Month: December 2015
2015 Review of the Year – Part 4
October
With most of the inter-club competitions complete, the attention
The prize winners at the Oakley Open Singles Series Final at Lee Valley Golf Club. Monday 21st September 2015 Picture: Niall O’Shea
reverted to opens and singles competitions. Lee Valley held the final of their Oakley Open Singles qualifier which had been running during the summer months. Ger Halligan was the winner, and he won a trip to the Portuguese Masters courtesy of Oakley’s Kieran O’Connor. Stryker won the Corporate Challenge final in Fota Island. The popular competition saw a large number of companies take part in the qualifiers with Cork Airport PJ Hegarty, Stryker and Vistakon all making it to the series final. Stryker came out on top of the four finalists with a grand total of 162 points, and they won a society outing in Fota Island including dinner for 20 people. Castlemartyr held their annual corporate day, and the winners were Leo Spratt, Peter Manning, Bernard Rohan and C Continue reading
2015 Review of the Year – Part 3
July
There were four Cork golfers in action in the Inter-Provincials which took place in Donegal’s Rossapenna. Gary O’Flaherty, John Hickey, Dave O’Donovan and Ian O’Rourke all played their part in a sprited defence of the title they won in 2014. Munster started well in the first two days with wins over Connacht and Ulster, but they lost out in a winner takes all match with Leinster.
Philip Quinn (Douglas)
Philip Quinn (Douglas) had two dramatic finishing holes in the qualifier final of the AIG Junior Cup. Douglas were looking like losing to Mahon but the experienced 5 handicapper won the 17th and 18th in Cork GC to overturn a deficit and secure the third and Continue reading
2015 Review of the Year – Part 2
April
Adam McSweeney (Douglas)
Easter always see’s the staging of the Ford Muskerry Junior Scratch Trophy, a unique event for golfers with a handicap of 5-11. Two qualifying days sees the top 64 golfers go through to a matchplay phase player over Easter. 19 year old Adam McSweeney from Douglas added his name to the Ford Junior Scratch Trophy after three tough days. Although he was three down after just eight holes in the final, the Junior Cup and Senior Cup golfer fought back to level the match. McSweeney went one up on the 17th and closed out the 18th to become one of the youngest winners of the Continue reading
2015 Review of the Year – Part 1
January
2015 started with the sad news of the closure of Frankfield Golf Course. The nine hole track existed on an elevates site on the southside of the city for over 30 years since Mick Ryan Snr laid out the course. It must have been an emotive decision for the Ryan family, especially given that they live and work onsite. The Ryan’s retained the very busy driving range and announced plans to extend and develop the practice facilities. While there were many disappointed members, they all had several options to continue their golf with every other Cork club offering membership options. PGA Professionals David Whyte and Michael Ryan are both based at the city venue and it proved to be a busy place throughout 2015.
Joint winners Munster PGA Wilson Singles at Cork GC David Ruddy and David Ryan pictured Liam Burns, Munster PGA Captain and Peter Hickey, Cork GC. Picture: Niall O’Shea
On the course, the Munster PGA were one of the few groups to be playing competitive golf. David Ryan used local knowledge to win the Wilson sponsored competition in Cork Golf Club. He shot a three under par round to finish ahead of popular Bandon veteran Continue reading
Charleville’s Jamie O’Sullivan is on the move
PGA Professional Jamie O’Sullivan got an early Christmas present when he won the race to become the new head professional at Rosslare Golf Club. The former Cork Golf Club player is currently director of Golf in Charleville, having spent the past eight years in the 27 hole North Cork club. O’Sullivan, son of European Seniors Tour star Denis, qualified as a PGA professional in 2002 and has spent over a decade progressing his career at several top courses. Jamie qualified in Portmarnock and after that spent two years in Ballybunion. He followed that with a three years in Fota Island and was there for the launch of the Fota Island Academy in 2006. Following that he moved to Charleville to fill the position vacated by David Keating. Charleville became the new home for the Glanmire native and he’s on the move again, this time to the famous Wexford links course. “Rosslare is a fantastic opportunity for me and a natural progression to the next step in my career” said O’Sullivan who’s heading into his second stint as a head professional, “It is a beautiful traditional links resort with lots of local and seasonal members. Continue reading
Successful finish for Turner on Asian Tour
Niall Turner completed his first year back on the Asian Tour with a top five finish at the season ending Phillipine Open. After two years on the Asian Development Tour, Turner earned a full card by finishing third in the Order of Merit last year. Turner had already secured a full tour card for next year, but he went on to card three rounds in the 60’s for a high placed finish in the rain shortened event.
The Ballincollig native was in seventh place going into the final round and opened brightly with a birdie on the Continue reading
Rain Stops Play for Cork’s PGA Professionals
Cobh’s Club Professional David O’Sullivan who is also the current Captain of the Munster PGA.
The rain caused the postponement of the Munster PGA pro-am in Castlemartyr and this was the second event in succession that fell to the weather. The Munster PGA Captain is David O’Sullivan and although he is disappointed with the cancellation, he had little option but to put back the event. “The weather went against us during December and even though we had great entries for our Killarney and Castlemartyr events we decided to restage these events in the New Year” said O’Sullivan who is the Club Professional in Cobh Golf Club. He added: “We started the series with a Professional plus one amateur invite. This format was something we wanted to try and after early feedback it was a huge success with our opening event held at Fota Island Resort.” The opening event in November was won by David Ryan with a very impressive 63 on Fota’s Deerpark course. Ryan also won the pro-am where he partnered his Dad Ellis. The Munster PGA winter series has Continue reading
Maurice Moloney, a true friend to golf
The death occurred recently of Maurice Moloney, the well-known and much-loved proprietor of East Cork Golf Club. Maurice’s untimely passing after a short illness was a terrible shock to his family and the broader community of members in East Cork where he had many, many friends. The homeliness of East Cork as a club radiated from Maurice’s personality. His infectious laughter was the soundtrack of the clubhouse. He looked for fun in everyone’s company and invariably found it. Golf in East Cork has always been a serious matter but not nearly as important as companionship and craic. In his everyday dealings with people Maurice Continue reading
Stryker win Fota Island Inter-Company Challenge
Fota Island rounded off another busy golfing year recently when they hosted the final of the Inter-Company Challenge. This is the second year that the novel event has been held and entries were up for the qualifying rounds. The format was based on eight colleagues playing in a singles format with the top five scores counting towards the team total. After a number of busy qualifying dates, Cork Airport PJ Hegarty, Stryker and Vistakon all made it to the series final. Stryker came out on top of the four finalists with a grand total of 162 points, and they won a society outing in Fota Island including dinner for 20 Continue reading
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