Year end Turkey Shoot Charlesland 5th November 2017

We played the last outing for 2017 in Charlesland Golf Club it is fitting that it was in Greystones the base for the foundation of the society some years ago.

It was a fine autumn day with clear sunny skies and a strong wind that created its own challenge, again we were blessed with the weather as we have been in 2017.

The course was in very good condition dry under foot with good run on the fairways and the greens were in excellent shape.

This was the final round of the Golfer of the Year challenge which was contested over the six outings in 2017 with the five best scores to count.

The competition on the day was really for the top five places in the GOY competition the winner James McCormack had an unbeatable lead after showing great consistency in scoring over the year in spite of handicap cuts after being in the prizes previously.

It being the Turkey shoot and the final of GOY we did not have a general prize fund on the day but here are the results of the Charlesland outing.

1^st Place   Aidan Egan (20)        31 points

2^nd Place  Tony Birmingham      30 points   ( back nine)

3^rd Place   Derek Byrne              30 points

It was a very close result and good scoring on the day with the windy conditions.

Our 2017 Golfer of the year was James Mc Cormack who deserved the title with a great display of scoring consistency at all six rounds his final points total was 147 an average of 29.7 points over the five counting rounds.

The other positions in the top five are;

1^st   James Mc Cormack   (15)         147

2^nd   Aidan Egan   (20)                      130

3^rd   Tony Birmingham (21)               124

4^th   Jack Killane   (28)                       114

5^th   Brendan Toolan  (14)                  111

 

These five-people qualified for a draw for a top prize of a fourball in Druids Glen and this was won by Brendan Toolan.

There were two other prizes in the draw of a two-ball in Charlesland and the winners were Jack Killane and Aidan Egan respectively.

The members also had the Turkey Shot vouchers handed out which in this case were gift cards for wine from O’Brien’s wines so everyone who supported the society on the day went home with a prize.

This was my last day as Captain and it was my pleasure to have organised the years golf and prizes and to be able to pay back those loyal supporters of the society in 2017 with our Turkey Shoot outing.

We have a new captain for 2018 Mike Connolly and the Vice-Captain for 2018 is Pat Dowling and I wish them every success with the role next year and I am looking forward to playing some good courses again on the La Touche 2018 Golf Tour.

Captains Prize Day Druids Glen 30th September 2017

Well the penultimate round of the La Touche 2017 tour at Druids Glen was also our Captains Day, and again we were lucky with the weather on what is a great course and on many peoples favourite courses to play list.

Signs of the recovering Celtic Tiger also makes it quite expensive to play but it is such a fabulous venue, even in the dark as some of us found out, but I don’t regret the choice and hope everyone enjoyed the day.

The late start and failing light for the latter groups meant that the event became a 16-hole competition rather than the normal 18 holes.

The main prize of the day was of course the Captains trophy to be held by the winner until the 2018 Captains Day and a special Captains prize of a fourball at Killeen Castle, along with the other normal prizes on offer on the day.

Results

1^st Place    Captains Trophy winner    Alan Mc Bride  (21)           29 points

2^nd Place                                                    Brendan Toolan (15)          25 Points (count back)

3^rd Place                                                      Shay Byrne (20)                  25 Points

High Handicap                                         Aidan Egan (20)                  22 Points

Visitors Prize    2018 Membership         Tony Wyley (10)                31 points

Tony who played as a visitor had  the best score of the day so well done on that.

Longest Drive    10^th Hole  Tony Wyley

Nearest the Pin    8^th Hole Shay Byrne

Thank you all of you who played and supported the day and I hope that you enjoyed the day as much as I and my visitor David did.

We only have one more outing in Charlesland to go on Sunday 5th November and this will be our Golfer of the Year finale as well as the traditional Turkey shoot event. Hope that you can all get out for this and of course it is our AGM where Mike will take over as Captain for 2018.

Below is the latest total points for Golfer of the Year don’t forget the best five from six scores to count.

Total after 5 outings	points
James Mc Cormack	145
Aidan Egan	119
Tony Birmingham	94
Brendan Toolan	94
Chris O’Connor	93
Jack Killane	91
Geoff Fernihough	90
Shay Byrne	84
Alan Mc Bride	83
Darragh Costello	78
Donal Coyle	76
Pat Dowling	72
Derek Byrne	65
Mike Connelly	57
Gary Mongey	44
Gregory Whelan	32
Derek Holmes	27

 

Mount Wolsley Golf Club away trip Saturday 26th August

 

A small select group of golfers made it to our away trip to Mount Wolsley, a big thanks to Mike Connolly for organising the trip on our behalf, and also those who supported the outing by attending. I must mention that someone had a birdie on the 12^th hole, by the way, I think it was Mike.

