Kieran Mc Mahon who carded 38 points while third place went to Brennans’ Best, Tony with 37. On the inter club scene James King’s Junior Cowdy Cup team played away at Tandragee and took the day thanks to two, six and five wins from Greg Duffy and Ciaran Prunty and Paddy King and Joe Mc Grath and a two and one win from the team captain James and Ronnie Dignam. Next weekend will see the clubs qualifier for the Musgrave Rumble. Members will know that the proceeds from this event will go in their entirety to Our Lady’s Hospital for sick children at Crumlin. With two All Ireland wins to date in this event, this years club representatives will have a lot to emulate. Concra was packed to capacity once again last week and the course is holding up very well to the numbers playing. With that in mind head greenkeeper John Mc Bride would appreciate it if members would assist in keeping the greens as expected by repairing any pitchmarks they may find and by repairing divots throughout the course, especially on par three teeboxes.
2nd August 2010
Nudie wins Brian Coleman’s Captains Prize.
Three times All Star Nudie Hughes is now a three times Captain’s Prize winner. Nudie was without doubt very well prepared for the event with regular golf practice an intrinsic part of his current fitness regime. He ran a half marathon with ease on Wednesday as part of the 32 county 32 marathon event but as a result of a different type of marathon he took a little longer than planned to get home from Croke Park on Saturday. This may have impacted on other mere mortals but not Nudie who playing early on Sunday morning posted an excellent 22 points for his front nine followed by 16 points on the back to see him enter the playoffs two behind the leading qualifier Philip Mc Cague who after an almost flawless round he returned 40 points with Brian Mc Govern one behind on 39 points.
The course as expected was resplendent with the greens living up to their reputation of being as good as the best in Ireland. They may the best greens in Ireland but that doesn’t mean that putts dropped as often as members wanted as some of the pin positions were testing to say the least. The qualifiers had nine additional holes to play to decide the outcome. Phil Brannigan was disappointed with his 36 point first eighteen but pulled out all the stops to return 21 for the qualifying nine remained leader in the clubhouse for most of what was an eventful evening when one by one the leaders played themselves out of contention. Thomas Brennan looked very strong when holes eight and nine proved calamitous then it was all up to Nudie who needed a five on the par three ninth to take the day. True to form Nudie provided a little excitement for the gallery present when he bunkered his first left his first putt short and with two putts to seal the day his approach putt sat precariously on a ridge, four foot short of the hole. A breath of wind in the other direction could have seen Nudie with a twenty footer to save the day. Nudie landed the four footer and landed his third Captains with one to spare from Phil Brannigan who finished in second. Kieran Mc Mahon took the gross prize with an excellent three over played in the worst of the weekends conditions on Saturday morning, Thomas Brennan finished third, Sean Mulligan was fourth and Martin Mc Ginn finished fifth. PJ Harte was best of the past captains, James King won the committee prize best nines were won by Brian Mc Govern, Pauric Mc Nally and Kieth Hill while Martin Mc Ginn was nearest the pin and Noel Flanagan won the longest drive.
The clubhouse was packed to capacity for the presentation. During his address the Captain Brian Coleman thanked his committee for their help during the year. He also thanked his wife Helen and family for their support. Prize winners in their respective addresses thanked the Captain and his family for the wonderful weekends golf and the staff at Concra Wood for the excellent condition of the course.
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