20th July 2009: McGrath Masters Gleville to Complete Historic National Double as attention now turns to the Gents National Strokeplay Finals at Tralee

Glenville Pitch & Putt Club played superb hosts to the highly anticipated Ladies National Strokeplay Finals over Saturday July 11th and Sunday July 12th. The first day saw the Junior and Inter ladies compete for National honours at the South Dublin course in Tallaght. As predicted the local Dublin players were on form in all grades and it was indeed the true blues that claimed two medals at the Junior championships. Siobhan McDonnell of the nearby Lucan club topped of a memorable and fantastic year by finishing in second place in the National Junior Strokeplay. She was a hotly tipped favourite for the crown as she was the reigning Junior Leinster Strokeplay and County Matchplay champion. Siobhan finished ahead of Dublin counterpart Laura Whelan of Old County. However, the championship was to be dominated by, one of the favourites, Kilbeggan's Aoife Carton. She claimed the title in brilliant fashion leaving her competitors for dust in the final 18 hole playoff. It was indeed the start of an unforgettable weekend for the midland players. Aoife had lead by 4 shots following the initial 3 holes but coolly and impressively extended her overall lead to eleven shots with 9 holes to play, a lead that she would increase further to 14 shots on 5 over par to easily capture the National Junior Strokeplay title. Congratulations to Aoife from all in Offaly Pitch and Putt. Unfortunately Offaly did not have any representatives in the Junior Grade, but Offaly hopes were certainly high in the Ladies Inter Grade as last years runner-up Ann-Marie McCabe of Ferbane was back to try and go one step further to National glory. Club mate Eileen Guerin, Erry's Linda Flanagan and Geraline Ryan also travelled to the Kiltipper Road venue to take part in the Inter Championships. The cut fell at 12 over par on Saturday afternoon as the weather deteriorated from sunny warm conditions into continuous rain. Ten players qualified for the play-off including Ann-Marie McCabe on 7 over par and Eileen Guerin on 10 over par. Michelle McCarthy of Clonmel lead the way on level par after 36 holes three shots ahead of Munster rival Martha O'Brien of Templemore. As in the Junior grade the half way leader was to increase her lead over the final 18 hole playoff. Michelle McCarthy showed her nerves of steal to shoot a final round of 1 under par in terribly wet conditions. It was deja vu for Ann-Marie McCabe as she held on to second place for a second consecutive year on 10 over par 1 shot ahead of Martha O'Brien. Congratulations to Ann-Marie on her commendable efforts and to Eileen Guerin on making the playoff.

On Sunday morning bright but showery and breezy weather conditions greeted the Ladies Senior at Glenville. As expected Dublin hopes were extremely high and felt around the championship course as the potential contenders to the crown teed-off the first hole. Amongst the local favourites were defending National Champion Geraldine Ward (Portmarnock), Sheelagh Elmes (Portmarnock), Maree O'Toole (Shandon), Lucan's Phil Condron and Barbara Furlong and Glenville's Kay Mooney, Siobhan Keely and Stella Sheridan. As ever the elite of the game and other highly fancied contenders were present including Cork's Siobhan Scannell (Munster Matchplay Champion) and Sharon Bowes (Munster Strokeplay Champion), Kildare's Tara Dillon and Chrissie Byrne (Leinster Double Champion) and of course Offaly's lone hopeful Tracey McGrath who was fresh off her National Matchplay win at Castletown recently. It was indeed a truly star studded field and for Tracey claiming a second consecutive National title was indeed going to be an unforgettable battle.

In tricky playing conditions it was Chrissie Byrne who took command of the lead throughout the initial 36 holes to finish on 7 under par. The cut was to fall on the 1 under mark with the top ten players following 36 holes qualifying for the final 18 hole playoff. Unknown to Offaly's star Tracey who struggled greatly on the sluggish wet greens, she found herself making unforced mistakes and lay on 1 over par with 5 holes to play. Luckily she found some putting form and thanks to some fine pitching she birdied 4 out of the final 5 holes to finish on 3 under par, safely making the final 18 hole playoff. The top ten scores that made the playoff were as follows: Chrissie Byrne (-7), Kay Mooney (-6), Tara Dillon (-5), Tracey McGrath (-3), Maree O'Toole (-3), Brid Cullinan (-2), Barbara Furlong (-2), Sheelagh Elmes (-1), Stella Sheridan (-1) and Ger Ward (-1).