We were all rewarded as well by having a great afternoon on what is a very well designed and well-kept golf course, only a hint of a shower threatened but didn’t cause too much disruption.

I must just mention that someone had a birdie on the 12^th hole, by the way, I think it was Mike.

It was a good choice of venue the Course and the Hotel were ideal for our needs i.e.: Golf, Drink and Food and in some cases more drink and somewhere to sleep eventually, and not too far away in travel terms.

The honours on the day went to the following:

1^st Place       Pat Dowling                 27 points (back 9)

2^nd Place      Paul Doyle                   27 points

3^rd Place      Eugene Fitzpatrick       25 points

We all enjoyed a relaxing evening with dinner and drinks after the golf and it was great to get together without the usual need to get home after our normal outing and an opportunity to chat.

The day after with thanks to Paul Doyle for organising, we got a slot at Kilkea Castle Golf Club, there were only four of us in the end. The 10 am start was a bit of a challenge alright but after a good breakfast the four of us were almost ready to play.

The course is just re-opened after its spell in Nama and they have done a good job in getting it back in shape. The greens and fairways and bunkers were all very good and the rough was shall we say challenging for those visiting it.

We didn’t have prizes for the day but in the end Chris O’Connor took the honours with the best score.

A trip like this is well worth doing and should be considered again for next year from the start of the season rather than left till the last minute to give more people an opportunity to join in.

Our next outing is Druids Glen on the 30^th September and is the Captains Prize outing hopefully we will have a good attendance for this on the day.

Geoff Fernihough

Captain 2017

 

Castleknock Golf Club 29th July 2017

Another round on our 2017 Tour completed after a great day out at Castleknock Golf Club playing for the Alan Keogh Memorial Trophy.

The weather again was fairly kind to us a few small showers to help remind us of where we live but it didn’t spoil what was a good day of golf on a very well presented golf course in excellent condition.

It was great to see Karl Keogh back in action after his long layoff from golf and I think he was surprised at how well he played and perhaps how much he has missed his golf as well.

 

Karl had very kindly agreed to present the Alan Keogh Trophy to the winner on our behalf and it was fitting the day was very close to the sixth anniversary of Alan’s passing. It is a nice way to recognise someone who had had a close association with our society and is sadly missed by all who knew him.

Congratulations to Shay Byrne for his win on the day and who is now the holder of the Alan Keogh trophy for 2017. It was a fairly close battle for the prize only 2 points the difference between Shay, Brendan and Alan so a close encounter.

Let me once again thank all who played and supported our event by inviting visitors as well, they all seemed to be having a good time and I hope that we can welcome them again, and maybe potential members for 2018.

This time we have some photo’s of the day to share on our blog hope you enjoy them.

Castleknock Results are as follows:

1st Place                Shay Byrne (24)                        34 points

2nd Place               Brendan Toolan (17)                 32  points

3rd Place                Alan Mc Bride  (22)                   32  points (countback)

High Handicap        Derek Bryne (26)                     30  points

Long Drive               Chris O’Connor

Nearest the pin        Liam Fitzmaurice Visitor

Shay Byrne and Karl Keogh

Shay Byrne 1st Prize

Brendan Toolan 2nd Prize

Alan Mc Bride 3rd Prize

Derek Byrne High Handicap

Liam Fitzmaurice Nearest Pin

Chris O Connor Long Drive

Our next outing is Druids Glen 30^th September and is the Captains Day where we will play for the Captains Trophy and Captains Prize.

Please note that the qualification for playing for the Captains prize is that members must have played in two rounds prior to this event. The players eligible to play will be listed closer to the event.

There is a good value deal available in Druids Heath, our members may be interested in a Mens Get Into Golf program being run by the Druids Heath golf pro Patrick Geraghty

The details are as follows:

Our PGA professional Patrick Geraghty will be holding a 6 week mens beginners programme starting Thursday the 10th of August. Classes will be from 7 to 8 pm every Thursday. The cost of the programme is €70. non-members. For more information please contact Patrick on 086 8112077.

http://www.druidsglenresort.com/druids-academy.html

Tulfarris Golf Club 17th June 2017

Another La Touche outing in fantastic weather the best day of summer so far I think, and the course was in great condition and it was a pleasure to be out there in such a wonderful setting that is Tulfarris.

It is a tough enough course that doesn’t take any prisoners, scoring points here was difficult and that was reflected in the scoring on the day.

We had four visitors including Brendan O’Brien who it was good to see again, and  ten paid up members played making a field of fourteen people competing for the honour and the prizes, again supplied by O’Briens.

