Cork Golf

Hickey, McCarthy & Butler make the cut in the East of Ireland

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Munster Strokeplay Championship 2016

John Hickey

John Hickey (Cork) remains the leading Cork golfer after the second round of the East of Ireland Championship at Baltray.  Today Hickey added a 73 to yesterday’s 71, and his level par total saw him safely through to the final day tomorrow.  Mallow’s Paul McCarthy is one shot behind Hickey, as is Kinsale’s Cathal Butler.  Paul O’Hanlon still holds the lead, his -9 total is four shots clear of the field.

Gary Ward (Kinsale) was very unlucky to miss the cut, he shot a wonderful 69 today.  Although he opened with two bogies in his first four holes, he rattled off three birdies and an eagle in five holes in the middle of his round.  Unfortunately for Ward he missed the cut by one shot, Saturday’s untidy 78 came back to cost the Kinsale man a place in the final day.  James Sugrue also missed the cut following a second round 75.

 

Hickey, McCarthy and Butler have 36 holes to play tomorrow, with order of merit points on offer all three will have an added incentive for finishing strongly.

East of Ireland Amateur Open Championship Scores

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Hickey best of Cork at East of Ireland

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Golf_John Hickey_Cork GC_Munster_july 2014Cork’s John Hickey is safely positioned in the top 20th after the first round of the East of Ireland at Co Louth.  Two bogies and one double threatened to distract Hickey but he birdied four of his final seven holes to sign for a one under par 71.  James Sugrue is one shot behind Hickey, the Mallow teenager had a mixed round but an eagle on the last got him back to level par, and a tie for 28th place.

East of Ireland Leaderboard

Cathal Bulter and Paul McCarthy signed for 75’s and Mark Shanahan is a shot behind on 76.  All three are currently outside the projected cut (72) and will need a good round tomorrow.  Gary Ward is two shots further back.

Draw for Round 2

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Six Cork golfers in East of Ireland Action

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Co LouthSix Cork golfers will start in tomorrow morning’s first round of the East of Ireland.  Munster Strokeplay winner Cathal Butler and Kinsale teammate Gary Ward are in action, as are Mallow duo Paul McCarthy and James Sugrue.  Mark Shanahan (Castlemartyr) and John Hickey (Cork) are also playing.

Introduced by Co Louth Golf Club in 1941, the first East of Ireland was won by Joe B Carr, who Continue reading →

Dooley & Higgins Qualify for PGA Professional Championship

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DAvid Higgins PGA CShip

David Higgins pictures at the Titleist & FootJoy PGA Professional Championship qualifer (Picture: Patrick Bolger/Getty)

Padraig Dooley and David Higgins are both headed for The Oxfordshire in July to take part in the Titleist & FootJoy PGA Professional Championship.  The Irish qualifier took place today in Carton House and both qualified for the second successive year.  Dooley finished in a tie for fourth place on +1, but Waterville’s Higgins shot an amazing nine under 63 to finish five shots ahead of the field.

 

David Higgins produced a dominant display, he carded an impressive nine under par round of 63 at the Co Kildare venue to win by an impressive five shots ahead of Clontarf Golf Club’s Eamonn Brady.  Higgins made five birdies on the front nine holes – with three in successive holes – to book a return to the £78,000 showpiece final being held The Oxfordshire course from July 26-29.

Results: PGA Professional Championship – Irish Qualifier

Order of Merit Race Heats Up

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Munster Strokeplay Championship 2016

Gary O’Flaherty

Gary O’Flaherty’s performances in Castletroy, Cork and Ballybunion this month will have moved him up the Munster Senior Order of Merit.  There are four automatic places in the team from the Order of Merit, and three of them look like going to Cathal Butler, Andrew McCormack and Gary O’Flaherty.  Mark Shanahan, John Hickey and James Sugrue are all battling for the last automatic place, as are Waterford duo Eanna Griffin and Robin Dawson.  There are plenty of points on offer over the coming weeks.  The East of Ireland takes place next week and the Tralee Scratch Cup, the Connacht Strokeplay and the British Amateur all take place in June.  Captain Phil Cooney will have a tough job selecting his four picks as all of the above along with Pat Murray, Ian O’Rourke, Peter O’Keeffe and Continue reading →

Sean’s letter wins Tour Experience for Gaelscoil Ui Drisceoil

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Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, Wednesday 18th May 2016

Sean Reddy pictured with the letter that won him a behind the scenes VIP tour at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open. Picture: Niall O’Shea

Nine year old Sean Reddy had the experience of a lifetime during Irish Open week when he got a behind the scenes VIP tour.  Sean was a guest of the European Tour on the Wednesday after his letter was selected as one of four winning entries from hundreds of letters sent in from pupils and schools all over Ireland.  In addition to his VIP tour, Sean also won a prize for his school, and several of his friends from Gaelscoil Ui Drisceoil in Glanmire were also in the K Club for a special golf clinic courtesy of the Confederation of Golf in Ireland.

Sean’s VIP tour started in the media centre where 2015 winner Soren Kjeldsen was holding his press conference, and young golfer from Ballyvolane was invited to ask Kjeldsen a Continue reading →

Ladies Open Singles at Castlemartyr

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Castlemartyr Ladies SinglesFollowing the successful launch of the ladies club late last year, Castlemartyr have just launched a weekly open singles for ladies.  The competition takes place every Tuesday and the competition fee is €25 (€7 for members).  There are prizes for the top three every day and Castlemartyr are mirroring the competition for men on Wednesday’s.

Membership is currently open at the ladies club and there is currently no joining fee.  The annual subscription for the remainder of 2016 is just €400, normal rates apply from 2017.

It’s been an exciting time for the Ron Kirby designed links and resort.  The resort was sold in last 2015 and the Castlemartyr course is now entering a new era as PGA Head Professional Brady Sherwood outlined: “We’ve have quite a bit of investment from the new owners in machinery.  Equipment in excess of €100,000 will soon be delivered to Castlemartyr, new fairway and rough mowers and Continue reading →

Davey on Path to PGA Qualification

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Golf_Davey Barry_2 2016

Assistant Professional Davey Barry pictured on the range at Douglas Golf Club. Picture: Niall O’Shea

Davey Barry is at the starting point of his career in golf.  The Ballinlough native is working as an assistant pro in Douglas Golf Club while he also studies for his PGA qualification.  Davey is in his second of three years and he’s enjoying the experience so far: “The first two years of the PGA Foundation Degree course have been really interesting” said the trainee.  “We have studied a whole range of subjects from golf coaching to time management.  It’s been a real eye opener for me, I used to think I knew quite a bit about golf, but learning from and talking to some of the best coaches and teachers in the game has shown me I need to keep my head in the books and keep studying.  It’s been great learning from people with such a deep knowledge of the game of golf and added to that they have a passion for the game also.”  The PGA course is not just a professional designation.  It’s a degree level course with a focus on the business of golf as Davey explained: The business side of the degree has been quite challenging for me.  Over the last two years though the course has helped with giving me a good understanding into the business side of our industry and again I have been very lucky with Stephen [Hayes, Club Pro in Douglas] as he has always helped here and involved me in the business side of the pro shop.  This has made my assignments and exams a little easier because it is now part of my daily life.  During the year we also spent a week over in the Belfry where we had a couple of Continue reading →