Last weekend saw the Lady Captains prize take place, this was the first officers prize of the year and proved to be a great success with 203 cards played in total. We thank all who supported the competition. The tournament came to an end on Sunday evening in glorious sunshine where a large crowd was present.

As always the course was in great condition and credit to all who are involved in keeping the course at such a high standard and who put hours of work and dedication into our course and it shows just why it is one of the top venues in the country to play pitch and putt at the moment. The course was complemented by all members. The five days were very competitive in all grades but congratulations to the overall winner Rita Ryall who played superbly and won with a score of 91.

Claycastle Pitch & Putt Club Report 20-5-12

Full results are as follows:

Overall Nett – Rita Ryall
Overall Gross – Stephen Sheehan

Ladies Nett -6 to -10 – Joan Hyde
Ladies Nett -11 to -18 – Carol Mulally

Gents Nett – +3 to -5 – Colin Sheehan
Gents Nett – -6 to -14 – Ted Healy

Hole in one prize – Anthony O’ Loughlin

Other News

Huge well done to Claycastles Paudie O’ Sullivan, Anthony O’ Loughlin, Gary O’ Sullivan & Martin Keohane who all qualified for this years National Matchplay Championships which will be played at Claycastle over the June bank-holiday weekend.
Live Draw for the National Matchplay Championships 2012 will take place on Wednesday 23rd May at 8pm at Farrell’s Summerfield Bar, Youghal. We hope to see a large turnout, There will also be entertainment on the night. This event is set to be one of the most memorable moments in the clubs history. All are welcome on the night. The draw will also be broadcast live on Community Radio Youghal.

The club matchplay draw took place on Sunday last and can be seen in the clubhouse, best of luck to all players involved.
Club fourball will be held at the following times this week. Friday 25th at 6:15pm, Saturday 26th at 2:30pm and Sunday 27th at 2:30pm. This weeks fourball will be sponsored by Roma Grill.
It was with heavy hearts that we learned of the untimely passing of Sonny Mangan. A true gentleman and a stalwart of our club Sonny’s good humour and friendship will be sorely missed by each and everyone connected with the club. Our sincere sympathies go to Sonny’s wife Alice, children and grand-children. May he Rest In Peace.

Scratch Cup 2012

The 12th annual Claycastle Cup was held on Sunday last 25th of March in perfect weather conditions for pitch and putt which brought players and spectators out in numbers. In total there were 151 cards played with clubs from all over Ireland represented. This was a record number of cards for our Scratch Cup. The course as always was in fantastic condition and was praised by all those who participated. The club would like to thank all those who helped out with the work day on Saturday in preparation for Sunday and also all who helped in anyway on the day. Well done to overall winner Kieran Dunscombe (St Annes) who won with a score of 18 under par after the final 18. In all it was a very competitive days play in all grades. In the intermediate section Claycastle player Stephen Sheehan won the top prize with a score of 102. while local player Joy Bryan in the ladies category won second prize. Congratulations also to local players Anthony O’ Loughlin, Gary O’ Sullivan and Paudie O’ Sullivan who all qualified for the playoff. With the successful Scratch cup now over, our attention now turns to The All-Ireland Matchplay Championships which take place here in Youghal over the June bank holiday weekend this year.

Full Results:

the  Overall – Kieran Dunscombe (St Annes)
2nd – Paudie O’ Sullivan (Claycastle)
3rd – Thomas Lynch (E.S.B)
Best 36 – Paul O’ Brien (Lakeside)
Final 18 – Ray Murphy (Templebreedy)
Intermediate
1st – Stephen Sheehan (Claycastle)
2nd – Oisin Ryan (Riverdale)
Junior
1st – Corey O’ Callaghan (Pfizer)
2nd – Charlie O’ Sullivan (St Annes)
Ladies
1st – Vera McCarthy (Collins)
2nd- Joy Bryan (Claycastle)

 

Picture 1 – Winner Kieran Dunscombe with Chairperson Bridget Power and Captain Brendan McCaughey
Picture 2 – Prizewinners at Scratch Cup with committee members
Picture 3 – Kieran Dunscombe (St Annes) winner

Family, friends and club mates joined local councillors, including Youghal Mayor Eoin Coyne, at a civic reception in the Mall Arts Centre to honour Claycastle Pitch and Putt club’s Anthony O’Loughlin’s victory in the 2011 National Strokeplay Championships. The 32-year old father of two claimed the title in Douglas last July, snatching victory with a scintillating 12 under par final round to leave him 25 under –a new course record- for the tournament. He is the first Youghal man ever to win the title and weeks later also captained Cork to victory in the national inter-county championships in Portmarnock.

Individual-based civic receptions are rare occurrences at council headquarters these times and Mr. O’Loughlin’s achievement reflect the new level to which the bar has been raised to acquire one. It comes also in a year when the Claycastle club is poised to host June’s 2012 National Matchplay Championships and amidst town council plans to provide a modern club house at the venue.

Mayor Eoin Coyne said the player, currently ranked sixth in Ireland, had “brought honour and pride to himself, his family, his club and his town” in a victory that “bore testament to his dedication and love for his sport as well as to the outstanding facilities at Claycastle. I also wish to thank him for being a fantastic ambassador for Youghal,” he added, pledging on-going town council support for the club, alongside its sponsorship for June’s event. The mayor presented the champion with a Waterford Crystal glass plate insignia bearing the Youghal Coat of Arms.

For his part, Mr O’Loughlin said he never imagined on taking up the game 20 years ago that he’d be “standing here having won on an All-Ireland title.” He thanked his wife Paula for babysitting his young daughters Katy and Aoife while he practiced, club members who had travelled to Douglas and his dad Tommy, who had followed him persistently. “I’d been telling him for years I was good but I’m sure he was having doubts,” he joked. “At last he saw me play well and I was very proud to have him there on the day.” He recalled veteran player Sonny Mangan, who had tutored him from day one, with the timeless advice for sport and life that, when things go astray, keep your head down and your ass up!”

