Round-up of all the news from Donegal's golf clubs

The good weather last weekend was just what the county's golfers needed as the new season kicks into gear.

Here's a round up of what's been happening on Donegal's courses.

Dunfanaghy ladies
The ladies are continuing to return good scores, Cathleen Boyle (20) with 40pts in Saturday's Stableford outing, Margaret Witherow (14) coming second with 38 pts.
The greens are in good shape and Paul and his team have started cutting the rough - I am not sure if this is for our benefit or to make it thicker come the Summer. They have also built a lovely tee box for the ladies at the 9th, - we are returning to where we
started off. It looks well - not sure when the official opening is, but I will keep you posted. I think a similar tee box would look well at the eighth.
Our hard working competition secretary, Rose Gavaghan, is organising a fundraising classic for Cranford athletic club on Friday, 21st April. Teams of 4, time sheet on line or phone the club house.
The draw for the Easter Hamper will be made on Tuesday, 4th April. Make sure you have your name on the draw sheet.

Dunfanaghy
Results: Wednesday, 22nd March, Single Stableford, 1st Charles Roarty 40pts, 2nd Gerald Dolton 36pts, Gross Brendan Kelly 27 Gross pts, 3rd Jim Carey 35pts, Css n/q
Saturday, 25th March, Open 4BBB, 1st Connie Ferry 20/Hugh Ferry 24 45pts,
2nd Peader Curran 10/ Kevin Boyle 18 45pts (bot), 3rd Paul Smyth 11/ Andy Murray 13 45pts (bot), Css n/q
Sunday, 26th March, Club Single Stableford, 1st Gerrard McGinley 11 42pts, 2nd Colin Higgs 13 39pts.
Css n/q.

Letterkenny
The very popular Monday Category 4 competition will start again on Monday, April 3rd. The entry sheet will be in the locker room or in the shop from Monday morning,
Players can play during the day. The 1st tee box will be reserved from 6pm to 7pm every Monday for the season. Any queries, contact Gerry Sullivan on 087 7735275.
The St. Patrick's Day Cup Competition is now arranged to take place on Sunday, 2nd April and the Club Voucher Competition is scheduled for Sunday, 30th April.

Ballybofey and Stranorlar
A good golfer should always think positively, so I'm going to be thankful for the few good days we had this week. I must say it really felt so good to be out in the sunshine, some even gave the legs an airing with their spring shorts. Perhaps a few good days each week may be afforded to us from the man above.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish fellow golfer Freddy Wilson a get well soon.
Results: Tuesday, 14th March, 1st Mark Rodgers (13) 42pts, 2nd Paidin Kavanagh's (22) 40pts (bot), Gross, Martin Dillon (8) 29pts, Senior: Jackie Rush (26) 31pts
Saturday, 18th March saw a small turnout resulting in just one prize being handed out and that went to Dougie McFeely with an excellent score of 44pts.
Saturday, 25th March, 1st Thomas McMenamin (17) 43pts, 2nd Lee Henderson (11) 40pts (bot), Gross, Donough Cleary (5) 33pts, 3rd Lorcan Donnellan (8) 40pts (bot).
Sunday, 26th March, 1st Jonny Moore (21) 45pts, 2nd Michael Curran (7) 40pts, Gross, Ryan Griffin (5) 33pts, 3rd Ciaran Campbell (8) 39pts (bot)
The St Patrick's Day competition was cancelled due to adverse weather conditions.
Usual competitions this weekend.

