Bearna golf club Galway

Members Achievements

The Ladies of Bearna Golf Club won the Connacht Final of the Irish Immediate Cup when they beat Oughterard Golf Club by 3-matches to 2-matches at Roscommon Golf Club on Sunday 2nd September 2018.

They were led out by Imelda McGovern(16) who clinched her match against Sheila Coen (18) on the 20th –hole, she was followed by Siobhan Smyth (17) who went up the 23rd before she secured the point against Catherine Hosty, she was followed by Nuala Timoney (19) who lost out by 2-holes against Martina Duggan(18), in the penultimate match Clare Cunningham (19) lost her match by 5 and 3 against Nora McDonagh (19) and in the bottom match Breda Davies(20) beat Margaret O Neill (21) by the minimum 1-hole.

They made their way to Knightsbrook Hotel & Golf Resort to participate in the All-Ireland Deciders where they met East Leinster Champions Headfort Golf Club in the All-Ireland Quarter-Final on Wednesday 26th September and won their match by 3-matches to 2-matches against the ladies from the Royal County.

They were led out again by Imelda McGovern who lost her match against Jennifer Martin by 2 and 1, next on the tee was Siobhan Smyth who had a 3 and 2 win over Jacqueline McCormack, she was followed by Nuala Timoney who won her match by 3 and 2 against Paula Casserly, in the penultimate match Clare Cunningham had a bad day against Mary Brennan when going down by 7 and 6 and in the bottom match Breda Davies had to go up the 19th before clinching the point against Liz Gaffney and with it their place in the All-Ireland Semi-Final.

They met Munster Champions Douglas Golf Club in the All-Ireland Semi-Final on the Thursday and lost out by 4-matches to 1-match. They were led out again by Imelda McGovern who went down by 5 and 4 against Jill Morris, she was followed by Siobhan Smyth who lost out to Jessica Kavanagh by 3 and 2, next up was Michelle Keenan who also lost her match by 3 and 2 against Orla Coughlan in the bottom two matches of Nuala Timoney against Mary O’Leary-Cooney and Breda Davies against Helen Barry were both declared as halves when called-in. Douglas went on to win the green pennant against Ulster Champions Malone by  4-matches to 1-match.

Bearna Golf Club won the Senior Connaught Championship in 2010 they beat Enniscrone by 6-matches to 4-matches in the 2-legged final in August.
The team was, Noel Curran, Brendan Davis, Bertie Feeney, Donal Geraghty, Sean Glynn, Seamus Griffin, Michael Meade, Paul McGee, Stiofan O'Conaire, Sean O'Grady, Pat Sheehan, Roy Thompson, Jim Ward and Pat Ward, they were managed by John "Special One" Darby assisted by Tim Tarpey.

Bearna Golf Club made their break-through in the Cups & Shields in 2007 when the won the Connacht Final of the Pierce Purcell Shield, mind you the club owner Pat Donnellan had been there before when playing for Galway Golf Club he won All-Ireland golf medals in 1993 and 1992 in the Pierce Purcell Shield, together with an Irish Mixed Foursomes at Courtown Golf Club in 1992. Of course Pat is better known for being a most influential part in the famous three-in-a-row All-Ireland Football Finals in 1964, 1965 and 1966. 

They made the long journey to Shandon Park Golf Club in Belfast to compete in the All-Ireland decider they were drawn against Leinster Champions Donabate in the All-Ireland Semi-Final on Thursday 13th September.

First on the tee were Tim Tarpey and John Derby who halved their match with Michael Fearon and Ciaran Kirwan. They were followed by John Murphy and Michael Murray who had a bad day against Douglas Roberson and Austin Kealy when they went down by 7 and 6. Next up were Liam McGee and Eamon Kearney who had almost as bad day against Ken Bradshaw and Brendan Bowe when they lost by 6 and 5. Brendan McLaughlin and Pat Walzer played in the penultimate match against Dermot Cullen and Pat McCrudden and went down by 4 and 3. The anchor match saw Pat Ward and Shane O'Neill halve their match with Colm Browne and Joe Dowling.

