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News: Martin Conlon wins at the NORTH SHORE. Doesn't extend hole-in-one run though.

Auckland Irish Golf Society

JUN 2017 - The North Shore Golf Club

As Diarmuid was away for the trip to the North Shore I’ll be doing the report and sticking to what actually happened.


Some great scoring on the day mostly by the usual suspects. Early days on the golfer of the year table but Shane Duffy is leading the way from Padraig O’Gorman.

The real race is between Lefty and Martin Conlon who are only 7 points behind the Shane having played a game less.

Check out the leader-board here http://whare.100webspace.net/joomla/


North Shore results….

1st Martin Conlon 39pts
2nd – Jeff Batley 38pts
3rd – Shane Duffy 38pts

Longest Drive – Richie

Closest to pin – Padraig

Team – Brendan Doyle & Lefty Prendergast 32pts

That’s it! Look forward to a more expansive write-up next month when our intrepid reporter returns to pick at old wounds.

 

May 2017 - The Grange Golf Club


As it's the final time the Auckland Irish golf society will play at The Grange, it was fitting that something special happened. Something that was never before seen in its 28 year history and was very much celebrated with an open bar...... Padraig scored only 17 points!

Meanwhile before his tee-off and fresh from his capture of the Seamus Maher memorial Cup, a nervous Martin Conlon escaped the practice green and said to me he didn't fancy his chances today. So in his wisdom, on the 110m meter 4th hole Marin decided to take putting out of the equation and get a Hole-in-one!
On the course I was informed by Seamus that a miracle had just happened and Martin duffed a wedge downhill that trickled onto the green and wind assisted into the cup. But when I finally arrived back to the clubhouse after a long round, Martin regaled me with a reenactment of the now famous shot while standing on the table for effect and talking loudly to make sure all could hear it again, how he adjusted for the wind, cleaned his ball extra hard, moved his feet to counter the gravitational pull of a near full strength winter solstice moon before I presume he closed his eyes real tight and gave it a good lash. When Martin had finally finished I said, "That's great Martin, can I get my pint now?" By then the staff were placing the stools on the bar and most people had long since left so I'll have to get that drink next time.
Congratulations Martin, a great accomplishment that most people are lucky just to see let alone achieve and you were so humble in your moment of glory.
Also, it has been brought to my attention that Martin queried why I didn't get around to writing about our trip to Muriwai in March as his many followers were greatly distressed they could not read about his mighty 46 stableford points.

It was great to see a few new faces teeing it up from Marist Rangers GAA club, brought along by James Hickey who made his debut at Pukekohe. They and a few others will miss the next outing at the North shore because of the Lions tour but are keen to play again. One former county footballer did approach me after his round and asked that I didn't mention him in the report in case any news got back to the Irish tabloids and sensationalize his exploits in New Zealand. I had to explain to him, it was about thirty years ago and people have long forgotten that Wexford minor team that nearly got to Croke Park. Padraig, we like you, but you have to stop bringing it up.

On to the prizes and firstly the longest drive. Niall Buckley managed to keep it on the fairway of a tight 16th hole and only 70 meters from the green. I know the distance because I hit my third shot from the same location.
The 8th hole closest to the pin was taken out by Richie Hayes. There were some vicious and much believed rumors that Richie four putted from the remaining six feet but I believe he was happy with the par.
The 15th hole closest to the pin was won by Paddy McAuliffe who used a driver on the intimidating par three. Maybe he should have kept the driver in his hand as the putter didn't work in the birdie attempt.
The winning team was Ivan & William Ravlich who were sent out as the first of the pack. We can only assume that the greens were a lot easier those 8 minutes earlier as they put together a score of 61 points.

The top four on the day were as follows:
1st Doire Reid - 41 points
2nd William Ravlich - 38 points
3rd Paul Turner - 37 points
4th Keith Lawson - 35 points

You'll find Dory close to the top of the leader board now but no sign of Nemo.
Paul, who came in third was very steady all day but couldn't hang around after to collect his much deserved prize. He was agitated by the speed of play, saying he was really looking forward to getting home to watch the final of The Bachelor and that he was backing team Lily to capture Zac's heart. You might think that does not sound fun but it's far better than listening to Martins repeated relay of his day.


April 2017 - Pukekohe Golf Club

Pukekohe Golf club was founded in 1912 by a local farmer.

The man was traveling to Clarke's beach on his horse and trap for a game when the horse, suffering from exhaustion, refused to travel any further and stopped somewhere along the old Waiuke Road. In his frustration that he would not play golf that day, the farmer began striking balls into the nearest ditch while shouting obscenities at his selfish horse and thus, Pukekohe golf club was born.

So in memory of the founding member, this weekend the Auckland Irish golfing society reenacted the scene of an angry golfer shooting indiscriminately into trees, bushes and in Lefty Prendergast's case, far off fields.

This behavior was reflected in the scores, with a significant drop from the dizzying heights of Waikare and Muriwai where 44 points wouldn't have won you a lick from the Cadburys chocolate that fell on the floor.

The high point, apart from Gerry scoring zero points on the last two holes, was Tom Horsburgh's "nearly" hole in one. On the par 3 11th hole Tom, who was said to be aiming for the ditch, flew a ball straight at the flag, hit the cup and bounced out to leave him two feet away. Local Police have been contacted on the grounds of damages to the golf course and damages to the game of golf as Tom missed the birdie putt.

This action was copied in the closest to the pin competition on hole 16 where Padraig O' Gorman was the winner but also missed the birdie putt.

The winner of the longest drive for the second time this year was Tom Boyle. Tom's playing partners Gerry and Seamus were doubting Tom's abilities on the 5th hole as they searched for his ball in the rough, when in fact it was 50 meters passed Gerry's ball in the middle of the fairway and he will be going for the hat-trick of chocolate boxes next month.

Tom Boyle also won a prize for the best team score as he paired up with Seamus 'Sergio' Brennan. They just beat Richie and Kevin but as Richie learned, there are no prizes for second place here!

Or indeed is there anything for fourth place, but it doesn't stop the master of ceremonies trying to work his own name into his speech and sneak a bottle of wine for himself.

The winner on the day was Darryl 'Lefty' 'Pats brother' Prendergast with a score of 35 points, and in doing so vindicated his decision to ruin his 5 handicap right handed game so that he could win a $40 voucher to put towards a left handed distance finder. I was surprised that Lefty had the winning score since I spent most of the day looking for his balls but that's a story for another time.

In second place on count back was Kevin Everett and third with 34 points was Tom 'nearly' Horsburgh who each took home a bottle of wine.

After three rounds Lefty now leads the way at the top of the leaderboard on 118 points, ahead of Padraig on 112 and Tom on 106.

