Tippeary Spring League - Week 1 - Riverdale

Riverdale Run Riot

The long awaited Tipperary County Board Spring League took place at Riverdale on Sunday last where the enthusiasm was met with great excitement. Conditions were very good for this time of year with a nice fresh breeze blowing just to ease the players back into the playing season. Rumours were rife that Riverdale players have been practicing since early Jan since the appointment of Jim Molloy as Competition Secretary, the players were chomping at the bit to get into competitive action. The Riverdale players are obviously still hurting after losing last year’s final, they simply went about their business in a fashion that is rarely seen in the league. With almost 30 players representing the Club last Sunday it was clear indication that a marker was to be set. Stephen Shoer, now fully recovered from a near fatal car crash last year was their leading light and I am personally delighted to see the young maestro back to his very best, shooting a very impressive -14 on the day. Needless to say the oldguard are continuing to fly the flag high above the mast when Sean Minogue was also finding is 2009 form to return a score of -13. Riverdale have a tendency to have players capable of scoring in all grades, this was clearly shown by Simon Ryan Snr’s emphatic -12 and PJ Ryan’s flawless -12 in the Intermediate grade. I am sure the Secretary of the County Board will be waiting for these lads with a mighty fine scissors if they continue this line of scoring throughout the league. All in all Riverdale have talent in abundance throughout all the grades and it will be very hard to stop them this year. Lakeside, winners in 2009 finished a very credible 2nd place and they can thank Seamus Ryan & Brian Cahill who played so well but they will have to improve dramatically if they are to retain their crown this year. Hillview led by the ever-present Noel Joyce with best score on the day -14 came home in 3rd place.

Larkspur Park and Tipperary Hills were unable to field a team on the day itself due to lack of players from their clubs attending. The competition is there for all to play and with 68 competitors competing last Sunday this crowd was made up mainly of Riverdale and Lakeside players. All clubs are urged to get their players out playing in the league, it is a great competition for all grades and should be utilised to ease players back into the season. With the league stage at Tipperary Hills this Sunday 14th February, I expect all clubs to be able to field a team and for the clubs to become more competitive.

Tee Times @ Tipperary Hills are from 9.30am – 1.00pm and entry is €10 per player.

Individual Winners from Riverdale: Noel Joyce 36O/A Gross & Simon Ryan O/A Nett.
League Table – Riverdale 6pts, Lakeside 4pts, Hillview 3pts, Larkspur Park & Tipperary Hills 0pts.

The Riverdale Club deserve great credit for the way the course was presented to the players last Sunday. In excess of €6,000 was spent before Christmas doing up the boundaries of the course and the car park. Riverdale is a course with enormous potential and they are sowing the seeds for future players at the moment. The County Board would like to thank them once again for the way the course was presented and also for the hospitality shown to the players on the day.