It may have taken three attempts but the 2019 staging of the Morgan O’Donovan Perpetual Trophy was completed on Monday, with Lahinch’s Donal McSweeney winning. Two earlier attempts to hold the event in Monkstown were rained off, and rather than cancel this year’s event the Munster PGA committee decided to hold the event in Castletroy which was part of the autumn run of winter series events. The Lahinch Head Professional had three birdies in his opening four holes in Castletroy giving him an excellent start. Two bogies on the 9th and 10th pegged him back but the Charleville native finished well to post a winning score of 54 stokes for his 14 holes. It was a north Cork 1-2 as Mark Collins from Charleville came in on one under thanks to four birdies and three pars. Ballyneety’s Walter Doyle was third on 56 (L) while there were six golfers tied on +1. Donal McSweeeny is the latest winner of the prestigious trophy, joining Damien McGrane, David Higgins and David Ryan who are among the previous winners. Morgan O’Donovan was a very popular PGA Professional who passed away in 2012. The event has been held since 2013 and is usually hosted by Monkstown Golf Club where Morgan was Club Professional.
McSweeney also won the team event, partnering with Walter Doyle, Jack Howard and Cian McNamara they carded ten birdies. Tim Rice, Eanna Jones, Padraig Dooley and Kevin McGrath were second with nine birdies. The event was kindly sponsored by Gary O’Flaherty from Cobra/Puma Golf.
Morgan O’Donovan Perpetual Trophy
1st Donal McSweeney – Lahinch GC 54 (-2)
2nd Mark Collins – Charleville GC 55
3rd Walter Doyle – Ballyneety GC 56
4th Mark Beckett – The Golf Course at Adare Manor 57
4th Tim Rice – Limerick GC 57
4th Cian McNamara – Monkstown GC 57
4th Jack Ryan – Castletroy GC 57
4th Gary Howie – Castletroy GC 57
4th Kevin McGrath – Kevin McGrath Golf 57
Team Prize
1st Donal McSweeney, Walter Doyle, Jack Howard, Cian McNamara
2nd Tim Rice, Eanna Jones, Padraig Dooley, Kevin McGrath
This year proved to be another very positive one for Castlemartyr, now 11 years old, the golf course and the club are both thriving. A growing membership in the club underpins the progress in Castlemartyr and Breffne McKenna is happy to report an impressive scorecard for 2019. “Membership is doing great we are up to over 460 now. The club grew from 320 to 460 in 2019, very good growth and we are still open to membership applications at the moment” explained McKenna, the Director or Golf in Castlemartyr. “The Ladies Club continues to build slowly but it’s the Men’s and Intermediate Categories that are growing very fast (18-25). Alan Gleeson our resident PGA Professional has classes for new or interested parties who are looking to start golf and not too sure if they want to commit to membership. This is also great for the ladies who are not 100% sure they will like the game.”
Kinsale’s Eoghan Cassidy broke 70 in Ballybunion today as he took advantage of better weather conditions. The youngster shot a 69 which included five birdies after a double bogey on the fifth. Cassidy came home in 32 strokes thanks to three birdies in is last five holes. The impressive round, the second lowest of the day, saw him jump from 36th place up to 12th place. The teenager also found a sum of money on the course which he handed in to the tournament committee at the end of his round.
Fionn Hickey (Muskerry) holds a share of the lead in Ballybunion after the opening day of the Munster Boys. Testing conditions were in play all day as 68 golfers – including 11 from Cork battled with wind and rain, and there was little in the way of respite as the rain continued into the late afternoon. Hickey had a tough start, he had a double bogey seven on the opening hole. He was four over after four holes but two birdies on the fifth and sixth got him back on track. He turned on +3 and a very steady back nine (+1) saw him card a leading four over par 76. Hickey is tied for the lead with Knock’s Lee Mitchell.
Kanturk’s Mairead Martin took second place in the Cardinal Cup as University of Louisville Womens Golf earned their first win of the season. Playing as hosts on their home course, Louisville beat the field by eight strokes to come home in style. Mairead was the best placed Louisville golfer, with rounds of 68, 73, 69 to finish on -6.
Cork Golf News 