2008 FALDO Series - Ballyliffin

Ballybunion`s Emma O`Driscoll won the 2nd Faldo Series Ireland Championship in Ballyliffin Golf Club by 8 shots, she goes on to play in the finals which take place in Brazil in September/October of this year.

2008 Irish Senior Women's Close Championship - Hollystown

Mary Madden (Ballinasloe) defends her Irish Senior Womens Close Championship title when competitors tee off at Hollystown Golf Club, Tuesday 17th to Friday 20th June 2008.

The field boasts a handful of past Ladies & Seniors Internationals who will all hope to secure valuable Order of Merit points for selection for the team of 6 to play in the Senior Women's European Team Championships in The Netherlands in September and team of 8 for the Home Internationals in October.

The Championship begins Tuesday 17 June with the first of two qualifying 18 hole rounds, concluding Wednesday. The leading 16 players will go into the Championship Draw on Thursday with the matchplay Final scheduled for Friday afternoon.

2008 CURTIS CUP GB&I 7 USA 13 - St Andrews

USA won the 35th Curtis Cup for the 26th time in the history of the biennial transatlantic women’s amateur contest at the Old Course, St Andrews, 30th May to 1st June 2008.

Mary McKenna’s side, training 4½-7½ overnight, secured 2½ points from Sunday’s singles to eventually secumb to a very talented USA team 13-7.

Sunday’s 4,800 attendance in wintry conditions rounded off another successful LGU event with the three-day gallery total of 13,600 enjoying impressive displays of elite women’s golf.

Highlights of the event will be shown on Sky Sports 3 on Sunday evening at 8pm.

2008 Irish Women's Open Strokeplay - Elm Park

The 2008 Irish Women's Open Strokeplay tees off at Elm Park Golf Club on Saturday 28th June 2008.

The 54 hole tournament has attracted an International field with compeitors from England, Scotland Wales, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and South Africa.

Two rounds of 18 holes will commence at 7.30am on Saturday morning with the top 40 plus ties making the final 18 holes on Sunday morning. Entries close 6th June 2008.

2008 AIB Ladies Irish Open - Portmarnock Hotel & Golf Links

The AIB Ladies Irish Open will be held at The Portmarnock Hotel & Golf Links on Friday 11th through Sunday 13th July 2008.

Volunteers are invited to assist at the Tournament by becoming Marshals, Ball Spotters, Scorers, Courtesy Car Drivers etc. This is a wonderful opportunity for Club Members (male & female) to become part of the build-up to the Solheim Cup. Only those with tournament experience may volunteer for this event at Killeen Castle in September 2011.

In addition, members affiliated to the ILGU will receive a 50% discount on entry to the AIB Ladies Irish Open by registering online on www.aibladiesirishopen.com and bringing a copy of their registration and GOLFNET card with them to the event.

2008 U21 & U18 French Open Championships - St Cloud

Thirteen year old twin Leona Maguire sensationally won the 2008 U18 French Open Championship at St. Cloud Golf Club, Paris, Monday 24th March.

Leona defeated Valentine Gevers (GER) on the 18th hole in an exciting evenly-matched Final. Leona brings the Cup home to Bangor Monday evening where she joins her Ulster teammates in their defence of the U18 Girls Interprovincials, 26th - 28th March.

Twin sister Lisa, who qualified for the U21 Matchplay by virtue of finishing in 10th place after 2 rounds of qualifying, was beaten on the 18th hole of her semi final by Curtis Cup reserve Rachel Jennings (ENG) - who went on to lift the U21 title.

The ILGU sent the team of two to the Lady Juniors French International Amateur Championships as part of an elite squad competing for the first time in this prestigious underage event. The twins were accompanied by National Coach David Kearney.

2008 U18 Interprovincial Matches - Bangor

Ulster look to capture their 4th successive U-18 Interprovincial title when the 3 day tournament starts at Bangor Golf Club, Co. Down, 26-28 March 2008.