 

Pukekohe yet again proved to be a difficult place to score well on but thank you to everyone who came for a very enjoyable day.

We will head to The Grange next on May 21st and Richie will send out an email the week before.

 

 

JANUARY 2017 - WAIKARE

First event of the year was a road trip to Waikare Golf Course just outside Te Kauwhata in the Waikato and what a welcome we got! They even distributed packed lunches to all those attending. It’s a little gem of a country course and will likely be included as a fixture in the coming years after this outing.
On the golfing side of things there were heaps of great scores and top of the pile were two Waikare members making use of their local knowledge. Paddy McAuliffe took out first place by virtue of a countback from Keith Lawson with both of them finishing on 41 points.
Having played with Paddy it came as a bit of a surprise that he had so many points as for 18 holes we had to listen to him chirping away about how rubbish he was playing.
In third place sporting flashy new golf clubs we had Tom Horsburgh with 39 points.
Closest to the pin and proving that that he’s a better golfer than most of us even when he’s swinging left handed was Darryl Prendergast.
Tom Boyle on his debut had the longest drive.
The pink/yellow/orange ball team comp was won by Doire Reid, Ali Willis and Tom Boyle. They were lucky enough to each win a box of melted chocolates.
There were a few absentees for this trip, none more so than our reigning champion and newly espoused Diarmuid O’Keeffe. Rumours that there were Irish Golf release clauses written in to the nuptials are as yet unproven.
We can all find out at the next outing which is in
Muriwai on the 19th March.
Look out for an email gathering names closer to the date.

 

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December 2016 - Akarana Golf Club

 

The final outing of the year took place at Akarana on Sunday 4th Dec and winner on the day and taking home The Irish Cup by virtue of a countback with 39 points was Brendan McCahill. Second (on the same score) was the big hitting Barry Dillon. Third on 38 points was Luke Sullivan and in 4th making a triumphant return to these shores was Jim Conway with 37.
Speaking of triumphant returns…..the ever-green Gerry Quinn was on hand to dish out the prizes and awarded shot of the day on to Shane who drawing all his Crazy golf experience and imagining windmills everywhere took aim at the green on the 11th and topped his ball through the culvert under the bridge and into the lake on the other side. 
There was two closest to the pin holes with Nick Margison closest on the 5th and Padraig Pablo O’Gorman closest on the 16th. Longest drive on the 12th was taken out by Pete Bonisch.

Golfer of the Year for 2016 is Diarmuid O’ Keeffe with a total of 184 points from his top 5 scores. 
Well done Diarmuid!!! 
He was made to sweat until the last putt on the last hole with Dave Kelly applying pressure all the way. In fact Dave, having birdied the 17th had a good chance to take it to a playoff but Diarmuid who finally ditched the Warriors hat managed to get it across the line with a par on the last. Padraig’s challenge was derailed by a lost ball on the 4th after starting off with a hiss and a roar and being 1 under after 3 holes. 
The final group all shot well with 35 being the lowest amongst them and should have easily taken out the team Yellow Ball. Andy, the 4th member of the group, was waxing lyrical about the fantastic birdie he had on the 8th the last time he played Akarana so when by pure luck it was his turn to have the yellow ball on the 8th there was only one place it was going to go. He duly obliged by sending it to a watery grave and their dream of Cadbury’s Favourites drowned with it. 
Only two teams managed to guide the Yellow/Pink Ball safely home with Pat Coll, Barry, Ali and Richie scoring best on 34 points.

Well that’s all folks. Big thanks to everyone involved in the scoring, organising, reports and most of all attending. Numbers were pretty good again this year with an average of nearly 30 for each of the outings. Look out for an email in with the 2017 calendar.

Until then have a great Christmas and New Year!

 

October 2016 - Whitford Golf Club

The penultimate round of Auckland's Irish Golfing Society was played on the impeccable fairways and quick greens of Whitford Golf Club. With the sun out some people were burning up the course while others were just burning; a bit slow with the factor 50 and they now have a perfect hat outline on their bald heads! You can even make out a 'Warriors' crest on my forehead, which would explain my incompetence to see out what could have been a winning round.

I'll also apologize for forgetting to bring the long drive marker with me, which is why a sheet of paper was fixed down to the 8th fairway with a few tees. At least the paper made it back to the clubhouse which is more than can be said for the closest to pin marker, still on the 17th green.

Starting with the closest to the pin and as the marker was still outside it quickly turned into a shouting match. Most people that saw the marker could see there was one name.... but it was illegible. I honestly thought it was signed 'Pablo Escobar' but Padraig claimed it was him and began trying to convince anyone that would listen. In the end Padraig was happy to be accountable for any atrocities Mr Escobor may have committed if it meant he was awarded the bottle of wine.

The long drive competition was won by Dave Kelly. Dave told me before the round he was having a lot of trouble off the tee but he must have been trying to lull me into a false sense of security before we battled it out for the overall prize. Dave also won a bottle of wine for his efforts.

The winning team with a combined pink ball score of 31 on count-back was Richie, Darryl, Shane and Diarmuid. Usually the team would look to their low handicapper for some inspiration, but as Darryl was only showing what not to do, it was left to the other three members with Shane Mitchell picking up most of the points.

Martin Conlon therefore nominated Darryl for the prize of worst golfer of the day in retaliation for Darryl's similar nomination of Martin a couple of months ago. Darryl gladly accepted the prize with his typical happy demeanour as he will probably go and shoot 74 at the weekend. He may play left handed next year off 18 so get your money on now for the 2017 champ.

On the team ball, special mention to the Sullivan's group who lost it on the first hole! We have all been there before and at least they weren't over confident.... unlike Pablo's Cartel. With three holes remaining thoughts in Pablo's head turned to chocolates and minutes after instructing his team to stay calm, he flew the ball over Whiford Park Road and into the nearby fields.

Top Three Scores:

1st Andy Gray                        37 points

2nd Keith Lawson                   36 points

3rd Diarmuid O' Keeffe            36 points

Andy Gray was the overall winner of the day with 37 points for a $30 Golf Warehouse voucher. Andy reckoned this was his first win but he was definitely seen on other occasions leaving the clubhouse with a bottle of wine. Keith Lawson was second on 36 points winning a $20 Golf Warehouse voucher.

Going into the last round the top of the table looks like this:

Total               Best                Worst

Diarmuid            183                 38                    35

Dave                  177                 42                    30

Padraig               174                 38                    32

 

Diarmuid needs to score over 35 points to extend his lead.

Dave can draw level at the top with 36 points on his home course

Padraig will need his highest score in years but is a multiple past-champion.

 

The final is at Akarana on the 4th of December at 1pm.