Gaoth Dobhair
Bhain Eoghan Gillespie chomortas NW Auto Factors ag an deireadh seachtaine le scor do 65 BOT. Scor ar doigh o Eoghan. Sa dara hait bhí Micheal O Fearraigh le 65. Sa triu hait bhí Sean O Dochartaigh le 66. Chuaigh an comhlán chuig Michael O Dwyer le 72. Fuair an chead 9 chuig Charlie Cullen le 30 agus an dara 9 chuig Con Friel le 31. Bhain James Tiger Sweeney an catagoir aris le 70. CSS 68
Sraith na Gaeltachta: Adh mór ar Nigel Agus na lads i Portsalon ar an 1u Aibrean sa cluiche ceannais.
Ballraiocht le hioc anois.
Seniors: Bhí rása géar idir fear as an Choitín agus fear Chnoc a'Stolaire an t-seachtain seo; sa chéad ait bhí Peadar Ó Gallchóir le 39pt agus 22pt dara 9. Thug 21 pt dara 9 an dara háit do Tony Gallagher. Bhí Charlie Cullen sa 3ú h-áit le 31pt.
If you wish to go to Portnoo please sign sheet on notice board by 30th March.
Is feidir imirt De Sathairn no De Domhnaigh ag an deireadh seachtaine.

Letterkenny Ladies
Firstly, the ladies club would like to express its sincere sympathies to Roberta McDowell on the recent passing of her mother, Ida Robinson. May she rest in peace.
The good weather encouraged many of us to clean the winter dust off the clubs and to embrace the start of the golfing season. There was a good entry for the rescheduled St. Patrick’s weekend competition which ran over this past weekend.
Congratulations to the winners of the recently held 3 ball scramble - the winning combo of Kate Gallagher, Kay Kelly and Marian O’Sullivan carded a net score of 48.6. Marian O’Sullivan continued on her good form to win Portsalon Golf club’s Daffodil Day open competition with 36 pts. Well done to Marian and also to our other lady members, Vera Kearney and Cecelia Doran, who too were winners in this competition.

Cruit Island
Results of the Donegal Seaweed competition on March 26th: 1st : Aaron Doherty (21) 40pts, 2nd: John Bonner (9) 38pts B.O.T, 3rd : Chris Walsh (6) 38pts, F9 : Robert Casey (13) 24pts,
B9 : Brendan Ward (10) 19pts
Par : 68 - Standard Scratch : 67 (37pts)
Well done to Aaron Doherty on a very steady round golf - a young man improving all the time.
John Bonner was in the prizes too after an excellent back 9. It wasnt enough to win his match but he got the better of Chris Walsh on count back.
Robert Casey was on fire in the front 9 but had a disappinting back 9. Brendan Ward had good back 9.
This weekend the Cruit Gaelteacht team travel to Portsalon G C for Captain's Day. Good luck to Terence and his team.
On Sunday we have an 18 hole stroke sponsored by Irish Fish Canners.
Club memberships are now due so early payment would be much appreciated.
Good luck to all in our first 100 Club Draw of the year and thank you to those who continuously support it year after year.

Rosapenna
Club Competition: The gents four ball better ball on Sunday was won by Denis Harkin & Shane Doherty with 46pts, the runners up were Garvin Toye & Pete McBride with 43pts bot. Two's - Garvin Toye, Mickey McBride, Seimi Connor and Conor McMenamin. The gents club competition will be played over the Old Tom Morris Links on Sunday, April 2nd from the blue markers with six inch placing not nearer the hole on fairways only in play.
Gaeltacht League: Well done to our Gaeltacht League team who beat Portsalon 7.5-1.5 at home last Sunday. The Rosapenna four-ball better ball was won by Denis Harkin & Shane Doherty with 46pts, the Portsalon four-ball better ball was won by Johnny Shields & Stephen Connolly with 45pts. The overall runners up were Hugh McBride & Stephen Loughrey with 45pts. The Gaeltacht Captain's Day will take place at Portsalon on Saturday, April 1st with Rosapenna in joint 1st position alongside Gweedore and Portsalon.
Mulroy Links: The final outing of the 2016/17 Mulroy Links took place last Saturday at Rosapenna over the Sandy Hills Links with the results as follows -
Nett Section: 1st Stephen Harris (15) 39pts bot, 2nd Oisin Friel (18) 39pts
3rd Tony Kingston (14) 38pts bot, 4th David Deeney (15) 38pts bot
Gross Section: 1st Sean Boyce (4) 32 gross pts, 2nd Eamonn McDermott (6) 30 gross pts bot, 3rd Stephen Connolly (5) 30 gross pts bot, 4th Noel Callan (0) 30 gross pts bot
Two's - Eamonn McDermott, Oisin Friel, David Deeney, Seamus Patton, Marty McDermott, P Duffy x 3, Mark Cohen, C King & Clive Davison x 2.
The gross golfer of the year was won by Johnny Shields and the nett golfer of the year was won by Cathal Toland.
Many thanks to all the members of both Portsalon and Rosapenna who supported this event over the winter months.
2017 Doubles Matchplay: The entry sheet for the 2017 Doubles Matchplay is available in The Pavilion Golf Shop. The format is pick your own partner and the closing date for all entries is Monday, 17th April. The entry fee of €8 per player must be paid when names are added to the sheet.
US Masters: The golf club are running a Masters sweep to help fund team costs this season.
Lines are €10 each where you pick three players with combined odds of 150/1 or more and the person with the lowest three player total wins. Lines are available from all committee members.

