Six birdies propelled Richard Newell to victory in the latest round of the Cathedral Financial Autumn Series.
Playing off two, Newell shot 40pts to edge out Peter McGinnity (16) by one point. He went out in 19 points helped by three point birdies at the third and seventh and came home in 21pts after three-point birdies at the 10th, 12th, 14th and 15th.
McGinnity also went out in 19pts thanks to three point pars at the second and fifth and a four point birdie at the ninth. He picked up four three-pointers on the way home at the 10th, 13th, 17th and 18th but a blank at the index two par four 11th meant he came up one point short of matching Newell.
Shaun Callan (12), Gordon Corry (16) and Paul Durnin (29) took the divisional honours while Caolan Rafferty recorded the best gross with 38pts.  
Sunday, 29 September 2024 - Cathedral Financial Autumn Series Singles Stableford – Overall: Richard Newell (2) 40pts, Peter McGinnity (16) 39pts. Division 1: Shaun Callan (12) 37pts, Edward Rogers (4) 36pts. Division 2: Gordon Corry (16) 39pts, Tommy Renaghan (18) 38pts. Division 3: Paul Durnin (29) 39pts, Harry O'Hanrahan (30) 38pts. Gross Recognition: Caolan Rafferty 38pts

The Gents Committee will be having their Autumn Gents Prize Presentation on Sunday 29 September at 6pm. 

It would be great to see as many members as we can in the clubhouse on Sunday. The Presentation will include prizes for the following competitions:

House Committee Cup - 10/11 August 
Jubilee Cup - 17/18 August
Singles Stableford - 30 August/1 September
Knights of Malta - 7/8 September
Singles Stableford - 15 September
Singles Stableford - 21/22 September

A memorable run of parring all holes on the back nine for 23 points took Ciaran Daly (10) over the line to claim the winner’s slot in the mid-week McKenna Man Open Singles 18 holes Stableford Competition with a final tally of 43 points.
 
His opening nine of 20 points was highlighted by birdies at the par four second and par three ninth for three-pointers, and he also gained three points at the par four third hole. On the closing nine his remarkable run of pars on all the holes saw him accumulate five three-pointers and four two-pointers to come home in 23 points.
 
His closest challenge came from President Gerry Campbell (28) who, after turning on 19 points, also produced his best golf on the closing nine. Beginning with a run of three pointers from the 10th to the 13th holes, he added another three points at the par four 16th hole, to come home in 23 points.

With 42 points Gerry had to settle for the Division 3 winner’s prize. The other divisional winners were Joseph Laverty (0) and Paul Morgan (19).
 
Wednesday, 25 September - McKenna Man Open 18-Hole Singles Stableford – Overall: Ciaran Daly (10) 43pts. Division 1: Joseph Laverty (0) 38 pts. Division 2: Paul Morgan (19) 36pts. Division 3: Gerry Campbell (28) 42pts. Gross Recognition: Joseph Laverty 38pts.

​The IJM Match Play Scratch Cup Finals were held over the weekend of September  21 and 22 and were contested by the top four in each of the four IJM Golfer of the Year categories.
The Senior Cup was won by Conall Murdock who, after seeing off Ciaran Traynor in the semi-final, faced tough opposition in the final against Aidan Lawless who had won a tense battle with Paul Murphy which was only decided on the 18th. In the final Conall continued his fine form over the weekend by winning the first hole and although Aidan fought hard to keep in touch Conall eventually won 3 & 2.
Billy Cairns won the Junior Cup after an exciting final against Brian Fennelly which he eventually won 2&1. Billy had beaten Eddie Rogers in the semi-final while Brian had seen off the challenge off Terry Conlon.
Having won the Gold Medal for the Club’s major matchplay competition Dennis Cunningham was favourite to take the Intermediate Cup but he had to fight all the way against Senan Duffy in the semi-final. Duffy led for most of the match but Cunningham finally got the better of him on the 20th. In the other semi-final Ken Norton also had a tough battle against Sean Gallagher whom he eventually beat on the 19th. In the final Dennis won the first hole and never lost the lead eventually closing the match out on the 17th for a 3 & 1 win.
Robert McCaughey won the Minor Cup but he too had to fight all the way in his semi-final against Paul Culligan with the match only being decided on the 19th. That earned him a place in the final against Cian Corbett who had beaten two-time Golfer of the Year Brian Crombie in another close match. The final was close over the front nine but Robert pulled away after the turn and eventually won by 4&3.