Hopefully we can get a big crowd before taking a break for summer, see you there

 

 

September 2016 - Muriwai Golf Club


The Auckland Irish golfing society woke to the sound of wind and rain and typically Muriwai is the last place most would like to play on a day like this, but hopes were that the weather would clear. We were rewarded with great conditions for links golf, even a little sun and the course was in very good condition.

By time it came to tee off all were ready to play apart from some confusion over the team competition. It seemed a straight forward pair's stableford but with the introduction that each score would be multiplied together, Tom and Richie had to find a quiet corner for twenty minutes and a nut out the complex equation of 2 x 2. Luckily Richie still has one of those calculator watches and everyone set off towards the beach.

The closest to the pin was on two holes today, the 8th and 17th. The classic 8th hole on Muriwai is always challenging and plays differently each day depending on the wind. So into a strong head wind the 146m down-hill hole required a 4 iron making if difficult to hit the green but Kevin Murray must have struck a beauty to land ten feet short of the flag.

Over on the 17th, Seamus Brennan in the last group had an easier job with his pitching wedge dropping into the green, just feet from the pin. Both Seamus and Kevin won a bottle of the finest Marlborough wine that Pak'n'Save has to offer.

No surprises on the longest drive with Darryl 'Pats  Brother' Prendergast hitting the centre of the fairway. There must have been back spin on the ball as it was only 235m from the tee but good enough for a bottle of red.

The winning team with a score of 71 points was Shane Duffy and Pat Drumm. On Pat's debut for the season he will surely be tempted back next month by the prospect of another box of chocolates. Shane will also be happy with the chocolates added to his wine for third place as a peace offering to the boss who he says let him out to play today.

Top Three Scores:

1st Diarmuid O' Keeffe     38 points

2nd Bruce Payne               36 points

3rd Shane Duffy                35 points

Thanks to Darryl for the prize giving and scoring. With two rounds remaining a shoot-out is developing Dave Kelly and Diarmuid for the overall win at the end of the year. The trophy could be clinched with a score in the high thirties. That is unless Padraig, Shane or Bruce can put together a couple of excellent final rounds.

The next round is at Whitford Golf Club on the 30th of October at 11am,.

See you all next month

 

 

August 2016 - Titirangi Golf Club

It was a great day for the trip to Titirangi with the sun shining, the course in excellent condition and the greens were very hard in both meanings of the word. After such a nice weekend I think it's safe to say the wet Sundays for the Auckland Irish golf society are behind us and I don't expect to see any more rain until about May.

The closest to the pin "allegedly" was Anto Watters with a great strike to within feet of the pin on the 160m 7th hole. I say allegedly as although a couple of groups did see the Anto's marker on the green as they tried in vain to beat it, but the marker did not make it back the clubhouse. Patrick Deane must have some DIY to do at home and hopefully the spanner will return from his bag for the next outing.

Rory Deane won the longest drive on the 12th to show up the older lads, which is everyone as he was the youngest of the group. I'm not even sure he is old enough to drink which must be why his dad was so insistent he choose the "good wine" when collecting his bottle. Patrick must need the wine to get through the DIY work.

The winning team by a distance with a score of 32 points on the pink ball was Andy, Tom and Neil. I hope the chocolates make up for the obvious disappoint of Andy when he was bumped down in the individual rankings following the later groups card submissions. I can still here the cry of "burglar" when I close my eyes, but I sleep just fine.

Top Three Scores:

1st Diarmuid O' Keeffe     34 points

2nd Richie Hayes              33 points

3rd Andy Gray                   32 points

Thanks to Ali for the prize giving, Andy for the scoring and Richie for making sure we all get under way on time.

So with three rounds remaining the championship is still wide open with a handful of players capable of taking the trophy and scores close to 40 may be needed to clinch the top spot come the 4th of December in Akarana.

The next round is at Muriwai Golf Club on the 18th of September at 11am,.

See you all next month

 

 

 

July 2016 - Clarkes Beach

 

The ladies and gentlemen of the Auckland Irish golf society descended upon Clarks Beach on Sunday, but the bucket and spade, factor 50 sun cream and ham sandwiches were not packed as they would normally be for a typical July day in Ireland by the seaside.

The bucket and spade was made more redundant when the bunkers were marked as GUR for the weekend but wellies or "gum boots" could have been used if you found yourself a little bit of track on the way around the course.

Generally the course was holding up well and conditions, although windy, were good for those that made it on the day. It was only a very intense five minutes of heavy rain and wind that had the first group hiding under a small tree with the weaker among them searching out the quickest way to the clubhouse. The weaker member will remain nameless but he also left before it was announced that his foursome won the team competition. So John, if you want those chocolates I'll see you on Saturday.

Thank you to Darryl Prendergast (Pat's brother) for the prize giving because he was reluctant as it's a bit awkward when you take most of the prizes for yourself.

Darryl took out the longest drive of the day on the 10th hole which I forgot to measure at the time but it was at least 500 meters and all air as it plugged in the ground on re-entry to the atmosphere. It will be noted in the records that there was a slight hurricane blowing in his favour.

Kevin McCaffrey was the closest to the pin on the 85 meter 3rd hole and it's a well done all round as nobody managed to hit the same green last year.

The pink ball was returned by all but one team with Ernie Els striking again and every team that did manage to bring it home had great tales of escape and near misses. The wining team was Diarmuid, Darryl, Pat and John with 37 points which made the 4 minute and 59 seconds search in the trees following the very first shot of the day very worthwhile.

Top Three Scores:

1st Dave Kelly                  40 points

2nd Neil Woodhams          39 points

3rd Diarmuid O' Keeffe      38 points

Padraig has been caught at the top and now shares the lead. Ali and Seamus are within striking distance and a round in hand but Dave Kelly is the hot favourite with 115 points and only three rounds played. With an average of 38 points a round, he has been put under investigation by the World Anti-Doping Agency but just like the Russians he will be found clean and is looking good for the gold (no pressure).

The next round is at Titirangi Golf Club on the 21st of August at 11am, $50 green fees. Hope to see as many of you there as possible.

 

 

June 2016 - North Shore

The Auckland Irish Golfing Society met for round five of the championship on The North Shore golf club. Conditions were great with a light wind and warmer temperatures than most Irish summer heat waves. Everyone also enjoyed the good course conditions and there was not much water to lose the pink ball in but of course a few teams did.

Andy Aitken was in the prizes again and won this round with 38 points. Thankfully he returns to Scotland next month so everyone will have a chance to win at a bottle of wine for the rest the year.

The top three and scores after a count-back are as follows:

Andy Aitken 38 points

Seamus Brennan 37 points

Dave King 37 points

Closest to the pin was Shane Duffy on a hole that everyone wanted a second go at as it played a lot longer than it seemed.

