It looks like Joe Lyons is enjoying his second trip to Cork in a fortnight.  After finishing well in Lee Valley last week, he went and shot 70 and 71 in Cork today.  The Galway man is now in a strong position going into the second day of the Munster Strokeplay.

While many golfers struggled with the wind this morning, Joe’s key was keeping the mistakes to a minimum.  He had just one bogey in the first round and two more in the afternoon.  When you add in six birdies it meant he finished on -3 for the day.  Holder Alan Fahy (Dun Laoghaire) and Keith Egan (Carton House) are next on level par while Cork’s Gary O’Flaherty shot a great 66 in the second round to jump into fourth place alongside David Reddan (Nenagh) and Jack McDonnell (Forrest Little).  O’Flaherty had seven birdies including five in the last eight holes on his way to signing for the six under round.  It was certainly a great recovery from an opening 79, and now the current Musnter Mid-Amateur champion is in with a great chance tomorrow.  Mel Deasy (Lee Valley) is the only other local golfer in the top ten, he shot a second round 71 to sit six shots off the lead.  Karl Bornemann put together rounds of 73 and 75 for 12th place.

Gallery: Munster Strokeplay 2019, Round 1

Scoring was tough this morning, a hard wind along with punishing rough meant that there were very few cards without a double bogey or worse.

Tee Times for Round 3

Keith Egan was the only one to break par in the first round, but when the wind eased in the afternoon there were six golfers in the red including four scores in the 60’s.  The 36 hole cut fell at 154 (+10) with 42 golfers going into the second day.

The Munster Strokeplay Championship is sponsored by Ryan’s Supervalu and hosted by Cork Golf Club.