Lee Valley Senior Scratch Cup
Author: niall@corkgolfnews.com
Kids Golf Camps this Easter
A few clubs are running kids coaching camps this month as the golfing season finally gets underway. Monkstown, Frankfield, Fernhill and Fota Island are all holding camps to coincide with the extended school holidays.
Cian McNamara is running three day camp in Monkstown starting on the 22nd March. Along with Graeme Dunlea, the pair have split the young golfers into three groups – boys 6-9, boys 10-13 and girls 6-13. Details are available on the Monkstown Golf Club Pro Shop Facebook page.
Frankfield Golf Academy have all of their 2016 dates available and they also run their Easter camp from 22-24 March. Camps run from 10.30am to 1.30pm and further camps are scheduled for July and August. David Whyte and Michael Ryan are running the courses. Fota Island have a camp in the Academy, starting on Wednesday 23rd and running until Friday 25th, details are available on the Fota Island website.
Wayne O’Callaghan’s Golf Academy is running a camp in Fernhill Golf Club, it takes place on 28th-30th March, classes run from 10am to 1pm each day. Wayne is also hosting a Wee Wonders qualifier on 31st March where the winners will qualify for St Andrew’s in August. The age limit is 12 and full details are available from Wayne.
UCC lose out on the 19th in Matchplay Final
UCC came agonisingly close to winning the Irish Colleges Matchplay at Woodbrook today. A win on the 19th hole saw Ulster University win the title. the four UCC golfers were unbeaten going into the final. The had a 3-0 win over holders UCD yesterday and faced Trinity College this morning. Greg O’Mahony halved his singles match and Ben Murray won 2&1. Paul Tobin and Bill Murray won their foursomes match 4&3. In the final they faced Ulster University and Greg O’Mahony won on the 17th again to get a point for UCC. Ben Murray lost his match on the 17th meaning it all went down to the foursomes match. Tobin and Murray were leading playing the last but lost the 18th Continue reading
Get your game in shape for the new season
Ian Stafford from Innishannon Driving Range and Kinsale Golf Club has put together a coaching day aimed at helping youths get their game in shape for the season ahead. Stafford has teamed up with Mark O’Connell to structure a full day coaching programme aimed at single figure golfers. Ian is the ILGU Regional c Continue reading
Irish Call-Up for Desmond and Murphy
Sean Desmond
Both Sean Desmond and John Murphy have been called up to the Irish Boys teams that will play in France and Wales later this month. Desmond has been selected on the team that will travel to Cardigan GC for the annual challenge match against Wales. Desmond from Monkstown will see action in both singles series and has a good chance of featuring in the foursomes matches also. There will be three foursomes matches on the opening day against Wales followed by eight singles matches in the afternoon. There will be eight more singles matches on the second day against Wales at Cardigan. Desmond had a very strong 2015, he had some notable singles performances and played a key role for his club Monkstown in two Munster finals in the AIG Senior Cup and the Junior Foursomes. He was named Continue reading
Higgins wins Munster PGA event in Castlemartyr
Munster PGA Captain David O’Sullivan presenting David Higgins with first prize after the Munster PGA event in Castlemartyr on Monday.
David Higgins (Waterville) was the only golfer to break 70 at the Munster PGA Winter Series event in Castlemartyr today. The Kerryman won his first event of the 15/16 series and is now in with a strong shout for the order or merit title with events in Waterville and Monkstown left on the schedule.
David recorded birdies on the 3rd and 4th holes on the front nine and the 1 Continue reading
Munster PGA Season gets back on track
The Munster PGA will finally get their Winter Series back on track next week when they play in Castlemartyr. Monday next will see only the third event of the weather affected season. David Ryan won the opening event in Fota in November and Cian McNamara won last month in Adare Golf Club. Wayne O’Callaghan was the winner last year in Castlemartyr, he shot a six under par 66 to win by one shot from John McHenry and Daniel Sugrue. A large turn-out is expected as the 2016 half of the season eventually starts. There are only two further events planned in the shortened season, Waterville will host the William Rushby Pro-Am next Month and the annual Morgan O’Donovan Perpetual Trophy will round off the PGB Winter Series in early April.