The defending Champions once again look the strongest of the four sides as they field five players from last year’s successful line-up. Victoria Bradshaw, playing on home soil, is joined again by thirteen year old twins Leona and Lisa Maguire (Slieve Russell) who will have just returned from action in the French U-21 Championship at Saint Cloud Golf Club. The only newcomer to last year’s squad in none other than US student Stephanie Meadow (Royal Portrush), last year’s Girls’ Close runner-up, who makes a welcome return to the Ulster underage squad.

Nearest challengers Munster also field five from last year’s team with U18 Internationals Sarah Cunningham (Ennis) and Holli Snelling (Tralee) hoping to lead their side to victory on Friday afternoon. Connacht field four players from last year’s team and will need things to go their way if they are to regain the title they surrendered to Ulster in 2005. Leinster’s Niamh O’Connor (Naas) and Ciara Sharkey (Enniscorthy) are the only survivors from last year’s team and the side will need to punch well above their weight to make an impact in this year’s Championship.

This year’s tournament takes place on the challenging parkland at Bangor and with a par 73 track over 6,052 yards, Friday’s winners will be worthy champions of this highly competitive opener to the 2008 season.

2007 A Brief Review

2007 was a very exciting year for the ILGU, both on and off the golf course. The AA Insurance Ladies Championships, now in their second year, were once again an outstanding success with over 25,000 women taking part. The National Fourball Championships, now sponsored by Miele Ireland, continued to grow from strength to strength while Ennis celebrated their Centenary year with their first Senior Cup success. We also progressed the purchase of our new headquarters in Sandyford Industrial Estate and we are well on schedule to take up residency in April 2008.

Club golf continued to excel with Enniscorthy winning both the Intermediate Foursomes and Junior Cup at the AA Insurance Ladies’ Championships in Athlone. Larne won the Senior Foursomes while Belvoir Park won the Junior Cup. Dun Laoghaire won the Minor Cup while the K Club added the Challenge Cup to their Irish Mixed Foursomes and Australian Spoons victories.

Other team championships saw Mountbellew win the Miele Ireland Fourball and the Allgrip Girls Interclub Championships while the new Senior Cup format was well received. Karen Delaney (Carlow) won the LancÔme Irish Ladies’ Close Championship at Lahinch while her sister Tara was selected on the GB&I Vagliano Trophy Team who were beaten by the Continent of Europe at St. Andrews. Kate Gallagher (Claremorris) was crowned LancÔme Irish Girls’ Close Champion while Stephanie Meadow (Royal Portrush) continued to secure top-10 finishes on the American Junior Golf Association Tour. Stacey Keating (Australia) won the Womens Open Strokeplay at Clandeboye while Alison Murdoch (Canada) secured her third Seniors Open title in four years at Ennis. Another great year for the twelve year old Maguire twins from Slieve Russell as Leona won the Scottish U16 Strokeplay while Lisa made the last four of the Girls British Amateur Championship at Southerndown in August.

In our first appearance at the World Student Games in Thailand, Danielle McVeigh (Royal Co. Down Ladies) won individual GOLD and then joined Niamh Kitching (Claremorris) and Gillian O’Leary (UCC/Cork) to win SILVER in the team event.

Other International exploits saw us finish 10th at the Ladies, 12th at the Under-18 and 10th at the Seniors European Team Championships. Our Girls Home International team defeated England on the final day to finish runners-up to Scotland, our Ladies finished 3rd while our Seniors finished 4th.

Marian Riordan (Tipperary) celebrated her final year as an amateur by winning the Ladies Order of Merit title, Lisa Maguire (Slieve Russell) lifted the Girls title while Marilyn Henderson (West Rhine) captured her third consecutive Seniors title. Mary Madden was crowned Irish Seniors Close Champion at Portumna while Bangor Academy won the Irish Schools at Milltown.

