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deadcactuswalking · 3 years

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REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 24/04/2021 (AJ Tracey, Young Thug/Gunna/Drake)

On this week on the UK Singles Chart, we get a well-deserved break after last week’s chaos but we still have seven or so new arrivals – half of last week’s amount. Lil Nas X’s “MONTERO (Call Me by Your Name)” is unfazed by any of it as it spends a fourth week at #1, and welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS.

Rundown

So last week was busy but a lot of what debuted and returned didn’t actually sustain so we have a plentiful amount of drop-outs and returning entries this week as well. For notable drop-outs – as in songs that had peaked in the top 40 or spent at least five weeks in the chart (specifically the UK Top 75, which I cover) – we have “Anyone” by Justin Bieber, Drake’s “What’s Next” after only six weeks, “What Other People Say” by Sam Fischer and Demi Lovato, Taylor Swift’s re-recorded version of “Love Story” and “Headshot” by Lil Tjay featuring Fivio Foreign and Polo G as well as the late DMX’s “X Gon’ Give it to Ya” off of the return last week.

We do have an oddly large amount of returning entries as a result of this because I guess there’s not enough new stuff to fill in the cracks, as “Watermelon Sugar” by Harry Styles is back at #75, “Heat” by Paul Woodford and Amber Mark at #69, “Anxious” by AJ Tracey at #68 off of the album boost, “Another Love” by Tom Odell at #67 and “Cover Me in Sunshine” by P!nk and Willow Sage Heart at #62.

Then we have songs actually on the chart that are moving about – first off, let’s start with our notable losses, falling about five spots or more on the chart. We don’t have an excess of these, but we do have “Calling My Phone” by Lil Tjay and 6LACK getting ACR’d at #23, “Latest Trends” by AI x JI and remixed by Aitch at #33, “Mercury” by Dave and Kamal. off of the debut to #47 (good!), “Black Hole” by Griff at #48, “All You Ever Wanted” by Rag’n’ Bone Man at #49, “Mr. Perfectly Fine” by Taylor Swift at #50 off of the debut, as well as “Anywhere Away from Here” by Rag’n’Bone Man and P!nk also off of the debut at #51. Oh, and again, falling after last week’s debut, we have “Way Too Long” by Nathan Dawe, Anne-Marie and MoStack at #52. Other fallers that actually lasted at least one more week on the chart include “6 for 6” by Central Cee at #57, “Paradise” by MEDUZA and Dermot Kennedy at #63 and that’s about it. Also, somehow “Lemon Pepper Freestyle” by Drake featuring Rick Ross is sticking to the charts at #71 despite all of the more pop cuts off of that EP – and by that I mean the songs that aren’t six long minutes of pure rapping – dropping out. How that is I have no idea but it does bring us to our gains.

Our gains are always more interesting and we do have a fair few of them this week, like “Starstruck” by Years & Years at #56 off of the debut, “Marea (We’ve Lost Dancing)” by Fred again.. and the Blessed Madonna somehow surging up to #55 off of the debut, “Beautiful Mistakes” by Maroon 5 featuring Megan Thee Stallion at #54, “Summer 91 (Looking Back)” by Noizu at #53, “Last Time” by Becky Hill at #46, “Don’t You Worry About Me” by Bad Boy Chiller Crew at #45, “Medicine” by James Arthur at #44, “Head & Heart” by Joel Corry and MNEK at #41, “Blinding Lights” by the Weeknd rebounding at #40, “Runaway” by AURORA making the top 40 at #34 (six years late), “Levitating” by Dua Lipa bizarrely rebounding at #32, “Didn’t Know” by Tom Zanetti at #31 and that’s pretty much it other than big gains for Olivia Rodrigo’s “deja vu” up big to #12 and “Let’s Go Home Together” by Ella Henderson and Tom Grennan breaking into the top 10 at #10. A lot of these new entries are concentrated towards the bottom of the chart, so let’s start with something that’s actually pretty great.

