Cork Golf

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 →

Tom Cleary wins Irish Seniors Amateur Open

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2016 Irish Seniors Amateur Open Championship at Ardee Golf Club

Tom Cleary (Cork) with the 2016 Irish Seniors Amateur Open Championship trophy after his victory at Ardee Golf Club today.  Picture by Pat Cashman

Tom Cleary added another prestigious title to his collection today, the Irish Seniors Amateur Open.  The three time Munster Seniors Champion won his first national seniors title at Ardee Golf club after a final round 72 left him three ahead of the field.  Cleary was tied for the lead going into the final round, and there were nine other players within two shots of the lead.  Just like the Munster Seniors in Waterville, Cleary played very steady golf while all around him dropped shots on another testing day in Ardee.

The Cork Golf Club member opened on Wednesday with a three over par 74 to lie two shots off the lead.  He followed on Thursday with another 74 that saw him lead alongside England’s Andrew Carman.  The English international carded a four over par 75 in his final round to fall out of contention.  Cleary had a testing start, he bogied the 2nd & 3rd holes but he added two birdies at 6 and 8 to reach the turn on level par.  Two more pars followed and at that stage Tom was three shots ahead of Carman.  Cleary bogies the 15th but he was three shots ahead of the leader in the club house.  Cleary reached the 18th tee Continue reading →

Cleary in the lead at Irish Seniors

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Tom ClearyCork’s Tom Cleary shots a second consecutive 74 to lead after two rounds at the Irish Seniors Open in Ardee today.  Cleary was in 8th place after the first round, but he was only two shots off the three way tie for the lead.  He followed up with another 74 today to tie with England’s Andrew Carman.  Cleary was happy with his performance, this was his first competitive outing since representing GB&I in the Concession Cup in Florida: “It was very windy out there to be honest, very hard to keep the ball straight but I’m happy enough”.

The competition still has a very crowded leaderboard after 36 holes.  There are three players just one shot behind and Tramore’s John Mitchell is in a group of six players who are two shots behind.  Three more Cork golfers made the cut for the final round, Doneraile’s Michael Quirke is four shots off the lead and Peter Cowley and George Mellerick also made it through.  The final round takes place tomorrow with Continue reading →

Fota Island cause an upset by beating Kinsale in Fred Daly Trophy

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EMC Lee Valley Senior Scratch Cup 2016

Cillian Moloney

Fota Island cased an upset this evening when they beat Munster finalists Kinsale in the Fred Trophy area semi final.  Cork Golf Club was the venue, and twelve months ago Kinsale had a comprehensive win over Fota at the same stage of the competition.  Fota Island started strongly with Cillian Moloney beating John Murphy 6&5.  Kinsale’s Mark Healy balanced the match when he won his match against Josh Hogan on the 16th.  The 14th green proved crucial as Davis Howard won a second point for Fota, winning 5&4.  Things were looking good for Fota at that stage,  Garan Manley was losing to Daniel O’Flaherty but Fota’sRonan O’Connell was in the lead in his match and it was O’Connell who closed out his match first.  He won 5&4 on the 14th meaning the final match was called in.

 

Fota Island will now go on to play Munster champions Mallow in the South Munster final.

Fred Daly Trophy Area Semi-Final:
Fota Island 3.5-1.5 Kinsale
Cillian Moloney beat John Murphy 6&5, Josh Hogan lost to Mark Healy 3&2, David Howard beat Eric Rumley 5&4, Garran Manley and Daniel O Flaherty called in, Ronan O Connell beat Eric Costello 5&4.  (Fota Island names first)

Fota Island Fred Daly Team 18th May 2016