COURTOWN The Annual General Meeting was held in the Clubhouse on Saturday evening last and it was good to see that we had a full house there.

The meeting was opened by outgoing captain Jim French who called for a minute's silence for deceased members. The meeting was scheduled for 4.30 p.m and started on time and as a testement to how well the club has done over the last twelve months the meeting was concluded in about forty five minutes.

There was much praise for the the end of year accounts which showed a considerable profit and a healthy balance sheet. Our Honorary Treasurer, Denise Kavanagh, was delighted to tell all present that there would be no need for an increase in fees for 2010, this of course was well received by the members.

This bit of good news could not be guaranteed for future years. All staff from the bar, the office and the grounds were thanked for their part in helping to make it such a profitable year in these testing times.

There was a question from the floor regarding the number of members now in Courtown and Jim French was able to reply that we now have a total of 1674 members and that last year we took in seventy new members.

The membership is capped in so far as we only take new members to fill the places of those who have left. When it came to "any other business" there were no questions to answer so we moved on to the election of officers for the coming year. Malachy Travers was proposed as President while John Kinsella was nominated as Vice President, Dennis Howell is our new Captain and Noel McCartan is Vice Captain. Geoffrey Masterson and Denise Kavanagh have agreed to continue their excellent work as Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer.

In the Ladies section Beatrice Griffiths comes in as Lady President, Kate Sheehan will be the Lady Vice -Captain while Marion Siggins is the Lady Captain.

Tony Targett, who stepped down from committee this year was thanked for all his hard work as handicap secretary over the last number of years.

The following members were elected as committee for the coming year: Kieran Murphy, Pat McCarthy, Pat Dillon, Paddy Dore, Edward Sheehan, Mick Morrissey, Paddy Berney and Eamonn O'Connor.

The first commitee meeting will take place on Monday 14th at 8.00 p.m. We take this opportunity to send every good wish to the officers and committee for the year ahead and hope that they have an enjoyable year as they represent our club.

COURTOWN LADIES

The Ladies End of Year Presentation was held on Tuesday, December 1. It was a very successful and enjoyable social evening. The ladies were very entertained by 'Laura' a new member trying to make a name for herself. She delivered a fine rendition of a poem she composed especially for the evening which was well received by the Lady Captain Mrs. Mary Osborne and all the Lady members.

A surprise visit and perfomance by 'Sonny and Cher' and 'Tina Turner' proved a great hit with the audience as did the 'Karaoke'. The Lady Vice-Captain Marion Siggins ably acted as MC for the evening.

The 'Buffet' was delightful and much praise waas lavished on Maureen and her staff for the fine food served.

End of Year Presentations - Golfer of the Year: Sorcha Howell; Silver Medal: Sorcha Howell; Silver Spoon: Sorcha Howell; Bronze Medal: Yvonne Keegan; Most Improved Golfer: Eilis Kinsella

Match Play 0-20 H/Cap: Winner: Kate Sheehan; Runner-up: Eileen Allen

21-36 H/Cap: Winner: Ann Duggan; Runnerup: Claire Duggan

Other results: November 24, 12-hole Singles: 1st. Eleanor Shanley (32) 25 pts; 2nd. Eileen Wheeler (33) 23 pts; 3rd. Angela Merrigan (33) 23 pts.

December 1, 9-hole Stableford: 1st. Eleanor Shanley (32) 21pts; 2nd. Eileen Wheeler (33) 20 pts.

MOUNTAIN VIEW

After the recent course maintenance, caused by livestock damage, Mountain will be open for play from 21st December. The course has been greatly cared for and maintained during this time by head greenkeeper Edward Power and his team. Work has also commenced on developing our bunkers and this will finish in early 2010.

Fixtures: 2010 fixtures are currently being completed and fixture books will be available from the golf shop in the coming weeks.

Annual General Meeting: The annual general meeting of Mountain View Golf Club will take place in January; notification of this will be displayed in the golf shop.

Communication: A reminder to all members to give their email address and mobile phone number to the golf shop as soon as possible, this is part of a new initiative to start in January 2010.

Christmas in The Summit Bar: Join us on Christmas Eve between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m., for Mulled Wine and Mince Pies to celebrate the festive season. Prizes to give away also!!!!

On behalf of all the team at Mountain View we would like to take this opportunity to wish you and yours a very happy and peaceful Christmas and New Year.

ENNISCORTHY

There was a great turnout for the ladies A.G.M at Enniscorthy Golf Club on Wednesday, December 2. They reflected on the fantastic year had by all the ladies teams. Full of pride, Lady Captain Cora Mernagh stood down from office and handed over her reign of office to in-coming Lady Captain Bernie Whelan. Lady President Ann Banville handed over the presidency to the capable hands of Ina Kent. The ladies would like to wish both Bernie and Ina a successful and enjoyable year ahead. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all from the ladies club committee.

Don't forget that Santa arrives at 4 p.m. this Sunday the 13th in the clubhouse with a disco from 3 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. Present to be valued of between ¤5 to ¤7.50 (Please put child's name on present) so Santa won't make any mistakes. Just a reminder to the ladies that the Martin Doyle's Classic three team scramble, previously cancelled due to poor weather, has been rescheduled and is now being held on Saturday, 12th December.

