Author: niall@corkgolfnews.com

East Cork through to Senior Foursomes Final, AIG Ladies Cups and Shields

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In the hotly contested Senior Foursomes semi-final yesterday, East Cork dominated Portumna from the start. All East Cork matches were up through the 6th and continued in this fashion.  Portumna player and Senior International Suzanne Corcoran and partner Madden Madden made a comeback on the final stretch but opponents Lillian Hartigan and Deirdre Ryan closed the match on the home green. The final result was 3-0 to the Cork side.

The second semi-final was contested between Kilkenny and Royal Portrush. Kilkenny were slight favourites after overcoming Milltown yesterday but Royal Portrush has the title in sight and it wasn’t to be for the All-Ireland Senior Cup Champions. The top match was all square through 12 and there was no difference between the teams but Helen Jones and Heidi Simpson (Royal Portrush) edged ahead and secured a 2&1 win. Kilkenny’s youthful middle pairing of Sarah Molloy and Jan Browne delivered once again and closed out the match on the 14th. The final match looked like it would be an early win for Royal Portrush as they were 6 up through 9 but Kilkenny’s Mary Leahy-Browne and partner Phyl Doyle fought back before missing a putt on the 18th to lose 1 down. Royal Portrush will take on East Cork tomorrow.

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Results
Senior Foursomes – Semi-Final
East Cork 3 Portumna 0
Grace McGrath & Sarah O’Brien (14) beat Claire Callanan & Riona Holohan (25) 3&1
Lillian Hartigan & Deirdre Ryan (16) beat Suzanne Corcoran & Mary Madden (26) 1up
Deirdre O’Mahony & Mairead Ni Mhurchu (18) beat Anne Fahy & Anita Carey (27)  3&1

Senior Foursomes – Semi-Final
Kilkenny 1 Royal Portrush 2
Ann Smee & Dervilla O’Byrne (14) lost to Helen Jones & Heidi Simpson (14) 2&1
Sarah Molloy & Jan Browne (14) beat Moyra McElderry & Nicky Smyth (14) 6&4
Mary Leahy & Phyl Doyle (17) lost to Vivienne Houston & Shauna Park (16) 1 down

 

Macfarlane & Burns 3 off the lead in Vilamoura

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Don Mcafarlane and Darren Burns shot a round of two under to lie three shots off the lead at the Lombard Trophy final in Vilamoura in Portugal.  The East Cork duo had a shakey start and were two over after four holes but they went on a birdie blitz and had four birdies in the next six holes.  Two more birdies and bogies followed in the closing holes and the pair signed for a two under par 70.  The event is taking place on the Vila Sol course in Vilamoura and the second round takes place tomorrow.

 

McNamara 4th after Round 1 of PGA Irish Championship

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

Golf_Cian McNamara_Jun2014Cian McNamara followed up his good pro-am performance yesterday with an opening 69 at the first round of the PGA Irish Championship.  It was a second successive 69 for the Monkstown professional, with birdies on the 12th, 15th and 16th.  He had a steady round of 15 pars to go with the three birdies.  Davey Barry is two shots back on -1.   He’s tied for 12th place after a round that featured four birdies and three pars.  The lead is held by Simon Thornton who  is three clear of the field after an opening 69.  The 106th staging of the Championship is being hosted by Moyvalley Hotel and Golf Resort.

Cork interest is high with several golfers in line to make the cut.  Ciaran McKenna is inside the top 30 on +2, and Conor Coyne is one behind on +3.  Padraig Dooley, David Ryan, Stephen Hayes and Ronan Collins have some work to do to ensure they make the cut.  Dooley, Hayes and Ryan are inside Continue reading →

McNamara 2nd in Irish PGA Pro-Am, leads Cork hopefuls in 106th Irish PGA

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Cian McNamara

Cian McNamara (Monkstown GC)

Monkstown’s Cian McNamara shot a three under par 69 today to finish in second place at the Christy O’Connor Pro-Am.  McNamara was one shot off the pace set by winner Jimmy Bolger.  The pro-am is the curtain-raiser for the 106th staging of the Irish PGA Championship which starts tomorrow at Moyvalley.  The showpiece PGA event is a 72 hole competition with Niall Kearney looking to win his third title in a row.  There’s a lot of Cork interest with McNamara being joined by Stephen Hayes, Ronan Collins, Davey Barry, Ciaran McKenna, Peter Hickey, Padraig Dooley and David Ryan.

106th PGA Irish Championship Leaderboard

East Cork duo Don McFarlane and amateur partner Darren Burns will contest the final of the Lombard Trophy in Vilamoura tomorrow.  The first of two rounds gets underway tomorrow and hopes will be high that the Irish representatives can do well in the pro-am field of 14 qualifiers from the UK and Ireland.

