Author: niall@corkgolfnews.com

No Joy for Cork Golfers

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Tom ClearyThere was no joy today for the seniors who were playing in the Irish Seniors Open Championship in Co Tipperary, and Brian O’Donovan also failed to secure a full card in the PGA China final qualifying.

Holder Tom Cleary was among the local hopefuls in action but he couldn’t match the results of 2016 and rounds of 78,76,78 saw him finish just inside the top 20.  Not much of a consolation but he was the highest placed golfer from Cork after the three rounds.  Doneraile’s Tahg Heenan opened with a disappointing 81 on Wednesday but closed with two rounds of 76 to finish one shot behind Cleary and inside the top 30.  Micheal Quirke had threatened the lead on day one after shooting a 73 but rounds of 79 yesterday and 82 today saw him drop out of contention.  Kinsale’s Jerry Crean was the only other Cork golfer to make the cut and he finished one shot behind Quirke.  The winner was Wales Nicholas Grimmitt who finished on +7 to edge out Tramore’s John Mitchell by one shot.

Bandon’s Brian O’Donovan was in action in the final round of qualifying at the PGA China Tour School this morning.  O’Donovan had been hoping to claim on of the 16 full tour cards on offer after posting rounds of 71/72/70.  The wheels came off on the final round however and O’Donovan shot a 77 to finish outside the qualifiers.  In the past O’Donovan has used Monday qualifying to gain entry into some of the events, the Shenzen based professional is a Lead Instructor at one of the Mission Hills Academies in Shenzen.

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Tralee set to host Kerry Scratch Cup

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Kerry Scratch Cup 2017A bumper €2,500 prize fund is in place for the Kerry Scratch Cup which takes place in mid June.  The 54 hole event will again attract WAGR points and it has the added benefit of counting towards the Munster Senior Order of Merit, which will decide on half of the places for the Senior-Interprovincials.

The event is again sponsored by Kerry Group and the winner will take away €700.  36 holes will be played on Saturday 10th June with the top 30 golfers qualifying for the final round on Sunday 11th.  Holder Jack Pierse is expected to ddefend his title with Andrew mcCormack, David Reddan and Peter O’Keeffe all hoping to do better after featuring in the top five last year.

The Arnold Palmer designed course is always an attraction but this year it has the added bonus of hosting the AIG Cups and Shields finals.  The Barton, Senior Cup and Junior Cup will all take place in Tralee in August.  There have been a few changes to the course and clubhouse over the winter, work has been carried to remodel the bunkers and the changing rooms, pro-shop and foyer have all been upgraded.  The timesheet is now open and anyone interested should contact Alan Kelly on 086 3840630 or at alan.kelly@traleegolfclub.com

Muskerry through in thrilling Fred Daly area final

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Muskerry Fred Daly Area Final 2017Muskerry had a great win in the Fred Daly Trophy area final last night, beating Mallow in a very close match.  Blarney was the venue for the match and Mallow would have been favourites to advance.  They had a big handicap advantage on paper and most of the players would have much more experience at this level of inter-club competition.

Jack Egan was first out for Muskerry and he beat Ed Walsh on the 18th to set a strong positive tone for the winners.  As it happened the first point was already in the bag for Muskerry, Jack Taylor was giving up five shots in his match but still recorded a 4&3 win to claim a point for Muskerry.  Taylor’s match was the only one not to go the full distance.  When Egan closed out his mast on the 18th shortly after the advantage was clearly with the underdogs.  The winning point came from  Sean Geary who holed out from the fairway on the last hole, Geary birdied from 70 yards to win one up and secure the win for his club.  At the same time Fionn Hickey was headed up the 19th after finishing level after 18 holes.  He was called in, as was Eoghan O’Shaughnessy who was one up in his match on the 18th.  It was a hugely impressive win considering that Muskerry were giving up an aggregate of 21 shots in five matches.  The subs were Stephen Riordan and Peter O’Mahony, and the squad was under the watchful eye of Dave Taylor and Peter Fenlon.

Fred Daly trophy South Munster Draw 2017

It’s been a great run for Muskery, the beat a fancied Fota Island side in the semi-final and beat Castlemartyr and Fermoy in the earlier rounds.  Muskerry now go on to the Munster finals which take place in Fermoy in early August.

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Girls International call-ups for Byrne, Clancy, Martin & Thompson.

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Sara Byrne Fairhaven 2017

Sara Byrne

Four Cork golfers were selected on the Irish Girls team today, they’ll be heading off to Finland next month to take place in the European Team Championships.  Sara Byrne (Douglas) will be making her debut at this level while Valerie Clancy (Killarney/Mitchelstown), Mairead Martin (Kanturk) and Rachel Thompson (Cork) were all selected on the team for the second time.