A back nine of solid, consistent and impressive scoring on all holes was enough to push Gerry Byrne (23) ahead of the chasing field to claim the overall winner’s prize in the weekend Cathedral Financial Autumn Series 18 Hole Stableford Competition with 43 points.
 
Gerry had an up and down opening nine, boosted by a run of five three-pointers in a row from the third to the seventh holes, to reach the turn on 19 points. He produced his best golf on the closing nine, parring the par five 10th hole, the par three 13th and 17th holes, and the par four 14th and 15th holes, all for three-pointers. He also tagged on another three points at the par four 16th hole, and scored two-pointers at the other holes to come home with 24 points.
 
He just edged out Fearghal Duffy (16) who, after reaching the turn ion 17 points, also
produced some exceptional golf on the closing nine, birding the par five 10th and par
four 16th holes for four-pointers, as well as racking up three-pointers at the 12th, 14th
and 17th holes to finish the nine with 25 points. However, his final tally of 42 points
meant he had to settle for the runners up position.
 
The divisional winners were Aidan McBride (13), Oisin McBride (17) and Gavin McDonnell (22).
 
Saturday, 21 September and Sunday, 22 September - Cathedral Financial Autumn 18 Holes Singles Stableford Series – Overall: Gerry Byrne (23) 43pts. Fearghal Duffy (16) 42pts. Division 1: Aidan McBride (13) 41pts, Barry Cunningham (8) 39 pts. Division 2: Oisin McBride (17) 40 pts, Kenneth Lynch (15) 39pts. Division 3: Gavin McDonnell (22) 41pts, Paul Lynch (21) 40pts. Gross Recognition: Ben Cahill (0) 36pts.
 

 

A roller-coaster outward nine, kicked off with back-to-back pars at the two opening holes for three pointers, set Austin Carroll (20) on his way to claiming top prize with 42 points in the weekend Cathedral Financial Autumn Series 18 holes Stableford competition.
Austin built on his impressive start with a further brace of three pointers at the par four fourth and par five seventh holes as well as giving his score a major boost with a birdie two at the fifth hole for four points to reach the turn in 23 points.
He had an up and down back nine, parring the par five 10th and par three 13th holes for three pointers, dropped a little on other holes, before finishing with a swagger by parring the par three 17th and par four 18th holes for three pointers, to come home with 19 points.
His one point better back nine just squeezed out Derek Murdock (14) who also finished on 42 points but had to settle for the runners up prize on countback. Derek set a blistering pace on his outward nine, birding the par four opening hole for four points before adding five three pointers to turn on 24 points.
He struggled to keep the momentum going on the back nine before finishing in style with a par three on the 17th hole for three points and birding the par four 18th hole for four points to come home in 18 points.
The divisional winners were Aidan Thornton (6), Martin Byrne (18) and Conor Marron (23).
In the mid-week Open Singles Stableford Competition sponsored by McKenna Man it was also the opening nine that proved decisive, with Mark Baillie (40) racking up a highly impressive 27 points that would spur him on to taking the overall winner’s prize with a final tally of 43 points.
On his outward nine scoring spree Mark parred the par four second hole for four points, added back-to-back four pointers at the par four fourth and par three fifth holes, tagged on another four points at the par five seventh, and sprinkled his score with three pointers at the par five sixth and par three ninth holes to turn on 27 points.
He struggled to maintain his high scoring momentum on the closing nine despite starting off with three points at the par five 10th hole and four points at the low index par four 11 th hole but battled on, racking up three points at the par four 14th hole and three solid two pointers to come hope in 16 points.
The divisional winners were Kenneth Cairns (13), Warrenpoint’s James McGrath (19), and Mannan Castle’s Ronan Molloy (24).
Sunday, 15 September - Cathedral Financial Autumn Series 18 holes Stableford – Overall: Austin Carroll (20) 42/19pts, Derek Murdock (14) 42/18pts. Division 1: Aidan Thornton (6) 41pts, David Carroll (4) 38pts. Division 2: Martin Byrne (18) 39pts, Barry Grennan (17) 38pts. Division 3: Conor Marron (23) 41pts, Gerry Byrne (22) 39pts. Gross Recognition: Aidan Thornton (6) 41pts.
Wednesday, 18 September - McKenna Man Open Singles Stableford – Overall: Mark Baillie (40) 43pts. Division 1: Kenneth Cairns (13) 41pts. Division 2: James McGrath (19, Warrenpoint) 39pts. Division 3: Ronan Molloy (24 Mannan Castle) 42pts. Gross Recognition: Joseph Laverty 37pts.