NEW ARRIVALS

#74 – “How Does it Feel” – London Grammar

Produced by London Grammar and Steve Mac

London Grammar are an indie pop band from Nottingham that just scored their second #1 album with Californian Soil, one I found genuinely promising but absolutely meandering. For all of the great, swelling and powerful tracks there were – many already on the pre-album EPs and singles – there were pointless, time-consuming ballads that feel if anything underwritten and dull. My personal favourite track, “Baby it’s You”, was the lead single and it actually charted, though this cut is the highest-peaking track from the record and also, thankfully, one of my favourites. Hannah Reid has a smoky, unique voice and it always swells over these atmospheric, reverb-drenched instrumentals, full of subtle bass and those infectious guitar links before it drops into the borderline vocaloid drop in that distorted synth-pop chorus that... okay, is pretty anti-climactic and there for no reason other than to give an excuse for the band to incorporate that 80s production into the rest of the song. Regardless, it’s still a damn good production and that chorus is unreasonably catchy, even if she’s hitting falsetto notes I’d never be able to sing along to. It’s not a song that ends too early so it can stream well either; this is a pop song constructed like one of old, and is just as intricate, especially with those twinkling keys in the final chorus. This isn’t the best on the album by far but it’s understandably the one that’s the most accessible and upbeat so it makes sense it’s here. I don’t expect it to stick around but I wouldn’t mind if it did.

#73 – “Sunshine (The Light)” – Fat Joe, DJ Khaled and Amorphous

Produced by Cool N Dre and Amorphous

So, Fat Joe might be back? I’d be hard-pressed to find out way until I look at this... comeback single of sorts and realise that the chorus is just straight-up taken from a Rihanna song, that being the verse of “Kiss it Better” from 2016 layered over this almost disco-sounding sample of Luther Vandross and that’s pretty much the song as far as the beat is concerned. In that way, I guess it’s kind of fun and harmless but Rihanna’s vocals are mixed pretty horrifically on this instrumental without any attempt to cover it up with some backing vocals, which would have been a really good touch. DJ Khaled is only here because he finishes Fat Joe’s punchline and he contributes literally nothing else. In fact, Fat Joe is a waste of time here as well, especially in that really odd bridge and second verse. Admittedly, I guess his first verse has one clever line but it’s all clearly so unfocused even when the sample gives you a lot to work with in terms of content. By the time the Luther Vandross vocal sample is oddly dribbling over the beat, I’m out of this.

#72 – “Ski” – Young Stoner Life, Young Thug and Gunna

Produced by BabyWave, Outtatown and Wheezy

Slime Language 2 was a project I thought was actually fairly enjoyable given its runtime and content. I mean, it’s 23 tracks running at about an hour and a half of just mindless flexing, sex and gunplay from Young Thug and YSL affiliates but it has an energy and camaraderie that I rarely find is all that noticeable during these label or collective albums, and whilst not any particular rapper shines on more than one track, we still hear a lot of voices on the record that are far from unpleasant and can hold their own against Thug, one of them of course being Gunna. I’m surprised the songs with Travis Scott or Lil Uzi Vert didn’t debut but this Thug-Gunna cut did, but I guess that video pushed it over the top and I’m glad because this is by far one of my favourites on the album on pure, stupid and mindless energy. That camaraderie that I mentioned is in full force here as Thug and Gunna trade bars over this basic watery beat with some catchy strings and, of course, awkward bass mixing. The first intelligible words are “Spider sex” and then Thug just goes into yelling “Yeah!” because, sure, that’s a chorus. Thugger delivers his typical flow-switching charisma with a lot of loud, fun energy and whilst not anything of lyrical standard is said here, I love how he and Gunna trade each other’s names on their versions of the post-chorus. It’s a clever, little touch that makes songs like this feel just that bit more fun, if the manic ad-libs didn’t already show that. Gunna’s verse might be the best of the two here as he actually comes with some unexpected energy over that beeping synth loop that sounds great finally coming from Gunna, and, yeah, what can I say? It’s a mindless trap banger that will be out as soon as it was in – both for the charts and your ears – but it’s so much fun and with Thug’s poppier projects, that’s all that matters.

