Jack Howard finished runner-up in the Irish Club Professional Tournament in Dromoland last week, losing out to Damien McGrane after a play-off. Howard, representing Fota Island shot a four under par 68 to lead the tournament. That included important birdies on the 17th and 18th to get into a tie for the lead. It was in impressive round from Howard in a strong field, and it included seven birdies. At the end of the round the two leaders were tied on -4, and unlike other PGA events it was on the a play-off. After halving the first play-off hole, McGrane put the pressure on by hitting the green on the short par four 10th. When Howard missed his 12 foot birdie attempt the former European Tour winner tapped in or birdie to claim the title.
Davey Barry and Shane Irwin were the next bet placed Cork golfers, they both carded one par rounds of 73 to get a top ten place, while Cian McNamara and David Ryan were three back in a share for 24th place.
While Jack will be disappointed at missing out on the win, there are several positives. As well as the prize money for second place, the high placed finish means that the 22 year old will now be able to enter several of the high profile events as the Irish Continue reading
Round 1 Results
The second Cork Fourball Championship event takes place in Muskerry on Wednesday and interest is building following the successful first event earlier this month. The series runs over six qualifying dates with the top three pairs from each qualifier advance to the series final which takes place at the end of September. From that event, the lucky winners will head off on a golf trip to Portugal. The winners of the first qualifier were Paul O’Keeffe and Brian O’Keeffe from the home club. They scored 45 points to win in a competitive field. The other two pairs to qualify were Derek Kelly (Lismore) & Martin O’Driscoll (West Waterford) and Owen Barrett and Tony Hayes (Muskerry). Ryan’s Marketing Manager Jerry Manley was 
Douglas and Cork both made it as far as the semi-finals of the Ladies Irish Senior Cup which took place in Thurles over the weekend. Douglas faced Kinsale in the first round and it was the city side who won. Sara Byrne, Karen O’Neill, Clodagh Coughlan and Jemma Barry all recorded wins while Kate McCann halved her match. While it was a good win for Douglas it should be noted that Kinsale gave up over 40 shots in total in the five matches. In the second round Douglas were up against local opposition again, this time it was East Cork. Douglas led from the start with Byrne, O’Neill and Coughlan winning their matches. That was as good as it would get for Douglas as they lost out to Lahinch in the semi-final. The handicaps were going against Douglas in this match, with 16 shots between the two sides. Chloe Ryan and Sinead Sexton (both playing off +3) won the first two matches, and the contest was over when Lahinch’s Sarah Cunningham won on the 16th. Lahinch would go on to have an impressive win over Killarney in the final on Sunday aftermoon.
A birdie three on the last hole was the perfect finish to Cathal Butler’s round in Co Sligo today, as he signed for a 65 after a great second round. Butler, who had a four over par 75 in his opening round, got to work early today and was three under through five holes. He added another two birdies before the turn to go out in 31 (-5). Although he had a few good birdie chances on the back nine he ended up with eight consecutive pars. He did close out on the 18th with a birdie, leaving him on -2 and tied for 20th at the halfway stage. Needless to say the Kinsale golfer was in a positive frame of mind after his round. “It was a relief as much as anything – it feels like a long time since I shot a low one” said Butler after the round. “I was hitting it lovely, I only missed one green and hit a lot of the shots close. The putter was steady throughout and it was nice to hole a long one on 18 to finish.” Butler has been struggling with a back injury for the past while and that has contributed to his lack of recent appearances near the top of the leaderboard. “I’m off around 2pm tomorrow so I’ll get a chance to go to the gym before hand. My back has been troublesome for the past few weeks so I’ll do some exercises before I go out to play.” As for the strategy for tomorrow, it more of the same for Cathal. “I’ll just keep trying to make good decisions and smooth swings. If I can stay as relaxed as I was today it should be another good day.”
Cork Golf News 