Westmeath County Board
County Strokeplay Preview 2013
Westmeath
County Strokeplay Preview 2013. Custume
Pitch and Putt Club is the venue for the 2013 Westmeath County Strokeplay
Championships. 77 players will take to the excellent Athlone course on Sunday
morning. Once again predicting winners on the day will be very difficult but it
can be guaranteed that there will be some very exciting pitch and putt along
the way and anyone lifting cups Sunday evening will be very deserving winners. The
Gents junior grade gets proceedings under way and there are five names that
come to the fore while looking at the staring list. The first is Custume player
Sean Langdon. Although a quiet start to the season from Sean this year so far
one cannot rule him out as he is the 2012 junior matchplay champion. The next
player who could make an impact is another Custume man, Declan Murphy. After a
very strong performance in the Custume Scratch cup a number of weeks previous
where he claimed the overall final 18 prize is just an indicator of what he is
capable of. Young Kilbeggan man Brendan McMahon is another who can definitely
find himself lifting the cup on Sunday evening. Brendan has had an excellent
start to the 2013 season after qualifying for the national matchplay finals and
he will be eager to continue this good run of form in Custume. Martin White of
Rochfortbridge is another young player who can challenge for the junior title.
Playing solidly so far this year Martin can go well and find himself amongst
the medals on Sunday. Kevin Balfe of Custume having already won both the
Custume and Kilbeggan junior scratch cups this year already could add a county
title to his collection of cups on his home turf. The
Gents Intermediate grade is possibly the toughest section to predict a winner
in. With the recent changes to the handicap system there are a number of
players moving from senior to inter and this is after creating a very strong
inter field in Westmeath. The first two ball of William Prendergast and Niall
Corcoran could contain the champion and both will more than likely make the
playoff. John Joyce of the home club will be another man who knows the course
well enough to make an impact on Sunday. Pat Stephens, winner of the Kilbeggan
intermediate scratch cup is a player who could win on Sunday. Pat has the
pitching ability and overall game to score well. Westmeath county team manager
Martin Carter is a man moving from senior to inter due to the handicap changes
and is a strong enough player to perform well and make the playoff. The next 3
ball of Stephen Raune, Damien Mullins and current Leinster Matchplay Champion
Dessie Baker are all strong enough to make a playoff and Dessie must go down as
pre tournament favourite on his current form. Davy Reddin from Custume is
another contender for the title. Davy won the Custume intermediate scratch cup
a number of weeks ago and will look to carry this good form into this weekend. The
Ladies Grade 2 section contains five players who will all want to play well and
with the nature of the Custume course if any get into a run of good pitching,
good scores will be on the cards. Competing in this section are Mary Carroll,
Veronica Clarke, Joan Henry, M Kelly and Ena Clinton. After a strong first
trail in Hillview and unlucky not to win this grade in the Kilbeggan scratch
cup Veronica Clarke could win this section on Sunday. The
Ladies Grade 1 section is going to be very competitive this year. Liz Bloem
returns this year and will be want to regain the title. Liz has the game that
makes her one of the country’s top ladies players and will be looking for a
good performance on Sunday afternoon. Miriam Sheerin the current holder always
returns a fine score and on her home course she will be very tough to beat.
Other Ladies that can challenge are Anne Kelly, Geraldine Daly and Kathleen
Carton. We will be looking forward to a very close finish to this section. Finally
to the Gents Senior Grade. 21 men take part and all 21 will believe they can win
and take the spoils after three challenging rounds. Custume is always known as
a pitchers course and all players are strong enough at this part of the game to
score well. Looking down thru the time sheet one doesn’t have to look too far
to see the name of one of the favourites in Pat Malone. Pat is having an
excellent year so far, leading the inter
county trails and after capturing the Kilbeggan scratch cup Pat will want to
add a Senior county title to this on the mantel piece. Mick Foley of Custume is
playing good pitch and putt this year and with a second place finish under his
belt in the scratch cup at this venue he will be hoping to go one better. The
next three ball of Ronan Whelan, Alan Hanlon and Niall Cuffe have all won this
championship on numerous occasions each. Ronan will be looking to get his name
back on the cup for a fourth time on Sunday and will want to make the playoff.
After an astounding 9 shot victory in the Custume scratch cup which included a
round of 42 we truly saw a magnificent display from Alan Hanlon. Alan will be
looking for a repeat performance of this over the 54 holes in Custume. Niall Cuffe is always a strong performer
under pressure and will surely be in contention and secure a playoff place.
Sean Dinnegan and Liam Buckley are both performing well this year in the inter
county trails and both men will be looking for good scores that could mean they
win the title. Martin Kenny of Custume has all the ability and skill to win the
title on Sunday and with good performances so far the year he also has the form
coming into it to mount a serious challenge. Collinstown player Rene Bloem will
be looking to win a first county title and after some excellent displays of
pitch and putt over the last number of years Rene has established himself as
one of the top players in the county. One cannot overlook John Browne adding a
strokeplay county title to his matchplay one and John would be thrilled to hold
both cups at the same time. Fantastic scores in both trails and numerous
scratch cups this year to date implies John is on form. Last but certainly not
least is current county strokeplay champion Michael Buckley. Michael will want
to retain the title for 2013 and with the all round game of pitching, chipping
and putting, this is a huge possibility. Don’t be surprised if any of these
players lift the cups come Sunday!! The Westmeath County Board would like
to wish all players the very best of luck.
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