#66 – “You” – Regard, Troye Sivan and Tate McRae

Produced by Regard

The Kosovan DJ that brought us that great remix of Jay Sean’s “Ride It” as well as original song “Secrets” with RAYE is back and bringing... Troye Sivan and Tate McRae with him. Okay, I mean, sure, maybe Regard can pump up the production to get either of these singers to sound enthused. The content is pretty basic, with the “coming back to an ex” story we’ve heard before and not much interplay between Tate and Troye – not that there can feasibly be but that’s beside the point. This isn’t all that important to a song like this, though, but it can be done so it always feels anti-climactic when these EDM songs don’t have good lyrical content anchoring its groove and catchy hooks. That said, this song is actually pretty good, trading much of the more fast-paced house grooves and minimal deep house drops for a pretty slick, almost synth-funk production with some hard-hitting 909 bass and Troye’s laid-back mumbling falsetto actually sounding pretty great over electro percussion and this blend of really cool, retro synths that aren’t afraid to sound jerky and out-of-tune in that post-chorus. They almost remind me of Plastic Beach if this isn’t that ludicrous of a comparison. Tate McRae barely exists here but that’s fine – sadly she has the only verse and her voice just doesn’t mesh that well with Troye’s outside of some of the chorus harmonising, and on its own just sounds kind of unwarrantedly raspy on pretty clean, smooth production. Regard’s addition of those distorted backing vocals and the lenient vocal manipulating in that bridge make sure you know this is intricately produced to every detail and I just love that ramping of intensity even if the final chorus doesn’t really act as that impactful climax so the song ends on kind of a low note where I can tell Regard didn’t know where to go from there. Otherwise, this is a pretty great synth-pop track and I really hope it sticks around. I knew Regard had an ear for more unique EDM production since he came onto the charts for the first time with “Ride It” so I hope to hear what’s next from him as well. For now, oh, God, please make this a hit.

#61 – “Kukoc” – AJ Tracey featuring NAV

Produced by Yung Swisher and Pxcoyo

This is our first of two songs that debuted this week from AJ Tracey’s album Flu Game, which I decided not to listen to on the basis that it was nearly an hour’s runtime with a NAV feature. It’s just my luck then that for whatever reason, the British public decided the NAV song was the second most important track to listen to when the album dropped. Well, I guess this beat isn’t bad, especially with that synth flashing over the acoustic guitar inflections and the Pop Smoke-esque rattling drill percussion creating an oddly-mixed and cluttered beat but one that I guess still hits pretty hard. NAV sounds more enthused than ever over a drill beat – maybe he should stick to that – but I still feel like this is just a pointless song. The content is primarily just flexing and AJ Tracey’s energy is there but not in a particularly likeable, charming way or in an intimidating, menacing way so he just ends up out-shined by NAV’s cheaply Auto-Tuned and simple, basic flow in his verse where he emphasises how he’s a grown man at 30 years old – yet still not showing any sign of maturity, seemingly. This is listenable for sure but at best it’s a mildly amusing drill track and at worst it’s sensory overload. The build-up is only in the intro here and it’s just full force for the next two minutes making it kind of aggravating to even listen to and keep up with. Oh, and “Kukoc” is some Croatian basketball player mentioned once in the chorus. That’s about as interesting as this content gets.

#36 – “Solid” – Young Stoner Life, Young Thug and Gunna featuring Drake

Produced by Foreign Teck, Elvas, Wheezy and OZ

It’s an unwritten rule that if you release an album, the song with Drake on it will always debut on the charts, and often particularly high. Okay, I guess it didn’t work for Drakeo the Ruler – sadly – but it did work for Slime Language 2. “Solid” which absolutely did not need the four producers it has is pretty much just the trio being as uninteresting as possible as they slide over a synth-based trap beat with, say it with me, odd bass mixing. I guess Drake’s hook is mildly catchy and the steel pans in the verses are kind of fun even if they’re there for pretty much no reason. Gunna probably delivers the best verse, if not the purest as he brags about having solid friendships, and boasts wealth over the beat which gets a lot more eerie and downbeat with Gunna over it for whatever reason, even when he’s spitting ridiculous sex bars. The best part of this as with most of the YSL label projects is the interplay between Young Thug and Gunna, as over an increasingly badly mixed beat and some slick organ licks, Thugger ends off the track with an effortless verse and... well, it sure is a trap-rap song by Young Thug, Gunna and Drake. That’s for sure. It’s not bad at all and this beat could be a lot better if there were more steel pans and better mixing, it’s just that none of these guys deliver as well as they can and like most things he’s on nowadays, Drake is the worst part of it.

