Golf fitness is a relatively new discipline and it’s interesting that the newly opened Cork Golf Centre has its very own onsite golf gym. The centre which was formerly a stand-alone driving range reopened in April with a refurbished range and teaching room, shop, treatment room and gym. Francis Courtney is behind the gym side of Cork Golf Centre, and the TPI qualified fitness coach is a keen golfer himself. He started playing golf at just 7 years old, thanks to his Dad who was a greenkeeper in Dunloe. He’s currently a category one golfer playing out of his native Killarney. He’s now working alongside PGA Professionals Stephen Hoey, Wayne O’Callaghan and Liam Continue reading
Month: June 2017
Super 64 by Butler in Newlands, Leinster Students Championship Round 2
Cathal Butler shot a course record 64 in Newlands today and catapulted himself into a share of the lead going into tomorrow’s final round of the Leinster Students Championship. Butler made the most of the benign conditions on day two, and he eagled the par five 2nd hole to set the tone. He added two more birdies on the front nine to go out in 31 strokes (-4). Three more birdies followed on the back nine and although he failed to birdie the short par five final hole, the Maynooth student did enough to claim a course record.
John Murphy was also in good form, shooting a 67 on day two. It was a bit more complicated for Murphy as three early birdies were cancelled out by three bogies on the front nine. Murphy hit the reset button and reeled off four consecutive birdies starting at the par three 12th. He couldn’t add to that on the 18th but the -4 return see’s him tied for the lead alongside Butler. Ben Murray (UCC) is the third man on -3, he shot a 68 to move from third place to tie the lead. Mallow’s James Sugrue is in 4th place two shots behind the leading trio, Sugrue was also in the 60’s with a two under par 69 to get to -1. Monkstown’s Sean Desmond also shot a 69 to get to back to +2 and a share of 9th place. Gary Ward had a 12 shot swing on day two, he had a 68 today after a disappointing 80 in yesterday’s testing conditions.
The man of the day was Butler though and after a few months of poor results the Kinsale golfer is back in the groove. “My swing felt really good today, it felt good yesterday as well only that it was very blustery” said the Kinsale man after the great round. “There were a lot of gusts and it was very tricky, and I didn’t get rewarded for the good shots. But today it was flat calm and it was pretty much target golf out there. I’ve did quite a lot of work on my swing with Paul Kiely in the past few months so it’s finally starting to come together.” And it wasn’t case of protecting a score as Butler kept on giving himself solid birdie chances. “I drove the ball really well today, and I’ve learned that when I’m playing well to put the boot down and keep going for birdies. I hit my only bad drive of the day on the 18th, I went into the trees but recovered and wedged on to eight feet. I hit the birdie putt around two feet past but overall I’m delighted with the round. There were great scores too from Gary [Ward] and John [Murphy] so hopefully there will be plenty more birdies for the Kinsale lads. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow, hopefully there will be more good weather and a few more birdies.”
Leinster Students Amateur Open Championship 12-14 June 2017
Results after 36 Holes
139 C BUTLER (Maynooth Scholars (a)), 75, 64; J MURPHY (Kinsale), 72, 67; B MURRAY (University College Cork), 71, 68141 J Sugrue (Mallow), 72, 69
142 G Dunne (Maynooth University Club (b)), 75, 67; E Griffin (Maynooth Scholars (b)), 71, 71
143 J Quinn (DCU), 72, 71; R Dutton (Ulster University (a)), 70, 73
144 S Desmond (Monkstown), 75, 69; P Cummins (Lurgan), 74, 70; E O’Brien (Maynooth University Club (a)), 74, 70
145 C Woodroofe (Maynooth University Club (a)), 73, 72
146 G Carr (Maynooth University Club (b)), 78, 68; P Brennan (Belvoir Park), 76, 70; D Smith (Castle), 76, 70; M Ryan (New Ross), 74, 72; Z Glynn (Bray), 72, 74
