A round-up of today's other golf news in brief...
Meadow beats the field again
UNITED STATES-based Stephanie Meadow from Antrim has won again - by 14 strokes over 36 holes - in an International Junior Golf Tour (IJGT) event last week.
The tournament was held over the testing University of Georgia course at Athens, but Meadow had scores of 71 (one under par) and 70 for a three-under total of 141. It was her third IJGT win over the past two months.
Joint runners-up on 145 were Trish Witherby from Richmond, Indiana, and Spanish girl Marta Sanz from Madrid. Sanz is a schoolmate of Meadow's at the International Junior Golf Academy on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.
Meadow's next tournament is an LPGA qualifier the week before Christmas at The Ginn Resort in Orlando, Florida.
Then she heads for Arizona and the Arizona Silver Belle the week after Christmas.
Meadow, who will be 17 on January 20th, won the Irish girls' championship in 2006, having been the beaten finalist in 2004.
Learn the rules at Belfry lectures
INTERESTED in learning more about the Rules of Golf? If so, you can attend the PGA rules courses being run in the new year. The course will be held at Ping House, the PGA headquarters at The Belfry in England on Saturday, February 28th - Introduction to the Rules of Golf - and Saturday, March 14th - Advanced Rules of Golf Refereeing. The costs are: one course - £125; two courses - £225.
Places are limited for the individual courses and allocation will be on a first come, first served basis. For details call Michael Wood on 0044 1675 470 333 at PGA headquarters or email michael.wood@pga.org.uk
• THE Boyne Links Alliance will hold their next outing on Thursday, December 11th, at Castleknock GC. It is a shotgun start at 11am.
Handicap system debate to continue at February agm
THE Congu Unified Handicap System (UHS) will be a matter for further debate at the Golfing Union of Ireland agm in February.
A motion from Youghal GC "that all societies return to member clubs, score cards of members that break SSS of course played for immediate handicap adjustment" at last week's delegates meetings in the four provinces was carried in Munster and Connacht but defeated in Leinster and Ulster.
This motion will now go forward to the union's agm for further deliberation and discussion, with the country as divided as ever on how best to administer the game in Ireland with respect to handicapping.
Meanwhile, a Connacht motion that Junior golfers will have to declare for their home clubs in the Fred Daly and Irish Junior Foursomes (defined, in accordance with the Congu UHS, as the club which administers and controls his handicap) was carried in Connacht, Munster and Leinster and will now go forward for ratification at the February meeting.
The Fred Daly Trophy will continue as a seven-player event after a motion form Tullamore GC to reduce the sides to five players was defeated in Ulster, Munster and Connacht.
The Connacht Branch venues and fixtures committee, with the approval of provincial council, proposed the introduction of a handicap eligibility clause for the Irish Senior Cup and Barton Shield "in order for a club to compete in the Irish Senior Cup/Barton Shield, each club must field a minimum of three players who held a playing handicap of category one status (not greater than 5.4) in the previous calendar year". Although carried in Connacht, this was defeated by the other three provinces.
Other changes sees the Barton Shield qualifying rounds in Leinster being played as a strokeplay event, breaking the long tradition of matchplay.
In Munster, a Gold Coast GC motion to have the 2009 Pierce Purcell Shield played at neutral venues on Friday evenings was defeated, while a Killarney motion that no club should have home advantage in any round prior to the provincial semi-final stages of cups and shields was carried.
Rising to the challenge for children's hospital
SINCE its inception 10 years ago, the Musgrave Crumlin Children's Hospital Club Challenge has raised over €1 million for its designated charity - the burns unit at Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin.
Some 100 clubs participated in last year's event won by Castleblayney GC.
Now, with clubs putting the final touches to the annual calendar, is the time to include the three-person rumble in the annual list.
The competition is to raise much-needed funds for the hospital, with the winning provincial teams competing for the All-Ireland title during a week's golf in the Algarve, Portugal, from October 9th-16th 2009.
An entry fee of €50 per team is recommended to try to achieve a minimum fundraising target of €1,000 per club, and is open to all GUI and ILGU affiliated members.
With title sponsors Musgrave underwriting all expenses incurred in the competition, it means all fees raised go directly to the burns unit at Crumlin.
Details from tournament co-ordinator Pat Cashman at 01-6282249 / 087-2424451 or email: litia@eircom.net.
