Pictures from the presentation at Kantuk Golf Club: Continue reading
Author: niall@corkgolfnews.com
Sugrue heads Cork qualifiers, North of Ireland Championship
James Sugrue is one of three likely Cork qualifiers to make it through to the match play stages of the North of Ireland Championship at Royal Portrush. The Mallow man recovered from a disappointing front nine one the championship course that saw him turn on +3. Sugrue fought back with three birdies to level his score on the back nine on the Dunluce links, he finished with a 36 hole total of 140 (-3) to claim a place in the top 25. Sugrue’s level par 72 was one of the better scores today with many golfers failing to get around the difficult course links without dropping shots. Kinsale’s Cathal Butler carded a three over par 75 today, when added to his 66 from yesterday the Kinsale man also qualified comfortably on 2 under par. He had 15 pars and a birdie, but two consecutive double bogies on the front nine cost him a few spots on the leaderboard. Conditions were much better for day two of the championship which saw 300 golfers play over both courses at the famous resort on the northern coast.
John Murphy had nervy wait Continue reading
Butler opens with 66 at North of Ireland
Kinsale’s Cathal Butler opened with a very impressive 66 at the North of Ireland Amateur Open yesterday. Playing on the Valley links in Royal Portrush the Maynooth student shot a round of -5 to grab a tie for fifth place. Butler went out in -1 after three birdies and two bodies on the opening nine, but a powerful back nine saw him return in -4. Birdies on the 10th & 11th were followed by an eagle on the par five 16th. That see’s him just two shots off the lead held by Rowan Lester.
Mallow’s James Sugrue recovered from an early bogey on the 2nd, he went on to record four birdies and twelve pars to claim a place in the top 30 on -3. John Murphy shot a one under par round of 70 to lie just inside the Continue reading
Frankfield Range Continues to Grow
Frankfield Golf Range continues to develop, and owners Coleman and Michael Ryan have succeeded in building a wonderful practice facility on the grounds where Mick Ryan Snr built a golf course over 30 years ago. A new short game area have been developed and now custom fitting has now arrived in Frankfield. The new fitting centre at the range provides golfers with hundreds of options when it comes to investing in new equipment. Working with McGuirks, Frankfield’s resident PGA Professionals Michael Ryan and David Whyte can match shafts with heads and grips to provide a truly customised solution for each golfer. Frankfield has teamed up with McGuirks to provide the new service. The retail chain has a shop just 800m from the range and now golfers can test the latest equipment options under the watchful eye of a PGA Professional. A full range of heads are Continue reading
2017 Kinsale Pro Shop Challange
Later this month Kinsale will host the second edition of their Pro-Shop Challenge. Following a successful staging last year, Kinsale immediately decided that the event would have to be repeated. The event will see a re-match between Kinsale’s PGA Professionals Ger Broderick and Ian Stafford and Kinsale’s elite amateurs Cathal Butler and John Murphy. Last year the event raised over €3,000 for local Special Olympics clubs and this year the organisers are hoping to raise a similar amount for Marymount. Kinsale’s Ian Stafford came up with the idea after his nephew asked him to help out with fundraising for a team to go to the Special Olympic World Winter Games. It was also a novel opportunity for the PGA professionals to take on the two amateurs who had come up through the coaching structures in Kinsale Golf Club. Both Butler and Murphy have moved into the senior ranks now but they started golfing through the progressive coaching programmes that were set up by Kinsale and delivered by Ger and Ian.
Gallery: Kinsale Pro Shop Challenge 2016
While the idea immediately sparked a large amount of interest, the Pro’s then had the daunting task of taking on Butler and Murphy. Between them, the amateurs had won six events that season and both went to be named on Munster and Irish panels. Stafford and Broderick have Continue reading
Gallery: Munster Boys 2017, Faithlegg Golf Club
Pictures from the final day at Faithlegg: Continue reading
O’Leary Runner Up in Irish Seniors Close, Malone Golf Club
Hugh O’Leary (Castlemartyr) driving at the 18th tee in the final round of the Irish Seniors Amateur Close Championship at Malone Golf Club today. Picture by Pat Cashman
Hugh O’Leary from Castlemartyr captured second place in the Irish Seniors Close at Malone today. O’Leary started the final around just one shot behind Jim Carvill and while he couldn’t catch the leader he did hold on to second place. Similar to yesterday, O’Leary struggled on Malone’s front nine and turned on +4. And just like yesterday he broke par on the back nine with birdies is at the 16th and 17th. That saw him finish one shot ahead of third placed Desmond Shearer. Karl Bornemann continued his steady scoring for a third day, he signed for a 74 which saw him retain his sixth place position.