#29 – “Little More Love” – AJ Tracey

Produced by Venna, Mark Raggio, RyFy and Yoz Beats

I’m surprised there’s little fanfare about this song and the album in general, especially given how big songs like “West Ten” and “Bringing it Back”. Sadly, I think this might be a case of waiting too long to get the record out or just AJ’s star fading away and towards – unfortunately – Digga D. This cut got the music video treatment and hence debuted the highest of any entries this week but it was set for a top 10 debut from the album and video boost, but just seems to have stalled. I actually think that’s pretty unfortunate as this is a great song, with that tropical guitar lick that sounds cheap when drenched in the reverb and especially when the beat comes in and it’s mixed too loudly, but that doesn’t really obscure the trap knock and groove, particularly in that chorus with AJ’s expected dead-beat delivery. That delivery really works for this song, though, as it’s about the paranoia that comes with unexpected fame and success for someone from a background of poverty. I wish the beat gave AJ more room to breathe but he still flips the typical UK flows on his verses so they’re a lot more catchy and smooth, particularly over those soulful vocal loops that come in at the same time. That second verse is pretty excellent too, as whilst it’s short, it runs through some pretty excellent flows and some interesting lines, like about how he sees himself as Che Guerava, represents his Trinidadian identity and how he’s “got God” so he and his crew don’t need to wear a bullet-proof vest, which is actually kind of profound for Tracey. The horns at the end of this beat deserve some credit for making this song great too, and with all the sounds packed into this song, I think I understand why this one has four producers, even if this cluttered mix could use halving that total.

Conclusion

This is a pretty solid week all things considered, with a lot of good to great songs, so much so that it’s difficult to give out titles. I guess Best of the Week is going to “Ski” by Young Stoner Life, Young Thug and Gunna but I’m convinced to give a three-way tie for Honourable Mention. I think I’ll just stick with giving it to Regard, Troye Sivan and Tate McRae for “You” but it was close. Worst of the Week ends up going to “Sunshine (The Light)” by Fat Joe, Amorphous and DJ Khaled almost by default, with a Dishonourable Mention to AJ Tracey’s “Kukoc” featuring NAV, even if I still kind of like the song. Here’s our top 10 for this week:

Hopefully next week will keep this quality going, but in terms of new arrivals I can’t really make any concrete predictions other than a boost for “Save Your Tears” and hopefully an impact from Jorja Smith and Little Simz. I guess time will tell however, so thanks for reading and I’ll see you next week!

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grandenchanterfiona · 7 years

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Spoiler free Ascension timeline.

Late Fall 8:77 Blessed: Loghain Mac Tir is born near Ostwick to Caitlín, a brewer, and the daughter of a carpenter, and Gareth, a third generation horse breeder and trainer, and former mayor of Ostwick, before the Orlesians did away with local elections. Both of his parents were freeholders.

5th Wintermarch 8:78 Blessed: Rowan Guerrin is born to Arl Rendorn and Arlessa Marina Guerrin (nee Aurum) in Redcliffe.

30th Bloomingtide 8:78 Blessed: Maric Theirin is born to the Rebel Queen, Moira, in Carthal's Crossing. His father, Dermot was the great-nephew of Teyrn Voric of Gwaren, and died, of the disease which caused the Hundred Days Cough in Orlais, before Moira even knew she was pregnant.

Winter of 8:83 Blessed: Adaia is born in Denerim to Hannah and Jacob, both servants in the home of King Meghren.

5th Haring 8:84 Blessed: Eamon cursed the world with his presence.

14th Justinian 9:86 Blessed: Caitlín is murdered by Orlesian soldiers. Three days later, Gareth kills her killers, and he and Loghain flee into the woods, now outlaws.

Sometime during strawberry season in the Dales 8:87 Blessed: Fiona is born in Montsimmard, technically the first human city outside the Dales, but for all practical reasons part of the Dales, to Sara, a washerwoman and lacemaker, and Enasal, a servant in the home of a noblewoman of a middling rank. Because of the absence of people who knew her as a child, narrowing down her age beyond strawberry season is difficult; if her mother didn't make her pound cake with strawberries and cream every year for her birthday, knowing even this would be difficult.

Late summer 8:87 Blessed: Duncan is born to Arryn, a carpenter born in Ferelden, and Tayana, also a carpenter, though one born in Rivain, in Highever.

30th Bloomingtide 8:91 Blessed: On Maric's thirteenth birthday, Rowan's father and mother join the rebellion, and Maric and Rowan are engaged to be married. (I'm iffy about this? Rowan's father seems to have joined the rebellion after Rowan was old enough to stay with the camp and not be sent away with her brothers, but she and Maric are also childhood friends? Bioware's math is shitty to deal with.)

14th August 8:91 Blessed: Teagan is born to the Guerrins.

