A round-up of golf news in brief

 Home comfort for Gallaghers

THIS year is already going to be a memorable year for the Gallagher family in Malahide as Frank Gallagher is captain of the north Dublin club. Last Friday there was further reason to celebrate for the family as his wife Mary and son Séan made use of their local knowledge of the Malahide course to win the All-Ireland Mother and Son event.

Despite blustery, wet conditions the two members shot an impressive 67.5 to take the title. Second place went to Peggy and Mark Dempsey on 68, while Kate and Richard Fleming were the gross winners.

This year saw the redeveloped Red nine in operation.

Courtney wins close contest to claim girls Leinster title

BALBRIGGAN golf club proved to be a real hit last week as the newly-designed course played host to the GOSH Cosmetics-sponsored Leinster Girls Championship.

And on finals day on Wednesday the golf played in all three finals – championship, plate and trophy – was of the highest quality on a beautifully laid out course, that proved a stern but fair challenge for all.

The main event of the day, the Leinster Championship final was contested between Anna Courtney of St Anne’s and Castletroy’s Chloe Ryan.

The match was a tight affair all the way through with little to choose between either player. Eventually Courtney went one-up with a birdie on the par five 15th, a birdie that was to prove crucial as she held on to her lead to win the title on the 18th.

The Leinster Plate final brought together two of the top talents in Leinster girls’ golf. Sarah Murray from County Louth and Amy Farrell of Moate played another tight final, with victory going to Farrell on the 17th as she won 2 and 1.

The girls trophy final between Sophie Reynolds (Newlands) and Nicola Stokes (Laytown Bettystown) featured some great golf, with Reynolds coming back from a three-hole deficit to be all square after 15 holes, only to lose on the final hole with Stokes clinching the victory with a par on the final hole.

Kelly retains seniors crown

DEFENDING Champion Maurice Kelly (left) from Killeen GC fired a closing round of 75 to retain the Tourism Malaysia-sponsored Irish Seniors Amateur Close Championship at Blainroe Golf Club last week.

Kelly, who was tied for the lead with Eddie Condren from Greystones going into the final round, struggled over the opening nine with bogeys on the second, fifth, seventh and eighth holes. Another followed on the 10th before the Killeen man started to play the style of golf that won him the Irish Seniors Open Championship title at Castletroy in May.

With back-to-back pars on the 11th and 12th holes and a birdie-par-birdie run from the 13th, Kelly edged one ahead of the eventual runner-up John Hughes from Woodbrook, who had set the clubhouse target with a brilliant 72 for the three-round total of 228.

Kelly needed to cover the closing three holes in par to retain his title and he never looked like dropping a shot with superb tee to green play resulting in three regulation pars.

Hughes finished second with Eddie Condron from Greystones third on 230 after rounds of 76, 76 and 78, with Leinster champion Barry Reddan from Co Louth also on 230 after round of 75, 78 and 77.

Trip to Spain for Ballyliffin winners

THE winning team in this year’s Ballyliffin GC Pro-Am will be rewarded with a trip to Spain. This bonus prize has been sponsored by the Spanish Tourism Board and includes golf, accommodation and flights in the Valencia region of Spain.

The Ballyliffin Pro-Am takes place on July 25th and 26th over The Old Links and Glashedy Links and with 104 teams participating it is the largest event of its kind in Europe.

Entry forms are available on the Ballyliffin Golf Club website- www.ballyliffingolfclub.com.

Meanwhile, the North and West Coast Links in association with its member clubs have announced the inaugural North West Coast Links International Pro-Am which will take place on some of the best courses in the north west from September 5th-9th 2011.

The event will bring 200 international visitors to the region and includes a five-day Pro-Am event with a professional prize fund of €7,950 for professionals and €3,980 for amateurs.

The tournament will take place over six links courses with Ballyliffin, Royal Portrush, Portstewart, Rosapenna, Narin Portnoo and Portsalon each hosting the competitors.

Details of the event and application forms are available from North West Coast Links.

Curtis Cup trio set for Irish Open

IRELAND’S three Irish Curtis Cup representatives who did Ireland proud in the recent matches in the US are all set to test their skills against the best players in the world taking part in the AIB Ladies Irish Open at Killeen Castle on August 6th-8th.

Seventeen Solheim Cup players will compete, including Suzann Pettersen, Brittany Lincicome, Angela Stanford, Laura Davis, Brittany Lang and Cristina Kim, plus the complete European Solheim Cup team.

“I spoke with the Danielle McVeigh and the twins, Leona and Lisa Maguire, when they were down at Killeen Castle last week for a practice round and they cannot wait for the challenge. They do not seem in the slightest bit intimidated and I believe they can be competitive. Danielle looked head and shoulders above even the best American players in the Curtis Cup and the twins are simply a phenomenon.” said Roddy Carr, event promoter.

 O'Driscoll defends title at Grange GC

IRISH Girls’ International Emma O’Driscoll from Ballybunion, will defend the Irish Girls’ Close title which she won last year at Castletroy Golf Club when the tournament begins at Grange Golf Club, Dublin, today.

Some 72 competitors play 18 holes strokeplay today and tomorrow, with the top 32 players qualifying for matchplay, starting tomorrow afternoon.

• LOCAL member Eoin King took the Titleist Footjoy-sponsored Leinster Boys' Under-15 Close title at Ashbourne last week. King posted a superb round of 74, just three-over par, early in the day and endured a long wait before finally being confirmed winner. Conor Sutton from Malahide also posted a 74, but had to be content with the runner-up slot on the break of a tie, losing out over the final nine holes.

In third place was Waterford’s Niall O’Connell on 75, edging out Hermitage’s Rowan Lester on the back nine.