Lombard Trophy Final Leaderboard

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Munster Golf Calendar almost complete for 2017

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Munster Golf LogoAlthough the 2016 Championship year hasn’t been completed yet, Munster Golf have been busy planning dates and fixtures for 2017.  Liam Harkin, Karen Walsh and Margaret Sugrue have been busy liaising with clubs to put together the calendar that will see close on twenty separate competitions take place in over 60 venues across the province. The 2017 season gets underway as usual with the Munster Youths – although the tournament will now be know as the Munster Student’s Championship.  The competition takes place in Cork Golf Club in mid March.  Cork clubs have stepped up this year in terms of availability, with Kinsale, Lee Valley, Kanturk, Blarney and Cork all confirmed as host venues.
The Cups and Shields finals are heading for Kerry, Killarney will host the Bruen and Purcell finals in July and Tralee’s Barrow links will host the Junior, Senior and Barton finals in August.  Monkstown will host the Irish Mixed Foursomes while Dunmore is hosting the Country Clubs.

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Two Cups in Two Days – O’Keeffe is the form golfer, Castlemartyr Senior Scratch Cup

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peter-okeeffe-munsterPeter O’Keeffe has worked hard all year to win a senior scratch cup, and this weekend he won two.  After shooting a winning 68 in Kinsale yesterday, O’Keeffe was back on course this morning in Castlemartyr.  Starting early again, the Douglas man plotted his way around the Ron Kirby designed links and carved out a three under par 69.

And O’Keeffe repeated another thing this morning that he did yesterday.  He lost a ball on the opening hole and took a double bogey.  The Munster golfer’s tee shot found the heavy rough and the ball was lost.  Like yesterday he recovered and added three pars before getting his first birdies on the 5th.  He also birdied the par five 8th to gt back to level par before parring the 9th.  O’Keeffe went under par following a birdie on the 11th but couldn’t do better than that as he parred the next five holes where at least a birdie or two might have been expected.  He capitalised on the closing holes however.  He chipped in on the 17th after missing the green, and on the last hole he hit a nine iron from 175 yards to ten feet.  He made the putt to sign for a winning 69.

Dave O’Donovan (Muskerry) took second place with a 73 and Kinsale’s Cathal Butler was third with a 74.  Mallow’s James Sugrue was fourth with 75 and Michael Lenihan won the best nett prize.

 

O’Driscoll secures top 25 finish on Alps Tour

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Golf_Tommy O'Driscoll_2

Tommy O’Driscoll 

West Cork’s Tommy O’Driscoll has had two good weeks on the Alps Tour, and today he closed with a 66 to finish in the top 25 at the Alps Costa Del Sol tournament.  O’Driscoll had seven birdies in his final round which included coming home in 32 strokes at the Lauro Golf Resort.  O’Driscoll’s six under par final round brought the Paris based professional back onto -1 for the tournament.  This week’s performance follows his 34th place finish last week at the Citadelle Trophy in France.  O’Driscoll has one more regular season event next month before the season ending Grand Final.  The current run of form is a major boost for the rookie professional who turned pro earlier this year after winning a full card on the Alps Tour.  The Cork native is based in the ClementAder Resort outside Paris.

Alps Costa del Sol – Final Scoreboard

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O’Keeffe Wins Kinsale Senior Scratch Cup, Murphy helps Ireland to European Boys Team Title

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Interpros 2016 Peter O'Keeffe

Peter O’Keeffe (Douglas) 

Peter O’Keeffe won the Kinsale Senior Scratch Cup today with a four under pat 68.  O’Keeffe recovered after an interesting start, he put a three iron out of bounds on the first tee which meant he walked onto the second hole on +2.  He recovered however and started racking up the birdies.  He went under par on the 3rd, 6th and 8th before dropping a shot on the 9th.  O’Keeffe added four birdies and five pars on the back nine to set the clubhouse lead on -4.  The round could have been better, O’Keeffe missed a birdie putt on the 17th and an eagle putt on the 18th.  Still it was enough to give the Douglas and Munster golfer his first scratch cup of the year.  Kinsale’s Keith Fitzpatrick also finished with a 68 but had to settle for second place with O’Keeffe beating him on the back nine.  Cork’s John Hickey finished in third place.  Many of the golfers today will be in action again tomorrow in the Continue reading →

Mahon face Lahinch in Fred Daly Plate Final

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Munster Golf LogoMahon will head to Ballyneety Golf Club tomorrow to take on Lahinch in the final of the the Fred Daly Plate.  The Munster competition was launched last year and all first round losers from the Fred Daly Trophy are entered.

Mahon beat Bandon in the first round and went on to beat Monkstown in the second round.  After that the saw off Douglas before beating West Waterford in the semi-final.  Tomorrow’s final starts at 11.30am.

Mahon Fred Daly Plate Panel:
James Daly
Donagh Gribbon
Eoghan O’Shea
Sean Foley
Cathal Browne
Conor Twomey
Colm Kennedy
Team Manager: Ian Bermingham