Let me thank again all of you who supported the event and also brought along visitors as well making up the numbers is so important to keep the finances in balance especially with such low numbers now playing.

Tulfarris Results are as follows:

1st Place                Greg Whelan  (21)                        32  points

2nd Place               James McCormack (17)               30  points

3rd Place                Aidan Egan (20)                           27  points

High Handicap     Darragh Costello(23)                   25  points

Long Drive             Mike Connolly

Nearest the pin     Mike Connolly

Our next outing is Castleknock  on Saturday 29th July and this will be the Alan Keogh memorial Trophy event.         http://castleknockgolfclub.ie/

The first tee will be 11.50 am and the usual prizes will be available. Please put it in your diary and see if you can round up any visitors for the day as well.

Once again the earlier that you can let me know your intentions on playing in Castleknock is always appreciated.

Woodenbridge Golf Club 21st May 2017

 

Once again hope that everyone enjoyed our annual outing to Woodenbridge, it is a course that seems popular with most of my golfing acquaintances and is usually well attended.

The weather wasn’t quite up to the standard set so far this year but whilst dull for most of the day we didn’t get too wet and it didn’t affect the playability of the course.

We had eighteen members and seven visitors, hence the visitors prize making twenty three players in all so thanks to you all for your support on the day and am looking forward to our next outing at Tulfarris on Saturday 17^th June first tee 11.10am.

Woodenbridge Results are as follows:-

1^st Place                             Brendan Toolan (20)     37 points                    

2^nd Place                            James Mc Cormack  (19)  32 points           

3^rd Place                            Tony Birmingham   (23)     28 points

High Handicap                  Jack Killane  (28)     26 Points                

Nearest the pin Hole 8        Pat Dowling                                      

Longest Drive Hole 18      Gavin Holmes (visitor)

Visitors Prize                   Robbie Tighe (14)     35 points

 

The top three spots for Golfer of the Year Standings after two outings are:

James McCormack    60 points

Pat Dowling       53 Points

Tony Birmingham     52 points                 

The prizes again were wines picked from an O’Brien’s Wines selection for their restaurant customers which would not be available for normal retail sales and I hope that the winners all enjoy their prizes.

The next outing is not that far off and will be at Tulfarris Golf Club on Saturday 17^th June 2017 first tee 11.10 am. The cost will be €45 and there will be the normal prizes on offer.

As ever the earlier that you can let me know your intentions of playing the better and any and all visitors are of course welcome.

 Geoff Fernihough

Captain 2017

 

 

Arklow Golf Links Saturday 8th April 2017

 

 

We had a great day for our outing in Arklow the course was in good condition and the weather almost perfect for playing golf. Although the number playing was a bit depleted it didn’t spoil the day for anyone and all those participating seemed to have had a good time out on the course.

Welcome also to our new members Tony Birmingham and Alan Mc Bride both had a positive La Touche experience for their first outing as Tony won Nearest the Pin and Alan the Arklow 4 Ball raffle prize.

The greens here are certainly a challenge with plenty of twists and turns and please don’t mention those deep bunkers as anyone who was in one will attest to the difficulty of playing out.

The scores achieved reflect the difficulty around those greens and bunkers and nobody had an easy run out there. As you can see it was all very close in the end.

Results are as follows:-

1^st Place         Pat Dowling (21)    30 points                    

2^nd Place       Donal Coyle (21)   29 points                     

3^rd Place       James Mc Cormack (20)  28 points           

High Handicap      Aidan Egan (22)         27 points                 

Nearest the pin Hole 7        Tony Birmingham                       

Longest Drive Hole 18      Darragh Costello                          

The prizes were wines picked from an O’Brien’s Wines selection for their restaurant customers which would not be available for normal retail sales and I hope that the winners all enjoy their prizes.

I was hoping to add some photos to the blog but the photographer, who is now fired by the way, seemed to want to chop off the top of people’s heads. Next time maybe we can get some taken that I can use.

Well the next outing is only six weeks away so please plan early and put it in your diary, it would be nice to see more members playing.

That outing is on Sunday 21^st May at Woodenbridge Golf Club first tee 12 noon.

There will be prizes again for 1^st,2^nd and 3^rd places High Handicap and nearest the pin and longest drive and will again be a selection of wine.

 

Past Captains Outing – K Club Smurfit Course

 

Our first outing of the year held on the 25^th March at the K Club for all the past captains of the society and this year a special invitation to Pat Dowling as thanks for all his work as Treasurer over the years. This is an annual event that precedes the start of the Society year and is organised by the incoming captain on behalf of the past captains of the society.

