Peter O’Keeffe (Pic: Golffile)
Peter O’Keeffe scooped a second national title today, winning the Irish Mid Amateur in Royal Belfast. The Douglas golfer had a wire to wire win following rounds of 68,70 & 71. His winning score of 209 was the only score to break par on the Harry Colt designed course. O’Keeffe jumped into the lead after an opening 68 on Saturday morning, the two under par round had four birdies and one double bogey in the opening round to lead the field by one. He followed that with a level par 70 in the afternoon, again closing with birdies on the 16th and 18th. The 2017 Irish Open winner had a one shot lead going into today’s final round. Rathmore’s Ben Best was one behind but two bogies on the first and second gave Peter a lead of three. O’Keeffe went out in a steady level par, made up of seven pars, one birdie and one birdie. The back nine was even steadier, eight pars and just one bogey on 17th say him sign for a 71. Playing with the two nearest competitors, O’Keeffe knew he was in the lead and closed out the win with ease. Colm Campbell and France’s Christophe DeGrancey were one back on level par for the tournament.
Kinsale’s Kieran McCarthy finished in the top ten, he finished on eight over for 8th place. Mark Collins was one shot back and finished in 11th place. Lee Valley’s Jason Galway was the Continue reading
East Cork Ladies have added another major title to their roll of honour, they won the All Ireland final of the AIG Challenge Cup in Knightsbrook yesterday. Led from the front by 17 year old Orla Evans, East Cork came through the quarter final and semi final in dominant form, beating Moyola Park and Rathcore by bringing in the first three points in each match. And that continued in the final where they faced Tulfarris. At one stage early on they led in all five matches, and from there they built up a strong platform. They match didn’t go on too long, Orla Evans put the first point on the board when she wrapped up her match on the 13th with a 7&5 win. Nora Kelleher added a second point for East Cork with a 6&4 win and the third point came from Caroline Goldspring when she won on the 16th. East Cork were 
Ireland had a super win against hosts Denmark in semi-final of the European Seniors today. In a match that went all the way to the wire Ireland ended up on the right side of the result after one additional hole. Alan Condren won with a few to spare and Steven Graham won on the 18th. Karl Bornemann & Jim Carvill lost their foursomes match on the 17th, and Peter Sheehan also lost his singles match. With four matches in the score was 2-2, meaning O’Brien’s match would decide the outcome. The Castlemartyr member was one down after 15, and despite winning the 16th the momentum shifted when he lost 17 to a birdie. With the pressure of the match on him, O’Brien birdied the last to extend the match. On the 19th, he calmly slotted a ten foot putt to send Ireland through to tomorrow’s final. It’s been a great week for O’Brien on his international debut, and his form has been matched by his teammates who also have been very solid all week. Ireland now face England tomorrow in the final.