The scene was set for the final playoff, with a large home crowd gathered anticipating a potential Dublin victory, as six of the final ten players were true blues. Through 9 holes of the playoff their hopes increased as Lucan's Barbara Furlong made a move up the leader board into joint second place; Chrissie Byrne remained on 7 under par, Tara Dillon moved to 5 under par and Barbara moved to 5 under. Through 9 holes Tracey had just picked up one birdie to lie on 4 under par. The tenth hole was the start of an outstanding performance as she commenced a birdie blitz with an eight foot putt. Consistent pitching from the reigning National Matchplay champion saw her draw level with the leader at the 14th hole on 8 under par with 4 left to play. Another birdie on the 15th saw Tracey move one ahead. Meanwhile Lucan's Barbara Furling sank a final putt on 18 to finish a final round of 48(-6) for an overall total of 8 under par. Unknown to the final two groupings of Tracey and Tara and Chrissie and Kay, the exciting battle continued over the final holes. The 15th hole wasn't as kind to Chrissie as she picked up a uncharacteristic bogey to see her drop back to 7 under par. On the final tee Tracey stood on the edge of victory and a potential double National win, a rare and historic honour. Her pitch finished off the right fringe of the green and in spectacular fashion she held a lengthy putt to secure National glory to the crowd's applause.

On July 12th Erry and Offaly's Tracey McGrath added the National Senior Ladies Strokeplay title to the Ladies Matchplay title she just won last June. It was an outstanding performance coming as she did from four shots behind going into the final 18. Her final round of 7 under par proved the best round of the championships and allowed her to overtake Chrissie Byrne in the final holes and Barbara Furlong who had shot an excellent final round of 6 under par, which propelled Barbara Furlong (Lucan) into second position. In the end Tracey displayed the performance of a champion and proved a deserving winner by a two shot margin. Following years of near misses the title was finally hers. Tracey finished on -10, two shots ahead of Lucan's Barbara Furlong on -8 and three shots ahead of St. Bridget's Chrissie Byrne on -7. Tracey now goes into the record books along with five other names who have won the National Strokeplay and Matchplay titles in same year, they include they following: Claire Keating (1963, 1964, 1973, 1975) , Teresa McGuigan (1966), Norma O'Brien (1991), Peggy Campbell (2002) and present playing great Ger Ward (1994, 2007). Congratulations to Ann-Marie McCabe and Tracey McGrath on fantastic performances at the 2009 National Ladies Strokeplay Finals at Glenville.

Gents National Strokeplay Finals at Tralee All the attention now turns to the Gents National Strokeplay Finals which take place in Tralee on Saturday and Sunday July 25th-26th. A strong Offaly contingent travel down to the Kingdom over the coming days for valuable practice for one of the most prestigious championships in Pitch and Putt. In the Junior grade Offaly is represented by Tullamore club mates Ashley Lowry and Michael O'Connell and the Inter grade sees Tullamore's up and coming stars Sean Galvin, Joe Pyke and Ciaran Boland take on the nation's best on Saturday. On Sunday morning the elite of Irish Senior Gents players tee off in the first morning session at 8.30am. Among the competitors in the first session are Tullamore's Darren O'Connell, Mark Hogan, Paul O'Gorman and Anthony Gavin along with the exciting prospects of Erry's Graham Newman, Larry Maher Jnr. and William Buckley Jnr. In the second session the remaining two Offaly representatives take to the course from 11.30am. Ferbane's Patsy Reams and Erry's Joseph McGrath Jnr. will be hoping to put together 36 holes which will get them into the final 18 places for the final playoff round come Sunday afternoon. We wish all our Offaly players the very best of luck in Tralee over the coming weekend!!



Click here for the Gents order of play for the forthcoming Gents National Strokeplay Championships on the PPUI website »

2009 National Matchplay & Strokeplay Champion Tracey McGrath with her father Joe at Glenville