The Men's Club A.G.M took place last Sunday and ten of the thirteen positions were filled. Outgoing Captain Declan Lyons gave a run down of the various positions held within the men's club committee and reports from each section were read out by Jim Mackey, men's secretary. The seniors report was presented by Pat Mulvey which disclosed that an average of 50 visitors and 65 members played on the open senior days with only two cancellations. Eamon Whitty gave his report on the mid-week competitions of which there were 20 in total and thanked all the sponsors involved especially Tommy Cooper, Regional Manager of FRS Training for there sponsorship of the 'Champion of Champions'. The

out-going President John Mernagh was responsible for teams and aided by experienced and dedicated managers had made his job a lot easier. Success can be measured by Pierce Purcell, Jimmy Bruen, Barton Shield and Junior Cup teams all reaching the play-off stages in their regions. In his report he singled out the winning Jim Whitney Shield team and the Carroll Cup for over 60's who reached the All-Ireland finals day in Westmanstown. We look forward to hosting the Pierce Purcell competition next year. Tim Morrissey, handicap secretary presented the handicap report to the members with information pertaining to adjustments intimating that these are now done by computer automatically, the exception being away scores which have to be accepted by the handicap secretary/committee before they go into the member's handicap record. For any details on the report or handicaps Tim would be pleased to answer any questions. Men's P.R. Officer report was submitted by Pat Jordan and it detailed the tasked of the position including presenting the weekly notes to the press. The web site, developed in conjunction with Web Things, has proved a great asset in promoting the course and the clubs overall image. The abridged report went on to thank all who assisted in funnelling information to Pat and a special word of gratitude went out to the ladies P.R. Officer Sharon McGuire who collaborated with the Men's P.R. every week in presenting the club notes. Pat continues the role next year for his sins while his counterpart in the ladies will be the famed Stellah Sinnott.

The club A.G.M followed where Declan handed over the reigns to the new Captain Tom Clifford. Toms' Vice-Captain is last year's treasurer Gerry O'Connor who together with the finance committee produced very favourable accounts in these recessionary times. John Mernagh called on Pat Higgins to present him with the jacket of club President whereby Pat immediately took on the role of chairing the meeting. A full listing of newly elected officers and committees will be posted in the clubhouse and on the website. Further details of the reports will be added to the secured 'Members Area' which should be available shortly.

The final of the club foursomes took place in abysmal weather conditions on Saturday between Claire Lambert and Brendan Flood and George Leech and Elizabeth Browne. At one stage George and Elizabeth fought back when two down to level but were beaten on the 18th giving several shots to the winning couple. Well done to all and a special prize for braving the weather should be awarded.

The Wednesday 4 Ball Qualifier has been cancelled today, the 9th of December. The next qualifying round of this competition will be held over two days, December 30th and 31st, time sheets available from Friday, 18th December at 5 p.m. As a result of the competition being cancelled on two Sundays because of weather conditions next Sunday's Winter Alliance Singles competition sponsored by O.C.M Construction is the final round of the Winter Alliance. The overall winner in each section will be determined by their two best cards from competitions played. Tomorrow, Thursday the 10th, the club will sponsor the Open Senior Singles and though the timesheet is almost full there are a few tee times available. Votes of sympathy were recently expressed at a meeting of the men's committee on the passing of Pat Burke and Mollie Quinn, Ted Quinn's mother. Unfortunately for golfers everywhere the torrential rainfall has resulted in courses everywhere having to close for longer spells than usual, leaving many people gasping for fresh air, comradry and exercise, associated with a few holes in the winter. Luckily St. Helen's Bay was in a position to be playable for the winter league last Saturday which was really well supported. James Morrissey won with 27 points and leads the Leader Board with a score of 54 points. Leonie Furlong won the ladies section with 25 points and leads the Leader Board with 39 points.

The Captain's Drinks are scheduled for next Saturday, 12th December where all the end of year prizes will be presented. This will be the last formal event for 2009 for Captain Alan Howard and Lady Captain Kathleen Murphy. Proceedings will start with a Scramble in the morning.

Last week also was a busy week from the perspective of both committees especially, as they prepared for the Annual A.G.M. of the Ladies and Gents Clubs. A large attendance (on what can only be described as a 'night not to put your dog out') took part in a two hour meeting on the playing and rules of golf as amateur members of a golf club. Mr. Larry Byrne explained to the members present the difficult times being experienced in all golf clubs and the leisure industry generally. He said he was happy to announce there would be no change to the annual sub for 2010 and nor was there going to be a levy for bar/food consumption. However there would be a generous 10 per cent discount to any member who spent ¤100 on bar/food consumables during the year in the form of a Voluntary Levy, which would apply from April 2010 onwards.

There would, he said, also be special offers to members introducing new members to the Clubs and advised everyone to watch out for the Special Christmas Offer which would be announced in the local press through advertisements. The elected officers of the Ladies and Gents Committee for 2010 are Captain Frank O'Kennedy, Vice-Captain Tom McConalogue, President John Codd, Treasurer Maurice Cooper, Hon Sec. Joe Moran, Handicap Secretary Mick Conlan and Committee members John Holt, Paul Philips and Alan Howard ex officio, Lady Captain Jean O'Kennedy, Vice Lady Captain Georgina Darling, Lady President Mari Byrne Handicap Secretary Bernie Furlong, Competition Secretary Nora Kavanagh, Treasurer Ann Parkinson, Honorary Secretary Peigi O'Ruairc and Committee Members Janet Slattery and Kathleen Murphy ex officio.

St. Helen's Bay will have the very unique and happy experience of having a husband and wife at the helm with both Clubs, everybody while wishing them well hope they do not spend all their time on matters golf related!