Kinsale’s Cathal Butler

Cathal Butler delivered a strong message on Sunday when he won the Top Golfer Senior Scratch Cup at Fota Island.  The Kinsale and Maynooth University golfer announced his return to top level golf following a serious arm injury in August last year that could have threatened his participation at the top level.

Butler went around the Deerpark course in Fota in 67 strokes, four under par.  James Fitzpartick (Mount Julliet) and Gavin Young (Nenagh) were next best with 72 and Lee Valley’s Pat Power was fourth with a 73.  John Hickey and Hugh Foley also had 73 and Gary O’Flaherty, Mark Ford and Fota’s Jack Howard all shot 74.  The quality of the score was underlined by the fact that he finished five strokes clear of the field.

He started brightly with a birdie on the first but gave the shot back at the long second.  The only other blemish on his card was a bogey on the 13^th.  Butler added another birdie on the 6^th and he had element of good luck when he chipped in on the index one 8^th hole.  Having parred the two opening par fives, the big hitter eagled the 10^th, and he added a birdie on the 18^th.

Top Golfer Senior Scratch Cup (Fota Island) Results

The performance on Sunday backs up a mid-week performance in the Portmarnock Hotel and Golf Links winter series.  Butler shot a 69 around the testing links course last Tuesday, matching Walker Cup star Paul Dunne to take second place.  Cathal is now setting his sights on his first visit to the West of Ireland which starts next week.