Other golf stories in brief
Pres shows how
Michael Stanley from Carton House and Michael Lavelle from the K Club were the overall winners in president Des Smyth's Links GS prizes at Royal Dublin last week. Stanley shot 68, with halves of 32 and 42, while Lavelle shot the best back-nine of 35 in the most difficult conditions to take the gross with 70 from Brendan McGovern. The best score of the day, however, was recorded by president Smyth, who fired a 69 when only three players managed to reach the 10th green in two shots. Smyth had nines of 32 and 37.
Ballyliffin bash
Preparations are well under way at Ballyliffin Golf Club for the arrival of the European Seniors Tour this June. The event received a huge boost last week with confirmation that Ian Woosnam, Sandy Lyle, Sam Torrance and Costantino Rocca will be in attendance. The Irish Seniors Open will be staged on June 20th-22nd on The Old Links, and will elevate Ballyliffin Golf Club to the unique position in Ireland of having two tour championship links venues. The Glashedy Links staged the Ladies Irish Open in 1998 and the North West of Ireland Open in 2002.
Harvey ninth
Shirley Harvey from Belfast, a student at the University of South Alabama, finished joint ninth in a field of 86 at the recent Koasati Pines Collegiate tournament at a Louisiana venue.
Harvey had scores of 74, 77 and 78 for a total of 229 over the par-72, 6,203-yard course.
Cristina Martin (Florida International) won the individual honours with 72, 80 and 70 for 222. In the tightest of team finishes, Florida International (920) won by a shot from South Alabama in a field of 16 teams.
Browne better
Having finished runner-up in the opening Hilary GS outing over his home course, Laytown's Paul Browne went one better at Seapoint on Sunday with a winning nett 70 in the Joe Duffy BMW-sponsored event. The five handicapper turned in level par gross and did not let a triple bogey seven on the 13th derail him. He beat his playing partner Martin Kelly from Forrest Little by two shots. They were joined by Ryan Callan from Carton House in winning the team prize with a 64. The gross was won by Michael Lavelle from The K Club on 74, with Gary Cullen from Beaverstown taking the professional prize with 73. Cullen's round comprised 16 pars, one birdie and one double bogey. The next outing takes place next Sunday in Co Louth.
Turner off mark
Niall Turner from Muskerry in Cork started his professional career with a creditable 13th place finish in the first Hooters Tour event of the year at the San Ididro CC in Guatemala. The event was won by James Vargas from Miami with rounds of 69, 70, 75 and 77 for three-over-par 291 and a first prize of $34,000. Turner shot 74, 71, 76 and 75 for an eight-over total of 296.
Cullen hangs on
Windy and wet conditions last Friday at the Darren Clarke-designed Champions Club in Moyvalley, the latest venue on the Emerald Pro Tour, made scoring extremely tough. In the paid ranks, 77 - the highest winning score of the season - was enough to secure victory for Gary Cullen, a highly respectable score given the conditions. The Beaverstown professional won by a single shot from Michael Collins (Mallow GR) and Pádraic O'Rourke. The 32 points from Julian Keown, a four-handicapper from Greystones, won the amateur prize by one point over Carton House's Declan O'Neill (3) and Gerard Ryder (18) from Bodenstown. Mullingar's Des Morgan (+2) won the gross prize with 30 points. Next up for the Tour is a visit this Friday to Knightsbrook GC in Trim.
Athenry fifth
Athenry's Raymond Ryan and Pat Coen finished fifth in the 2007 Gulf Air International Pro-Captain Challenge in Bahrain last week, an event in which England's Brian Rimmer won for the second time in three years. The Athenry duo recorded a second round 59 to reach seven-under, having shot a two-under-par 62 on day one. They finished in some style, with three birdies on their last four holes for a back nine of 29.
Rimmer, the 2005 champion, and his amateur partner Neil Andrews finished on 13-under-par, three better than Royal Mid Surrey's Matthew Pagett and Peter Brooks and first round leaders Paul Wardell and Guido Biccochi, of Whitekirk near Edinburgh.
Ryder dividend
As the race for places in Nick Faldo's team hots up over the coming months, the Ryder Cup can already point to several winners this year without a shot being hit in anger. Over the past four years, upwards of €2.2 million, raised on the back of the biennial contest's success, has been earmarked for investment into grassroots projects across Europe. The Ryder Cup European Development Trust was set up in 2004, and Junior Golf Ireland has been one organisation to prosper following the trust's involvement with €150,000 ploughed in over three years to oversee the development of golf across the country. This has contributed to the setting up of 135 coaching centres in 30 counties and the training of teachers in 149 schools.
Catalonia at last
After 10 years and nine international encounters, Catalonia's best in pitch and putt have finally recorded a win over Ireland. In a friendly international last weekend at Platja d'Aro, a brilliant performance in the Sunday singles saw the locals record a 10-6 verdict. The scores were level after day one at four matches each. Ireland led 3-1 after the foursomes, but the home side shaded the afternoon fourballs to tie the match overnight. Inspired by long-serving Marc Lloret, who beat Ireland's Ray Murphy, and encouraged by big wins from Joan Perich and Dani Coleman, Catalonia won six of the eight individual jousts to record a famous victory.
skeenan@irish-times.ie
