The Clare Ultimate Golf Challenge

Shannon Golf Club

There are 10 golf courses in Co Clare, and golfers are being offered the opportunity to play all 10 at the rate of just € 10 per round.

The Clare Ultimate Golf Challenge invites teams of four to play all 10 courses for a team entry fee of € 400.

The courses have to be played between April 1st and September 30th this year.

And the bonus is that the top eight teams will play off in Doonbeg GC for the overall title at the end of October.

This is the second year of the challenge which last year attracted a great deal of interest.

The idea is the brainchild of the Clare Tourism Forum, an umbrella group of tourism interests in Co Clare which has been set up to promote the county.

In the only competition of its kind in Ireland, golfers must play Doonbeg, Dromoland, East Clare, Ennis, Kilkee, Kilrush, Lahinch, Shannon, Spanish Point and Woodstock.

The format is a team of four with two scores to count at each hole. A team’s four best course scores will count for entry to see who goes through to the final.

All proceeds raised by the event will go towards the Clare Tourism Forum’s 2012 marketing campaign.

Entries may be made at www.clare.ie/golf

2011 Dundrum House Pro Am

The 11th annual Philip Walton Dundrum House Hotel Golf & Leisure Resort Pro Am is taking place this year on Tuesday the 12th and Wednesday the 13th July. Entry Fee - €900 per team of 3 and includes:

Itinerary

Monday 11th: Practice Round

Tuesday 12th: Competition with Golf Pro

Wednesday 13th: Competition with Golf Pro

Dinner Tuesday in Hotel

Dinner Wednesday in The Clubhouse “Venue”

Entertainment Mon, Tue & Wed in The Clubhouse “Venue”

B&B at €50pps, B&B at €65 single room

Excellent Prizes including a Holiday to Spain sponsored by Spanish Tourism Board

Competition Format

Team Of Three plus pro 36 Hole Stableford

Two best scores to count each hole

www.dundrumhousehotel.com

Damian Mooney Takes Title

Damian Mooney

Damian Mooney clinched top spot in the Ping PGA Ulster Grand Prix after an amazing performance at Castlerock.

Unattached Mooney fired a sizzling six-under 67 and goes into the matchplay draw as No.1, irrespective of what happens in the 10th and final round, at Royal Portrush on April 8.

He stormed off with a hat-trick of birdies, going 3-3-4. At the first hole he steered a pitching wedge to six feet, at the next he drove the green and at the long third he reached the green with a drive and three wood.

From the eighth hole, Mooney had three three-stabs in a row for par, bogey four and bogey five but then reached the surface at the long 11th with a drive and five iron for birdie four, before wedging to three feet and eight feet at 12 and 13 for back-to-back birdie threes.

A drive and nine iron to the 15th green set up eagle three and he finished with three pars, having had five threes in a row from the 12th hole.

Massereene's David Hughes leaped into eighth and final place in the Order of Merit after being second to Mooney, just one stroke back.

There are still a few of the final places still up for grabs at Royal Portrush on April 8. The matchplay will be staged at Killymoon on March 31 and April 1.

Next Tuesday, there will be a further outing for members of the Ulster Golfers' Alliance at Concra Wood.

Club History - Portumna

Portumna Golf Club was founded in 1913 on land directly across the road from the entrance to the present course. In 1934 the move was made to the present location on land rented from the Clanrickard Estate. The new course was designed then by Michael O'Keeffe, B.E. and was opened by Mons. Joyce on June 30th 1935. In 1935 also a new pavilion was constructed mostly of timber supplied free of charge by McAinish & Co. and a new bar and modern toilet facilities were added later.

In 1956 a ninety-nine year lease was secured on the land. In 1971 a new clubhouse was opened and a further thirty acres was added to the lease in 1972 with a view to extending the course to 18 holes. Work on the new course began in the mid eighties and culminated in the official opening of the first eighteen hole course on June 21st 1992.

In 1993 the club availed of an opportunity to purchase the course from Coillte. The eighty-eight acres on the 99 year lease plus 38 other acres were secured for £90,000.

In 1997 the existing clubhouse was extended and refurbished to provide modern facilities for a rapidly expanding club membership. Subsequent alterations and addition to the course has resulted in the fine facility that we now enjoy.

www.portumnagolfclub.ie

Meet the Team - Mountain View

Mountain View Golf Club is owned and operated privately by The O’Neill Family.

On any given occasion the O'Neill's are on site to make sure your visit is personal, enjoyable and memorable. Genuine hospitality and a friendly atmosphere are the key elements that Mountain View thrive on.

No matter whom you meet, or where you meet them, on the course or in the clubhouse, you will no doubt hear a humorous story and receive a warm smile.

The O’Neill Family invite you to experience warm hospitality and a great golfing experience. From start to finish, the team will add those special touches to help clinch that great memory.

Management Team @ Mountain View GC

Bee O'Grady - Managing Director

Michael Dobbyn - General Manager

Edward Power - Course Superintendent

Golf Club Officers 2011 @ Mountain View GC

Noel Roche - Captain

Josie O Gorman - Lady Captain

Patrick Halligan - President

Kathleen Lanigan - Lady President

www.mviewgolf.com