Curra West and Loughrea claim national titles

There was success on the double for ladies golf in Galway last weekend with both Curra West and Loughrea picking up titles at the 2011 ILGU Interclub Championships, which were played in Louth.Loughrea landed the Intermediate Cup thanks to a 3-2 win over Mullingar in the decider, while Curra West cruised to a comfortable 2 ½ to ½ win over Craddockstown in the Junior Foursomes.

Loughrea had a narrow win in the semi-final against Rockmount, who took made a bright start with an early 6&5 win by Jan Lindsay. Cherry O’Connor levelled the tie for Loughrea with a 2&1 win in the second game before Rose Mannion won by 3&2 meaning Mary Verdon’s 2-up victory in game three was enough to take the Connacht champions through to the national final.

The final ended up being played over two days due to the weather conditions, with the match tied at one point apiece after the first day with Breda Lawless winning four holes on the trot around the turn securing a one hole victory for Loughrea to cancel out Mullingar’s earlier win by Brenda Conlon.

Mary Verdon started Saturday morning dormie one up against her Mullingar opponent and duly delivered a 2-up win to put Loughrea ahead, but Mullingar levelled the tie through Miriam MacManus who scored a 3&2 win in the final game, meaning the destiny of the title came down to the final game between Loughrea’s Rose Mannion and Mullingar’s Helen Collier.

The pair were involved in a battle which saw neither side with more than a one hole advantage over the closing nine holes. Loughrea won the 17th to square the match and with the 18th and 19th holes halved, the deadlock was eventually broken at the 20th hole as Mannion produced a regulation par 5 to take the title for the Connacht champions.

Curra West had a more comfortable march to the Junior Foursomes title, easing past Castlecomer 2 ½ to ½ in the semi-final. Martina McDonagh and Ann Fahy recorded a 4&2 win for a first point for Curra West, and that was followed up by Carmel Cunningham and Mary McDonagh recording a 5&3 win for an unassailable lead, which meant the game involving Mary Madden and Mary Kelly was called in as a half point.

It was a similar tale in the final against Craddockstown, although there was little separating the teams at the halfway stage with Curra West 1up in the top two matches and 1 down in the final match.  

Martina McDonagh and Ann Fahy paired up to deliver the first point for the Connacht champions with a 3&2 win. They were followed by teammates Carmel Cunningham and Mary McDonagh who scored a 3&1 win in the second game, which meant Mary Madden and Mary Kelly were again called ashore early for a half point.

There was no joy for Loughrea in the Challenge Cup as the team of Anne Regan, tess Callanan, Kathy Newell, Helen Cloonan and Sinead Brady bowed out at the semi-final stage with a 4-1 loss to East Cork, with Callanan and Brady each gaining half a point after their games were called in with East Cork in an unassailable 3-0 lead.

Portumna also bowed out at the semi-final stage of the Minor Cup in what was a surprise defeat, Munster champions Roscrea running out 4-1 winners in a replica of the Challenge Cup result, with both Mary McElroy and Audrey McGrath being awarded a half point each after their games were called in when Roscrea had built an unassailable 3-0 lead, despite the best efforts of Loretto O’Grady, Mark Kelly and Mabel Conroy.

A third Galway side also lost out at the semi-final stage, with Athenry losing 4-1 to East Cork in the Junior Cup, and like the other two Galway defeats, this clash ended after three matches as Ann Marie Mulry, Margaret Lavelle and Teresa Coen all being defeated, which meant the matches involving Marian Hosty and Gina Gilligan were called in as halves.