Report of the Executive Committee of Howth Men’s Golf Club for the year 2014
Introduction.
The Executive Committee of Howth Men’s Golf Club, which met on thirteen occasions during the year, is pleased to present this report on golfing matters for men in Howth Golf Club.
The following Officers and Ordinary Members of the Committee were elected at the Annual General Meeting on 12th November 2013. The table also indicates the individual responsibilities allocated to the Ordinary Members by the Captain at the beginning of the year.
| Captain | Muiris Heron | |
| Vice-Captain | Joe Richardson | |
| Hon. Secretary | Ronan Toomey | (resigned August 2014) |
| Hon. Treasurer | Alan McGeehan | |
| Ex-officio | Michael Gray | |
| Ordinary Members | Ronan Carberry | Handicap Sec. / (appointed Hon. Sec. Sept. ’14) |
| Paddy Cooney | Competition Secretary | |
| Maurice Connolly | Junior golf | |
| Michael A O’Neill | Senior Opens & matchplay competitions | |
| Kieran McHugh | Sponsorships, Open week |
Obituaries
The Committee records with sadness the deaths of Michael Kelly; Richard Lappin; Seamus Farren; Brendan Lannon; Ray Barry; George Manson; John (Jack) Moore during the year, and recently Harry Durran. On behalf of Howth Men’s Golf Club we extend our sympathy to their families, relatives & friends.
Competitions
The winter league in 2014 was once again very successful with a high level of participation by members and has now become a permanent feature of the fixtures diary. Joe Richardson and his team are to be commended for running such a highly successful competition.
Five competition teams, led by Declan Fallon, Seamus Crowe, Albert Harding, Neil O’Callaghan, Tom O’Brien & Kevin O’Riordan were responsible for the successful running of 58 week-end competitions from April to October 2014.
In 2014 from March onwards there were competitions almost every Saturday & Sunday. In addition a choice of yellow or white tee singles competitions was provided on days where the competition was not designated as the “Golfer of the Year”. On bank holiday Mondays (Easter, May, June & August) there were Men’s & Ladies singles with integrated timesheets in operation. Integrated timesheets were also in operation for the Captains’ Prizes to the members, the Des Rea O’Kelly Trophies & the Michael Hannigan Shield.
| Main Competition Results for 2014 | |
| Captain’s Prize | Bob Larkin |
| Lady Captain’s prize to the Men | Frank McKenna |
| Club Championship (Ben Edar) | John Smyth |
| Intermediate Championship (Tom Joyce) | Doug Anderson |
| Junior Championship (Paul Noonan) | Noel Kennedy |
| President’s Cup | Pat King |
| St. Fintan’s Cup | Karl Herssens |
| Michael McMahon Trophy | Doug Anderson |
| PGA Tankard | Raoul Holden |
| Michael Hannigan Shield | Pat Meade |
| Des Rea O’Kelly Trophy | Terence Reddy |
| Paddy McDonald Trophy (GOY) | Cathal Forde |
| Tom Nichol Trophy | Paddy Cooney |
| Dan Bridgeman Trophy (Former Captains) | Michael Gray |
| Ivy Haddon Trophy | Sean O’Sullivan & Myra Keaveney |
| Neil Paul Trophy (Monday Nighters League) | Sean O’Sullivan |
| Diamond Jubilee Perpetual Trophy(Tuesday Nighters League) | Paddy Mahon |
| McElevern Trophy (Winter League) | Joe Richardson |
| Medal Winners | |
| April | Tom Turley |
| May | Paddy Cole |
| June | Darrell Reamsbottom |
| July | Brendan Smyth |
| August | Brian McGrath |
| September | David Quinn |
| October | Ruairi Allen |
| Match-play winners | |
| Tom Phelan Trophy (Singles) | Martin Cleary |
| Sid Bradshaw Trophy (Foursomes) | Paddy & Finntan Archer |
| James Middleton Trophy (Fourball) | Aidan Hurley & Damien Reville |
| Felix McHenry Trophy (Mixed F/somes) | Sibeal Cole & Karl Herssens |
Golfer of the Year – Paddy McDonald Trophy
The Golfer of the Year title is awarded to the golfer with the best scores in twelve (or less) of 20 designated GOY competitions throughout the year. The contest in 2014 was extremely tight and hard fought and the result was in doubt right to the very last event, the October medal, after which Cathal Forde emerged as the winner. It was noteworthy that all the top 5 in the GOY table were single figure handicap golfers.
