Today's other stories in brief
Senior Cup date tweak
Following requests from numerous clubs, the Leinster Branch have altered the Senior Cup qualifying dates at The K Club and Beech Park to avoid clashing with the South of Ireland Championship which affected a substantial amount of players from competing clubs.
Clubs originally due to compete at The K Club on Saturday and Sunday, July 28th-29th, will now play at Royal Dublin on Sunday and Monday, July 15th-16th.
Likewise, clubs due to compete at Beech Park on the Saturday and Sunday, July 28th-29th, will now compete at Beech Park on the Sunday and Monday, July 15th-16th.
O'Reilly defends
Therese O'Reilly (Grange) will defend her ILGU Senior Ladies' Close Championship at Portumna Golf Club starting today. The tournament will be played over 18 holes today and tomorrow. Past internationals Mary McKenna, Sheena O'Brien Kenney and Mary Gorry will join Marilyn Henderson and Valerie Hassett as the players posing the greatest threat to O'Reilly's title defence.
An additional incentive will be the Order of Merit points on offer. Following the tournament, the Irish team for the Senior European Team Championships at Royal Drottningholm, Sweden, on July 24th-27th July, will be announced. The team will comprise the top three in the Order of Merit plus team captain Rhona Fanagan's three wildcard picks.
Barton down to last 16
It is down to the last 16 in this year's FBD Insurance-sponsored Barton Cup.
Round three saw the elimination of holders Royal Dublin who lost to Corrstown. Corrstown now play Bodenstown and 2006 runners-up Old Conna lost out 3-2 to local rivals Bray, whose next opponents are Carlow.
In all, nine Leinster counties are still represented in the competition. There is an all- Dublin clash between South County and Grange Castle, the latter defeated both The Grange and The Castle in previous rounds.
Recent winners Cill Dara take on Enniscorthy and the second Wexford club, Rosslare, play Callan. The top half of the draw has Headfort with three home games against Mullingar.
Tullamore, likewise, have the extra home pairing against fellow Offaly club Castle Bearna. The final pairings sees the other two Dublin survivors, Stackstown and Clontarf, meeting.
Sisters event in Birr
A sisters competition, sponsored by the Loughnane sisters, will be held at Birr Golf Club on Wednesday, June 20th, in aid of the Irish Handicapped Children's Pilgrimage Trust (IHCPT). It is an 18-hole scotch foursomes Stableford format. Entrance is €20.00 per pair - visitors welcome - timesheet in operation (057) 9120082.
St Anne's senior cup
The 36-hole St Anne's Senior Scratch Cup, sponsored by Capel Developments Limited, will take place on Sunday, July 8th. Entry is €40 and there is a shotgun start, with the morning tee off at 9am and the afternoon at 2.15. First prize is €725, with €350 for second. Further information from Kate at the office at St Anne's, phone: (01) 833 6471 or email: info@stanneslinksgolf.com or the club's website at www.stanneslinksgolf.com
Curragh scratch event
On Sunday, July 22nd the Curragh Golf Club will stage their 18th Ladies Scratch Cup. This year brings the extra excitement of play over a newly- upgraded course. This 36-hole competition will be a shotgun start at 9am and 2pm. Entry fee of €30 includes lunch and dinner. Entries limited to the lowest 60 handicaps of 12 handicap or below. The closing date for entries is Monday, July 16th. Entries can be sent to: Scratch Cup, Ladies section, Curragh Golf Club, Curragh, Co Kildare or email: Sineadkeane@ireland.com
O'Flaherty on a roll
What a run Seán O'Flaherty has been having at Galway Golf Club. A couple of weeks back he was playing off a handicap of nine, but by the end of a busy few days of competition, thanks to some fantastic play and three victories, he has lowered that significantly .
The first win came on Saturday, June 9th when he shot 38 points to beat Seán Smyth (11) on the back nine. Then last Friday, June 15th, he was celebrating win number two off his new handicap of eight, shooting 40 points to win by a point from Stephen Keenan (1).
And on Sunday he made it a hat-trick of wins when playing off seven, once again shooting 40 points and securing a countback win over Padraic O'Connor (7) and Jim Mulcaire (9).
Hopkins' time comes
The officers were keeping the prizes amongst themselves recently at Westport Golf Club as Nuala Hopkins, the Lady Vice-Captain, won Kay Browne's Lady Captain's Prize.
Having been beaten to the top prize on a countback on two previous occasions, the 20- handicapper actually won this year's event on a countback.
Her score of 70 was just enough to pip Bridie Moran (36) on the back nine. Third was Colette Fleming (28) with 72, while Carmel O'Connor won the gross prize. Next year, of course, she won't be able to defend her title, as she has the honour of being Lady Captain at Westport in what is their Centenary Year.
McCormack's double
It is never easy to follow up a victory in a major with another win. But Barbara McCormack proved it is possible when she won Sunday's singles competition at Kilternan Golf Club with a score of 30 points.
The win came just a day after she had won the Lady Captain's (Vera Cronin) Prize at the club. Playing off 26 - she is now off 25 - McCormack won the Lady Captain's Prize by three points.
After shooting 37 points on day one over the West Course at Powerscourt - where the club is based at present - she managed to hold on with 35 points on day two over the East course from the determined challenge of Mary Horn, who finished second with 69 points, having shot the best score (36 points) of the second day. The three class winners were Anne O'Connor, Nuala Le Gros and Nuala Tierney.
No stopping Lynch
Losing a shot or two is supposed to limit your chances of winning again. That is the idea anyway, but it doesn't always work out that way. Last week Jacinta Lynch won the weekly singles competition at Corrstown Golf Club with 39 points, four clear of her closest challenger Veronica Holohan (30).
Victory saw her handicap drop two shots, from 15 to 13. But it made no difference as she followed it up by winning the June medal with a score of 72. The other class winners in the medal were Ruth Maguire, Kathleen Hutton and Rose McDonnell.
