It’s a big week for Glengarriff Golf Club, the picturesque nine hole course in West Cork is hosting the annual Maureen O’Hara Festival of Golf, taking place all week. It makes the claim that it’s the longest running golf classic in Ireland, and from humble beginnings 35 years ago, the classic has developed into a week-long festival. Last weekend there was a ladies classic held over Friday and Saturday, and mixed open singles on Sunday. This week there were competitions for juveniles, ladies and gents with a mixed foursomes competition taking place today. On Friday and Saturday the gents classic will take place. It’s a team of four open event and there is still some availability for anyone wishing to play. With many local businesses supporting the event, there’s a wide array of prizes on offer, and a share Continue reading
Author: niall@corkgolfnews.com
Fota Island first with New Tech
Jack Howard from Fota Island with the new TagMarshal devices
Everyone knows that pace of play, more commonly described as slow play, is a big problem in golf, and Fota Island is the first Cork course to introduce a new technological aid to help manage this issue. The five-star resort is one of the first courses in Ireland to launch the groundbreaking Tagmarshal system. The new system provides and easy way to monitor every group on the course. A small gps unit is given to each group when they start, and the unit reports back to a base station in real time, collecting live information on the pace of play. The base station (which is actually an iPad) relates the live information to the bank current and historic information. Using data analytics and advanced algorithms, the system creates a heat map which identifies areas on the course where delays are likely to happen. As the system tracks golfers in real time, any group that’s out of position can be easily identified. Prior to the use of this technology, many courses including Fota Island would have used a course marshal. While a roving course marshal will have a good understanding of Continue reading
Major Sugrue, The Amateur Champion!
James Sugrue (Mallow) winner of the 2019 The Amateur Championship at Portmarnock Golf Club today (22/06/2019). Picture by Pat Cashman
Portrush, Augusta, and New York will all be on James Sugrue’s agenda over the next 12 months. That’s part of his reward for winning the famous Amateur Championship in Portmarnock. The 22 year old Mallow man created a piece history, becoming only the second Cork golfer to win the most famous prize in amateur golf. As the winner he’ll play in the Open Championship in Portrush next month, he’ll play in the US Open in Winged Foot New Jersey next year, and the established tradition is that the Amateur Championship winner always receives an invitation to the Masters. Watched by his parents Margaret and Mick, and sister Michelle and brother Edward, and hundreds of supporters and friends from Mallow, James calmly rolled Continue reading
Gallery: The Amateur Championship Final
Pictures from Portmarnock (with thanks to Pat Cashman & Portmarnock for the trophy pics): Continue reading
Mahon’s Senior Circle win William Dwyer Trophy
There was great excitement in Douglas on Monday as the final of the William Dwyer Inter-Society Trophy took place. Midleton CBS Past Pupils Union were aiming to win the trophy for a third year in a row, but in their way were seven other teams who all had eyes on the trophy. Douglas was in great condition for the annual event, two qualifying rounds took place in Mahon last month and the top eight qualifiers lined out for the final. The format is scotch foursomes with each team fielding four pairs. This was the 78th staging of the oldest inter-society event in the country. The winners on the day were Senior Circle, in a very close contest that went to the final card to determine the winner. Barry Ryan and Ray Duane were first out for Mahon’s Senior Circle and they came home with a respectable level par 72. Sean Hosford and Denis O’Sullivan were second out and they shot a very impressive Continue reading
Gallery: The Amateur Championship Day Four
Pictures from Portmarnock: Continue reading
Gallery: Munster Seniors 2019, Killarney
Pictures from the second round in Killarney: Continue reading
Sugrue through to Amateur Matchplay
James Sugrue was the only Cork golfer to make it trough to the last 64 in the Amateur Championship. After two strokeplay rounds in Portmarnock and The Island, the Mallow man finished in 46th place on +3 after two testing rounds. Sugrue, with his usual partner Conor Dowling on the bag, was out on Portmarnock yesterday. And like the majority of the field he found it a tough day. While he commented the it was “insanely long”, he knew that a patient approach was probably the only way to survive the 7,000 yard course. The wind picked up mid-morning and Sugrue couldn’t avoid a few bogies on the front nine. A run of six pars was a welcome Continue reading
Gallery: The Amateur Championship 2019 – Strokeplay
Pictures from the first round: Continue reading
Kinsale Scratch Cup set for 29th June
Kinsale’s Senior Scratch Cup is set to be played on Saturday 29th of June, and with the club hosting the AIG Barton Shield in July, it’s sure to attract a large field of golfers. The Scratch Cup has a fresh feel as a result of its inclusion on the 2019 Munster Senior Interprovincial Order of Merit. The competition expects a high-quality field of Munster hopefuls, aiming to play their way on to the Munster Senior Interprovincial team. The South Munster Barton Shield qualifier will take place in Kinsale Golf Club in July. Kinsale won the Munster Barton Shield in 2018 and will be relishing the prospect of qualifying at home. The Scratch Cup will provide an ideal opportunity for clubs participating in the Barton Shield to get acquainted with some of the course changes in advance of the qualifier. With a gap in the national calendar, it’s also gives everyone a chance at a win at a major local event, one which dates back over 50 years.
The Kinsale Scratch Trophy was first played in September 1961 as a club competition and was won by Cork Golf Club. The format consisted of an inter-club scratch competition for teams of four, involving morning foursomes followed by afternoon singles with all scores to count in a Ryder Cup style format. In more recent years, the Scratch Cup has switched from a team to an individual format intermittently. Kinsale signalled the end of the team format of the competition on a winning note. Kieran McCarthy, Paul Crowley, Shane Kenneally and Keith O’Shea emerging victorious in 2007.
In 2008, the event returned to an individual format and the cup remained in Kinsale after John Keating secured the win. Notable past winners (as individuals and team players) include the Higgin’s family from Cork Golf Club in Continue reading
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