Athenry golfer wins Gold at the K-Club

Michael Joyce of Mulranny, Liam Mulveen from Athenry [centre] and Bellewstown’s Bernard Brannigan won gold medals at the inaugural All-Ireland finals of the GUI Gold Medal Championship at The K Club on Tuesday.

Class one, for handicaps of nine and below, was won by four-handicapper Joyce who carded the best overall score of the day, 35 points around The Palmer Course of the famed Kildare venue.

Liam Mulveen from Athenry demonstrated his talent in Class 2 for Handicaps 10-17 by signing for 34 points to take the gold medal.

Playing the 2006 Ryder Cup course, Mulveen was born a few years after Europe’s famous victory. The 15-year-old, playing off a handicap of 8, remembers the 2016 Irish Open and Rory McIlroy’s triumph where he hit ‘that’ incredible shot at the 16^th.

Mulveen’s own standout memory of his round at The K Club will be the par he secured on 16, the par five index 2.

“All I remember is McIlroy’s famous shot into 16, and to par that hole, well I’ll remember it for the rest of my life.” Mulveen comes from the same club that has produced talent such as David Kitt and Allan Hill in recent years.

With the introduction of the GUI All-Ireland Gold Medals club golfers have been presented with a unique opportunity to participate at individual level in an all-Ireland GUI event.

Spread across three different handicap categories, the competition is open to all club members and entry is free for all affiliated golf clubs.

RESULTS

Class One

35pts Michael Joyce (Mulranny)

31pts Sean Doyle (Athlone) on c/b

31pts Jonathan Boyd Hagan (Clandeboye) on c/b

Class Two

34pts Liam Mulveen (Athenry)

30pts Paul Greene (Newlands)

26pts Pat Higgins (West Waterford)

Class Three

32pts Bernard Brannigan (Bellewstown)

30pts Tom Doheny (Castletroy) on c/b

30pts Jeffrey Davies (Castleknock)