2nd Harvestmere: Thinking herself healed enough, Mariana arrives in Denerim and she and the boys begin their trip to the Free Marches to stay with her family until the boys are old enough.

Early spring 8:95 Blessed: Fiona's parents die. She's enslaved by Comte Dorian De Rais.

19th Solace 8:96 Blessed: Moira killed. Maric and Loghain's epic bromance begins.

7th Justinian 8:98 Blessed: The Fereldan rebels, led by the young Prince Maric, take the isolated port town of Gwaren, their first major victory since the death of Queen Moira. (except for the day and month copypastaed from the wiki.)

18th Cloudreach 8:99 Blessed: At the battle of West Hill, the Fereldan rebel army is devastated by the royalist forces. Survivors retreat to Gwaren. Maric is presumed dead.

14th of Kingsway 9:01 Dragon: Fiona kills the Comte and goes to the Circle.

18th of Kingsway 9:01 Dragon: Fiona is recruited by Kell to join the Wardens after Hafter runs away from him and he finds her in the dungeon. He insists she be trained and says he'll come to collect her after she is of age.

20th of Kingsway 9:01 Dragon: Fiona is harrowed, being given no training in the hopes it kills her. It does not.

20th Haring 9:02 Dragon: Maric kills Meghren. Ferelden is freed.

15th Guardian 9:03 Dragon: Maric is crowned.

Late winter 9:04 Dragon: Briala is born. Her parents names are lost to history, though a look at the Valmont's record of servants, Seth and Tasmin, a married couple who both worked for the family seem most likely.

5th August 9:04 Dragon: Celene is born to Princess Clarisse De Montfort and Prince Reynaud Valmont in Orlais.

18th Harvestmere 9:04 Dragon: Anora is born to Celia and Loghain.

4th Drakonis 9:05 Dragon: Cailan is born to Rowan and Maric.

9:06 Dragon: Fiona joins the Wardens

15th or 16th Kingsway 9:08 Dragon: Rowan dies.

9:09 Dragon: Duncan is forced to join the Wardens.

Late Haring 9:09 Dragon: Fiona and crew enter Deep Roads with Maric.

23rd Guardian 9:10 Dragon: River Dane Cousland born.

Drakonis 9:10 Dragon: Maric and Fiona deep roads and Chill.

Early spring 9:10 Dragon: Da'assan born to Adaia and Cyrion.

18th Haring 9:10 Dragon: Alistair born in Weisshaupt in the Anderfels.

Spring of 9:11 Dragon: Fiona and Duncan reach Ferelden. They give Maric Ali and Maric gives Ali to Eamon to raise. Duncan stays in Denerim to start up the warden branch there with Polara. Fiona returns to Montsimmard where she's made Warden Constable.

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mikebrassil-blog1 · 7 years

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Stefan Greenberg takes Irish Students Amateur Open

Ulster man Greenberg wins in photo finish

Ulster University’s Stefan Greenberg blitzed the back nine to clinch his first championship, the Irish Students Amateur Open in Bray, by a single stroke. Home in a four-under 32, Greenberg with rounds of 68, 69 and 67 for 214 edged past a spirited challenge from Maynooth’s Ronan Mullarney who signed for 68, 70 and 67.

When the Galway man rolled in a 30-foot birdie putt on the 18th for a closing 67 to post a five-under clubhouse target of 205, he led Greenberg by one, but the Tandragee man replied with an eagle three at the 15th to take a one-shot lead.

A par four at the 17th left Greenberg needing a par five at the last, and he duly delivered, finding the putting surface in three and two-putting, holing a nerve-testing three-footer to secure victory.

Maynooth’s Mary Doyle with rounds of 74, 72 and 70 for 216 raced home in the Women’s event, five shots clear of her college team-mate Ciara Casey (73, 77, 71 for 221), while Maynooth Scholars (b) clinched the team title by one shot on 413 from Maynooth Scholars (a).

Europe best in Jacques Léglise Trophy

The Continent of Europe won the Jacques Léglise Trophy for a second successive year by defeating Britain and Ireland 15½-9½ at Ballybunion Golf Club. It is the 12th time The Continent of Europe has won the Jacques Léglise Trophy since the boys international match between the two teams was rejuvenated in 1977. B and I have won the Jacques Léglise Trophy on 28 occasions.

