Rathbane Golf Club

Men's Results 2010

Week Ending March 7th

The great weather finally arrived and was matched with some great golf. Course staff had Rathbane looking good. Sunday's Fourball Results: 1st Christy Hannon & Pat Tubridy. 2nd Con O'Connor & Paul Kennedy. 3rd Tony Lynch & Jim O'Brien (after countback). 

Rathbane's seniors would like to thank the staff at Dromoland for the hospitality shown to them on Monday 1st March. A brilliant time was had by all and the following team emerged victorious - Larry Johnston, Mary Traynor, Jim O’Brien, and Peter O'Sullivan. The runners up team were led by lady captain Marie Bartlett, Frank Mulqueen, John Haigney and the youthful Eddie Costello. On Thursday the singles competition over 13 holes was won by John J Ryan, with Marcella Copolla and the in-form Sean O'Dwyer taking the minor placings.

Next weekend we will attempt another round of the Winter League with a Foursomes. The Open Singles continues each Wednesday while the Seniors continues each Thursday.

Competition Fixtures for 2010 have been approved and can be viewed on www.rathbanegolfclub.com. Fixtures booklets will soon be available in the club house for members to collect.

Week Ending February 28th

Sunday’s Winter League was once again postponed due to frost. However, thanks to Brian Garvey et al, an impromptu 4-man scramble was organised once the frost thawed after 11am. 1st Keith Bermingham, Tony Byrnes, Christy Earls and Tony Lynch, 2nd John O’Neill, Barry Lipper, Kieran O’Shea, Kieran Murphy. Very little separated 2nd , 3rd , 4th  and 5^th - great scores were had by all.

The Wednesday Open Singles Stableford got back on track this week and Gay Carr enjoyed his day off with his brother in law James Murphy - both men were out on the course early. Unfortunately for Gay it was the man with the hybrids, James, who stood on the winners’ podium pipping Gay by a single point. Spare a thought for Bart Ohanya and Ray O’Callaghan who both shot into the 40s and failed to  register in the prizes. We await the new course with bathed breath where high scores will be at a premium. Well done to all who participated. The frost derailed the Seniors on Thursday much to the disgust of Robert Carrol who sacrificed the singles on Wednesday to work on his short game, and as Frank Corbet (no stranger to the winners enclosure himself ) and Garryowen stalwart Dan Heelan will testify Roberts’ game was finely tuned for this outing. Nice to see fellow senior Sean O’Dwyer reaping the benefits of such hard work Sean has being a great ambassador of the seniors since its formation. The word around the club house is Sean has a major in his sights this year if his form holds up and lady luck prevails. Finally let me remind you of two away outings for the seniors - Dromoland on Tues 2nd March and Thurles on Mon 19th April. All members are reminded that anyone intending to travel must have their club membership paid beforehand.

A special note of thanks to Abbey Sarsfields GAA and Ken Crowe who looked after our Junior Cadets on Saturday morning with some goodies. Well done to all who continue to make this coaching programme a success. Next weekend we will attempt a round of the continuously postponed Winter League with a Fourball. The Open Singles continues each Wednesday while the Seniors continues each Thursday.

Work on the course resumes in earnest this week as the contractors strive to complete their redevelopment work and ensure that the full course opens May 1^st. Separately, the green keeping staff will hollow tine all greens by mid March readying them for a busy summer of golf. Thanks in advance to all players for their continued cooperation and understanding.

Week Ending February 21st

Jack Frost hit a number of our competitions again this past week. While we did have some nice evenings for golf, Wednesday’s Open Singles and Sunday’s Winter League had to be cancelled. Both competitions will resume again this week. The next Winter League round will be a 2-man Scramble. After early ground frost on Thursday morning the seniors got back to playing again with a 12 hole scramble on much to the delight of all the members. The winning combination of O'Sullivan, Crean and Mulqueen previously mentioned in these dispatches proved way too strong for the early favourites of James Murphy, the very popular Tony Lynch and Christy Downes who has dropped a lot of shots coming into this season and may take time to adjust. Nice to see Jack Crean learning from the maestro and the word from the grapevine is that Frank is thinking of charging a nominal fee! Membership of the club is open for 2010 and new members are very welcome. Application forms are available from the club house.

Week Ending February 14th

Tony Byrnes the resident handicap secretary joined the Hole in One Club on Saturday morning last when he recorded an ace at the par 3 11th hole. Tony who has done sterling work over the past few years for the club was elated to see his pitching wedge effort come to rest in the cup and the fact that he was in exalted company made it much sweeter. However his three playing partners had to treat themselves to tea and coffee as Tony headed to the nearest watering hole to celebrate.

Our Seniors competition fell foul to the weather conditions on Thursday morning but despite the frost most of the lads got out for some much needed practice during the week. There was a real ding dong affair on Tuesday morning when the Alickadoos of the seniors namely Larry, Peter, Sean, and John Jack were engaged in heavy battle and it’s no secret around the club who won that game. On another front Frank Mulqueen was seen giving lessons to our Captain whom we’re sure will benefit from the valid tips passed on to him, while Peter O Grady and John Mulcahy will certainly reap the rewards for the heavy practice put in over the last few weeks. Rumour has it they are honing their skills for the away trip to Thurles!