Thank you

Mr O’Loughlin also acknowledged club member Don Sheehan for his encouragement towards self-belief, the club’s committee, which he described as “the most progressive and hard-working” he had experienced across 16 years and “Liam Ryan and Cllr Sammy Revins for their great assistance in reviving the plans for a much needed clubhouse and their continuous support, which is hugely appreciated. Likewise, he recognised “the wonderful support and sponsorship from the businesses in the town in very testing times” and without whose help “it would be very difficult to host June’s championships.

The champion is also the club secretary and Claycastle President Michael Ryall described him as “a Trojan worker” as happy to undertake course maintenance and perform other duties as he was to play. “He has elevated our club to a standard that now sees it All-Ireland rated now,” he concluded.

Club Captain Brendan McAughey recalled that many observers considered Anthony’s final round in Douglas as “the best they have ever seen in the game.” He proceeded, “Nothing is more rewarding in sport than winning the top prize in the game you play. As Bill Shankly said, ‘You must believe you are the best and then make sure that you are.’ Our juveniles look up to Anthony and hopefully his achievement will spur them to one day also celebrate All-Ireland success.”

Report/Photo: James Howes

On Thursday night last (16th February 2012) a Civic reception was held at the town hall in Youghal for Anthony O’Loughlin who won the All-Ireland Strokeplay championships in pitch and putt at a superb Douglas course in Cork last July. As well as achieving All-Ireland success, Anthony also equaled the course record in his final round with a terrific score of twelve under par which was enough to secure his first title. It was a very proud occasion for all involved with Claycastle Pitch & Putt Club.

This is the first time in the Club’s history that a player has won a national title and for it to happen in the Club’s 25th anniversary year makes it that small bit more special.

This win also cemented Anthony a place on the Cork team alongside fellow Claycastle player Paudie O’Sullivan who certainly did not disappoint in the Munster Inter-County Championships and the National Inter-County Championships as Anthony captained his county team with great pride to victory in both events.

Anthony although having a great dedication to the game, he also has and shows great pride in our course and works endlessly to keep the course in the condition that it is in today and it is safe to say that without this effort and hard work the course would not be up to a high quality standard.
Anthony who always had belief that he could go on and triumph in the flagship event of the year, never gave up on his ambition and had full backing and confidence from all at the club.
In Anthony’s speech he thanked everyone for the encouragement and belief and said it would not have been possible without the support and assistance shown.

With the National Matchplay Championships just months away and taking place at our course here in Youghal over the June bank holiday weekend, Anthony will have the opportunity to hold both national titles at the same time should he win the event.
We look forward to a bright future and hope that this will be the first title of many for members of our club in the years ahead.

A 17 year old Bantry girl, whose family hail from Youghal, has won gold in the European Kickboxing Championships. Lily de la Cour took the honour in the World Association of Kickboxing Organisation (WAKO) European Championships in Lignano Sabbiadoro, a north-eastern Italian city near Venice.

Lily is the daughter of Willie de la Cour, granddaughter of the late Nonie and Tommy de la Cour and niece to Tommy, Len, Nora, Mary and Alice, all well-known of the long-established MacCurtainstown family. Eight countries competed in the Lily’s Light Contact division in the Championships.

In her hour of glory, Lily defeated her Hungarian opponent Evelin Mako, by a unanimous 3-0 in the Junior Light Contact Minus-50 kg division. This followed her triumph by a similar margin over Slovakian and Turkish opponents respectively in her two opening bouts. The delighted, if breathless, champion says she felt “ecstatic” after her historic victory.

The championships in all were contested by over 1,000 competitors and drew an audience of about 800. Lily’s dad, a psychiatric nurse and her mother Jane, flew to Italy for the occasion, along with Liam, the other member of the family. Liam, 12, almost claimed a second de la Cour medal, losing out by a single point in the Cadet Minus 47 kg Light Contact semi-final. Willie, now a psychiatric nurse, left Youghal in 1985 and a career as a painter and decorator. He moved to West Sussex, where he met his wife Jane, also a psychiatric nurse.

Lily was born, two years before the family returned to Ireland. Jane, whose maiden name is Welford, attended Loreto boarding school but hails from Mallow. “So Bantry was sort of neutral territory for us to settle in,” laughs Willie. Honours Lily took up kickboxing aged just seven, during a summer camp at Bantry’s St Goban’s Tech school –now subsumed into Coláiste Phobail Beanntraí. The new European champion has held All Ireland Irish championship titles for the past eight years.

In 2010 she was runner-up in the World Championships, a year previous she was European Champion in a Cadet division and at aged 12 she won a world title in semi-contact fighting. Various other titles have also been accumulated. Throughout, Lily has been coached by her Ian Kingston, her Drimoleague-born club mentor at Bantry West Cork Kickboxing Club. “I owe him everything. He is simply a fantastic coach,” vouches Lily. Articulate, confident and extremely dedicated, Lily trains four nights a week –increasing to six as competitions approach. She says that nights like that in Italy “more than make up” for sacrifices made in her social life.

The family are regular visitors to Youghal and thankfully Lily has “great affection” for the town and her roots therein. Being a kickboxer, let alone a fantastic one, tends to elicit remarks of a teasing –but undoubtedly cautious- nature from the male juveniles in Lily’s orbit. “It doesn’t last long,” she explains, somewhat unsurprisingly. Currently studying for her Leaving Cert, the champion has professional ambitions to be a PE teacher. More immediately, her sporting sights are set firmly on claiming the world title in 2012, the championships for which will be held in Ireland.