Author: niall@corkgolfnews.com

Cleary shoots -1 as Ireland qualify for top flight matchplay

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2016 Irish Seniors Amateur Open Championship at Ardee Golf Club

Tom Cleary (Cork), Picture by Pat Cashman

Tom Cleary shot a one under par 71 in Slovenia today as Sean O’Leary’s team qualified for Flight A in the European Senior Mens Team Championship.  Cleary was three under par through 12 holes with four birdies in the bag, but two bogies on the way home meant that he signed for a 71.  That brought him up five places and into a tie for 12th place.  It was another powerful day for the Irish as all six team members finished the strokeplay phase in the top 20.  Jim Carvill shot a to under par 70 to finish in third place and Maurice Kelly and Adrian Morrow were one shot behind tied for fourth place.   Arthur Pierse is alongside Cleary in a tie for 12th and Garth McGimpsey finished in 17th place in the field of 114 golfers.

Ireland now enter the top flight of the matchplay stage where the top eights teams will do battle over the next three days.  After qualifying as top seed, Ireland face italy in the quarter final.

Cleary T17 in European Senior Men’s Team Championship, Slovenia

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Michael Cashman Trophy Munster Final, East Cork Golf Club, Saturday 27th August 2016

Irish Seniors Team Captain Sean O’Leary

Sean O’Leary’s team had an amazing opening day today as Cork’s Tom Cleary shot a one over par 73 in the opening round of the European Senior Men’s Team Championship in Slovenia.  Cleary is safely inside the top 20, but in an amazing day for Ireland, he’s the last of the six Irish golfers.

Arthur Pierse and Adrian Morrow both finished on -3 to lie one off the lead.   Maurice Kelly and Jim Carvill are on -2 and Garth McGimpsey is in 9th place on -1.  Tom Cleary is back on +1, tied for 17th place in a field of 114 golfers from 19 countries.  Cleary had four birdies and five bogies in his opening round.

Ireland are hoping for a fourth consecutive title. Ireland completed a hat-trick in 2015 and have been the dominant force in Europe with five titles since the Championship began in 2006.   After two rounds of stroke play qualifying, the top eight teams will enter Flight A and battle it out for the European title across three days of match play combat.

Scoring

Monkstown win Munster Mixed Foursomes at Muskerry,

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Munster Mixed Foursomes 2016 Muskerry

Susan White, Premium Credit, presenting the Munster Inter Club Mixed Foursomes trophy to Nick Moore and Emer Moran, Monkstown Golf Club, following their win at Muskerry Golf Club. Included is Tom Purcell, Muskerry G.C. Captain. Picture: Mike English.

The Munster Inter Club Mixed Foursomes final was held in Muskerry on Sunday 28th August .

There was a new Sponsor this year and Susan White of “Premium Credit “ welcomed the 26 participating Clubs and was delighted to be hosting such an event.  The eventual winners were Nick Moore and Emer Moran representing Monkstown with a score of 69.5.  The Runners  Up were  Lee Valley  represented  by Alan Cashman and Margaret Ahern with Adare Manor’s  Barry O’Riordan and  Siobhan Curran  and Ballybunion’s  Sean Kennelly  Janice O’Connell in 3rd and 4th Place .

The photo ( by Michael English )  shows Susan White of Premium Credit presenting the trophy to Nick Moore and Emer Moran ably assisted by Tom Purcell Captain of Muskerry

Slievenamon win Michael Cashman Fourball Munster Final in East Cork.

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Michael Cashman Trophy Munster Final, East Cork Golf Club, Saturday 27th August 2016East Cork continued it’s long tradition of hosting Munster Golf events on Saturday but this time it was more special as the competition was in memory of former East Cork Member and Munster Golf Chairman Michael Cashman.  The All Ireland Club Fourball is a new competition and the Munster competition was named the Michael Cashman Munster Club Fourball.  The final took place in East Cork on Saturday with two Tipperary teams contesting the final.  Slievenamon, who were appearing in their first ever Munster final, had a great with over Nenagh who have had several successes already this year.  Slievenamon won t Continue reading →

Sugrue & Murphy top 10 in Irish Youths, Ryan wins Wexford Pro-Am

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Golf_James Sugrue_MunsterNeither James Sugrue or John Murphy managed to overcome Neil McKinstry’s lead in the Irish Youths yesterday although they  both finished inside the top ten.  Murphy was in second place, two shots off the lead going into the final round and Sugure was just one shot behind Murphy.

Sugrue got off to a great start with a birdie on the opening hole but bogies on 4,5 and 6 meant that he dropped back and wasn’t able to put pressure on the leaders.  The par 70 course had a CSS in round three of 73, indicating the difficulty in scoring for all golfers.  None of the 100 golfers playing were able to match par with only seven golfers returning 71.  Murphy had a tough start to the day, he was in the final group with leader Neil McKinstry.  Murphy had a double bogey on the 2nd, and Continue reading →

Long Read: Cork Target All-Ireland Title

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Cork Golf Club’s Barton Shield side look forward to the All-Ireland finals in Carton house next month

AIG Barton Shield Munster Finals, Cork Golf Club, Saturday13th August 2016

The Barton Shield is one of the most exciting amateur competitions on the calendar, the format is foursomes, and with just two pairs there is no room for passengers.  Muskerry dominated the competition for the past two years but this year Cork made a breakthrough.  They came through two weekends of matchplay golf, firstly to qualify from the 18 Cork clubs and secondly to get out of Munster.  Now they look forward to an All-Ireland semi-final in Carton House next month.  Cork started Continue reading →

Murphy goes low at Irish Youths

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Kinsale Pro-Shop Challenge, fundraising event for Special Olympics, Kinsale Golf Club, Monday 22nd August 2016Kinsale’s John Murphy shot the low round of the day in Galway today to move into second place at the Irish Youths.  Murphy shot a one under par 69 to see him finish on level par after 36 holes, and two off the lead held by Neil McKinstry.  Murphy had plenty of colour on his card with four bogies and five birdies, but it was enough to jump him 10 spots up the leaderboard.  Munster’s Robin Dawson also matched Murphy’s 69 and he’s one shot back on +1.  Mallow’s James Sugrue is also within touch of the lead, he added a 73 to his opening 68 and is tied with Dawson on +1 in 4th place.  Darragh O’Connor (Fota Island) added another 72 and he’s in 14th place, six shots off the lead.  Cathal Butler (39th) is currently 10 shots off the lead and Continue reading →

Inaugural Muskerry Bruen Week a Huge Success

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Sean Desmond Bruen Youths 2016

Bruen Youths winner Sean Desmond pictured with President Maura Minogue, Richard Cahill Sponsor, David Bruen and Captain Tom Purcell Pic: Mike English

Muskerry held a very successful open week last week, it was the first staging of the Jimmy Bruen Open week and marked the culmination of a number of initiatives to remember the greatest amateur golfer from Cork.

Maurice Leahy was one of the driving forces behind the Jimmy Bruen Open Week and he was delighted with the week’s activities.  “I am pleased to say the week was a roaring success” said Leahy, “We had packed time sheets, decent weather and huge input from the Bruen Family.  The week culminated in a barbecue on Saturday night, and specially commissioned medals were presented to the week’s winners by members of the Bruen Family.   The night began with a Jimmy Bruen life and times slideshow produced by Tim O’Brien.  This was attended by Mrs Nell Bruen, a sprightly 98 yrs young, and Bruen family.   Nell thanked everyone and Captain Tom Purcell presented Nell with one of the medals as a momento.  Then Barbara Bruen presented the club with a Gross score trophy won by her father Jimmy at the 1938 Irish Amateur Continue reading →