Our Winter League fell foul to the weather too. A hard frost (and a bizarre fog!) on Sunday morning meant that the scheduled Fourball had to be postponed to next Sunday. Players of all faiths are asked to start praying for better weather! Roll on the summer! The Open Singles Stableford continues each Wednesday with the Club Seniors following it each Thursday morning. A fixture list of all competitions for 2010 will be published in coming weeks. Membership of the club is now open and new members are very welcome! For details please phone the club house at 061 313655.

Week Ending February 7th

Seniors Results: 18 hole 3 man scramble - 1st were the youthful Con O Connor, Paul Kennedy, and Martin Ennis. The veterans of the senior camp Tom Bond, Mike Lysaght Snr and the ever improving James Murphy had to be content with the runners up spot on this occasion. Once again the seniors turned out in numbers for this competition and look forward to another successful season in 2010. The seniors competition is held every Thursday morning, organised by Larry Johnson and team. No Open Singles was held last Wednesday.

Due to unfortunate technical (computer) issues Saturday/Sunday's Winter League results were not available at time of going to press. However word on the street was that great battles were had amongst the many teams that competed resulting in some excellent scores. Results will be posted on the board in the club house.

The team captains and vice-captains have been appointed for 2010 - Senior Cup: Eugene Kennedy & Jim Davern; Junior Cup: Brian Garvey; Barton Shield: Jim Davern & Eugene Kennedy; Jimmy Bruen: Eamon Ryan & Leonard Fitzgerald; Pierce Purcell: Billy Doherty; Mixed Foursomes: Kieran O' Shea. Thanks to all those who applied for these positions and thanks in advance to the captains & deputies for their voluntary efforts in helping our members compete in Munster and beyond. The target date for the opening of the new course is May 1st, weather and luck permitting. The route of the course (holes 1 to 18) will remain unchanged (same as past decade) other than it being tougher and longer! Membership of the club is open for 2010 and new members are very welcome. Application forms are available from the club house.

Week Ending January 31st

Results: Wednesday Open Singles - 1st Robert Carroll (15) 45pts, 2nd Seamus Marsh (16) 44pts, 3rd David Neenan (13) 43pts. No competitions were held Sunday as the greens were deemed unplayable due to overnight frost.

Fixtures: Round 1 of the Winter League will start this Sat/Sun Feb 6th/7th with a Singles Stableford format. There is still time for last minute team entries - a team entry sheet is displayed on the notice board and all prospecting players are asked to register their names on it as soon as possible. The Open Singles continues each and every Wednesday throughout the year.

Notices: Members are encouraged by the club to ensure that all players, be they members or visitors, refrain from walking and playing in the redeveloped areas around new bunkers and tee boxes. These areas are deemed Ground Under Repair. Every little effort to protect these areas helps especially as we look forward to the onset of Spring and the eagerly awaited growth of new grass.

Membership of the club is open for 2010. Current members and new members are kindly asked to pay their subscriptions as soon as possible. Application forms are available from the club house.

Week Ending January 24th

An icy start to Sunday morning resulted in a delay to proceedings and a change of format for the scheduled Singles Stableford competition. An impromptu shotgun-start 4-man scramble was held once the course thawed out. Winners were Shane Hogan, Noel Bermingham, Barry Lipper and Jim O'Brien who shot 11 birdies. The Games Committee send their sincere thanks to the Ladies Club for their help and understanding in accommodating the delayed competition. Captain Pat Hannon did not play due to personal commitments and recovery from Leeds dramatic away draw at Spurs! Roll-on the replay! Brian Garvey and Garry Leslie won the money in the game of 45 (cards) held in the clubhouse while waiting for the frost to lift!

The Winter League will start February 6th & 7th. A team sheet is displayed on the notice board and all team captains are asked to enter names of all team members as soon as possible. A Singles Stableford will be help next weekend 30th & 31st, weather permitting.

Membership of the club is now open for 2010. Current members and new members are kindly asked to pay their subscriptions before January 31st. Application forms are available from the club house.

Week Ending January 17th

Membership of the club is now open for 2010. Current members and new members are kindly asked to pay their subscriptions by January 31st. Application forms are available from the club house. As the weather and course finally thaws, the Captains Pat Hannon and Marie Bartlett wish all players a good year of golfing. It promises to be a great year especially when the redeveloped sections of the course become playable by summer.

Membership of the club is now open for 2010. Current members and new members are kindly asked to pay their subscriptions before January 31st. Application forms are available from the club house.

Due to adverse weather conditions no competitions have been played in recent weeks. However, work amongst the committees has already resumed. The Men's committee for 2010 is President: Leonard Fitzgerald; Captain: Pat Hannon; Vice-Captain: Kieran O'Shea; Hon-Secretary: Eamon Ryan; Hon-Treasurer: Declan O'Connell; Hon-Handicap Secretary: Tony Byrnes; Hon-Competitions Secretary: Jim Davern; Committee: Sean Curran, Martin Ennis, Brian Garvey, Shane Hogan (ex-Officio), Eugene Kennedy, Colm McCarthy, Michael Nolan and John Twomey (PRO).

The Ladies committee for 2010 is President: Patsy O'Connor; Captain: Marie Bartlett; Vice-Captain: Noreen Campbell; Hon-Secretary: Teresa Stack; Hon-Treasurer: Noreen Campbell; Hon-Handicap Secretary: Jude Byrne; Hon-Competitions Secretary: Sarah Vaughan; Committee: Marie Barker (ex-Officio), Marie Costelloe, Elaine Donegan, Marion Kennedy, Mairead O'Connell, Margaret O'Sullivan, Judy Purcell and Mary Traynor.