Longest Drive was won by Shane Mitchell. Dave King was out-driving the rest of his four-ball all day with his 3 wood but Shane must have kept quiet when it came to the long drive hole and won by an easy 4 meters.

The same four-ball was steady for most of the day and got their pink ball home safely on 34 points. Congratulations to Dave King, Shane Mitchell, Andy Aitken and Diarmuid O' Keeffe.

The Ernie Els award was introduced this month for incredible performances on the green. It is not good when you have more stokes on the green than on the previous par 5 so well done to Padraig O' Gorman. Unfortunately this means he loses ground at the top of the leader board and is obviously cracking under the pressure of the chasing pack.

Thanks to everyone who played and look forward to seeing you all in July. The next round will be at Clarks Beach on the 24th July, first tee time is 11am and a very reasonable $25.

 

 

May 2016 – Gulf Harbour


The brave and faithful had an early start to the day at Gulf Harbour for round four of the Auckland Irish Golfing Society Championship. The competitors of the AIGSC or 5th major (as it’s known around the world) had high hopes with decent scoring conditions of clear skies and little wind. But that would not last and even though the bunkers were GUR the greens were running at about 13 on the Stimp-meter and were to prove very difficult for most.

Those that had a heavy weekend around the Auckland nightclub scene rented carts while the more sensible elected to walk. Some are still making their way around the cliffs of Okoromai Bay but those that made it back have had their scores added to the leaderboard.
You can view the table on our website:
http://whare.100webspace.net/joomla/

The winners of the longest drives (with a golf ball, not cart) were Darryl Prendergast and Richie Hayes.

Closest to the pin was Brendon Cooney and Andy Aitken, winning a bottle of wine each. They can drink those while reminiscing of their greatest shot ever taken on the golf course. Andy has yet to share the wine with his amazing caddie for the day, without whom he would have struggled significantly.

The team of the day was Padraig O’ Gorman and Dave Kelly. There must have been a few days planning and practice in the merger of this team judging by their individual scores.

The top four and scores are as follows and congratulations to Dave Kelly with a great score of 42 on his Irish Golf debut. Your handicap will be cut SEVERELY for this.

Dave Kelly 42 points

Andy Aitken 40 points

Brendon Cooney 39 points

Padraig O’Gorman 38 points

Thanks to everyone who played and sorry to those that endured Gerry Quinn’s roast at the prize giving. The next will be at North Shore Golf Club on the 19th June, first tee time is 10am

 

April 2016 - Redwood Park

It was a dark and stormy Sunday afternoon when over 30 “golfers” heroically arrived with much optimism to Redwood Park for the third round in the search for the 2016 champion.

 

There were three sick notes on the morning with an English man, a Kiwi and a Scot crying off with the sight of the robust clouds over the Waitakere Ranges.

 

The course was in excellent condition as we were met by the cheerful and welcoming club staff who we suspect knew what was in store for us less than an hour later.

 

A heavy mist aside the first group was happy to tee off even earlier than the officially allotted time and the rest of the Lemmings followed at eight minute intervals. It was on hole four when Richie had the thought that we may have to play the rest of this game over a pint in the dry and close-by clubhouse as the mist became a heavy deluge, but we continued to hole 5 with everyone else meandering around the course ahead of us, heads down and hopes fading.

 

By the time we finished the next hole the course had become unplayable and despite Diarmuid O’Keeffe sticking a beautifully flighted 7 iron to within three feet of the fifth hole and taking the prize from Patrick Deane, there would be no bottle of wine today as the decision was made to walk through the shallow lake on the sixth fairway back to the clubhouse, while collecting the other groups along the way.

 

There may be a return to Redwood at a possibly reduced price later in the year but we will get back to you on that with one month still to be filled.

 

Next month we will have the extremely long walk to Gulf Harbour but it is nothing compared to the trek around the course.

Hope to see you all on the 22nd May, first tee time is 8:30am

 



March 2016 - The Grange

Sunday saw a great turn out of 27 golfers at The Grange for the second round of the year.

The course was in excellent condition with the weather generally pretty good with the odd shower throughout the afternoon.

At the end of the day, Patrick Deane took the overall spoils with an excellent 40 points.  Second on the day was Howard Small followed by Peter Hickey with 36 points on a count back.

Longest drive was taken out by Kevin McCaffrey with nearest the pin falling to Peter Hickey.

The team prize was won by Padraig, Darryl, John and Sean.

Hope to see you all next month when Richie should be back at the helm.


November 2015 - Akarana

The final Irish Golf Outing was held on Sunday 22nd November at a breezy Akarana.

Division 1 winner on 36 points was Patrick Deane. In second on a count-back was Richie Hayes. 
Winner of Division 2 and also taking home the Irish Cup was the top scorer on the day Pat Drumm on 38 points. Andy Aitken was 2nd with 37 points.
Longest drive on the 18th hole was Richie whilst Padraig O'Gorman won closest to the pin on the 3rd hole.
Only one team managed to bring home the pink/yellow ball and that was the group of Andy, Nigel, Richie and best of all Pat Bradley who plans to only play with pink golf balls from now on .

2015 Irish Golfer of The Year was Paddy McAuliffe. He scored a total of 185 points in his best 5 scores which averages out at 37 points per round. Well done Paddy!!

Gerry Quinn walked away with best dressed golfer of the year and in recognition of his efforts was awarded a lovely flowery wall clock to add to his collection.

Thanks to everyone who helped out through the year especially Andy, Tom, Peter, Ali, John, Pat and Gerry. Also huge thanks to Eoghan and Matua Wines for providing the prizes at the last two outings.

Next outing won't be until February 2016 and we'll send on details of all the dates once finalized. Until then have a great Christmas and Happy Golfing!!

Final leaderboard can be found here: http://whare.100webspace.net/joomla/

October 2015 - Muriwai

The October Irish Golf/ 2015 Irish Feis co-sanctioned event was held on Sunday 25th on a mildly windy day out at Muriwai. Thanks to Eoghan and Matua Wines for sponsorship of the prizes.
The Division 1 winner on 35 points was Shane Mitchell. In second on a count-back and using his local course knowledge was Ronan Gilsenan.
Winner of Division 2 and banishing the ghosts of Titirangi was Paddy McAuliffe on a massive 41 points. Andy Gray was 2nd on the day with 31 points.
As the highest Stableford score on the day Paddy is also the proud owner of the Irish Feis Green Jacket which he now has to wear anytime he enters the Irish Club.  
Longest drive into the wind on the 4th hole was Eoghan Gilsenan and Andy Gray won closest to the pin on the short par 17th with a strike that would also have won “Closest to not being on the green”.
Paddy and Bruce won the team event on 77 points.
Thanks to Peter and Andy for compiling the scoring and also Gerry who despite having some shoddy material to work with, managed to complete the prize-giving almost without insulting anyone’s attire.
One final mention for Paddy who has taken a huge leap in the Golfer of the Year standings.
With only one event left he has a clear lead over Peter Hickey and Darryl Prendergast. In the prophetic words of Dean Barker “It’s in the bag mate!”