Danny Sugrue
Charlevile PGA Professional Frank Holly finished up in Charleville last week, marking an end of the “new” old guard at the north Cork club. Frank had worked with Jamie O’Sullivan for several years, and now both have departed. Holly is headed for North Carolina shortly and Monday’s Munster PGA event in Castlemartyr could be his last of the season. Holly will have happy memories from Castlemartyr, he recorded his first competitive hole in one on the 12th hole during last year’s event. Mark Collins was recently appointed Head Professional in Charleville, moving from Adare Golf Club. Dooks made another addition to their staff when they announced this week that Killarney Professional Daniel Sugrue is joining the popular south-west Kerry club. The club is a summer favourite for many Cork golfers and over the past decade the club invested heavily in developing the course and also the clubhouse. In the off-season they announced that Maurice O’Meara was taking over the role of General Manager. O’Meara has extensive experience in the top end of the Irish golf market. Prior to Dooks he was Secretary/Manager of the Island Golf Club and prior to that he spent a successful term at Killarney Golf Club. During his time at Killarney he played a key role in Killarney’s hosting of the Irish Open in 2010 and 2011. Sugrue joins Dooks from his position as a PGA Professional attached to Killarney Golf Club. Danny has been a prolific winner on the PGA Irish Region tour and is a two time winner of the Munster PGA Order of Merit. He qualified for the Irish Open in 2014 at Fota Island and Sugrue will be a great addition to the Glenbeigh club.
Irish Junior Foursomes 2016
Good Friday, 25th March will see the staging of the first round of the Irish Junior Foursomes. There are 21 Cork clubs taking part in three host venues. Cobh, Fermoy and Macroom all host qualifiers with two clubs at each venue qualifying for a matchplay final. Tee times vary, check with host club.
Round 1 QUALIFYING ROUNDS FOURSOMES STROKE PLAY – reducing to 16 Teams
Round 2 TWO TEAMS QUALIFY FROM EACH VENUE FOR MATCH PLAY AT NEUTRAL VENUE TO BE ARRANGED BY TEAMS AND PLAYED BEFORE 24th April, with office notified of result by Sunday 24th at 9.00pm
Round 3 MATCH PLAY WEEKEND OF 28/29 May VENUES will be the Pierce Purcell Venues
Munster Semi Finals & Final – 5 August Newcastle West GC
Charleville are hosts for their North Munster qualifier while Youghal travel to Gold Coast for their East Munster qualifier.
New Governance Structure for GUI
The Golfing Union of Ireland is pushing ahead with changes in its structures and governance. Following the appointment of the governing body’s first CEO last year, the Union recently approved series of major constitutional changes. The revised GUI Constitution paves the way for the creation of an 11-Member Board of the GUI, which will replace the current Executive Committee.
“The introduction of a board, with Continue reading
Big Entry expected for Muskerry Junior Scratch Trophy
2015 Winner Adam McSweeeny
The timesheet for the Ford Muskerry Junior Scratch Trophy qualifiers has opened and a full entry is expected for the unique event. The top 64 qualifiers from the two day qualifier will go forward to the matchplay phase where the eventual winner will come through six rounds of matchplay golf. The six rounds are played over three days, giving the successful qualifiers a taste of tournament golf that’s normally reserved for scratch golfers. The competition has been running since 1970 and the trophy has some well-known local names including Donal O’Donovan, Kieran McCarthy, Mark Ford and Eoghan O’Connell. Muskerry winners include Niall Turner, Donal Healy, John O’Mahony and two-time winner Ger O’Shea. Last year’s winner was Adam McSweeney from Douglas. McSweeney was a member of the successful Douglas Junior Scratch Cup team but he’s now too low to enter the competition this year. Already there are over 150 golfers registered for the qualifiers which take Continue reading
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