Leinster continued their dominance of the Ladies Interprovincials with their 4th consecutive win while the Ulster U18s captured their hat-trick of victories at Laytown/Bettystown. Ulster also won their second U15 Interprovincials at Portarlington.

On the professional scene, Martina Gillen retained her Tour card at Qualifying School and will join Rebecca Coakley as Ireland’s two representatives on the Ladies European Tour in 2008.

Off the course, Ann Bradshaw assumed the Presidency from Ann Heskin and as our membership continued to grow, we enjoyed an increase in publicity of our activities in the national newspapers while Ladies Golf Times continued to keep us up to date. Our membership cards were replaced and our Women in Golf programme flourished. Indeed the ILGU had many reasons to celebrate during the year, of particular note was the announcement that Ireland would host the Solheim Cup at Killeen Castle in 2011.

Our small office, which we had rented out, was sold in August and with each member kindly facilitating payment of the €40 levy, our dream to support an improved service to our ever-increasing membership will shortly become a reality.

Our Training Committee rolled out a new Winter Training Programme which included a move from St. Margaret’s Golf & Country Club to the Heritage Golf & Spa Resort in Co. Laois. With the appointment of four new District coaches, the new structure ensures more underage players receive coaching while our experienced players attend “sharpening” days. In a new departure, all District coaching will target the U18 and U15 age groups.

The ILGU Prizes were run in aid of the President’s Charity and €10,000 was raised for Arthritis Ireland. Two more Rules Officials received their R&A qualifications while our number of courses rated steadily increased throughout the year. Our Equality and Handicap Advisors dealt with a number of queries and points of clarification from clubs with many seeking advice on revising organisational structures and applying General Play cuts.

Junior Golf Ireland, a joint partnership with the GUI and the PGA, continued to encourage more boys and girls to take up the game. Anne Marie Hughes, Director of Development, made steady progress rolling out the Junior Golf Coaching Programme which addresses the skills required to start, practice and play the game.

The Links Portmarnock/Irish Independent Lady Golfer of the Month Awards went to Theresa Morgan (Ardee - May), Charlotte Crowe (Tipperary – June), Cathy McCormack (Boystown – July), Breege McCarrick (Mullingar – August) and Ruth O’Mahony Jr (Harbour point - September). Each will received their trophies before a capacity gathering at the 2008 AGM on Saturday 12th January 2008.

Our Women in Sport initiative, under the guidance of National Co-Ordinator Theresa Morgan, continued to introduce women and girls to the game. Supported by the Irish Sports Council, programmes of lessons and golf outings were run in all 5 Districts and were open to the public. Around 1,000 women have taken up the game while 400 approx have joined clubs since the initiative was launched in 2006.

The ILGU cannot function without the many volunteers who give so freely of their time and expertise to the work of the Union. One way of acknowledging their contribution was our hosting of a Volunteers Day for all USGA Course Raters and Women in Sport Volunteers at Kilkea Castle in September. Everyone stayed and played in a most memorable outing for all!

As an organisation, the ILGU continually strives to improve efficiency and make good use of technology throughout its membership. E-mail, text and web are primary methods of communication and are significantly contributing to the reduction of overheads costs at District and National level. Our e-mail distribution list has doubled to over 2,000 members and anyone can subscribe for free by simply submitting an e-mail address at www.ilgu.ie.

As the work of the ILGU expands from year to year, it is pleasing to note that many initiatives highlighted in the 2002-07 Strategic Plan have come to fruition. As growth continues, the next challenge facing the Union is to gear up the organisation to meet the challenges of the 21st century by improving services to members, enhancing communications and streamlining the organisation. Key to achieving these ambitions will involve Organisational restructure, Constitution reform and a modernisation of current activities.

Many wins have been achieved over the past number of years and there is a bright future ahead for our enthused and vibrant membership. The Union takes this opportunity to thank its many volunteers around the country and thanks you, our membership, for your camaraderie and continued support.