- Forde, Cathal (6) – 53.00
- McMullen, Craig (7) – 52.00
- McGrath, Brian (6) – 48.00
- McCarthy, Gerry (9) – 47.00
- Barry, Gerard (6) – 46.00
- Hanway, Joe (10) – 45.00
- Herssens, Robert (10) – 42.00
- Quinn, David (8) – 40.00
- McLean, Stephen (5) – 39.00
- Smyth, Brendan (3) – 37.00
Mid-Week Golf
The Monday Nighters, the Tuesday Nighters, the Thursday Fourball and the Friday Nighters & the Senior Opens provided many opportunities for members to participate in competitions during the season. We thank most sincerely John Robinson, Sean O’Sullivan and Peter Faherty; Eddie Hyland and Bernard Byrne; David Coleman and Matt Gahan; Michael and Emer O’Hanlon and Michael O’Neill and Joe Richardson for the enormous effort put into running these competitions.
Nine open competitions from the white tees were also held on Tuesdays in May, June, July, August and September that proved successful. These competitions were organised and run by David Quinn and his team.
Inter Club Competitions
The Club took part in a wide range of inter-club competitions with varying levels of achievement.
| Competition | Team Manager | Progressed to |
| Barton Shield | Paddy Archer & Robert Herssens | Qualifying Round (DNQ – finished 16th out of 22) |
| Senior Cup | Gerry Barry | 1st Round (lost to Forrest Little) |
| Junior Cup | Tom O’Connor & Paddy Harford | Qualifying Round (DNQ at Beaverstown) |
| Barton Cup | Ken Williams & Ronan Toomey | 1st Round (lost to St. Annes) |
| Jimmy Bruen Shield | Tom O’Connor and Robert Herssens | Qualifying Round (DNQ at Donabate) |
| Pierce Purcell Shield | George Reid | Qualifying Round (DNQ at Silloge Park) |
| Metropolitan Trophy | Jim Clune and Neil Paul | 2nd Round (lost to Royal Dublin) |
| Leinster Fourball Trophy | Peter Faherty and Sean O’Sullivan | 1st Round (Lost to Sutton) |
| Uden Cup | Joe Richardson | 1st Round (lost to Donabate) |
| McDonnell Cup | Finntan Archer | 3rd Round (lost to Hollywood Lakes) |
| Best Cup | Peter Faherty & Sean O’Sullivan | Semi-final (lost to Craddockstown – the eventual winners) |
| Fingal Seniors League | John Robinson | Only lost one match in Section A but failed to make it out of the section. Overall winners, Hollywood Lakes, came through Section A |
| Fingal Seniors Gala Day Team Event Trophy | John Robinson | Two teams entered and finished 6th and 9th out of 14 teams. |
| Irish Mixed Foursomes | Eddie Hyland & Fiona Staunton | 3rd Round (lost to Skerries away) |
| JB Carr Trophy | Michael A O’Neill | Semi-final Dublin County (lost to Edmonstown) |
| O’Grady Cup | Michael O’Hanlon & Zita Bergin | 1st Round (lost to Clontarf) |
| Irish Junior Foursomes | Errol Golding | Qualified but lost in Round 1 |
| Fred Daly Trophy (Juniors) | Errol Golding | Qualifying Round (DNQ – came 6th out of 10 clubs) |
| Under 15 Inter Club | Errol Golding | Qualifying Round (DNQ) |
| Fingal Junior Foursomes | Errol Golding | 1st Round |
| Fingal Junior Team Trophy | Errol Golding | 9th of 16 teams – Brendan Smyth won two gross prizes in the course of the competition at Donabate & Royal Dublin |
Handicaps
During the year 24 new handicaps were allocated in accordance with the CONGU Unified Handicapping System 2012-2015 guidelines. The current handicapping system, which was introduced in 2012, features an Exceptional Scoring Reduction (ESR) which allows for a reduction in handicap of up to 2 shots in certain circumstances. An ESR was applied to 16 members during the course of 2014, reflecting their excellent scoring in singles competitions.