147 J Mc Donnell (Maynooth University Club (a)), 79, 68; R Steedman (Maynooth University Club (c)), 78, 69; W Small (Tandragee), 75, 72; S Greenberg (Ulster University (a)), 74, 73
148 G Ward (Kinsale), 80, 68
149 K McCarron (Maynooth Scholars (a)), 79, 70; S Mc Dermott (NUI Galway (a)), 78, 71; M Norton (Belvoir Park), 77, 72; J McVicker (Ulster University (a)), 77, 72; M Kennelly (NUI Galway (b)), 76, 73; P Murphy (Rosslare), 76, 73; J Bolger (Jnr) (Courtown), 76, 73; N McCann (Lurgan), 75, 74; C Hughes (NUI Galway (a)), 75, 74
150 T Ford (Maynooth University Club (b)), 76, 74 (Team Qualifiers)
153 E Smith (Maynooth Scholars (a)), 77, 76 (Team Qualifiers)
Non Qualifying
150 O Crooks (Bushfoot), 78, 72; C Melvin (Maynooth University Club (c) ), 77, 73; G Fitzmaurice (University College Dublin (a)), 77, 73; B Doran (IT Carlow), 77, 73; M McKenna (Dun Laoghaire), 75, 75; M MCKINSTRY (Cairndhu), 75, 75; M Boucher (Carton House), 75, 75; D McAleenon (Lisburn), 74, 76; C Raymond (Newlands), 74, 76
151 L Donnelly (Kilkenny), 76, 75; P Jordan (Lurgan), 75, 76
152 P KERR (Royal Portrush), 80, 72; L Grehan (Maynooth Scholars (b)), 79, 73; R Abernethy (Dun Laoghaire), 79, 73; T Collins (University College Dublin (a)), 78, 74; K Murphy (University of South Carolina), 78, 74; R Williamson (Holywood), 76, 76; M SHIEL (NUI Galway (b)), 74, 78; R Brazill (Naas), 73, 79
153 A Fahy (Dun Laoghaire), 78, 75
154 R Browne (University College Dublin (b)), 81, 73; C Harte (University College Dublin (b)), 80, 74; J Boyd (Cork IT (a)), 79, 75; D Pollock (Garden City Community College), 79, 75; J Blake (DCU), 78, 76; A McDaid (Dublin Business School), 75, 79; M McCormack (Ashbourne), 74, 80
155 A Riordan (Cork IT (a)), 81, 74; D Hourihan (University College Cork), 79, 76; D Coghlan (University Limerick), 79, 76; S Sweeney (USA), 77, 78
156 C Moloney (Fota Island), 79, 77; E Collins (DCU), 79, 77; D BRADY (Maynooth Scholars (b)), 78, 78; T Coakley (Cork IT (c) ), 78, 78; J Murphy (Greenore), 77, 79
157 C FEENEY (Co. Sligo), 79, 78; J Dunne (Borris), 78, 79; B Smyth (Howth), 78, 79
158 R Dineen (Cork IT (b)), 78, 80
159 L Cummins (Cork IT (c) ), 81, 78; A Crowley (Dublin Institute of Technology), 80, 79; A McSweeney (Cork IT (a)), 80, 79; L Branagan (Dublin Institute of Technology), 78, 81
160 C Bolger (IT Carlow), 82, 78; D O’ Brien (IT Carlow), 79, 81
161 B MURRAY (University College Cork), 82, 79; S Campbell (Ballyclare), 78, 83
162 J Murphy (Cork IT (b)), 79, 83
163 D O’Sullivan (Cork IT (b)), 87, 76
165 J Cleary (University College Dublin (b)), 89, 76; A Comerford (NUI Galway (b) ), 78, 87
166 L Flynn (Dun Laoghaire), 87, 79
NR J McCarthy (University College Dublin (a))
NS B Fehily (Newlands); C Nolan (NUI Galway (a))
Women:
Round 1 Par: 73; SSS: 73; CSS: 76
Round 2 Par: 73; SSS: 73; CSS: 73
153 S Burke (Maynooth Scholars (w)), 77, 76
154 M Doyle (Maynooth Scholars (w)), 79, 75
155 C Walsh (Maynooth University Club (c)), 77, 78
165 R Mc Donnell (Elm Park), 84, 81
170 M Doyle (Maynooth Scholars (w)), 91, 79
RTD J ALLEN (Ulster University (b))
Teams
285 Woodroofe/O’Brien/Mc Donnell, 147, 138
286 BUTLER/McCarron/Smith, 152, 134; Carr/Dunne/Ford, 151, 135
289 McVicker/Dutton/Greenberg, 144, 145
Non Qualifers
293 Griffin/BRADY/Grehan, 149, 144
294 MURRAY/Hourihan/MURRAY, 150, 144
296 Steedman/Walsh/Melvin, 154, 142
224 Mc Dermott/Nolan/Hughes, 153, 71
297 Blake/Quinn/Collins, 150, 147
307 Burke/Doyle/Doyle, 156, 151
301 Comerford/SHIEL/Kennelly, 150, 151
302 Collins/McCarthy/Fitzmaurice, 155, 147
307 Bolger/Doran/O’ Brien, 156, 151
308 Boyd/Riordan/McSweeney, 159, 149; Harte /Browne/Cleary, 161, 147
313 Murphy/O’Sullivan /Dineen, 157, 156
315 Coakley/Cummins, 159, 156
318 Branagan/Crowley, 158, 160
Sugrue & Murphy well placed, Leinster Students R1
