The Parnells Youth Annual Golf day took place on the 29th of September at Sudbury Golf Club. The event was a resounding success and that is for three predominant reasons: due to the work behind the scenes of the golf subcommittee (see information below); to the sponsors and their generosity and to Sudbury Golf Club, a marvellous venue.
This event was launched quite a few years ago and flourished under the guidance of Fintan Doran and John McCarthy. This year, a new man was at the helm, Martin Reilly who led the way organising the Golfing Day. Following the tough double act of Fintan Doran and John McCarthy, Martin was dynamic and detailed in his preparation and made sure everything was thoroughly prepared and spreadsheets were numerous! Also new to the event was Veronica Bailey who made sure the Dinner in the evening went off without a hitch. During the morning, Ollie Sheehy and Colin Corrigan prepared the course, Irene Sheridan and Veronica Bailey came on board at about 11.00am to organise the golfers and ensure final evening preparations were in place. Tim Slattery took over for the late afternoon shift and assisted in the presentations along with Martin Reilly. Ollie Sheehy remained for the whole day and worked extremely hard, although he did manage to fit in 9 holes of golf!
The golfers were keen to get their hands on some wonderful trophies (selected by Fiona Corrigan) and made sure after the warm up (tea/coffee and bacon rolls), they were fully prepared to tee off. A couple of heavy showers did not dampen their enthusiasm. A later tee off time than previous years enabled the presentation to be done straight away. The winners on the day were as follows
- Overall Winner – Jack Nugent (35)
- Runner Up – James Nicholls (37)
- Third – Charlie Williams (37)
- Front 9 Winner – Rod Lavery
- Back 9 Winner – Dermott O’Neil
- Nearest Pin and Longest Drive – Charlie Williams
Guests for the evening started to arrive from 7.00pm onwards. Friday work and traffic always means late arrivals (including myself), so it was past 8.00pm when people sat at their tables. The evening swiftly passes with lovely food and wine and lots of ‘chat’ with everyone catching up. Chairperson, Tony Griffin, added to the ceremonial part of the evening giving his speech, part summarising the year but mainly ensuring people were thanked for their contribution to the event and mentioning specifically the work of Martin Reilly, Colin McGuiness and Ollie Sheehy in obtaining new sponsors; their contribution was significant. The raffle was a great success and again, attendees have to be thanked for their generosity. The main winners were as follows
- Ist Prize Many Hipwell (Cash £200)
- 2nd Prize Peter Cummings (Arsenal Tickets)
- 3rd Prize Yvonne Foody (£50 Amazon Voucher)
- 4th Prize Liz Guerin (Luxury Hamper)
The dinner was followed by music to round off the evening. Once again, many thanks to everyone involved from the Committee to the parents and friends who attended the event. Looking forward to next year already!