Final outing of the year will be in Akarana on the 22nd November.

Have a look at the leader-board and where you are on it  http://whare.100webspace.net/joomla/


September 2015 - Titirangi

On a glorious summery September morning a bumper field of 47 crawled out of their beds to take on the many and varied challenges Titirangi offers. The course was in fantastic condition as always and the greens and bunkers caused many heads to be scratched and expletives to be muttered.
Top of the pile in Division One with a steady 37 points was Derek Naughtin. Second was Diarmuid O’Keeffe on 35 points and third was Peter Hickey.
Winner of Division 2 was Andy Aitken with 34 points and Kevin Everitt in second on 32 ahead of Brendan McLister on a countback.
Longest drive was Richie on the 5th.
Only half the field took part in the closest to the pin comp with the marker proving difficult to find as it toured the course in Tom’s bag but undoubtedly the winner would have been Derek Naughtin with a superb strike to within a couple of metres on the difficult 14th.
The Pink/Yellow ball was won by the 4-ball of Darryl, Derek, Richie and Shane on 37 points.

Couple of notable mentions on the day….

  1. Paddy McAuliffe for demonstrating how to construct a great round of golf by scoring a magnificent 21 points in his first eight holes.
  2. Paddy McAuliffe for demonstrating how to demolish a great round of golf by scoring 6 points in his remaining ten holes.
  3. Ali’s lovely shirt.

As always thanks to everyone who helped out on the day. Pat and Ali for collecting the money, Tom, Peter and Nigel for doing the scoring and Gerry for presenting the prizes.
Next outing will be on the 25th October in Muriwai. Look out for an email gathering names in a few weeks.

 

August 2015 - Redwood Park

On a warm Sunday afternoon a strong field turned out at Redwood Park for an afternoon’s golf.

To no-one’s surprise Ali Williams ( shorter than the All Black) won the individual honours with 37 stablefords and Darryl Prendergast was runner up on 36. Ali backed up the win with nearest the pin to claim another prize. Longest drive was won by Kevin McCaffrey who easily put it over the top of Peter Hickey’s effort by some 40 metres – and on the Fairway this time.

The “Pink Ball” team contest was won by the trio of Kevin Joyce, Howard Small and Kevin McCaffrey with a runaway 37 stable ford points; vanquishing the opposition as one of only two teams to bring "the pinky" back to the clubhouse.

Highlight of the day was Pat Coll hitting an Eagle 2 on a par 4 hole some 335 metres long. However no-one saw the ball go into the hole, including Pat who even rolled up his sleeves before lifting the ball out of the hole!!! For that he was awarded a prize for the best 2. All in all a great day and the next meeting is at Titirangi.

Intrepid Sports Reporter

 

K. McCaffrey

 

July 2015 - North Shore

 

26 golfers made the trip to The North Shore Golf Club on Sun 19th July. Many of them were first timers who no doubt were suitably dazzled by the skills on show.
The previous day had seen a tornado tear through the place but by the time we took to fairways most of the debris had been moved to safety. There were plenty of obstacles still remaining though as the scores reflected.
Taking out 1st place and miles ahead of anyone else was Paddy McAuliffe who also charged to the top of the overall leader-board by virtue of his 39 points. Second on a count-back with 32 points was Peter Hickey with Richie Hayes in third.  
Longest Drive was Brendan Doyle and John Atkinson hit closest to the pin. In John’s absence and without his knowledge it was decided he would generously donate his prize to the next closest to the pin, Jordan Gosling. The team event was taken out by Paddy McAuliffe and Eugene Duff.
Huge thanks to everyone for helping out on the day!

Golfer of the year (top 5 scores counting) is being led by Paddy on 175 with Peter Hickey in second on 168 and Eugene Duff in third on 163. Early days yet though……

 

You can view details at http://whare.100webspace.net/joomla/


Next event will be Redwood Park on the 23rd August with the first tee off at 10.30. Green fees are only $30. Look out for an email gathering names in a few weeks.


 

 

 

June 2015 - Clarks Beach

 

A total of 25 golfers took the trip out to Clarks Beach where we were warmly welcomed back like old friends.
Division 1 was won by Kevin Joyce on a whopping 39 points. Second was Peter Hickey with 37 points.
Winning Division 2 for the second time this year was Eugene Duff with 37 points. Paddy McAuliffe on 36 took out second place.
Longest drive on the 17th was Peter Hickey.
The deceptively long (110 mtrs) and notoriously difficult (index 16) hole number 3 hosted the Closest to the Pin competition. A proud moment in the history of the Irish Golf Association saw not one person land a ball on the green so God was declared the winner. Well done us!
The ever controversial “Pink Ball” team event made a re-appearance and was won by Padraig, Ali, Darryl and Richie who managed to bring it home in one piece and score 33 points in the process.

Huge thanks to everyone for helping out on the day!

 

Next event will be North Shore on the 19th July with the first tee off at 10.42am. Look out for an email gathering names in a few weeks.

 



May 2015 - Gulf Harbour

A bumper field of 38 golfers turned up to take part in the first trip to Gulf Harbour and enjoyed a golf course in great condition and relatively good weather for the time of year.
The greens were magnificent but lightening quick and on some of them if you ended up on the wrong level you were punished with having to watch your first putt roll off the green and back down the fairway.
Division 1 was taken out by Barry Dillon with 41 points (gross 75). A long way behind in second on 37 was Richie Hayes and third on 35 was Pat’s Brother Darryl.
Division 2 was won by Tom Horsburgh on 39 points with Darryl’s Brother Pat second on 36. Third place was Paddy McAuliffe with 35 by virtue of a countback over Martin Conlon.
Longest drive on the 6th was Barry Dillon with a drive that was probably 30 metres longer than anyone else and overcoming his fear of par 3’s with the closest to the pin on the 15th was Diarmuid O’Keefe.
The team event on the day was teams of two with combined stablefords and well clear of the field were Barry and Darryl with a total of 76 points.
Best pants winner was Doire Reid with his new luminous orange favourites which could have been seen from the Sky Tower.

Huge thanks to everyone for helping out on the day! Andy and Peter for the scoring, John for collecting the money, Ali for the prizes and Gerry for his hilarious prizegiving and socks.