Cork’s Fergal Deasy made his senior’s debut this week and he continued his recent form to claim a top ten finish. Deasy was one of only two players to break par today. He was level par after the front nine after three birdies, three Continue reading
Sara leads the way in Douglas
Sixteen-year-old Sara Byrne is set to represent Ireland again later this month. The Douglas golfer has been selected to represent Ireland at the European Young Masters later this month. Oslo Golf Club in Norway will host the event over three days and Byrne along with Annabel Wilson were selected as Ireland’s two representatives by the ILGU. Byrne has enjoyed a great season so far, and representing GB&I and Ireland in addition to several impressive individual performances. On the representative front, Byrne was in Italy last week as the GB&I side took on Europe in the Junior Vagliano Trophy. She also represented Ireland in the annual matches against Wales. A large number of notable individual performances has seen her handicap drop from four to one over the first half of the season. She hit the 1 mark in April while playing in the Munster Senior Open in Cork Golf Club. That was an impressive result considering that the Douglas member opened with a disappointing 80. She followed that with rounds of 75 and 73 to take second place overall. She also captured the Munster Girls trophy as the best under eighteen golfer in the field.
In May she travelled to the Fairhaven Trophy in Lancashire where she finished in third place in the girls competition against an impressive international field. She also recorded top three placings in the Lahinch and Carlow scratch cups in the early part of the season. Most recently she had a top ten finish in the Irish Women’s Close. Last week Sara represented Continue reading
O’Leary one off the lead in Malone, Irish Seniors Close
Castlemartyr’s Hugh O’Leary is just one off the lead going into the final round of the Irish Seniors Close. O’Leary was in the top ten after the first round and a one under par 71 today saw him rise to second place, just one shot behind Banbridge’s Jim Carvill. O’Leary had a spectacular back nine. After three bogies on the front nine and another on the 10th, he bounced back with five birdies in seven holes to sign for a 70. O’Leary and Carvill were the only players to break par in the second round.
Douglas Captain Karl Bornemann proved the duties of high office needn’t interfere with your golf as he continued his recent good form. Bornemann is tied for 7th after a tidy 74 today. Michael Quirke (Doneraile) is just inside the top 20 on Continue reading
Munster win against Connacht, Senior Interprovincials
Peter Sinclair (President, GUI) presenting Seamus McParland (Team Captain) with the 2017 Interprovincial trophy after Leinster victory at Carlow Golf Club today (05/07/2017). Also in the picture in front (from left) John Cullen (Team Manager), Moling Lennon (Captain, Carlow Golf Club) and John Ferriter (Chairman, Leinster Golf, GUI). Team members at back (from left) Caolan Rafferty, Jake Whelan, Eugene Smith, Jonathan Yates, Mark Power, Alan Lowry, Conor Purcell and Daniel Holland. Picture by Pat Cashman
Munster had a very strong closing performance in the final day of the Senior Interprovincials. They won both sessions to claim a win against Connacht which gave some satisfaction after two tough days. Foursomes wins from O’Keeffe and McCormack meant that the pair were unbeaten in three matches. Gary O’Flaherty and Geoff Lenehan picked up their second win as a pair and Jack Pierse and John Murphy secured a half to win the session. Afternoon wins from O’Keeffe, Lenehan, Griffin, Pierse and O’Flaherty secured the win for Munster. Unfortunately Munster could only finish 3rd, losing a spot on the countback to Ulster. The third place probably didn’t reflect how close Munster came to a win. They were within one match of halving with Leinster and Ulster battled back to claim a half on Tuesday. Leinster completed their first hat-trick since 1964 by winning a third successive Interprovincial Championship at Carlow.
Not since that great side of the ’60s won four on the trot from ’62 to ’65 have Leinster managed such a streak. And with three wins on the board, this was a thumping success.
Following wins against Munster and Connacht, Leinster only needed to halve with Ulster in order to retain the title but they made certain anyway, victorious for the third day running. Dominant Continue reading
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