19th May, 2009

Texas Irish American Cup Challenge 2009

After three long years the Texans finally brought home the bacon thanks to Charlie Martin and his team, the winning duo Cully Barragan and Scott Mauer.

The Texas Irish American Cup shootout began on hole number 14 with 10 American teams and 11 Irish teams. After hole number 17, the surviving American team was Culley Barragan and Scott Mauer winning on a chip off on hole number 17.

The surviving Irish team was John Delaney and Brian Moloney making a par 4 on hole number 17. The American side of Culley and Scott made a routine 2-putt par on hole number 18 for the victory. This now evens the event with each side winning 6 times in the 12-year history.

As always all enjoyed the spectacle of the 12 pipers a piping the remaining contestants up the last stretch for the final shoot out. The Celtic Shootout began on hole number 16 with 8 total groups. Surviving the shootout was John McHale and Mark Livingston who edged Paul Sullivan and Joe Luby on the 18th hole. McHale and Livingston pared number 18 after two great shots left them no more than 20 feet from the hole. The winning pair played the three hole shootout in an impressive passion, finishing just one over par!

Auction action

Scott Murray, nationally known broadcaster, auctioned off a French château which benefited our local charity, Pauline’s Place, a transitional living center for young women at risk to be built and named for Irish nun Sister Pauline Mullen. The lucky high bidders who will be spending a week at this special château east of Bordeaux are the Bennetts and the Barbier Muellers. Our other live auction item was claimed by the Penners who had just returned from Ireland and had such a good time that they came to the dinner especially to bid and win the trip again, which they did.

Dinner highlights

As always, the “March of the Green Jackets” was one of the highlights of the dinner and this year a Tex-Mex flavor was added with a parade of Mariachis. Kingsley Aikins gave his much anticipated address. All were very moved and impressed to hear the Irish Good Friday Peace model is now being used by the Sunni and the Shia in Iraq. However, in true Irish form he mixed the fun with philanthropy and left them laughing with his mixture of wisdom and wit. All including the Consul General Martin Rouine, who flew in from Chicago to play on the Irish team, to the new Irish Bishop of Dallas Kevin Farrell agreed that it was indeed “a night to remember”.