Author: niall@corkgolfnews.com

Kinsale Celebrates Murphy’s Selection

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John Murphy

There were lots of celebrations in Kinsale last week when news emerged that John Murphy had been selected for the Walker Cup next month.  Murphy becomes just the fifth Cork golfer to make it to the Walker Cup.  Friends and family bombarded the 22 year old with messages of congratulations, he was one of just two Irish golfers to make the GB&I team which plays the US team in Florida next month.

Among those who were delighted with the news was Ian Stafford who has coached John since he started the game.  “I’m absolutely delighted for John, the run of form John has been on lately in a pressurised situation has shown how he has matured as a golfer and there is a great feeling of redemption in getting selected for the team in Seminole” said Stafford who has coached John for close to a decade.  “Although this is not the first time John will have represented GB&I it is the final and biggest box ticked in terms of amateur achievements and a testament to the hard and smart work John has put in.  The emotions we are feeling now are a million miles from what we felt two years ago driving away from Portmarnock after Continue reading →

The work in Lee Valley Continues

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Lee Valley Golf Club.
Picture: Niall O’Shea

Off the course, 2021 has been a nightmare for golf courses with no play in the first three months of the year.  On the course, the closure given owners and managers a chance to get lots of work done, and that’s certainly been the case in Lee Valley where there have been plenty of changes.  With the staff covering the normal tasks of cutting a lot quicker when there’s no golfers on the course, the team have been able to get at some of the jobs that a lower down the priority list, as well as those tricky jobs that mean closing holes for days or weeks.  New bunkers, new tee boxes, drainage Continue reading →

Walsh Books his place with Tennessee

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Kinsale’s Robbie Walsh who will head to Tennessee next year. Pic: Niall O’Shea

Kinsale’s Robbie Walsh is the latest Cork golfer to commit to the US college system, he recently signed with the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga and is set to start with the NCAA Division 1 college in 2022.  Walsh was delighted to announce his plans last week, realising a dream to advance his golf with a leading Division One NCAA college.  “I always wanted to go on a scholarship to the US but I started thinking seriously about it 18 months ago” explained Walsh.  “I have family there and I’ve been there on numerous occasions and I love the country.  Originally when it became a strong possibility that I would be going I spoke at length with Aaron O’Callaghan. He gave some great insights regarding programmes, weather, divisions etc. I also spoke with two friends of mine John Murphy and Mark Continue reading →

Hickey signs for US College

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Fionn Hickey

Muskerry’s Fionn Hickey had some major news last week when he announced that he had signed with a US college for next season.  The leaving cert student had spent some time looking at options in the US, and announced that he was joining Loyola Marymount College in Los Angeles.  Hickey follows in the footsteps of John Murphy and others, hoping to improve his golf in the NCAA Division programme.  Fionn’s decision to join the LMU Lions comes after a few months work of research into the US college system and he was delighted to finally announce his decision last week.

“I started looking actively about a year ago but I guess it was always a dream of mine to play and study in America once it was clear that it could be an option” said Hickey.  “I didn’t know a whole lot about the programmes apart from some internet research when I first started looking.  To be honest it was a bit overwhelming with the amount of colleges and facilities Continue reading →

Cork Golfers selected for Golf Ireland Regional Panels

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Barry O’Connell (Douglas)who was selected on the Boys Under 14 Area Development Panel.
Picture: Niall O’Shea

While courses are still closed, the planning for 2021 continues in Golf Ireland.  Last week the new governing body announced the area pathway panels with 30 Cork golfers selected for the development programmes.  Douglas and Bandon topped the pile, Douglas saw seven of their young golfers selected between the three boys groups and the two girl groups, while Bandon had seven girls selected for the programme.

Douglas youngster Justin Dennehy was selected for the U12 programme, Barry O’Connell made the U14 panel while Shane Collins is on the U16 panel.  In the girls panels Hailery Martinez and Julie Kingston are on the U14 panel, and Rhea Itty and Aoife Keating made the U17 panel.  Bandon’s Alannah McCarthy, Ellen O’Mullane made the Girls U14 panel while Katie Hannon, Rachel Gaffney, Muireann Continue reading →

Winners from 2020 can Smile

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There weren’t too many winners in Cork golf in 2020, but those few that did manage to claim success will look back on the year with a smile.  After losing eight weeks in the spring, and with graduated protocols for a return to competitive golf, the national and regional schedules changed dramatically with far fewer individual and inter-club events taking place.  Berehaven made history in October when the West Cork club won their first Munster title.  They won the Munster final of the AIG Jimmy Bruen Shield in Killarney   Wins over Tramore and Shannon saw them emerge from Killarney with the pennant as Munster champions, their first time the club had achieved success at this level.  Unfortunately for Berehaven, the plans for the all-Ireland finals in Donegal in late October were postponed.  The 2020 finals are now scheduled to take place in Donegal in 2021.

Peter O’Keeffe pictured after winning the Munster Strokeplay in August.
Picture: Niall O’Shea

Peter O’Keeffe won the Munster Strokeplay in Cork Golf Club in early September.  The traditional May date for the competition was lost but it was great that it was included in the reduced schedule for the Continue reading →

Funding Boost for Cork Clubs

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Fermoy Golf Cub

Cork Golf clubs got a big boost over the weekend when Golf Ireland announced the recipients of a new grant scheme.  Sixteen clubs received almost €300,000 in funding from Sport Ireland.  The Club Resilience fund aims to provide short term financial help to golf clubs to support business resilience and sustainability after Covid 19.  Fermoy were one of the clubs to be successful in this round of funding and Manager Denis Twomey was delighted with the news.  “This resilience grant will help greatly towards a few key projects and the club is very grateful for the assistance.  We are planning to develop our terrace area to cover the full length of the clubhouse overlooking the first tees.  This will give Continue reading →

O’Keeffe’s Drive for Fitness

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Peter O’Keeffe in his new gym in Douglas Golf Club.  Picture: Niall O’Shea

Unless you have an indoor studio and a trackman, the chances are you’re not playing much golf at the moment.  That’s probably the case for almost all golfers in Cork, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t be getting ready for the season ahead.  Peter O’Keeffe’s online golf fitness classes are proving popular for plenty of keen golfers.  The Irish International golfer is currently running a range of online classes, and he’s attracting a large audience for his weekly classes and programmes.  While the classes are online the content is all based from his new custom built golf performance gym in Douglas Golf Club.  With almost 12 months of zoom experiences behind us and the year starting with a two month lockdown, January was an ideal time for O’Keeffe to launch his twice weekly series of classes.  Now heading into March, Peter is Continue reading →

Barrett’s the new man in Muskerry

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Pat Barrett, General Manager of Muskerry Golf Club.

While last year brought many challenges for golf, it gave Pat Barrett an opportunity.  Pat took up the role of General Manager in Muskerry Golf Club last year and despite the interruptions from the lockdowns the Limerick man has been busy settling into his new role.  Having previously worked at other courses, Barrett was delighted to get the opportunity in Muskerry.  “Being from South Limerick I grew up playing Golf in Charleville North Cork so I was well aware of Muskerry being one of the established Cork clubs” explained Pat.

“I had played the course a few times Continue reading →