There were eleven participants teeing off on what was the best day of the year so far weather-wise and that thankfully continued for the whole day.

The competition format was Singles Stableford and winter rules were in place, some areas of the course were wet and prone to plugged balls but overall the course was in a fair condition for the time of year.

There was a healthy competition amongst the players with the prestigious Past Captains Trophy at stake once again, as well as a few side bets and a quickly organised prize fund for First, Second and Third Places thanks to Tony Wyley.

The results were very tight and are as follows;

1^st    Declan Byrne (10)      36 points

2^nd   Niall Quigley  (22)       35 points

3^rd    Brendan Toolan (19)   33 points

 

Declan therefore keeps the trophy for another year after his win in 2016 at the last Past Captains outing.

Our first outing for the society is coming up on the 8^th April and will be held at Arklow Golflinks and I look forward to seeing everyone there.

 

Welcome to 2017

Welcome to our first blog of 2017 and a happy belated new year to everyone and I hope that you are all looking forward to our outings in 2017 as much as I am.

My first task in 2017 is to ask if each of you can you please look at contacting any old members with whom you are still in touch with to see if we can get them back.

Then the second task can we all look to recruit a new member it would make a big difference and ensure our continuance as a society.

Visitors are also more than welcome but available tee times are always prioritised for members.

2017 Tour  –  La Touche Golf Society  

Membership this year will be €50 as agreed by members at the AGM and this will be collected at our first outing. It is my intention to try to return this in the form of a year end “Turkey “dividend to all those who have fully supported the society during the year. This will of course depend on finances throughout the year so please get out and join in all our outings for the year. 

Saturday 8^th April  2017  Arklow Golf Links this is our first outing for 2017 and I am hoping that it is a course that everyone will enjoy playing. Our tee time is 11.30 and the cost will be €45 there will be prizes for 1^st,2^ndand 3^rd places. A high handicap prize and nearest the pin and Longest drive.

Click link below for details of the course for anyone who has not played there before:   www.arklowgolflinks.com/

Sunday  21^st May   Woodenbridge Golf Club  this seems to be a favourite of a lot of players who enjoy visiting here to play golf. We have a 12 noon tee time and the cost will be €50 there again will be prizes for 1^st,2^ndand 3^rd places. A high handicap prize and nearest the pin and Longest drive.    http://www.woodenbridge.ie/

Saturday 17^th June Tulfarris Golf Club the tee time is booked for 11.10 am and again the cost is €45 and prizes for 1^st,2^ndand 3^rd places. A high handicap prize and nearest the pin and Longest drive.     http://www.tulfarrisgolfclub.com/

Saturday 29^th July  Castleknock Golf Club  for the Alan Keogh Memorial Trophy the tee time is booked for 11.50 am the cost will be €55 and prizes then for 1^st,2^nd,3^rd place and nearest the pin and longest drive as normal.   http://castleknockgolfclub.ie/

Saturday 30^th September Druids Glen  another favourite course of most golfers that I speak with and one of my own favourites. The tee time booked for 11.00am and the cost will be €75 this will be the Captains Day outing and the Prize for 1^st Place will be the Captains trophy and a Captains prize of a fourball at Killeen Castle, prizes then for 2^nd,3^rd place and nearest the pin and longest drive as normal.  http://www.druidsglenresort.com/        http://www.killeencastle.com/

Saturday 4th November Charlesland Golf Club  Turkey Shoot and the final outing for 2017 and also our AGM will be held after our outing and end what I hope will have been a good year for the society.  Prices to be announced later. http://www.charlesland.com/

August Away day

You will see that there is a gap in activities for the month of August and I am hoping that we can get away somewhere for a night in between a couple of rounds of golf. Mike our Vice Captain is looking at this and the details will be finalised later. This will not be a counting round for GOY.

Don’t forget if anyone wishes to write anything or contribute to our blog please forward to me.

Geoff Fernihough

Captain 2017

 

 

 

 

Glen of the Downs 2016

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Glen of the Downs was the venue for the last outing of the year and saw a very close contest for Golfer of the year which was won by Niall Quigley by just three points from Tony Wyley.

It started as a cold day but actually turned out to be a pleasant day weather wise, we were unfortunate that the frost caused the use of temporary greens which made for hard work on the chipping and putting front.

But in spite of this everyone seemed to have had a good day out and some good scores were achieved.

Results

1st Place                     James Mc Cormack (18)             38 points

2nd Place                   Chris O’Connor  (19)                   37 points

3rd Place                    Pat Dowling    (23)                         35 points

La Touche Golf Society 2106 Golfer of the year Niall Quigley