Author: niall@corkgolfnews.com

Muskerry Ford Junior Scratch Trophy

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David Howard (Fota Island) in action at the Ford Muskerry Junior Scratch Trophy last year.
Picture: Niall O’Shea

Muskerry are gearing up for their first big event of the season, the Ford Junior Scratch Trophy.   Up to three hundred golfers will take part in the two qualifying days which take place on Friday 27th and Saturday 28th of March.  The top 64 qualifiers from the two days will win a place in the matchplay draw.  From there the qualifiers will face up six rounds of matchplay golf.  Starting on Good Friday, three days of competitive golf will produce a worthy winner on Easter Sunday.  It’s a unique competition in Irish golf and provides handicap golfers a great opportunity to play in a matchplay tournament.  A full timesheet is expected for both qualifying days and bookings can be made through the proshop.  Last year’s competition was pretty unique, a Continue reading →

Boylesports backing Lee Valley Again

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Lee Valley Scratch_Cup_A3 2020Boylesports will continue their association with Lee Valley into 2020 as they remain a key sponsor for the club.  The Irish firm will again sponsor the Lee Valley Senior Scratch Cup which takes place on the 25th & 26th April.  The continued support from Boylesports means the club can again stage a top class event with a generous prize fund in place.  The 54 hole event has become one of the biggest three round events in the country.  2019 winner Tiarnan McLarnon will be back to defend his title, the Irish International had a great season after his win in Cork last year and he’s be fancied to continue his great run of form in Lee Valley.  Tournament Director Vincent Drinan is busy taking bookings at the moment and anyone interested in playing should contact him on email (vinced9@gmail.com) or WhatsApp (087 9966332).  The closing date for entries is 15th April and the field is limited.

Onsite accommodation, a great clubhouse atmosphere and a great championship course all combine to make the Lee Valley Scratch Cup a great early season event.  Last year McLarnon broke the run of Cork’s Gary O’Flaherty who won two in a row in 2017 and 2018.  A top Continue reading →

Muskerry’s Golfing History

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Muskerry’s 13th green. Pic: Niall O’Shea

Golf in Muskerry traces back to the late 1880’s but it wasn’t until 1907 that the current club was founded.  After just six weeks of work, the course designed and built by professional John McNamara was opened for play in May 1907.  Like many other clubs, proximity to a railway line was an essential prerequisite and the Coachford stop on the Muskerry tram line was close to the current 18th green.  The membership in Muskerry grew quickly and it was the quality of the course that attracted the growing membership.  The original course had five holes situated around the present front nine with another four holes across the road.  In fact anyone passing the entrance to Muskerry can still Continue reading →

Time for Nine

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The Irish Ladies’ Golf Union and the Golfing Union of Ireland will once again run a nine-hole Championship which will culminate in a Grand Final conducted by The R&A at the 2020 Open Championship at Royal St George’s in July.  Both union will run four nine-hole regional finals in the second and third weeks of June 2020 with the winning pair from each regional final qualifying for the Championship final in Royal St George’s.  The four winning pairs from Ireland will play in the final, with travel and accommodation provided by the R&A.  There’s also a gala dinner in the Royal St George’s clubhouse on the Friday night in addition to a lunch after Continue reading →

Monkstown’s Golfing History

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Monkstown is another Cork golf club that can trace it’s history back over 110 years, and remains one of the most popular golfing destinations in the county.  Cork GC Professional David Brown was involved in the original layout of the course and that opened for play in April 1908.  Famed course architect Alister MacKenzie also had a hand in the development of Monkstown, in 1925 his plans for the course were approved.  MacKenzie removed much of the rough on the course and retained the challenge by designing a “well bunkered course”.

MacKenzie was instrumental in Continue reading →

Top 5 for Murphy in Alabama

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John Murphy

Kinsale’s John Murphy got his final US College semester off to a good start with a top five finish in his first tournament.  Murphy was competing in Alabama in the Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate and shot impressive rounds of 69, 70, 69 in his way to an eight under par finish for the event.  Murphy’s Cardinals finished in third place in the team competition, again continuing their good form from the fall series.  Murphy now has five more events in the next two months before his Cardinals team head for the play-offs.  Murphy was ranked inside top 100 in the US college rankings and this was his fourth top ten Continue reading →

Douglas Golfing History

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For over 110 years, Douglas Golf Club has looked over the city, ideally positioned on its elevates site on Maryborough Hill.  The original course was designed by golf legend Harry Vardon, a six time winner of the British Open.  Vardon designed the original eighteen hole layout after walking the land which was leased from Patrick McAuliffe.   The groundsmen worked with Tramore’s John McNamara who oversaw the build, and the first nine holes opened in December 1909.  The second nine opened a few months later and the first competition on the new course was held in April.  The course was an overnight success, drawing in a large membership from the Continue reading →

Cork’s Golfing History

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Cork Golf Club.
Picture: Niall O’Shea

Golf has been played in Cork for close to 140 years with Cork Golf Club being a central part of that for nearly as long.  While not strictly part of the city, the club’s proximity to the city meant that it was always in easy reach of the growing population of the city and suburbs.  Cork Golf Club can trace it’s foundation back to 1884 and it’s first location in Lotamore.  That course in Glanmire lasted for around ten years and the club then moved to a new site closer to Carrigtwohill.  Their time in Carrigtwohill was limited, and in 1899 the club made its third and final move to Little Island.  The original four-hole layout was in and around the quarry and when David Brown, Cork’s first professional laid out a nine hole route, that layout lasted for nearly three decades.  The 6th and 7th holes Continue reading →

Sugrue 6th in South Africa

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James Sugrue

James Sugrue got 2020 off to a flying start last week with a top six finish in the South African Amateur Championship.  While he’ll be happy with the result, the Mallow man was in with a chance of winning going into the final two rounds.  Playing in the famous Leopard Creek course, Sugrue opened with rounds of 69 and 68, and at one point he was ten under during his second round.  Tougher weather conditions in the final two days of the event meant that scores were far higher.  Sugrue was ten shots worse off in the third round with a 78, and he closed with 76 in the last round.  That meant he was seven shots off the lead and his tied sixth result alongside Caolan Rafferty meant he was best of the Irish.  Sugrue along with the Irish team remain in South Africa for another Continue reading →