4th May 2009: National Matchplay Qualiyfing Rounds Preview & Latest News Round-Up

This week sees the qualifying rounds for the National Gents and Ladies Matchplay championships take place in Ferbane over Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings. With good entry numbers this year Offaly have been fortunate to gain six qualifying spots, following the PPUI's draw last week, for the Gents National Finals and three qualifying spots for the Ladies National Finals, both taking place at Castletown, Meath over the June Bank Holiday weekend. Some interesting matches have arisen from the qualifying draw ensuring entertaining and high quality pitch and putt over the three night period.

Anthony Galvin of Tullamore is placed in the first section of the draw along with club mates Mick Hogan, Mick Byrne, Tom Martin and John McEvoy and Erry's John Dunican and Larry Maher Snr. Galvin will have to be at the top of his game to qualify from this group. The second section of the draw brings together experience and youth with veteran Offaly star Vinny Murphy (Tullamore) facing stiff competition in the form of rising star Larry Maher Jnr. (Erry) who has proven his major championship potential in recent times. Other qualifying hopefuls in the same section are last year's National Strokeplay runner-up Paul O'Gorman (Tullamore), his club mates Michael O'Connell and Joe Gorman, Erry's Ted Kidney and local Ferbane man Tommy Murphy Snr. Another young gun Mark Hogan (Tullamore) will face experienced competitors for a coveted qualifying spot in his group in the form of Erry's Joe McGrath Snr., Billy Buckley Snr., Ger Walsh and Tullamore's Martin McEvoy and Pat Gorman. Each match in this group will prove to be a tight affair. The fourth group will be an interesting contest as Darren O'Connell will face a possible match against Tullamore's Lorcan Bracken while Jimmy Scanlon may play himself into a second round match with Erry club mate Sean Buckley, only if they overcome difficult first round matches against Eddie O'Connell (Tullamore) and James Walsh (Erry) respectively. Lorcan Bracken will not have it too easy in the first round either as he faces William Kennedy of Erry. The penultimate group sees another young rising star Erry's Graham Newman bidding to snatch a qualifying spot. This will be no mean feat as he will possibly face Inter-County stalwart and club mate Joseph McGrath Jnr., who is no stranger to pressure matchplay games. Erry's Gerry Gallagher and Tullamore's Ger Palmer are odds on to face each other in a second round match in the same group. The last group is certainly the most difficult to call as it boasts two top local Ferbane players Kieran Egan and last Patsy Reams, current County Matchplay champion, along with Erry's Joe Egan, JJ Wynne and current Leinster Matchplay champion William Buckley Jnr. The last group is completed by Tullamore's Mark Cuskelly and seasoned campaigner John Fleming.

The Ladies section is made up of two preliminary rounds in which Erry's Geraldine Ryan takes on club mate Tracey McGrath, current Leinster Matchplay champion and National Matchplay runner-up while the second preliminary round is an all Tullamore affair as Annie Galvin takes on Margaret Hogan, a past National Matchplay champion. The winner of the first preliminary round will face Erry's Helen Wynne for a qualifying spot, the winner of the second preliminary round will take on Tullamore's Deirdre Byrne for the second qualifying spot while Una Pyke (Tullamore) will play Linda Flanagan (Erry) in a straight match for the final qualifying spot. Matchplay is a funny game and there are likely to be some unexpected upsets along the way however favourites may prevail on any given evening, one thing is for sure there will be some great matches on display that will go down to the wire.

**All competitors please note that you must turn up on the evening of your scheduled match to claim the match in the event of having a bye/accepting a walkover. Failure to do so will lead to disqualification.**

Complete Offaly draw sheet and match updates »

Click here for a comprehensive list of all counties National Matchplay Qualifying Rounds on the PPUI website »

Buckley & McGrath Enjoy Mixed Fortunes At Inaugural World Championships

Congratulations to William Buckley Jnr. and Tracey McGrath on successfully representing the club and county at the recent inaugural World Pitch & Putt Strokeplay championships last weekend in southern France. The event succumbed to mixed weather conditions with the first two rounds played in windy conditions and the final day's play hampered by an incoming storm suspending the fourth round of the championship, reducing the championship to a 54 hole competition. The Erry duo performed well under the circumstances and adapted well to the extended version of the pitch and putt game as we know it, which included the use of a third club for shots that ranged from 45 to 90 metres to some greens that measured up to 30 metres in diameter. In a field of 85 competitors representing thirteen countries William finished in the top 30 while Tracey, who carried an injury into the championship, finished well in third position in the ladies section. The pair was proudly sponsored for the historic event by St. Bridget's Credit Union, Bernie Bryant of Gallant Embroidery, Niall Martin's Golf Athlone and Donagh McArdle Golf Pro.

Well done to both players who proudly represented Erry and Offaly on the world stage of pitch and putt.
For a full report on the World Championships see http://www.fippa.net/