Leading their opponents 6½-5½ at the start of the second day, the morning foursomes were tied 2-2 to give the Continent of Europe a single point advantage at 8½-7½ going into this afternoon’s singles matches.

2017 Boys Amateur champion Pedro Lencart Silva extended the visitors’ lead to two points after securing an impressive 5 and 4 victory over B and I captain Mark Power from Kilkenny. A superb eagle three on the par five fifth gave the 2016 Junior Open winner a one hole advantage which he extended on the sixth with a birdie to go two up.

Despite bogeying the seventh, the Portuguese won a third consecutive hole after Power could only make double bogey and he was four up by the turn after winning the eighth.

Lencart Silva picked up another hole on the 13th to move five up and he closed out the match on the 14th after matching Power’s par to halve the hole.

Eduard Rousaud Sabate chalked up another notable win for the Continent of Europe with a 6 and 4 victory against Luke Harries. Sabate’s compatriot Alejandro Aguilera edged the Continent of Europe to within a point of retaining the trophy at 11½-7½ after defeating Darren Howie from Peebles by 6 and 5.

Debutant Robin Williams collected B and I’s first point of the singles after the 15-year-old secured a two hole win against Sweden’s David Nyfjall to reduce the deficit to 11½-8½.

However, the joy was short-lived for the home side and Norwegian Markus Braadlie ensured the Continent of Europe would retain the Jacques Léglise Trophy after beating Thomas Plumb 4 and 3 to reach the vital 12½ point mark.

The outright win was confirmed shortly after by Matias Honkala after the Finn put the Continent of Europe 13½-8½ up courtesy of an excellent 3 and 2 win against Alex Fitzpatrick.

Rasmus Hojgaard notched up the Continent of Europe’s sixth point of the afternoon singles to nudge his side further ahead at 14½-8½. The Dane produced a two holes triumph in his match against Ben Jones after winning the 17th and 18th.

The 2016 Boys Amateur champion Falko Hanisch defeated Toby Briggs 3 and 2 to increase the Continent of Europe’s lead to 15½-8½. The German won three holes in a row from the 13th and the match finished on the 16th after both players made birdie to halve the hole.

Charlie Strickland salvaged some pride for B and I by beating Adrien Dumont de Chassart 3 and 1 to make the final score 15½-9½ in favour of the Continentals.

Athenry win Fred Daly Trophy

David Kitt might have lost the AIG Irish Amateur Close final the previous week but he was smiling again last week when he helped Athenry win the All Ireland Fred Daly Trophy at Bray Golf Club.

The 17-year-old had a 7 and 6 win over Muskerry’s Sean Geary in Athenry’s 4½-½ semi-final win. And while he lost his match in the final, falling by one hole to Kyle Patton, the Galway side beat Lisburn 3½-1½ to lift the trophy.

Aaron Marshall, Patton and Jack Shellard all won comfortably as Lisburn cruised to a 4-1 over Leinster champions Dundalk in their semi-final.

But Athenry were worthy winners in the final. While Kitt lost, Alan Hill beat Marshall and Cillian Lawless beat Joshua Robinson to make it 2-1 before anchor man Sean O’Connell clinched the winning point with a 4 and 3 win over Mark Stewart.

Tour School for 17 Irish

Amateurs Stuart Grehan, Conor O’Rourke, John Ross Galbraith, Colin Fairweather and Robin Dawson are among the 17 Irish golfers entered for the First Stage of the European Tour Qualifying School.

Dawson is entered at three venues - Ribagolfe in Portugal, Golf Club Bogogno in Italy and Golf d’Hardelot in France - as he awaits his final designation. Royal Dublin’s Niall Kearney is at Flesensee from September 12th-15th with Galbraith at the Roxburghe in Scotland with Mark Whelan and Headfort’s Joe Dillon.

O’Rourke, who is first reserve for the Walker Cup and will turn professional immediately afterwards, goes at Frilford Heath from October 3rd-6th with Grehan, Fairweather, Kevin LeBlanc, Brian McElhinney, Dermot McElroy and Chris Selfridge.

Brian Casey and Peter Williamson are at Stoke by Nayland from September 19th-22nd while Mount Juliet’s Kevin Phelan, Narin and Portnoo’s Brendan McCarroll and David Carey at Ribagolfe in Portugal from September 26th-29th.

Limerick’s Tim Rice and Monkstown’s Cian McNamara are entered at Golf d’Hardelot in France from September 26-29. Mount Juliet’s Stephen Grant is also entered at both the French and Italian venues.