Next event will be Clarks Beach on the 21st June with the first tee off at 11.06 am. Look out for an email gathering names in a few weeks.

 

 

 

 

April 2015 - Pakuranga


A total of 20 golfers turned out on Sunday and were rewarded with excellent weather.
With some players admitting to spending a bit more time in the trees than they would have liked, it was definitely a course where accuracy of the tee was a big advantage!
At the end of the day, Doire Reid took the top spot with 37 points followed by Ali Willis with 33 points (after a countback from Seamus Brennan).
Doire also took the closest to the pin honours whilst Padraig O'Gorman claimed his maiden longest drive.
Doire claimed his third prize of the day as part of the team event (partnered by Seamus Brennan) with a comfortable victory.

 

Next event on the calendar is Sunday 17 May at Gulf Harbour kicking off at 11.10am.

 

March 2015 - The Grange Golf Club

 

29 golfers rocked up at The Grange to tackle what proved to be a very challenging course. The trees just seem to attract golf balls out there and if you manage to avoid the plentiful hazards, lakes and bunkers and make it to the green you're left with undulating lightening fast putts. Adding in to the equation the shiny new pink balls for the team comp and its no wonder everyone struggled to score well on the day. That said, the course was in great nick and is a very welcome addition to the tour.

Making a habit of winning and again finishing top of the pile in the 1st division with 33 points was Peter Hickey. Including the last outing of 2014 this was Peters third win in a row.

Division 2 was taken out by Howard Small on his debut with 35 points.

Longest drive was Damian Dobb with a magnificent wallop on the 18th. Despite it appearing to have been a pure fluke, Damian assured us he meant to strike the trees on the right of the fairway before kicking back on to the fairway. In his defence he would have known which way it would ricochete as he had been hitting trees all day.

Closest to the pin on the 103 metre 4th was another debutant Martin Halsall.

Thanks to everyone who helped out on the day, Ali for buying the prizes and collecting the money, Tom and Peter for collating the scores and Gerry for dishing out the prizes and the abuse in equal measure.

 

Next outing is in Pakuranga on the 19th April so look out for emails later in the month collecting names.

 

Also if anyone knows of someone selling a set of left handed ladies clubs give me a shout or flick us on an email to  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

 

 

 


 

 

 

February 2015 - Pukekohe

 

……and we’re up and running for 2015!

30 players in total turned up to tee off on the parched fairways of Pukekohe Golf Club. It was great to see a ladies four-ball and some new participants as well as a scattering of visitors joining the usual suspects.
There was some very fine scoring on the day and picking up where he left off last year, Peter Hickey took out Division 1 with 39 points.
In Division 2 the scoring was even more impressive. The early pacesetter in the clubhouse was Doire Reid with 44 points but just as he was formulating his acceptance speech Eugene Duff topped him with a scorching 45 points. 
Longest drive was Ali Willis and closest to the pin was the perennial winner Brendan Doyle.
The team event was taken out by Martin Conlon and Shane Duffy. 
Thanks to everyone for helping out on the day. 

Next outing will be on in Grange Golf Club on the 22nd March. Hope to see you all there!

 

 

November/December 2014 golf outing report

The final outing of the year took part in Akarana on the 7th December with a field of 23 turning up to see who would take out the Golfer of the year for 2014.

In the final group shootout Peter Hickey used his local knowledge to storm to the top of the leaderboard with 38 points and take the title with 180 points from his top 5 rounds. Well done Peter!!

Hopefully there's room on the mantlepiece for the lovely trophy.

Top scorer on the day was Seamus Brennan with an unbelievable 42 points and he held on to the Irish cup which is played for on the final outing each year. This is the 3rd year in a row Seamus has won the Irish Cup! (that doesn't mean he can keep it).

Longest drive was Bob Cranston on the 12th and Eugene Duff hit closest to the pin on the 3rd hole.

The traditional Yellow Ball carnage ensued in the team event with only one team out of the six managing to bring it home. Well done Padraig, Seamus, Martin and Shane. Next year as requested by Pat Bradley we will be retiring the Yellow Ball

competition. YAY!!

It will be replaced by the Pink Ball competition......which is similar in every way except colour.

Huge thanks to everyone who helped out on the day especially John for agressively collecting the money, Gerry for the Prizegiving Roadshow and Andy for compiling the scores and thanks to everyone who helped out during the year also.

 

Look out for an email in the New Year detailing the fixtures for 2015. Until then have a great Christmas everyone and happy golfing!!

 

 

October 2014 golf outing report

Thanks to a miserable weather forecast and also the generous loaning out of a number of regulars to the Gaelic Football we had a small field of 15 players for the trip to Huapai.

As it turned out, it was a glorious day out West and although the greens had been recently cored and were fairly hairy there were some excellent scores.

 

1st place on the day went to Kevin McCaffrey with 40 points. Brendan Doyle was second on 38 points ahead of Paddy McAuliffe thanks to a count back. Longest drive on the 6th was Kevin McCaffrey and closest to the pin on the 16th was John Atkinson.

 

The Golfer Of The Year table is really hotting up as Brendan's score was enough to put him on top with a 2 point lead over Darryl. Peter Hickey is 3 points further back with Paddy one behind him.

The worst counting scores they will be hoping to replace at the last outing are: Brendan 31, Darryl 32, Peter 31 and Paddy 28. With only 6 points covering them any of these four can take the title and will form the final fourball on the last day provided they can make it.

 

Final outing of the year will be on in Akaranga Golf Club on the 7th December with the first tee off at 12.30pm. Let us know if you’re keen to play by emailing irishgolfakl@gmail.com. We will give you an allocated tee time and four-ball in advance but if you want to group your own four-ball let us know so we can book it in and give you a tee time.

 

Numbers should be high so if you're hoping to play please let us know asap and we'll book more tee times if possible

 

Green fees are only $35!!

 

 

 

September 2014 golf outing report

Sadly the September outing in Pakuranga was a bit of a damp squib. Plenty of players still braved the elements to get a round in but the ducks frolicking in the ponds on the fairways were the real winners on the day.


Next outing will be on in Huapai Golf Club on the 19th October with the first tee off at 11.00am.

Let us know if you’re keen to play by emailing irishgolfakl@gmail.comWe will give you an allocated tee time and four-ball in advance. If you want to group your own four-ball let us know so we can book it in and give you a tee time.

Green fees are $40.

 

 

 

August 2014 golf outing report

26 people took part at Whitford Golf Club on a gloriously sunny Sunday 17th August.

The fairways at Whitford are among the best in Auckland. All the work the club has put into drainage over the last few years has really paid off and it’s fast becoming one of the best courses we visit all year.

