31/12/2006

IRELAND V. AUSTRALIA

Irish win historic internet international

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HISTORIC IRELAND - AUSTRALIA INTERNET INTERNATIONAL

It is ten years since Ireland and Australia played against each other in an international, this was back in 1996 when an Irish touring party played a match against Australia at the now defunct Queanbeyan course near Canberra.

Now thanks to the wonders of modern technology Ireland and Australia have again done battle with Pitch and Putt's first Internet International, played on the weekend of the 9th and 10th of September.

The Irish team played at St. Bridgets in Kildare over the weekend of the Inter County Championship whilst the Australians, with greater distances between cities to contend with played out of two centres,the majority of the team played in Canberra whilst others played 1500 kms away in Brisbane.
Both teams were be represented by 6 men and 2 women.

One of the hazards of this sort of competition is the unpredictability of the weather, unfortunately a freezing gale blew into Canberra on the eve of the competition and made good scores very dificult over the weekend with only a few players making it under 50. Menawhile the Irish players put on a great show with strong scores from the ladies on Saturday followed up by some great scores by the men on Sunday.

The Australian Pitch and Putt Association and players extend their thanks to the PPUI and Irish players for taking part in this contest.

The Irish team for this contest is...
Ray Murphy - Ray is the number one Ranked player in the country having won both the National Matchplay and National Strokeplay; he is a member of the Cork team in the upcoming National Inter County at St. Bridgets. He has also represented Ireland on many occasions.
Sean Downes - Sean played for Ireland in the World Cup in Teiá earlier this year and has represented Ireland on many occasions in the past. He is the number three Ranked player in the country and will represent Meath in the Inter County. (Sean was Captain of the Irish team that last played Australia in 1996)
John Walsh - John has also represented Ireland on many occasions and was a member of the winning European Championship Team last year. He is currently number four in the Rankings and will represent Cork in the Inter County.
Billy Buckley Jnr.- Billy is the fifth Ranked player in the country and has also represented Ireland in the past; he will be a member of the Offaly team at the Inter County.
John Cahill - John is the sixth Ranked player in the country; he is a former National Champion and will be a member of the very strong Cork team in the Inter County.
James Cleary - James is number seven in the Rankings and was runner up in the National Strokeplay to Ray Murphy this year; he will be representing Tipperary at the Inter County.
Chrissie Byrne - Chrissie is the number one Ranked Lady in the country for the second year running and she is the current Matchplay Champion. She was a member of the Irish Team at Teiá earlier this and will represent Kildare at the Inter County.
Marian Byrne - Marian is Chrissies sister and is a former National Champion; she has represented Ireland on several occasions in the past and will also represent the favourites Kildare in the Ladies Inter County.

the Australian team is...
Arthur Jelly (Capt) (State - ACT)
Current National Strokeplay Champion, NSW Champion.
James Haining (Queensland)
Current Queensland Champion, equal lowest score World Interclub League Round 1.
Leon Brown (NSW/ Queensland)
Current course record holder Wagga Wagga.
James Rogerson (ACT)
Former National Strokeplay Champion, Current Australian record holder(40).
Kim Magann (ACT)
Current Club Champion (Canberra International) lowest score in pairs World Interclub League Round 1.
Stewart Genge (ACT)
equal lowest score World Interclub League Round 1.
Marie Hutchinson (ACT)
Current Australian female record holder (46)
Sandra Hutchinson (ACT)
Current Australian Womens Champion.
reserves - Merv Dunford (QLD),Lola Young (ACT), Bob Murti (ACT), Tom Rickit(ACT)