January
2015 started with the sad news of the closure of Frankfield Golf Course. The nine hole track existed on an elevates site on the southside of the city for over 30 years since Mick Ryan Snr laid out the course. It must have been an emotive decision for the Ryan family, especially given that they live and work onsite. The Ryan’s retained the very busy driving range and announced plans to extend and develop the practice facilities. While there were many disappointed members, they all had several options to continue their golf with every other Cork club offering membership options. PGA Professionals David Whyte and Michael Ryan are both based at the city venue and it proved to be a busy place throughout 2015.
Joint winners Munster PGA Wilson Singles at Cork GC David Ruddy and David Ryan pictured Liam Burns, Munster PGA Captain and Peter Hickey, Cork GC. Picture: Niall O’Shea
On the course, the Munster PGA were one of the few groups to be playing competitive golf. David Ryan used local knowledge to win the Wilson sponsored competition in Cork Golf Club. He shot a three under par round to finish ahead of popular Bandon veteran Continue reading
PGA Professional Jamie O’Sullivan got an early Christmas present when he won the race to become the new head professional at Rosslare Golf Club. The former Cork Golf Club player is currently director of Golf in Charleville, having spent the past eight years in the 27 hole North Cork club. O’Sullivan, son of European Seniors Tour star Denis, qualified as a PGA professional in 2002 and has spent over a decade progressing his career at several top courses. Jamie qualified in Portmarnock and after that spent two years in Ballybunion. He followed that with a three years in Fota Island and was there for the launch of the Fota Island Academy in 2006. Following that he moved to Charleville to fill the position vacated by David Keating. Charleville became the new home for the Glanmire native and he’s on the move again, this time to the famous Wexford links course. “Rosslare is a fantastic opportunity for me and a natural progression to the next step in my career” said O’Sullivan who’s heading into his second stint as a head professional, “It is a beautiful traditional links resort with lots of local and seasonal members. 
Niall Turner completed his first year back on the Asian Tour with a top five finish at the season ending Phillipine Open. After two years on the Asian Development Tour, Turner earned a full card by finishing third in the Order of Merit last year. Turner had already secured a full tour card for next year, but he went on to card three rounds in the 60’s for a high placed finish in the rain shortened event.
The death occurred recently of Maurice Moloney, the well-known and much-loved proprietor of East Cork Golf Club. Maurice’s untimely passing after a short illness was a terrible shock to his family and the broader community of members in East Cork where he had many, many friends. The homeliness of East Cork as a club radiated from Maurice’s personality. His infectious laughter was the soundtrack of the clubhouse. He looked for fun in everyone’s company and invariably found it. Golf in East Cork has always been a serious matter but not nearly as important as companionship and craic. In his everyday dealings with people Maurice 
Fota Island rounded off another busy golfing year recently when they hosted the final of the Inter-Company Challenge. This is the second year that the novel event has been held and entries were up for the qualifying rounds. The format was based on eight colleagues playing in a singles format with the top five scores counting towards the team total. After a number of busy qualifying dates, Cork Airport PJ Hegarty, Stryker and Vistakon all made it to the series final. Stryker came out on top of the four finalists with a grand total of 162 points, and they won a society outing in Fota Island including dinner for 20 
Although he’s always a great man to do a deal, Paul Coleman has added fuel to the current retail price war by announcing a massive 50% off sale – starting on Thursday morning. The popular retailer who is based in Lee Valley has been running his shop for over 7 years and has spent that time looking for innovative ways to drive customers to his shop and to give them the best possible deals. From try before you buy, bespoke hampers, customised footwear, a custom fitting solution in association with Drive Golf Performance, Paul has pioneered several new ideas. This year he added payment plans, a price match promise and custom filled Christmas hampers to that list.
Kinsale’s John Murphy won the Munster Junior Golfer of the Year award last week, rounding off 2015 for the talented 17 year old. He follows in the footsteps of his friend and club mate Cathal Butler in becoming the second winner in a row from Kinsale Golf Club. The club has been to the forefront of both individual and team junior golf over the past few years. John had a very busy year, with the key highlights including a Munster final appearance in the Fred Daly Trophy Munster final, a win in the Kerry Boys, and a cap for Munster at the Boys Interprovincials. John was travelling almost every week during the summer, competing in all four Provincial Boys championships as well as several of the Youth championships. In the Boys events, he was runner-up in Ulster, 5th in Connacht and 7th in Leinster. He also took 4th place in Irish Boys Championship. He took on the unique challenge 
The Munster Branch held their Annual Delegates Meeting in Mallow on Tuesday evening and a very large crowd attended to reflect on a another positive year for golf in the province. It was an occasion to celebrate the successes during the year which included national wins for Dooks, Ballybunion and Thurles. The Branch reported a deficit of over 
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