It’s a great achievement and a rare case where four of the six team members are from one county.  They will be joined by French U18 Champion Annabel Wilson (Lurgan) and Lauren Walsh (Castlewarden), who holed the winning putt at the Girls’ Home International matches on her Irish debut in last year.  Byrne was also selected for an Under 16 girls team and has posted some very positive results thus far in 2017, most impressively a 3rd place finish at the prestigious Fairhaven Trophy earlier this month.  The Team Captain Gemma Butler said  “the girls have had some fantastic results so far this year and having won the second flight at the 2016 European Championships, we are excited to build on that result this time around.”
Irish Girls’ European Team
St. Laurence, Finland (July 11 – 15)
Sara Byrne (Douglas)
Valerie Clancy (Killarney)
Mairead Martin (Kanturk)
Rachel Thompson (Cork)
Lauren Walsh (Castlewarden)
Annabel Wilson (Lurgan)
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O’Donovan on track in Yunnan, PGA China Tour Qualifying

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Brian O'Donovan

Brian O’Donovan in Senior Cup Action in 2010

Brian O’Donovan shot a second round 72 to stay one under par and inside the top at PGA China Q School this morning.  Having opened with a one under par 71 yesterday, the Bandon native was in control again and is currently tied for 16th place.  More importantly he’s only two shots away from the top 12 which would see him claim a full tour card for the China tour. On the course O’Donovan had drifted to +2 through 10 holes but a few birdies on the back nine saw him sign for a 72.  O’Donovan has played in several events over the past three years, mainly gaining access to tournaments through the Monday qualifier.  If O’Donovan can move into the top 12 he’ll have access to all twelve tour events that are scheduled this season.  O’Donovan has two more rounds to make an impression on the field and with plenty of under par scores on the course today he’ll know that there’s an opportunity to go low in his final 36 holes.

PGA China Tour – Qualifying Live Scoring

O’Donovan has been based in China for well over three years now.  After gaining his full PGA qualification he took up a teaching role at the Million Hills Golf Complex in Schenzen and now holds the role of Lead Instructor at one of their three Academies.  As an amateur O’Donovan was part of the Bandon team that won the Munster double in the Barton Shield and Irish Senior Cup.  Bandon went on to win a national title in the Senior Cup and soon after Brian started his PGA training under Stephen Hayes in Douglas Golf Club.

Mission Hills Brian O’ Donovan shoots magical 59

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Thompson wins Cathy Smith Trophy in Baltray

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Rachel Thompson Baltray May 2017Cork’s Rachel Thompson finished strongly  at the Irish Womens Open Strokeplay in Baltray over the weekend.  She captured the Cathy Smith Trophy as the best under 18 and she also finished with the best nett score.  Rachel won the U18 prize with a one stroke lead over Germany’s Sarina Schmidt, but when it came to the gross prize she had a five shot lead over the field.  The competition was won by Mari Dunne who lead form the first round and closed on -9 for the tournament.

Thompson finished in second place in the Lahinch Scratch Cup recently and since then her golf has moved up a gear.  He performances over the weekend has seen her handicap drop from 2 to scratch.  Despite not playing in the Portuguese or Spanish Opens, Thompson is currently 9th in the ILGU Senior Order of Merit.  Valerie Clancy, Sara Byrne, Mairead Martin, Paula Walsh and Karen O’Neill all feature in the top twenty so there should be plenty of Cork golfers in contention for the Ladies and Girls interprovincials.

Major win for O’Keeffe, Flogas Irish Amateur Open

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Flogas Irish Amateur Open Championship at Royal County Down Golf

Peter O’Keeffe (Pic: Pat Cashman)

Peter O’Keeffe has been playing top level golf for 20 years and today he captured the top prize, the Flogas Irish Amateur Open at Royal County Down.  From an elite junior golfer he moved into the US college ranks and from there he spent close to a decade on the Challenge Tour and Europro Tour trying to make the breakthrough in the paid ranks.  In late 2015 he was reinstated as an amateur and last year he challenged on the local scratch cup circuit.  Today he broke through to elite senior golf ranks when he won the Irish Open in style.  One-stroke clear overnight, O’Keeffe cruised through much of the final round, winning by three thanks to a final round 73.  The 35-year-old from Douglas ended the week on two over, three clear of Scotland’s Christopher MacLean and England’s Tom Sloman.

Needless to say the Douglas man was delighted with the win.  “It feels fantastic.  It was tough to keep my emotions in check there going up the last,” said O’Keeffe, who claimed his maiden championship title.  “It was nice Continue reading →