Home advantage once again proved crucial as Caolan Rafferty won the Dundalk Scratch Cup sponsored by One Finance for the fifth time on Saturday at Dundalk Golf Club.
The 32-year-old, who won the East of Ireland Championship in August as well as the scratch cups at Laytown & Bettystown and Ardee, was the only player below par at the end of the 36 hole tournament on a day when a strong wind coupled with lightning fast greens proved extremely difficult for the field.
Rafferty won by four shots from Warrenpoint’s Harry McArdle with last year’s winner, Dundalk’s Eoin Murphy, another two shots further back.
Rafferty, who was a member of the Great Britain & Ireland team at this year’s St Andrew’s Trophy against Continental Europe, opened with a one under par 71. He birdied the third and seventh going out but bogeyed the sixth. A birdie at 14 got him back to two under but he bogeyed the last to finish on one under.
But that was enough to leave him three shots ahead at the halfway stage from McArdle and Banbridge’s Jim Carvill on two over with Athenry’s David Kitt a shot further back.
As the challenging conditions on Dundalk’s testing championship course continued to ask serious questions in the second round, Rafferty remained steady. A birdie at the first was cancelled by a bogey at the second but he remained at one under for the tournament at the turn after seven successive pars.
He opened the back nine with a birdie at the par five 10th but handed it back at the short par four 14th before bouncing back with a birdie at the next hole. That moved him to two under for the tournament as he signed for his second 71 of the day.
Behind, nobody was able to mount a challenge. McArdle had five birdies in his second round but they were cancelled out by three bogeys and a double bogey as he could only manage a level par 72 to remain at two over.
Carvill was four over for his second round by the time he found his first birdie of the day on the par three 17th and finished on five over while a quadruple bogey eight at the second ended Kitt’s challenge early in his final round.     
Defending champion Murphy got off to the worst possible start dropping four shots over the opening four shots and was seven over after 13 before eventually signing for a six over par 78. His second round was a right roller coaster with six birdies and an eagle alongside six bogeys as he shot a 70 for the lowest round of the day. With most people going backwards during the final round he ended up taking third place.
The Carroll Cup, which had been won over the years by the likes of Padraig Harrington and JB Carr, was presented to Rafferty by Dundalk Golf Club President Gerry Campbell and Martin McDonell, Managing Director of One Finance.
 
Saturday, August 14 - Dundalk Senior Scratch Cup sponsored by One Finance – Overall: 142 - Caolan Rafferty (Dundalk) 71, 71. 146 - Harry Mc Ardle (Warrenpoint) 74, 72. 148 - Eoin Murphy (Dundalk) 78, 70. 149 - Jim Carvill (Banbridge) 74, 75. 151- Charlie Mc Donnell (Concra Wood) 78, 73. 152 - David Joyce (Powerscourt) 78, 74. Round 1 Gross: David Kitt (Athenry) 75. Round 1 Gross: Conor O’Hare (Greenore) 73. Overall Nett: Paul Murphy (Dundalk) 150 (75, 75).