Smith claims Under-16 title

Adam Smith made it a week to remember at Rockmount as the Mullingar teenager won the Irish Under-16 Boys Championship with two shots to spare.

Smith completed a sweet success with rounds of 69, 74 and 73 to finish the tournament on level par, two clear of Slieve Russell’s Odhran Maguire. Joseph Byrne (Baltinglass) and Max Kennedy (The Royal Dublin) were tied for third on four over with Byrne clinching the prize for leading under-15 player.

However, the week belonged to Smith. Level with Maguire going into the final round, the pair began the day at minus one but Smith put down a marker early with four birdies in his first six holes.

Both players began with a birdie but Maguire could not keep pace with Smith on the front nine, who raced to the turn in 34 (-3). A run of three successive bogeys threatened to derail his title charge, and with six holes remaining Smith and Maguire were locked together at the top of the leaderboard.

Just as Maguire started to stumble, Smith regained his composure, making four straight pars, which eased his concerns. And even when his drive went awry at the last, Smith produced the shot of a champion, and sent a stunning iron shot soaring over the trees and onto the putting surface for a two-putt par that sealed the victory.

Cork pair win the Australian Spoons

Despite wet and heavy conditions the Cork pairing of Claire Coughlan Ryan and Oonagh Barry were a model of consistency with 19 points on both the front and extremely tricky back nine at Co Longford Golf Club in a round that had birdies at the par three eighth and par four 15th.

In second place on 36 points were Cristina Rush (19) and Hannah Grant (20) from Claremorris with Caroline Delaney (21) and Mary Dolan (30) from Mountbellew taking third place from Carmel Mullan (33) and Maura Ryan (25) from Elm Park after both pairs finished on 35 points. Last year’s winners Helen Jones and Vivienne Houston (Royal Portrush) won the best gross with 30 points.

Killeen bring home the Metropolitan Trophy for the second time

In the second leg of the Metropolitan Trophy Final at Hollystown Golf Club Killeen Golf Club defeated Hollystown to bring the trophy back to the club.

This was Killeen’s second Leinster Pennant in two years in the Metropolitan Trophy following their victory over Clontarf in 2016. Hollystown, no strangers to victory, had previously taken the title in 2015.

With the upper hand following a 6-3 lead after the first leg, Killeen quickly got a point on the board when Paul Magee won the top match by 2 and 1 against Keith Coffey. Hollystown fought back with wins in the second and third matches but Killeen were too strong, eventually winning by 5½ -3½ for an overall score of 11½ - 6½.

McGeady makes it two wins in a row at Cairndhu Pro-Am

Michael McGeady made it back-to-back successes on the PGA in Ireland circuit with victory in the 36-hole Cairndhu Pro-Am. Trailing by two shots as the final round got underway, McGeady fired a three under par 67 to top the leaderboard on five under par 135 at the Co. Antrim venue. Overnight leader Colm Moriarty (Drive Golf Performance) shot rounds of 66 and 70 and David Higgins (Waterville Links) with scores of 70 and 66 shared second place on 136.

The team event was won by Richard Kilpatrick (Banbridge) and his amateur partners, Paul Steinson, Stephen Watts and Hugh Logue with 175 points.

Mountbellew chase All-Ireland treble

Mountbellew are in line for an All-Ireland treble at Malone GC later this month after winning the Connacht finals of the Intermediate, Minor and Challenge Cups over the weekend, Shandon Park won two of the six Ulster titles - making it through in the Intermediate and Junior Foursomes.

Killarney will be hoping to add to their first All-Ireland Senior Cup title after they qualified for the Senior Foursomes decider.

Qualifiers: Junior Cup: Athenry, Stackstown, Royal Curragh, Limerick and Lurgan. Intermediate Cup: Mountbellew, Carton House, Wicklow Cahir Park and Shadon Park. Minor Cup: Mountbellew, Headfort, Wexford, Lee Valley and Donaghadee. Challenge Cup: Mountbellew, Malahide, Courtown, Doneraile and Royal Belfast. Senior Foursomes: Roscommon, Lucan, Carlow, Killarney and Lurgan. Junior Foursomes: Portumna, Woodbrook, The Heath, Ballykisteen and Shandon Park.

Mon, Sep 4, 2017, 10:39By Shaly Keenan

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