This time around Division 1 was taken out by John Atkinson on 38 points while Division 2 was won by Joe Boyle on 34 points.

The yellow ball team event was won by Padraig O Gorman, John Atkinson, Charlie Connolly and Dave Ferguson. Sadly, Yellow ball fever struck again with two of the teams losing the ball off their first tee shots.

Closest to the pin on the difficult 17th was Jon McGrinder and Ivan Ravlich outdrove everyone on the 8th hole for the longest drive.

Thanks to Peter Hickey for doing the prize-giving on the day and Andy Gray for compiling the scoring.

Next outing will be on in Pakuranga Golf Club on the 21st September with the first tee off at 11.30am.

Let us know if you’re keen to play by emailing irishgolfakl@gmail.comWe will give you an allocated tee time and four-ball in advance. If you want to group your own four-ball let us know so we can book it in and give you a tee time.

Green fees are only $30 (normally $50!!).

 

July 2014 golf outing report

A brave group of 24 took to the fairways of Muriwai Golf Course on Sunday 20th July. It was definitely four seasons in one day as we went from gale force winds, sudden downpours to beautiful sunny skies.

Some very good scores saw Division 1 taken out by Darryl Prendergast. Division 2 was won by Nigel Wall. The team event was won by Richie Hayes and John Atkinson. Closest to the pin on the 11th was Pat Prendergast and John Atkinson outdrove everyone on the 4th hole for the longest drive.

Thanks to Pat for doing the prizegiving on the day and Julie Boyle for writing up the report.

Next outing will be on in Whitford Golf Club on the 17th August at 11.07am. We'll be teeing off from the 1st and 10th holes and the green fees are only $35

 

 

May 2014 golf outing report


The fourth outing for the year was held in Redwood Golf Club on Sunday 18th May.

There was a bumper field of 30 on the day with a a number of participants making their debut.

First in Division 1 went to Adrian Haughey on 37 points in only his second appearance with Darryl Prendergast in second.

Division 2 was taken out by Doire Reid on 38 points with Brendan McLister in second place only losing out in the countback.

I (Richie) won the longest drive and closest to the pin with my only two good shots on the day.

The team comp was won by Darryl Prendergast and Brendan McLister a team score of 26.

Huge thanks to Gerry Quinn for doing the prizegiving and Tom Horsburgh for doing the scoring.


Next outing will be on in Pukekohe Golf Club on the 22nd June at 11.36am.

 

We'll be teeing off from the 1st and 10th holes and the green fees are only $30.

I’ll send out a reminder closer to the date but let us know if you’re keen to play by emailing irishgolfakl@gmail.com

 

April 2014 golf outing report

The third outing for the year was held in the North Shore Golf Club.
The course was in excellent condition and there was an almost full field of 23 players on the day.
The scoring was pretty spectacular too with Richard Lowthian taking out the Division 1 prize with 45 points (highest score of the year to date). Pat Prendergast won the division 2 with 41 points. 
Closest to the pin on the last hole was Tommy Lavery and longest drive on a day where he could do no wrong was Richard Lowthian.

The team comp was won by Darryl Prendergast and Ian Jenkins with 355 points narrowly pipping two of the new Bohs boys who finished with a team score of 352.

Next outing will be on in Redwood Park Golf Club on the 18th May at 11.30am. Green fees are great value at only $30.

 

 

March 2014 golf outing report

The second outing for the year was held in the Grange Golf Club. Its been quite a while since we held an event there and it turned out to be one of the best presented courses we've visited for a long time so hopefully it will become a regular fixture on our schedule.

On a glorious day there were a number of excellent rounds with Pats Brother Daryl coming home on 39 points in the 1st division. Daryl was also the nominated prize giver on the day and he had some kind words to say about himself when he went up to receive his winnings..... from himself.

Brendan McLister took out the 2nd division top prize with 37 points.

Longest drive AND!! closest to the pin was Brendan Doyle.

The ever popular "Yellow Ball" team comp made a return much to Pat Bradleys delight and the fourball of Joe, Julie, Baz and Tom won it with an incredible 37 points. A couple of players decided to off load the yellow ball into the bushes early so they could concentrate on their individual scores in a tactic that had their teammates scratching their heads.

Next outing will be on in the North Shore Golf Club on the 27th April at 12pm. Please reply ASAP with your Golf Membership Number if you intend playing as we have to book out the tee slots in advance.......and remember no banter on the first tee. They don't like that.

Anyone without a golf membership number let me know and the club will book it under a spare number


Hope to see you all there!

 

February 2014 golf outing report

The first outing for the year was held in Aviation Golf Club. On a blustery day it proved difficult to score but the winners of the two divisions did well with Peter Hickey and Brendan Doyle finishing on 38 and 37 points respectively.

Longest drive was Pats Brother Daryl and closest to the pin was Padraig O’Gorman. Winning the team event were the Hickey brothers John and Peter.

 

Next outing will be on in the Grange Golf Club on the 23rd March at 12pm. Please let me know ASAP if you intend playing as the club would like a good idea of numbers. We’ll be teeing off from the 1st and 10th tees

and the Grange have asked us to collect the green fees beforehand. $45 for green fees and prizes which is a great rate. Hope to see you all there!

November 2013 golf outing report

The final outing for the year was held in Maungakiekie Golf Club. Seamus Brennan, making the most of his local course knowledge, came home with 39 points to win the Irish cup for the second consecutive year.
Padraig O’Gorman was second on 38 points with Shane Mitchel third on 36 points. The pairs competition was won by Darryl Prendergast and Shane Mitchel. Nearest the pin was taken out by Seamus Brennan and
Brendan Doyle took out the longest drive just piping a disappointed John Atkinson.
Anton Watters was crowned Golfer of the year with an impressive total of 182 points from his top five events and was awarded the Brendan Barry trophy.
Darryl Prendergast and Padraig O’Gorman were joint second on 175.
A massive thanks to everyone who turned up through the year to make the outings a success. Thanks to Richie Hayes for his contribution in organising outings during the year and to all those that assisted. A huge thanks to Padraig O’Gorman for his efforts on the organising committee over the last 10 years, from which he is retiring. Richie Hayes, Pat Prendergast and Alasdair Willis will be the organising committee for 2014.
Look out for the email next year detailing next year’s outing calendar but until then have a great and safe Christmas and summer and hopefully see you all back again in February 2014.
You can view details at http://whare.100webspace.net/joomla/

For Outing results click on “Outings Schedule / Maungakiekie Golf Club”

For Golfer of the year results click on “Leaderboard”

For previous year’s winners click on “Hall of Fame”

 

October 2013 golf outing report

October outing was held on Pakuranga golf course where we were introduced to summer golf.