Junior Golf
Coaching for juniors took place at the Fingal Driving Range in February, March & April under Carl O’Keeffe and was very successful. Junior coaching will resume at the Fingal Driving Range in November.
There was a junior matchplay championship held and this was won by Robbie Hynes. The Junior Captain’s Prize was held on 15 July and was won by Ciaran Kelly with 41 points. Two Parent & Child competitions were held on the 15th & 28th August both were well supported. The Captain’s (Muiris Heron) prize to juniors was held on the 19 August.
In the Fingal League our juniors finished in the top four and great credit is due to Errol Golding who attended every week for the eight weeks of the league.
The junior competition held every Tuesday was not well supported. Records indicate that the average number of participants has dropped significantly over the past few years from an average of 28 players in 2009 to 10 players in 2014.
There was coaching over the summer months every Tuesday under the supervision of Kate O’Neill and Darragh Tighe and this proved very successful. Great thanks are due to Darragh for all the extra time he spent in the club coaching the juniors.
The Trophy for “The Most Improved Junior” was awarded to Brendan Smyth.
Our juniors also represented the club in many senior interclub competitions.
Finally thanks to the Junior Sponsors for all their support throughout the year and we acknowledge with thanks the generous support given to juniors by the late Ray Barry (Fingal Driving Range).
Sponsors
The Club is very much indebted to all our Sponsors whose generous support made such a valuable contribution to the Club and to the running of competitions throughout the past year. We ask members to support our sponsors whenever possible.
| List of Sponsors |
| Street & Park Co. Limited (Colm Carton) |
| Delta Catering (Robert Herssens) |
| Ciaran O’Brien Cleaning Contractors |
| First Ireland Insurance |
| John Swan Limited (Alan & Breda Swan) |
| Itech Installations (Fer Kelly) |
| Marcus Lynch Solicitors (Brian Lynch) |
| Washcraft (Damien Whelan) |
| AG & M Murphy |
| Lockton Insurance (Kieran McHugh) |
| BAM (Brian Fitzpatrick) |
| Gallagher Builders (Greg Gallagher) |
| Maurice Connolly |
| Fingal Driving Range (Ray Barry, RIP) |
Volunteering
As most members are aware, the organisation and management of competitions and running of teams does not happen by accident. It takes quite an effort by many people. The Captain and Executive Committee are deeply grateful to those members who volunteer in the Club. It is through their generosity in giving their time that an active Club is maintained for the benefit of all members. The Committee wishes to encourage new volunteers to offer their services, and anybody who is willing to give some time to ensuring that the Club continues to function, will be very welcome.
Staff
Finally we thank Darragh Tighe General Manager, Office Staff, House and Grounds Staff, for their services during the year, together with Jimmy Tully and Daniel O’Rourke in the Pro-Shop.
_______________________________ ______________________________
Muiris Heron Ronan Carberry
Captain Honorary Secretary
Date:_____________________ Date:__________________
Financial Report 2014
This financial report covers the period from October 1st 2013 to 30th September 2014. The financial report of Howth Men’s Golf Club relates only to competition entry receipts and the associated cost of prizes.
Competition receipts in the season 2013/14 at €41,501 were up by €825 on the 2012/13 season. The cost of prizes for the season was €30,962 and this was up €1,624 on the previous year.
The overall surplus of competition receipts over the cost of prizes was €10,539 being €799 lower than the surplus recorded in 2012/13.
| 2014€ | 2013€ | 2012€ | |
| Receipts | |||
| Competition entries | 41,501 | 40,676 | 41,018 |
| Payments | |||
| Cost of prizes | 30,962 | 29,338 | 28,548 |
| Surplus for the period | 10,539 | 11,338 | 12,470 |
Alan McGeehan
Hon. Treasurer