Bundoran Ladies
The first 18 hole competition of the year was played on Mother’s Day in glorious sunshine. There was a large entry for the club stableford competition and congratulations to Sorcha Begley who was the overall winner. Results: 1st Sorcha Begley 36, 2nd Nadine Ivers 33 (b.o.t.), 3rd Bernie Gillespie 33.
Any golfers interested in playing on club teams in 2017 are requested to put their names on the sheet in the locker room. This week there is a stableford competition on Thursday, 30th March. The Sunday stableford competition on 2nd April is sponsored by Waves Restaurant.
Anyone interested in travelling to Greencastle to play in the Donegal Shield on 29th April is requested to put their name on the sheet in the locker room.

Donegal Ladies
Ladies golf results at Donegal Golf Club Murvagh on March 19/21:
Sponsor AIB, 15 hole competition results: Sweep Patricia Britton(28) 26 pts;
9 hole competition results: 1st Margaret Trimble (25) 19 pts BOT, 2nd Rosemary Carr (20) 19 pts.

Ballyliffen
Sunday confined: 1st Liam Tourish (6) 42 pts., 2nd David McGeough (6) 42 pts., 3rd Nigel Craig (16) 41 pts., Gross Paul Doherty C (2) 35 gr pts. 4th Neil Doherty (B) (17) 38 pts., CSS 71

Saturday Open: 1st John Mullan (13) 45 pts., 2nd Kyle Barton (15) 41 pts., 3rd John Edmonds (14) 41 pts., Gross Kealan Quigg (0) 39 gr pts., 4th Liam Doherty C (12) 40 pts., CSS 71.
Friday Open: 1st Aaron Kelly (11) 42 pts., 2nd John Kennedy (7) 38 pts., 3rd Anthony McEleney (13) 37 pts.
Ladies
Sunday 9 Hole Confined
0-18, 1st Marie Durso 19 pts., 2nd Ann Friel 17 pts.
19-28, 1st Debbie McConologue 19 pts., 2nd Brege Boyle 18 pts.
29-36, 1st Tara McConalogue 20 pts.
2nd Geraldine McLaughlin 20 pts.
Fixtures
Friday, 31st March, Ladies & Gents Open on The Old Links. Visitors - €30.
Saturday, 1st April, Captain’s Drive In – Mr Bryan Northey – The Old Links.
Saturday, 1st April, Open Singles on Glashedy. Visitors €30.
Sunday, 2nd April, Clement Sweeney Memorial Trophy Confined on The Old Links.
Ladies Confined18 Holes every Tuesday, Draw times 9.30 am, 10.30am and 2 pm. Timesheet from 4 pm.
Donegal Links Classic – Mon 29th, Tues 30th & Wed 31st May 2017. For tee times contact Frank Casey on 074 91 55000.

