What a great few days in the West of Ireland in August! The 2016 Social Media Links Challenge had pretty much everything including nearly the 4 seasons of weather in 1 day during the 2nd Round!! Our 3rd Annual Tournament took place once more at County Sligo Golf Club, Carne Golf Links & Enniscrone from Thursday 11th – Saturday 13th August 2016 and it was a thoroughly enjoyed few days enjoying golf, craic and hospitality in Sligo & Mayo.

Day 1 took us to County Sligo Golf Club where the usual stern golfing test awaited us. There were a few hungover heads from the Welcome Party in the Garavogue Bar the night before but the links breeze soon helped to ease those as the teams got out on the course, the Bottle of Muldoon Whiskey on the 1st Tee did probably help a bit as well!

After the first 18 holes Cork pair, John Tanner & James Cullinane, lead the way after a great score of 47 points with the Wexford brothers, Nicky & Gabriel Cosgrave 3 behind on 44. The chasing pack was made up of Linda & Keith Toomey on 42 along with Conal O’Reilly & Frank Moran; Gerald O’Connor & Bryan Leahy while Chris & Tim Garde and also Niall Livesey & John Howard were on 41 and right in the hunt.

Craig Toomey letting rip off the 1st at Carne Golf Links

Day 2 started under dark skies, throw in near hurricane winds and at times torrential rain and the challenge of Carne was not for the faint hearted!  Scoring was understandably poor during the 2nd Round with only 2 scores in the 40s from Maurice Maye & Ian Fitzgerald along with Patrick Aiken & Jason Newton, who both returned 41 points and put themselves right into contention only 3 off the lead which was still held by Tanner & Cullinane who added a 33 to their 47 of Day 1 for a 80 point total after 36 holes. Many teams were now in contention, with 8 shots covering at least a dozen teams, going into the Final Round at the exquisite Enniscrone Golf Links.

Enniscrone’s 12th green amongst the dunes

Clearer skies greeted the golfers on Saturday 26th August for Day 3 of The 2016 Social Media Links Challenge and the short drive from our base in Ballina also a welcome logistical bonus! Good scoring conditions mattered little during the Final Round as the golfing test provided by Enniscrone always levelling the playing field. Scoring was decent on the day, with some scores well into the 40s and it was the best score on the day that pipped long time leaders, John & James, right at the Winning Post! Chris & Tim Garde posted a phenomenal 47 points to grab victory on the countback with a 3 round total of 121 after 54 holes, beating John Tanner & James Cullinane. So close was the Final Round that 4 shots covered the Top 6 with Tommy Dunphy & Barry Hennessy in 3rd on 119, followed by Gavin Morris & Conor Corroon on the same score, Maurice & John came in 5th with 118 while Craig Toomey & Jonathan McDonnell (who got the 1st Tee Shot away back on Thursday at County Sligo) finished 6th with 117 points.

Congrats to Chris & Tim who will return next year as 2016 Social Media Links Challenge Champions! A huge thanks to County Sligo Golf Club, Carne Golf Links & Enniscrone for presenting the courses in great condition along with the usual warm welcome for all the golfers. Massive appreciation must also go to our Tournament Partners – Golf Voyager, Wyldsson, Irish Biltong, Thin Gin, Muldoon Irish Whiskey, Jonathan McDonnell QFA, the Garavogue Bar, Golf Birdie App and OGIO Golf. We looking forward to returning in 2017 to these 3 tremendous links courses on the West Coast of Ireland.

If you would like to join us for The 2017 Social Media Links Challenge at County Sligo, Carne & Enniscrone drop us a line via smlinks@tomkennedygolf.com or call +353-87-6453537.