IMPRESSIVE Farrelly WINS CAPTAIN'S PRIZE

Ronan Farrelly produced some fantastic golf over two rounds to win Noel Reid’s Captain’s Prize at Dundalk Golf Club.
He came into the competition in a rich vein of form and, playing off eight, he certainly lived up to expectations over the two rounds as over 340 players tackled the tough test presented by the Blue championship course.
Farrelly shot rounds of 65 and 71 to finish on 136 nett which was four ahead of Declan Ward (16) and Ciaran Murphy (17) with Paul O’Callaghan (11) a further three shots back.   
His 65 nett in qualifying gave him the tournament lead heading into the final round as he took full advantage of a Saturday morning start in what proved to be the best weather conditions over the last weekend in July.
He went out in 40 gross after a front nine that included six pars before producing a flawless back nine of 33 gross with birdies on the 12th, 15th and 17th. His 73 became a 65 nett and left him two shots ahead of Ciaran Cooney (10) with Sean Og Cairns (14) on 68 and Maurice Soraghan (9) on 69.
A prior family commitment meant Cooney couldn’t play in the second round so Farrelly teed off with Cairns and Soraghan in the final round on the Sunday of the August Bank Holiday weekend and quickly showed that he was more than ready for the challenge.
He started with eight successive pars, before a bogey four at the ninth, to turn in one over par gross for a nett score of 33 and pull away from his nearest challengers.
Cairns who had started the day three shots behind was eight shots adrift by the time they stood on the 10th tee while Soraghan saw his deficit expand from four to seven shots.
All Farrelly needed to do down the back nine was hold it together and he did so, shooting four pars as part of a score of 42 gross. His 38 nett was matched by Cairns while Soraghan had a 40 nett.
Farrelly’s 71 nett in the second round gave him a final total of 136 and a comfortable victory in the final major of the season. Declan Ward, who had started the day six shots behind Farrelly, shot a 69 nett to finish second on 140 while Ciaran Murphy shot two rounds of 70 to also finish on the same total.
Caolan Rafferty, who will be part of the Ireland team at the Home Internationals this week, shots rounds of 70 and 73 to win the Gross Prize while Jim Dwyer had rounds of 72 and 74 to take the Veteran’s Prize.
The best score of the competition was recorded by teenager Micheal Begley (30) who shot two rounds of 66 for 132 but, as a juvenile, he was not eligible to win the overall prize.
Sunday’s final round was played in tough conditions with the heavy rain of Friday and Saturday making the course extremely long. However, Course Superintendent Damian English (10) showed his quality by shooting the only round of the day under 70 with an impressive 69 nett.
The prizes were presented by Captain Noel Reid on Sunday evening in a packed Clubhouse.
Congratulations to the Provincial Towns Cup team who are through to the final of the competition for the first time in many years. They had a great 5.5 to 1.5 win over Portarlington on Saturday and will now face either Coollatin or Wexford in the two-legged final on August 26 and September 16. 
Sunday, August 7 - Noel Reid’s Captain’s Prize – Overall: Ronan Farrelly (8) 136 (65, 71), Declan Ward (16) 140 (71, 69), Ciaran Murphy (12) 140 (70, 70), Paul O’Callaghan (11) 143 (71, 72). Gross: Caolan Rafferty 143 (70, 73). Veteran: Jim Dwyer (146 (72, 74), Juvenile: Micheal Begley (30) 132 (66, 66). Division 1: Maurice Soraghan (9) 144 (69, 75). Division 2: Sean Og Cairns (14) 143 (68, 75). Division 3: Ciaran Dunne (15) 145 (70, 75). Saturday Qualifier (July 29) - Overall: Ciaran Cooney (10) 67. Division 1: Cathal Purcell (12) 70. Division 2: Malcolm Drake (17) 70. Division 3: Paul Lee (22) 72. Sunday Qualifier (July 30) – Overall: Fergal Sexton (10) 69. Division 1: Bernard Laverty (8) 71/35. Division 2: John McKeever (14) 71/34. Division 3: Michael Keating (24) 70/33. Second Round (August 7) - Overall: Damian English (10) 69/32. Division 1: Bobby McCarthy (8) 70, Sean Hession (10) 71. Division 2: Liam McGailey (13) 70, John Mulligan (12) 71. Division 3: Ciaran Corbett (27) 73/36.5, Michael Browne (20) 73/38. Ladies Nine Hole - Overall: Catherine Duff (15) 40pts (20, 20), Pauline Campbell (8) 36pts (18, 18). Day 1: Geraldine Mohan (17) 20pts, mags Coburn (11) 20pts. Day 2: Una Connolly (19) 20pts, Leona Baillie (16) 19pts. 
Wednesday, August 2 - McKenna Man Open Singles Stableford - Overall: Sean Morgan (25) 39pts. Division 1: Andrew Coburn (8) 38pts. Division 2: Shaun Ward (10) 37pts. Division 3: Laurence Steen (27) 36pts. Gross: Caolan Rafferty 38pts.

LADIES SECTION
Captain Noel Reid held his Prize to the Ladies on Tuesday August 1. There was a great turnout for the event and some super scores returned.
Ciara McGinnity, one of the late starters of the day, shot a superb 69 to win the overall prize by one shot from Catherine Cafferty.
Ciara, playing off 38, had a very steady and impressive round. She covered the front nine in 36 nett. Her back nine was even more impressive, with 33 nett carded.
Criona O’Reilly shot 71 to claim top honours in Division One, while Deirdre Smith was the gross winner. Catherine Cafferty won Division 2 with a 70 and Nicola Fee was the Division 3 winner with 71.
There was a large turnout for the presentation of beautiful prizes in the clubhouse that evening. Captain Noel paid tribute to the great ladies section of the club, the Lady Captain and the ladies committee.
On the interclub front, preparations are underway for both the Junior Cup and Revive Active teams for their respective All-Ireland quarter final matches. The Revive Active team’s opposition will be Greenisland who beat Dunfanaghy 4-1 in the Ulster North final.
The girls team finished fourth in the Leinster North Girls U18 Inter Club at Ashbourne. The team of Keira Kenny, Edith Henry and Grace Cosgrove finished nine points behind winners Forrest Little.
Tuesday, August 1 - Captain’s Prize to the Ladies – Overall: Ciara McGinnity (38) 69. Gross: Deirdre Smith (+1) 82. Division 1: Criona O’Reilly (12) 71, Ann Hopper (16) 73. Division 2: Catherine Cafferty (26) 70, Catherine Duff (28) 74, Paula McKeown (29) 74. Division 3: Nicola Fee (43) 71, Nora Donaghy (37) 73, Fiona McLaughlin (31) 74. 9 Hole Competition: Deirdre Clarke 20pts, Mary Loughran 19pts.

Prize-winners in the Captain’s Prize to the Ladies at Dundalk Golf Club were: Standing (from left): Deirdre Clarke, Fiona McLaughlin, Catherine Duff, Nicola Fee, Catherine Cafferty, Criona O’Reilly, Nora Donaghy, Ann Hopper, Paula McKeown. Seated (from left): Deirdre Smith, Captain Noel Reid, Ciara McGinnity, Lady Captain Briege Renaghan.
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