IPGC golf from The Tara Court
Sunday, Feb. 24, Mt. Shadow – Stableford
It was another beautiful day for golf, cloudy and not too hot. The group was a bit smaller today as a lot of our friends have gone home, the holidays over for another year. The number of golfers on the course also seemed smaller and for the first time in a long time there was no problem with caddies and we teed off 15 mins before our time and got around in a little over four hours.
Again today nobody managed to play to their handicap, is it the course or are we all just bad golfers? A new winner today as Alec Hoare took the honours with 33pts, beating his playing partner Joe McArdle in to second on a count back. Michael Byrne had his first podium with us, coming in third place with 31pts. Michael comes from the same village and golf club in Ireland as Joe, i.e. Blackrock, Dundalk, so it was good to see the two of them in the prizes. Andy Galvin also had 31 but lost to Michael on the count back and had to settle for fourth.
Alec Hoare.
In the ladies section, Pauline Byrne won for the second week in a row with 32pts and Theresa Connolly was second with 27. Theresa also comes from Dundalk so today three members from the same club were in the prizes.
There were no ‘2’s today so a carry over to Crystal Bay on Tuesday.
Back at O’Gara’s Bar and Resturaunt we said good bye to John and Kathleen Fetherston who were also going back to sunny Ireland this week. John and Kathleen have played in all our outings since we started the group and have had a number of victories with us and will be missed very much.
1st Alec Hoare (18) 33pts
2nd Joe McArdle (15) 33pts
3rd Michael Byrne (20) 31pts
4th Andy Galvin (19) 31pts
Ladies
1st Pauline Byrne (29) 32pts
2nd Theresa Connolly (25) 27pts
Tuesday, Feb. 26, Crystal Bay – Stableford
Crystal Bay was the venue today for yet another enjoyable round of golf. We were supposed to play A and B courses but there were a few 5-balls ahead of us on A which meant that play was slow so when we finished A we changed to C instead of B and had a free run and got round quickly. So overall the round still took just a little over four hours.
Andy Galvin.
The course was in very good condition with the greens reasonably fast.
Andy Galvin had his first win with us and when he decided to do it he did it in style, winning by a clear six points with an excellent forty point total. This was an excellent score on a long course (6,500yds).
On his first visit with us, Donal McGuigan came second with 34pts and on his last visit with us for this holiday was Michael Byrne who came third with 33, beating Joe McArdle on a count back.
Also on his first game with us, Charlie Lapsey got the only ‘2’ for a very good payday as there was a carryover from Sunday.
Back at O’Gara’s, we said good bye to John and Theresa Connolly, Michael and Theresa Byrne and Don and Pauline Byrne all of whom were going back to a very cold Ireland this week.
1st Andy Galvin (19) 40pts
2nd Donal McGuigan (23) 34pts
3rd Michael Byrne (20) 33pts
2’s: Charlie Lapsey
Thursday, Feb. 28, Bangpra – Stableford
A smaller group than usual today at Bangpra as some of our friends went to Laem Chabang. We will be playing at Laem Chabang every Thursday in March as we are lucky to have a few of our friends who are members there and we can get discount on the green fees of up to 40%, which makes it very good value for such a beautiful course. If anyone wants to join us there they are welcome and they will also avail of the discount so feel free to contact us.
For some reason today at Bangpra all the tees were placed back on the tee boxes, well behind the actual markers and some of them on the Blue tee boxes which made it very long, over 6,700yds. However Frank McGowan still managed to play to his handicap and won with 36pts, which was an excellent score on such a long course. The next best was Joe McArdle with 34.
There were no 2’s today.
1st Frank McGowan (16) 36pts
2nd Joe McArdle (15) 34pts
Note: The Tara Court Golf Group plays every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday, leaving O’Gara’s Bar and Restaurant in the Tara Court on Pratamnak Rd around 10.00 a.m. Sign up either in O’Gara’s or ring George on 087 540 0844.
