Westmeath Ladies perform well at Leinsters
Last Sunday saw our Inter-County teams take to the field for the first time this year in the Leinster Inter-County championships. Tullamore was the venue on a day that saw all four seasons at different times.
Our Ladies were first to do battle and indeed they put in a fine performance. A decent doubles total of 1 under par which included a fine 3 under round from Helen Hyland and Ann Kelly gave the Ladies an outside chance of honours. Solid level par rounds from Helen Hyland, Noeleen Coffey and Liz Bloem together with a super 2 under par from captain Miriam Sheerin in the singles were the basis of the Ladies fine third place finish. Anne Kelly and Moira Nugent also played their part in the respectable 494 total which was only 15 shots behind the winners Dublin - that was less than 2 shots per round - well done to our girls!
Westmeath's Liz Bloem putting on the 18th
Unfortunately the gents did not fare as well. They did, in fairness, run into some terrible weather in the singles which without doubt hindered any chance of making a big score. The doubles started well with John Browne and Pat Malone leading the way with a superb 43. Martin Kenny and Harry O' Hanlon had a 49 and Larry McGinn and Ronan Whelan had a 48 which gave a 22 under total - only 2 shots behind the eventual winners Kildare at that stage.
But then the rain came and play was delayed for 90 minutes. Even when play restarted the course had become very wet and again the rain restarted after a short time. The gents battled away though and scores of 49 from Harry O' Hanlon, 50 from John Browne and 51 from Martin Kenny were reasonable returns under the circumstances. But overall the weather was to get the better of the team score and in the end a 36 under total meant that the Westmeath gents finished a disappointing 7th. Still there was a good team spirit on the day and there is plenty more in the tank with this team so hopefully next month, Portmarnock will give a better return for the effort they put in.
