Draw as of 24/04/2014, waiting list in operation
Author: niall@corkgolfnews.com
Senior Scratch Cup Order of Merit
Updated after 3 events:
West of Ireland 2014
There were a large number of Cork entries into the West of Ireland Championship at Co Sligo this week, although only five golfers qualified from the strokeplay stage. Unfortunately none of the qualifiers made it past the first round, ending Cork interest. Lee Valley winner Rory McNamara also made an early exit.
Strokeplay Scores (Q):
144 John Hickey (74,70)
144 Mark Shanahan (69, 75)
146 Eoghan Murphy (74, 72)
147 Kieran McCarthy (72, 75)
148 Keith Crowley (76, 72)
McNamara wins at Lee Valley
McNamara wins at Lee Valley
By Niall O’Shea
Headfort’s Rory McNamara won the Lee Valley Senior Scratch Cup over the weekend, and added his name to a prestigious list of past winners. Reigning champion Gary O’Flaherty was in the running right up to the end. He held the joint lead with McNamara as they both finished on -2 after Saturday’s 36 holes. Continue reading
Monkstown and Charleville win new Competition
Monkstown and Charleville win new Competition
By Niall O’Shea
A brand new annual competition was started in Lee Valley last Friday as the first staging of the Captains Cup and Presidents Cup took place. 2013 Lee Valley President Patsy Ryan was the man behind the concept has he worked for some months to develop the concept. Each competition see’s the Captain team up with the Captain’s prize winner in a fourball competition with the winners claiming the Captains Cup. The same happens for the club President and his winner playing for the Presidents Cup. Continue reading
O’Callaghan wins in Monkstown
Wayne O’Callaghan continued his great record in Monkstown Golf Club on Monday when he won the Morgan O’Donovan Trophy. The event was the final competition of the Munster PGA winter series and it was the second time that PGA members played to remember their colleague. In 2013, Peter O’Keeffe and Damien McGrane tied to take the title and O’Callaghan was extremely happy to add his name to the commemorative trophy; “this trophy meant a lot as I was great friends with Morgan since we both played boys golf together. I would put it up with my win at the Irish Assistants championship 1997”. The busy teaching professional who runs his Academy from Fernhill Golf Club has four Monkstown Pro-Am titles to his name. However in spite of his great record he must have been worried as he carded a 7 on the par 4 final hole. O’Callaghan had done enough though, four birdies and a bogey on the front nine saw him take a lead and he added another birdie on the 15th before finding trouble on the 18th. It was still good enough to Continue reading
Sugrue Set for Success in 2014
Sugrue Set for Success in 2014
By Niall O’Shea
Mallow’s James Sugure has been selected to travel to France next week with the Irish Boys for a number of matches with France. Sugrue along with Mahon’s Paul Tobin are among a team of eight golfers who will compete over four days in Nice as part of their build up for a busy season. Continue reading
Hickey claims top spot in Muskerry
Hickey claims top spot in Muskerry
By Niall O’Shea
Cork’s John Hickey won the Muskerry Senior Scratch Cup on Saturday with an excellent two under par score for his two rounds. The young Cork golfer took the title by one stroke from the field. There was a full field and waiting list assembled on Saturday morning as 70 of Cork’s top golfers too to the course. Hickey along with Lee Valley’s Pat Power led the first round with a two under par 69. Gary O’Flaherty and Cathal Butler were one shot off the lead while Keith Crowley was next on 72. Scoring was slightly tougher for the second round with Fota’s Sean Barry posting a 69. Continue reading
Shanahan Takes First Title of 2014
Shanahan Takes First Title of 2014
By Niall O’Shea
Castlemartyr’s Mark Shanahan won the opening event of the new season when he captured the Top Golfer Fota Senior Scratch Cup on Sunday. Shanahan shot a two under par 69 to lead a field of over 110 golfers. Fota’s Sean Barry was second with a 70, Barry was the only other golfer to shoot a sub-par round. Castlemartyr had two golfers in the top three, John O’Brien fresh from his attempt to gain access to the European Seniors Tour was third with two over par 73. Eoghan Murphy, Ciaran McKenna and Brian Kelleher were among the golfers to finish on 74. This was Shanahan’s first win in Fota but it was his third win in a Top Golfer competition. The Waterford man, currently playing off +2 won previous events at Dromoland in 2012 and Bunclody in 2013. The Top Golfer tour is now in its fifth year and this season, all event winners will go forward to the series final in Portmarnock. The tour is comprised of junior and senior scratch cups throughout the country. The next visit to Cork happens in May when the Lee Valley Junior Scratch Cup takes place. The last Cork event takes place in Cork Golf Club (Junior Scratch Cup) in July.