A scorching display of high-quality scoring on the outward nine set Chris Connolly (15) well on his way to winning, by three shots with a nett 62, the weekend Knights of Malta Cup 18 hole stroke play competition.
His front nine laid the foundations for his victory with five pars, a birdie on the one of the toughest holes, the water protected par five seventh hole, and three one overs to reach the turn on nett 30. He held his nerve on the back nine, carding a string of back-to-back pars from the 10th to 12th holes, pars at the par four 15th and par three 17th holes, and boosted his score further with a birdie at the par four 16th hole to come home in nett 32.
The divisional winners were John Neary (8), Frank P Byrne (12) and Alan Uzell (21). The gross winner was Conall Murdock, playing off two, with a nett 69 (71 gross).
The competition proved to be the crowning glory for Frank P Byrne (12) whose tremendous score of 66 nett took him over the finishing line to capture the 2024 Golfer of the Year prize by three shots. With the best seven scores over ten competitions counting,
Frank shot a total nett score of 485 which equates to an average of slightly over 69, reflecting a great consistency of solid scoring over the full year.
Gerry Farrell (30) with 41 points emerged as the winner of the mid-week 18 hole Open Singles Stableford competition sponsored by McKenna Man. He produced a round of consistent scoring, kicking off with a three pointer at the opening par four hole and built on that with back-to-back three pointers at the par four eighth and par three ninth holes to reach the turn in 20 points. His closing nine included three pointers at the par five 10th, par four 14th and 18th holes as well as a birdie two at the 17th to come home with 21 points.
The divisional winners were Eugene J Hanratty, Declan Conlon and Ronan Dennedy.
Saturday, 7 September and Sunday 8 September - Knights of Malta Cup Stroke Play - Overall: Chris Connolly (15) 62. Gross: Conall Murdock (2) 69. Division 1: John Neary (8) 69, Malcolm Drake (12) 69. Division 2: Frank P Byrne (12) 66, Dennis Cunningham (13) 66. Division 3: Alan Uzell (21) 65, Paul Culligan (25) 66.
Wednesday, 11 September - McKenna Man Open Singles Stableford – Overall: Gerry Farrell (30) 41 pts. Division 1: Eugene J Hanratty (10) 39pts. Division 2: Declan Conlon (22) 3 pts. Division 3: Ronan Dennedy (28) 38pts. Gross Recognition: Ben Cahill 38pts.

Dundalk Golf Club’s bid to win a second national title came up short over the weekend when they were beaten in the All-Ireland Junior Cup semi-final by the eventual winners Athenry.
 
Athlone Golf Club on the banks of Lough Ree was the venue for the All-Ireland finals with the eigh men’s and women’s regional qualifiers from across Ireland arriving in search of this year’s green pennant.
 
Dundalk faced Monaghan’s Rossmore in the quarter-final on Friday and the Ulster South champions showed that their regional final win over Royal County Down was no fluke as the match was only decided on the 18th hole of the final match.
 
At that stage the teams were level at 2-2. Teenager Odhran MacShane secured Dundalk’s first point with an emphatic 5&4 win over Dermot McCrystal having led from the opening hole.
 
Behind him, player-manager Brian Og Renaghan also got his nose in front at the first and never looked back, eventually winning 6&4 against Ashley White.
 
The loss of five consecutive holes from the ninth proved to be Conor Murphy’s undoing as he lost 5&4 to Eoin McGinnity while Gerard Carroll lost 2&1 after being two up at the turn against Darren McQuaid.
 
It all came down to the final match between Clem Walshe and Daniel McCrossan. There was never more than one hole between them and they were all square when they stood on the 18th tee.
 
Both found the fairway with McCrossan enjoying a slice of luck when his drive ricocheted off the trees on the left into the middle of the fairway. Walshe pulled his approach left of the green while McCrossan went right into the trees and could only chip out. He then failed to find the green with his next two attempts and when his sixth shot failed to get close to the pin he conceded the hole and the match.  
 
The win earned Dundalk a Saturday morning semi-final against Athenry who had beaten Masserene 3.5 to 1.5 in their quarter-final.
                                                          
There was one personnel change to Friday’s team with Ciaran Traynor coming in for Carroll while Renaghan took over the number one spot with Murphy moving to three.
 
After eight holes it was looking good for Dundalk. Renaghan was two up against Fergal Coyle, MacShane was  six up against Jamie Holland, Murphy was one up against Ciaran Coughlan, and Walshe was one up against Brendan Dunne while Traynor, in match four, was three down against Nathan Mullins.
 
However, by the time MacShane closed out his match on the 13th hole for a superb 6&5 win, Traynor was heading for a 6&4 defeat while the other three matches were now all square.
 
In the top match Renaghan lost three successive holes from the 15th to lose 3&1 while Walshe lost 16 and 17 to lose 2&1. Murphy and Coughlan were all square going down the 20th when they were called in.
 
It was a narrow defeat for Dundalk but there was some consolation later in the day when Athenry brushed aside Abbeyleix in the final winning 4-1 with two of the matches called in.   
 
Friday, September 6 and Saturday, September 7 - All-Ireland Junior Cup Finals – Quarter-Finals: Athenry 3.5 Monkstown 1.5, Dundalk 3 Rossmore 2, Castletroy 2 Monkstown 3, Castle 1 Abbeyleix 4. Semi-Finals: Athenry 3.5 Dundalk 1.5, Monkstown 2 Abbeyleix 3. Final: Athenry 4 Abbeyleix 1.