GM

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.

1. Forde, Cathal (6) – 53.00
2. McMullen, Craig (7) – 52.00
3. McGrath, Brian (6) – 48.00
4. McCarthy, Gerry (9) – 47.00
5. Barry, Gerard (6) – 46.00
6. Hanway, Joe (10) – 45.00
7. Herssens, Robert (10) – 42.00
8. Quinn, David (8) – 40.00
9. McLean, Stephen (5) – 39.00
10. 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 15^th & 28^th 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 1^st 2013 to 30^th 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