So it was not to be for the men from Bearna Golf Club, Donabate went through to the All-Ireland Final the following day where they met Ulster Champions Warrenpoint Golf Club who had accounted for Munster Champions Woodstock Golf Club by a similar margin. Warrenpoint beat Donabate by 3 matches to 2 matches to win their 3rd Pierce Purcell Shield and add yet another green pennant to their already large collection.

2005 Lady Captain Mary Wyer and her Captain’s Prize winner Catherine Kelly qualified in the Volkswagen/Irish Independent Lady Captain’s Classic in this scotch foursomes format. It was off to the National Finals at The Heritage Golf Club on Monday 3rd October where they were paired with the Portumna pair of Riona Holohan and Mary Conwell.

Bearna Golf Club members won the Connacht Final of the Musgrave's Club Challenge in aid of Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, which raised in excess of 130,000 Euro for the hospital. It was off to South Africa for the National Finals in November 2002.

Bearna won the Connacht Final of the Irish Mixed Foursomes in 1999 and the Western District of the Linda Black Trophy in 2000.

Lady Captain Kathleen Kelly and her Captain's Prize winner Anne Brennan were runners-up in the regional qualifiers of the Volkswagen-Irish Independent Lady Captain's Golf Classic in August 2001. Playing the Slieve Russell shortly after the North West of Ireland Open was played there. Everybody found the course playing tough. Anne playing off 24 and Kathleen off 27 returned 29 points only to be piped on a count-back. However, it was good enough to book their place in the National Finals at Druid's Glen on the 1st of October.

Prior to 2001:

Pat Ward was the Captain of the Garda All-Ireland winning team in 2000.
Nancy Holland won the All-Ireland Shell Cup and the ladies won the Linda Black Trophy in 2000.
Breda Barry won the Union Prize Bronze Medal in 2000.
Elizabeth O'Byrne had a hole-in-one on the 18th in her Captain's (Siobhan McLoughlin) Prize in 2000

History of Bearna

Founded 1996 affiliated 1996

Bearna Golf & Country Club opened for its members on Sunday March 31^st 1996, as with any major project this magnificent golf course did not just happen over night. First conceived by the owners and then officially launched on October 3^rd 1991. Work commenced on Wednesday August 21^st 1991 when Joe Reilly from Ballina in Co. Mayo started to lay the drainage which would cover 20-miles of underground piping. Prior to the commencement of any work on site the owners had retained Bobby Brown the renowned course architect and resident professional at Laytown & Bettystown who served as Secretary of the Irish Professional Golfers Association for many years. Bobby had John Mulqueen carry out a detailed study of the terrain prior to commencing any work and John subsequently supervised the drainage development.

Bearna is located at Corboley, until recent times a solely Irish-speaking district. The name translated from Irish means "The round hill of the milking place" it derives from a hardy breed of small dark cattle which traditionally survived in this impoverished but breath-taking countryside. In times past this breed of cattle contributed to the principal commerce between Spain and the West of Ireland, the cowhides and wool were traded for Spanish wines and salt. The terrain itself was carved out 10,000 years ago during the Ice Age and every effort was made to protect its scenic topography, its flora and fauna, its native language, its social history and folk-lore indeed on my last visit traditional Irish music was being played in the lounge.

Neasa Donnellan was retained as architect for the magnificent clubhouse, which blends superbly with the wild and rouged countryside, unlike other clubhouses that come to mind. I make this statement having practiced as an architect for over 20 years in my former life well done Neasa.

Tony O’Flaherty was the contractor and the clubhouse, was officially opened by the former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern on July 28^th 1998. His predecessor John Bruton visited Bearna on April 13^th 1996 and planted a tree just to the left of the first fairway.

The owners Sean and Michael Meade, Frank O’Gara and Pat Donnellan certainly overcame the challenge of the Connemara landscape, Granite rock, bog, gorse and heather to bring us this unique course within a 3-Iron from Galway City.