Smurfit stop proves an almighty test for Irish Golfer Series

A ripping gale blowing right into the players’ faces on the first tee merely fuelled the fire for another successful stop on the Irish Golfer Series circuit, this time at The K Club’s pristine Smurfit Course.

A windy start to the Autumn rang true as the competitors arrived on Friday, and with conditions proving relentlessly tricky all day, scoring proved tough. As ever, the categories were keenly contested and some worthy winners prevailed.

Category One was a grinding affair given conditions but the cream rose to the top as Roganstown’s Darren McCormack edged his way to the main prize with a hard-fought 34 points to claim a new Taylormade M5 Driver.

Darren Farrelly pipped Walter Hennelly to second spot and the M5 3-wood with a better back-nine with Hennelly consoled by a TaylorMade Hi-Toe wedge for third.

In the Ladies competition, Royal Tara’s Brenda McKeown returned a heroic 31 points in challenging conditions to breeze to a three-point win, earning a brand-new TaylorMade Kalea Driver for the effort.

It was a family affair on the podium after that as Dun Laoghaire’s Aoife and Anne Marie Quinn finished proudly in second and third.

Gents Category Two proved a procession as Berehaven’s James Power played up to his name to punish the field into submission with a four-point win. Power takes home a new TaylorMade M6 Driver for the convincing win with David Coleman taking home the M6 3-wood for second spot after edging out Stephen Neary who grabbed a wedge for third.

The three category winners have all secured their places to the Grand Final at the K Club on Sunday October 27^th.

Meanwhile the Gross Prize and a new GolfBuddy Laser 1 was picked up by Roscommon’s Alan Craven

With a sparkling Motocaddy S1 Digital Trolley up for grabs for Nearest the Pin on the par-3 17^th, the IT Crowd’s Franck Watchorne arrowed his approach to 7 feet to take home the people’s favourite prize.

As for the booming drive competition, The Island’s Rhys Clarke is the proud owner of a new TaylorMade standbag while Baltinglass’ Olivia Cooney beat all to the Ladies’ prize with her new bag ready for collection in our office in Maynooth.

THE K CLUB (Smurfit Course) / FRIDAY 6^th SEPTEMBER 2019

FULL HANDICAP – SINGLES STABLEFORD

GENTS CATEGORY 1 (Handicap – up to 11)

1^st Prize – TaylorMade M5 Tour Driver – Darren McCormack – 34 points (+1 GRAND FINAL PLACE

2^nd Prize – TaylorMade M5 Tour 3-wood – Darren Farrelly – 33 pts (11 h’cap) BB9

3^rd Prize – TaylorMade 60 degree Hi-Toe wedge – Walter Hennelly – 33 pts (6 h’cap)

GENTS CATEGORY 2 (Handicap 12-24)

1^st Prize – TaylorMade M6 Driver – James Power – 37 pts (17 h’cap) + GRAND FINAL PLACE

2^nd Prize – TaylorMade M6 3-wood David Coleman – 33 points (19 h’cap) BB9

3^rd Prize – TaylorMade 60 degree Hi-Toe wedge – Stephen Neary 33 points (15 h’cap)

LADIES CATEGORY (Handicap up to 36)

1^st Prize – TaylorMade Kalea Driver – Brenda McKeown 31 points (27 h’cp) Royal Tara + GRAND FINAL PLACE

2^nd Prize – TaylorMade Kalea 3-wood – Aoife Quinn 28 pts (12 h’cap) – Dun Laoghaire

3^rd Prize – TaylorMade Kalea Rescue – Anne Marie Quinn 24 pts (12 h’cap) – Dun Laoghaire

Nearest the Pin

Motocaddy Electric Trolley – Frank Watchorne

Longest Drive

LADIES – TaylorMade 2019 Stand Bag – Olivia Cooney

GENTS – TaylorMade 2019 Stand Bag – Rhys Clarke

Best Gross

GolfBuddy Laser 1 – Alan Craven – 78 – (2 h’cap)