What a brilliant weekend, the three day Footgolf spectacular in Colemanstown proved to be! It’s hard to argue with that! While the weather did us no favours with players on both the Friday and Saturday having to contend with heavy showers and cross winds, this did not put anybody off their game, after all this is Ireland so why would bad weather stop us! In the team event on Friday night District Health and Fitness Athenry took an early lead but in this very competitive team competition a local team called “Duck Sauce” comprising of Tessa Mullins and Shaunagh and Conor Jackson clinched victory. Thanks to District Health and Fitness for being the first to share their Facebook pictures with us.
Saturday saw a steady flow of competitor’s right through out the day, with the weather conditions in the early part of the day adding to the challenge for players to complete the course with the lowest score possible. Both the male and female singles competitions ended up in ties with the winner in each category being decided by selecting their individual scores from 3 random holes on the course and the total scores from each player’s 3 holes was added up with the lowest score being determined the winner. The ladies competition came down to a tie between Kara Mullins and Shauna Ward with Kara Mullins winning out the compeition. The male competition was tied between Robert Lally and Cathal Fahy with Robert winning the men’s title. Men’s longest drive was Coleman Maher, Ladies longest drive was Shaunagh Jackson. Nearest the pin was James Fahy. Saturday night saw Burke’s Lounge in Colemanstown “rock” to the sound of new and upcoming DJ Tom Broderick, who kindly offered his services free of charge. Linda Mannion once again stepped up to the mike, doing a great job as M.C. for the night, while the smell from the BBQ wafted around to whet all appetites.
The family day on Sunday saw a great turn out and even a small improvement in the weather conditions. There was great fun and excitement on the day with some families completing the course more than once, such was the enjoyment they were having. Some parents needed a ‘rub down’ and our local physio was almost called into action. This was surprisingly a competitive family fun game as one family aimed to beat the next and all one could hear ‘What did ye do it in? How many shots for the water shot? and so on….luckily no one pulled a hamstring in the process. Over the course of the weekend we had three competitors scoring a hole in one, Ryan Merchant on the Friday night in the Team Competition, Josh Barrett and on Sunday 7 year old Jonah Donnellan from Gurteen holed the ball on the 9th. There were no records broken though as Paddy Mullins did the same last year. The winning team for the family event, under the guidance of caddies PJ and Anne-Marie Burke comprised of Shane Burke (who celebrated his birthday in style on the Footgolf Course) Ruairi Collins, Eoin Laffey and Cian Burke. Tied in second place in this competition was the Hogan family, from Ennistymon Co Clare, comprising of a mix of cousins Orla and Alan Burke and Ally and Dara Hogan and guided around the course under the watchful eye of Irene and Brendan Hogan and Colemanstown native and underage manager Andy Concannon with his two son’s Eoin and Kyle. The Hogan’s from Clare appeared to be content for the Galway cousins to win the Footgolf Family Cup as they felt confident that Clare would retain the Liam McCarty Cup this year!!! The winner of guess the number of sweets in the jar was Josh Buckley from Colemanstown who was only 4 out, hope he gets help emptying the jar….
The weekend saw a great mix turning out to test their skills on this tricky course. We had holidaymakers from Australia and the UK, people travelled from Clare, Kerry and Limerick and of course all the locals in the surrounding hinterlands came along to experience the Footgolf phenomena first hand. Thanks to all who turned up and played in the various competitions over the weekend, without you this event would not have been such a success. It was interesting to note the national media interest last week in the Footgolf course opening in Dublin and to think that Colemanstown is the first one in the West. Thanks to Mike Rafferty for organising a slot for Ross Sullivan to be interviewed on Galway Bay FM regarding this event.
A big go raibh maith agat to Frank & Bernie Burke and family for all their hard work and generosity to this event and for their continued support through out the years. Also a big thank you to all the volunteers who gathered on various evenings during the week to prepare the course and bring it up to championship conditions. The group worked to a tight deadline to produce an exceptional course incorporating all the natural features of the field, rushes, water course, undulating hills and hollows, natural gradients etc. Thanks to Alan Brett, Broderick Lawn Cutting Service, and the design team kindly lead by Ross Sullivan who all gave their time freely to help with the preparations. Thanks to all who helped on the registration desks and to all our sponsors and those who kindly donated spot prizes and to all who purchased raffle tickets. While Wentworth and the luck of the Irish might have kept a few glued to the TV on Sunday there was still a nice turn out from club, committee and community members for the raffle and BBQ which was held in Burke’s on Sunday evening. An impromptu Auction also took place under the hammer of budding Auctioneer Damien Fahy, raising further funds for the club. Winners of prizes in the Raffle will be contacted this week by committee members. All funds raised from this event will be used by the club to facilitate further development of our current facilities. Photos of the event are uploaded in the Gallery section of this website.
Colemanstown United will be loosing a few good citizens to the USA this Summer, Tessa Mullins is departing for a few months of summer soccer state side and she will shortly be followed by her good friend Shaunagh Jackson. In July Tom Broderick and his girlfriend Shauna Cowen will take a three month vacation to America. We wish them all a safe journey and a enjoyable time state side.