James Sugrue and John Murphy both recorded rounds of 72 to lie two shots behind the leader after the first round of the Leinster Students Championship today. The dry but windy day in Newlands was a welcome change for both, they had played in Kerry Scratch Cup in Tralee over the weekend and had endured driving wind and rain for much of the 54 holes. Sugrue and Murphy had near identical rounds in the tight parkland layout, four birdies and five bogies added up to a +1 result for the opening round. They are two shots behind leader Ross Dutton (Ulster University). Waterford Duo Ben Murray and Eanna Griffin are tied for second place on level par. Griffin travelled from Athenry where he won the Connacht Continue reading
Tralee Win for O’Keeffe, Kerry Scratch Cup
Peter O’Keeffe overcame a one shot deficit in the final nine holes in Tralee today to claim the prestigious Kerry Scratch Cup. O’Keeffe was joint leader going into the final round but Tralee’s Fergal O’Sullivan led by one shot after 45 holes. It was a tough day for the players in Tralee, O’Sullivan was +3 at the turn and O’Keeffe was +4 as high winds and squally rain did its best to wear down the competitors.
O’Keeffe had a tough start, he lost a ball out of bounds on the third, and frustratingly he could see the ball was less than a foot on the wrong side of the markers. A triple bogey there was a setback but O’Keeffe parred the next nine holes to get back into contention. He parred the difficult 12th hole to get back to a share of the lead and his only birdie of the day came on the 14th when he took Continue reading
O’Keeffe leads in Tralee, Kerry Scratch Cup
Tough weather conditions meant that the scoring was high in Tralee, but Peter O’Keeffe finished his 36 holes tied for the lead. Rounds of 76 and 75 from O’Keeffe were matched by Tralee’s Fergal O’Sullivan. The Tralee man has won already this season, he retained his Ballybunion Scratch Title a few weeks ago and will be fancied by locals. Both O’Sullivan and O’Keeffe are on 151, three shots ahead of second placed John Murphy who had two rounds of 77.
Gary Ward is the next best Cork player, but he’s 11 shots off the lead and in 12th place. Cathal Butler and James Sugrue were both in contention after the first round, but they both had afternoon rounds in the mid eighties which has all but ruled out a win.
Third round takes place tomorrow and is limited to the top 30.
Kerry Scratch Cup (36 hole scores)
151 Peter O’Keeffe, 76,75
151 Fergal O’Sullivan 76,75
154 John Murphy 77,77
155 Ted Collins 77,78
156 Evan Farrell 78, 78
Selected others:
162 Gary Ward
164 Con O’Callaghan
165 Cathal Butler
165 James Sugrue
167 Cillian Moloney
170 Conor Dowling
Kerry Scratch Cup Drawsheet
Tees for tomorrow’s first round:
AIG Jimmy Bruen Shield :: Munster Finals 2017
AIG Pierce Purcell Shield :: Munster Finals 2017
Kenmare & Ring of Kerry double up for Scratch Cup weekend
Kenmare Golf Club and Ring of Kerry Golf Club have joined forces for this September.
The competitions will feature Senior, Junior, Intermediate and Minor grades in both venues.
There are two Scratch cups on in Kenmare for the weekend of Sept 2nd and 3rd.
There are excellent prizes on offer for all categories, and entry is only €20 for guests for each competition.
Why not book a weekend away in Kenmare and play two of the best courses in Kerry, bookings can be made by calling Kenmare on 064 6641291 or Ring of Kerry on 064 6642000. Bookings can also be made online with both clubs.
Mahon March On in Pierce Purcell Shield
Mahon won the South Munster area final last night in very competitive and sporting game in Lee Valley. Mahon and Macroom were the last two teams standing after winning three matches each at their respective venue qualifiers. Despite the heavy rain, the course in Lee Valley was in great condition and the course provided a solid test for all of the golfers. Mahon as usual had a huge number of supporters while Macroom members were also well represented. Both clubs seemed evenly matched overall and after the front nine it was very close.
Gallery: Mahon v Macroom, AIG Pierce Purcell Shield Area Final
Mahon secured the first point on the 13th green when Declan Power and Michael Sexton beat Ed Neville and John Donvovan. Macroom balanced the scorecard soon after with another early win. Martin Kavanagh and William Buttimer beat Continue reading
Cork Golf News 