Bernard Rohan from East Cork won last week’s Irish Open Pro-Am qualifier in Fota. Rohan will be joined in the series final by Cillian Moloney (Fota) and Michael O’Donoghue (Gold Coast), the top three scored 40 points. The qualifier continues every Wednesday until the end of April, with the top three finalists winning a place in the Irish Open Pro-Am. Mallow Golf Club tasted international success last week as their Fred Daly team won the prestigious Home Nations Trophy. Playing against teams from Ireland, England Wales and Scotland, they made it through to the final where they played Belvoir Park. A 6-0 victory followed that saw the progressive North Cork club take the title for the first time.
Next Saturday will see Muskerry host their first major event of the season when they stage the Senior Scratch Cup. The competition will be played over 36 holes with the draw for partners and starting holes has been made and will be available tomorrow. The competition starts at 8.30am on Saturday. The qualifiers for the Ford Muskerry Junior Scratch Trophy will take on the 4th & 5th of April, the time sheet is now opens next week and it’s likely the popular competition will be fully booked. The qualifiers will go on compete in Munster’s toughest matchplay competition over the Easter weekend as the 64 hopefuls will be whittled down over six challenging rounds. Anyone interested in a competitive practice round should consider the open singles in Muskerry on Sunday, entry is €25 and there are still some places on the timesheet.
Ryan Wins on the Double
David Ryan took the honours in Fota on Monday as the Munster PGA Professionals battled tough conditions. Almost 30 golfers took to the course and while the weather was cold and wet, Fota was in great condition given the recent winds and rain. Ryan was the only golfer to finish under par as he recorded a 69. This was Ryan’s second win in a row as he also took the honours when they played in Dungarvan two weeks ago. John McHenry was fresh from his Seniors qualifying round in Portugal as he finished tied for second place with a 74, Castlemartyr’s Brady Sherwood also finishing on the same score. Sherwood was not doubt trying to emulate his compatriot Jason Day’s feats in Arizona but came up a few shots short. Padraig Dooley was fourth with a 75, and Killarney’s Danny Sugrue secured a top six spot with a 77. Sugrue maintains his position at the top of the order of merit. Monkstown’s cian McNamara is in second place and David Ryan is a close third. The PGA Winter League continues and will conclude in late March with Monkstown hosting the Morgan O’Donovan trophy.
The GUI annual delegates meeting took place recently and two Munster motions were carried. Castletroy’s motion limiting “point one” increases to only those golfers who complete a round was passed at national level and will now be put forward to CONGU. Limerick Golf Club’s proposal to limit the maximum number of point one increments to 20 in a single year was also passed. Both motions will now go on to CONGU where the GUI will propose the changes. At the provincial ADM’s the hope was that both changes would be effective from 2015, however time will tell as the current CONGU rules fare due to run until the end of 2015.
The most contentious motion at the provincial meetings was Leinster’s motion to require golfer to have three home qualifying scores to compete in away competitions. There was a perceived issue that many golfers were using away handicaps without ever playing at their home course. The motion was passed by a narrow majority at the Munster meeting and the GUI must now decide on how this rule will be implemented by clubs. The golfing season will finally start this weekend after two months of inclement weather. The first round of the south east league takes place this weekend with ten teams taking part in the annual Bruen and Purcell warm up compeititon.
Cork Golf News 