Brendan McLister manoeuvred his ball through the tight tree-lined fairways to score a high score of 41 points well ahead of John Hickey who scored 36 points and was second on a count back from Padraig O’Gorman in third place.
Closest to the pin on the 8
th hole was Pat’s brother, Darryl Prendergast, and John Hickey claimed the longest drive on the 1st hole.

Richie Hayes introduced the “money ball” team competition where perfectly good golfers experienced yellow ball fever and wished to never to see another yellow golf ball. The “Money ball” competition was won by the team of Brendan McLister, Pat Bradley, John Atkinson and Padraig O’Gorman who were least affected by the yellow ball and scored 35 points.

Thanks to all who contributed to the outing success on the day especially Richie Hayes and Pat Prendergast for conducting the prize giving.

 

Our final outing for the year will be in Maungakiekie on the 24th NovemberTee off is at 11.30 and hope to see you all there. 

 

 

September 2013 golf outing report

 

Septembers outing was held in Redwood and thankfully the rain stayed away.

Although the ground was quite soft after several heavy showers the night before the course held up really well and the scoring was higher than the last few outings.

Martin Conlon took first place on 40 points with Pat Bradley using his local knowledge to come in second on 39 points.
There was two players on 38 points with Anton Watters pipping another local, Gerry Quinn, on a countback for third place.
Gerry had the consolation of knowing that he can hit the ball much further than anybody else as he took out the longest drive on the long par 5 sixth hole. As everyone knows, golf is really all about driving and not that tippy tappy putting rubbish. Well done Gerry!! Sorry about the chocolates…..it won’t happen again.
Closest to the pin on the 16th hole was Richard Lowthian with a lovely strike to near gimme distance which he rattled in for a birdie with nervous confidence.
With only two outings left the overall leader board has Anton Watters sitting on top with only a few players remaining in striking distance.

Big thanks to everyone who turned up and Peter Hickey for doing the prizegiving.

Next outing will be in Pakuranga on the 20th October. Tee off is at 11.30 and hope to see you all there.

 

August 2013 golf outing report

Another outing – another great day for the ducks. Happily the clouds parted long enough for most of the field to get around relatively dry and the course in Whitford was in great condition.
Ali Willis made it three wins in a row coming home with 37 points. Dean Roulston was second on 35 points in a countback over Darryl (Pats Brother) Prendergast. Dean also took out the longest drive.
Winning the closest to the pin on the 3rd hole was Andy Gray. Whilst Andy’s shot was indeed very much  the…. closest, sadly it was also the only attempt all day on the 105 meter par 3 that actually ended up on the green. An impressive effort by all involved on the day.

Next outing will be in Redwood on the 21st September. Hopefully the rain will stay away and we get to show our silky skills in the sunshine for a change. Tee off is at 11.30 and hope to see you all there.

 

July Outing Report - Muriwai, Sunday 13 July

A turnout of 14 golfers braved what is likely to be the toughest conditions of the year (the course really bared its teeth with very strong winds). It was a clean sweep on the podium for the Committee - Alasdair Willis came out on top with 33 points followed by Padraig O’Gorman on 31 points and then Richie Hayes third best on 28 points.

Longest drive fell to Shane Mitchell with Pat Bradley nearest the pin with an excellent effort on the 17th.
Next outing is at Whitford Golf Club on Sunday 25 August at 11.00am.  Hope to see you all there


June Golf outing in Pukekohe CANCELLED due to rain


May 2013 golf outing report

An impressive turnout of 28 players braved the periodic downpours to play Huapai last Sunday.
Ali Willis prevailed on the day with 41 Stableford points pipping Seamus Brennan by virtue of better inward half. Bernie McCahill finished close behind with 40 points.

The team prize was taken out by Pat Prendergast and Derek Naughton. Whilst Richie Hayes could not achieve a hat trick of nearest the pins, he did take out longest drive.
Honours of nearest the pin on the day fell to Derek Naughton.

Thanks to Ally for helping with the report and to Richie Hayes for organising the competition/prizes. Good to see such a strong turnout and hope this will continue for the next outing at Pukekohe on Sunday 16 June at 11.44am.


April 2013 golf outing report

April's outing to North Shore Golf Club was attended by 26 members who braved the ominous looking storm clouds. Once out on the course, a sustained period of thunder also managed to liven up proceedings. Winner on the day was Anton Watters with 37 points having pipped both Pat Prendergast and Padraig O' Gorman who both finished on 36 points. Richie Hayes is fast becoming the nearest the pin specialist with a superb iron on the last. Longest drive on the day was taken out by Pat's brother (aka Daryl Prendergast). Team event winners were Peter Hickey and Tom Horsburgh who accumulated 26 points. Thanks go to Padraig and Richie and Eamon for their organisation on the day. Next outing is Huapai on 19th May at 11am.

March 2013 golf outing report

March’s outing at Peninsula Golf Club was well attended. Tom Horsburgh hit an amazing round and won on an impressive 45 points, with the consistent Kevin Hahn 2nd on 39 points and Seamus Brennan 3rd on a countback. Richie Hayes won longest drive and had a bit of luck to also clinch nearest the pin prize. The team format was teams of two with the best Stableford points between them on each hole counting. Team prize went to Tom Horsburgh and Andy Gray on 50 points. Big thanks to Richie, Tommy and Pat for helping out on the day. Next outing will be in North Shore Golf Club on 21st April at 11.30. The course are looking for confirmed numbers at least a week before April’s outing, so we’ll be looking for names early.


February 2013 golf outing report

……and we’re up and running for 2013! The first outing for the year was held in Aviation Golf Club.
Putting down an early marker and obviously already eying up John Hickey’s player of the year trophy was Baz MacKenzie who came home with a massive 45 points! 
Anton Watters was second on a countback with 38 points, the same total as John Hickey. Longest drive was Derek Naughton and closest to the pin was yours truly.This year there is also going to be a team event for each of the outings.
The format for Aviation was teams of two with the best Stableford points between them on each hole counting. Winning that one was Baz McKenzie and Peter Hickey with a total of 50 points. 
Big thanks to Pat Prendergast who has provided us with two specially commissioned pieces of “Spanner” art for the longest drive and nearest the pin markers.
Not only are they great for marking where the ball lands but they should come in hand for tightening loose bolts on the golf carts and settling any disputes on the course. Genius!

Next outing will be on in Peninsula Golf Club on the 24th March at 11.30. Hope to see you all there!

 

 

RName PTotal
2 Padraig O'Gorman 5 160
3 Martin Conlon 4 155
4 Darryl Prendergast 4 155
5 Richie Hayes 5 147
...............

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