September of this year saw a new initiative in competition prizes at Stackstown with the running of a qualifying competition for members to play in a 2 day 36 hole Charity Pro-Am with PGA Professional Anthony Hanlon at Fota Island Golf Resort in Cork. The qualifying competition, which was run in conjunction with the usual Gents Saturday Stableford, was very well supported with over 80 entries. The winners of each of three classes, Mark Reynolds, Peter Daly & Barry Robinson joined Anthony on Wedensday 29th & Thursday 30th September to compete with 52 other teams at Fota. The format for the Pro-Am, sponsored by Audi Cork, was a 4 Person Rumble with 2 to score at every hole & Team Stackstown did not disappoint, finishing tied 10th overall, posting scores of 88 & 90 points. The team dove-tailed well over the two days with Barry & Anthony playing very steady golf throughout, Mark's putting was superb as usual & Peter's run of eight pars during the first round contributed a lot of points to the team score.

Included in the prize was an overnight stay with breakfast for each winner in the 5 Star Fota Island Hotel & transport was also provided from Stackstown in the shape of an MPV to & from the Cork venue. There were specially embroidered Stackstown shirts for each team member which were a great talking point in the clubhouse & were also very well received by the sponsor. A great bit of craic was had on & off the course over the couple of days & Anthony would like to thank the lads for their great company. Thanks goes to Louise Hanlon for seamless hotel & transport arrangements, ensuring that the team could concentrate solely on the golf. Special thanks also goes to our Captain Felix McKenna & Competitions Secretary Gavin Fleet for facilitating the qualifier & of course, to all those who took part. We can safely say that this competition was a great success & there is already interest in a similar event next year with various locations around Ireland being considered.         

Above: Team Stackstown proudly sporting specially embroidered crested shirts during the Pro-Am.                                            Left to Right: Peter Daly, Anthony Hanlon, Barry Robinson & Mark Reynolds.