Fota beat Mahon in tight Fred Daly Match

By Niall O’Shea

The final second round match in the Fred Daly took place on Tuesday with Fota Island and Mahon playing in Cobh.  Fota were missing Jack Howard who was competing in the Irish Boys Open in Thurles, but other than that they fielded a strong side.  Fota had an advantage in terms of handicaps but Mahon put it up to Fota and every match went as far as the 16^th at least.  Fota’s Paul Twohig and Ronan O’Connell gave their team two points while Mahon’s Sean Walsh and Sean Foley balanced the scores.  Daniel Devlin won a third point for Fota on the 18^th and Fota won the match when Aaron Moore beat Mahon’s Jim Coffey on the 19^th.  Fota’s Cillian Moloney and Mahon’s Conor Twomey were still on the course playing their 20^th hole when they were called in.  In the next round Fota will play Monkstown and East Cork will face Cork.  In the other side of the draw Mallow face Muskerry and Blarney take on Douglas.  All ties will be played on Tuesday 8^th July. More Pictures: https://flic.kr/s/aHsjYwLmwc

Gary O’Flaherty added another title to his name last weekend when he won the inaugural Irish Mid-Amateur title in Roscommon Golf Club.  Cork’s O’Flaherty had a six shot cushion after three rounds and he displayed great consistency shooting 69-71-69.  The current Munster Order of Merit leader shot the best score or tied the best score in each of the tree rounds in Roscommon.  Castlemartyr played host to the Golf Digest Open on Monday and the category winners were Alister Lynch, Des Abbott and Kelley Holt.  All three won TaylorMade drivers and a place in the series final later in the year.  In total there were 17 prizes for the full field and there was an additional raffle where another 14 golf prizes were given out.

The Barton Shield gets underway this weekend in Douglas with 17 matches scheduled to be played over Saturday and Sunday.  In a change from previous years, no preliminary matches have been played, instead both finalists will not play off until next week.  Douglas as hosts are expected to be strong but this year there are several contenders.  Castlemartyr and Fota have strengthened their panels, with the latter expected to do well. Munster holders Cork can’t be discounted.  Gary O’Flaherty is red hot in terms of form and John Hickey played very well, winning in Muskerry and finishing in the top five in the Munster strokeplay.

If you’re not playing in the Barton Shield this weekend then there’s no excuse not to get out and play.  Fermoy have their scratch cup weekend and the East Cork scratch cup weekend started today.  Castlemartyr are holding an open singles weekend starting tomorrow and Muskerry have open singles on Sunday where golfers will have a chance to win a year’s free membership.