In a lovely event at Dunfanaghy Golf Club on Saturday 14 June the life of James Brogan was celebrated in the presence of Golf Club members and James' family.  A memorial bench was unveiled by his sister Mary (herself a former Lady Captain in 1993) and its position near the first tee box and eighteenth green ensures that all who play Dunfanaghy will continue to remember James.
 
All who spoke at the event paid tribute to James' friendly welcoming nature.  His love of golf and all that he contributed to the development of Dunfanaghy Golf Club over the years as caddie, player, greenkeeper and Club President in our centenary year 2006-2007.
 
Moreover, as our centenary book records James Brogan was truly a golfer of note.  Playing of low single figures for most of his life James won the Captain's Prize in Dunfanaghy eight times (1980, 81, 87, 94, 95, 98, 99 and 2001) an incredible record!!!  To add to this, he won the Presidents Trophy in 1998.  He also won Captain's Prizes in Rosapenna, when Columba Boyce was Captain, in Cloughaneely when Michael Murray was Captain, and Presidents Day in Portsalon when Neil Blaney was President, and the Muckish Ramblers prize when Michael Keaveney was Captain.  Add to this the All-Ireland Captains Competition, played in Rosapenna in 1971; 2 Intermediate Scratch Cups in Portsalon; and 3 Senior Scratch Cups in Dunfanaghy.
 
James was a wonderful golfer who loved his golf, and he was known across the golfing community not just in Donegal but in many clubs across Ireland and beyond including in Athy who we twinned with in 2006.  All who were fortunate to play in his company witnessed his golfing prowess, his cheery good humour and his genuine interest in people.  The Dunfanaghy Club House seems empty without him, but we can still hear his laugh, recall his many stories and remember him fondly.

Thank you to all players who participated in the qualifying and match play for the men's inaugural James Brogan Club Championship & in the ladies' James Brogan Memorial.  Sportsmanship is the real winner in these Competitions, something James Brogan would be proud off. You have all made this first ever James Brogan Club Championship very special.
James Brogan Club Championship
Category 1
Winner:        Daniel McColgan
Runner Up:  James T Sweeney
Category 2
Winner:        Captain Anthony Gallagher
Runner Up:  Sean Quinn
Category 3
Winner:        Pat Bonner
Runner Up:  William Fitzpatrick
James Brogan Memorial Trophy
Winner: Pamela Carleton

The Club Classic took place on Saturday 24th May. A big thank you to our main Sponsor Boyce's Centra & to everyone who sponsored Tee Boxes & took part in the event. Thanks to our club staff, all the behind the scenes organisers & to our new caterers for the lovely food when we came in. Lastly, thanks to our wonderful green keeping staff for all their hard working keeping the course in such great condition - probably the only ones glad to see the rain on Saturday!

Prize Winners
1st     Colin Higgs, Fergus Mullen, Daniel McColgan & Danny S Sweeney                                 96 Pts
2nd   Andrew Knox, Chris Cochrane - Helen's Bay, Kathryn Adams & John McCambridge   95 Pts
3rd    Dessie Shiels - Letterkenny, Kevin James, Eugene Gallagher & Neil Gallagher             93 Pts
4th    Colm Donaghy, Bill McCallion, Kieran McTaggart & Martin McBride                             92 Pts
Gents Nearest Pin 17th:         Andrew Knox   24ins
Ladies Nearest Pin 13th:        Olivia Moore    3ft 6ins
Gents Longest Drive 16th:    Daniel McColgan
Ladies Longest Drive 15th:   Kathryn Adams

On Friday evening, Lady Captain Eilish Walsh & Captain Sean Quinn presented the Dunfanaghy Beach Wheelchair Project with a cheque for €3,594. The contribution was greatly appreciated, Thank you to all who gave so generously of their time & money. There will be a new Beach Wheelchair launched in March.

Captain Sean Quinn & Lady Captain Eilish Walsh held their Charity Day on Saturday. The event had been delayed a number of times due to weather & thankfully Saturday turned out to be a lovely autumn day with nearly 100 players taking part. The Captains' Charity this year is the Dunfanaghy Beach Wheelchair Project - it costs around €3,500 to purchase one of these wheelchairs & with the Charity Day proceeds from entry fees & raffle, proceeds raised from the raffle of the fabulous quilt & donations on both Captains Days we are very close to this figure. A final figure of funds raised will be published once we have it. 

Thank you to everyone who donated to this very worthwhile cause & thank you to everyone who helped behind the scenes with fund raiding, ticket sales, donations & taking part in the competitions. A great project to support & something we can all be proud of.

The wonderful quilt which featured local wildlife scenes was raffled in the Club on Saturday Evening & was won be Eugene Magee.

The prize winners for the raffle on Saturday were:
1st Prize    Golf Bag                             Jimmy Kelly (Armagh Golf Club)
2nd Prize  4-Ball at Slieve Russell    Una Diver
The following people won various smaller prizes which can be collected from the Shop for men and from the Ladies Office for women: Don Sheridan, Clif Lenehan, Carmel Klein-Kelly, Niall Slevin, Martin McKenna, Jill McCorkell, Gerard McGinley, Deirdre Farry, John Chambers, Sadie Marie Curran, Chris McBride, Paddy Farry, Mary Lafferty & Liam O'Hara.

Ladies Competition Prize Winners
1st             Mary Lafferty              (23)    37 Pts
2nd           Breda Wood                 (31)    35 Pts BOT
3rd            Carmel Klein-Kelly    (26)   35 Pts BOT
4th            Mary McColgan           (16)   35 Pts
Front 9    Sandra McGinley         (25)   16 Pts BOT
Back 9      Aisling McFadden       (48)   20 Pts

Gents Competition ​Prize Winners
1st            James Sweeney                                    (09)   38 Pts
2nd          Neil Gallagher                                      (25)   37 Pts
Gross      Lee Totton - Faughan Valley              (03)   31 Gross Pts
3rd          Dion McDermott - Faughan Valley   (09)   36 Pts BOT
Front 9   Tommy Friel                                         (23)    20 Pts
Back 9     Andy McFadden                                   (29)   21 Pts

Wow! We raised in the region of €6.5k for the Sheephaven Course Improvement fund and close to €1600 raised for Donegal Hospice via raffles, quiz and putting competition. The Organising Committee would like to thank:

Golfing members and visitors

Our generous sponsors

Mary, Megan, Igor, Cathy, Lucas, Conor, Ger Dalton and the club for their hard work and support to make the day a great success.

​Congratulations all winners and we will give a more accurate figure on the totals in the coming days. A great couple of nights at the clubhouse.

Congratulations to Paula Grant on a new ladies course record for Dunfanaghy Golf Course. Playing in the Charlie Robinson Cup Open Stableford on Saturday 3rd Aug, Paula, playing off +3, carded 7 birdies and 5 pars to shoot an incredible 68 and set a new Ladies Course Record. The previous record of 69 held by Laura Grant had stood from August 2009. Everyone at Dunfanaghy Golf Club would like to congratulate Paula on this fabulous achievement. Paula took the Gross prize in the Charlie Robinson Cup Open Stableford.
​
Both records broken over Open Week - fabulous achievement Paula & Sean.