NORTH WEST

Results
St.Patrick's Open, March 19th: A break of tie was required on Sunday in the St. Patrick's Open to decide the outcome. 18 points on the back nine by Karol Friel saw him claim the first prize from runner up, Eugene O'Connell (11) on countback. Karol carded 20 points on the front nine giving him an overall 38 points and his first win of the season.
Karol saw his handicap reduced by a shot as an added bonus as did Eugene who is getting closer to single figures again. Stewart McGinlay (3) won the Gross with 73 and 3rd place went to Trevor Henderson (15) with 36 points.
Donnell Cup, 25th March: Beautiful spring weather greeted the North West members on Saturday morning as they competed for the second cup of the season, the Donnell cup. With an entry of almost 100 golfers enjoying the day it was Colin Barlow (10) who coasted to victory with his 41 points, three better than the chasing pack. Colin has been coming into a bit of form recently and can now boast a win to his competitive fourball.
Runner up was the club's Treasurer, Chris Neff who banked 38 points to edge out James McHugh (6) on countback while Padraig MacLochlainn (5) carded 73 to win the gross.
Fixtures
Thursday, 30th March, Thursday Society
Saturday, 1st April, Confined Singles / Donegal & Friends Alliance
Sunday, 2nd April, Swilly Open Cup.

Portsalon
Mulroy Links
The final outing of the 2016/17 Mulroy Links took place last Saturday at Rosapenna Golf Resort over the Sandy Hills Links.
In the Nett Section, the winner was Stephen Harris (15) 39 points BOT, Runner up Oisin Friel (18) 39 points, 3rd Tony Kingston (14) 38 points, BOT 4th David Deeney (15) 38 points BOT. In the gross section the winner was Sean Boyce (4) 32 gross points, runner up Eamonn McDermott (6) 30 gross points BOT 3rd Stephen Connolly (5) 30 gross points, 4th Noel Callan (0) 30 gross points.
The gross golfer of the year was won by John Shields and the nett golfer of the year was won by Cathal Toland.
On behalf of both Portsalon Golf Club and Rosapenna Golf Resort we would like to thank all who participated in the 2016/17 Mulroy Links over the winter months.
Events
On Saturday, 1st April the course is reserved for the Gaeltacht League Captain's Day. On Sunday, 2nd April it’s a members competition and on Wednesday, 5th April it's an open gents competition.
Dates to remember
Friday 14th April an open scramble, Saturday 15th April and Sunday 16th open competitions sponsored by Raddison Blu Hotel, Letterkenny and Monday 17th an open four ball betterball. The subscription competition has been rescheduled to Sunday, 23rd April

Matchplay
Details of this season's singles and doubles matchplay competitions have been arranged. If you wish to enter in one or both, please record your name on the sheets provided in the clubhouse. Entry fee for singles is €8 and the doubles is €15.
Results
The winner of the open staged on Wednesday 22nd was Paul Given (15) – 42 points, Runner-up: Sean McCormack (25) – 37 points ,Gross: Paddy Sheridan (9) – 28 points Third: Gareth Mc Larnon (13) – 36 points.
On Friday to coincide with Daffodil Day the winner of the charity open which was kindly sponsored by Mc Donalds, Letterkenny was Shaun Callaghan (15) – 45 points, Runner-up: Colin Talbot (23) – 41 points, Gross: Diarmuid Logue (5) – 32 points, Third: Johnny Strain (22) – 40 points.
The winner of the Saturday V-Par open competition was Joe Hensey (13) – 2up, Runner-up: Philip Durning (8) Level BOT, Gross: D P Logue (5) – 1 down.
On Sunday the winner of the members competition was Paul Murphy (26) 67 nett, runner up Pascal Cullen (6) 68 nett, gross John G McBride (0) 76, 3rd Cathal Canning (6) 72 nett.