Cork Golf

Byrne off to a good start, Slievenamon set to close

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Sara Byrne (Pic. Brian Arthur)

Sara Byrne got her 2025 season off to a positive start with a top 25 finish on the Ladies European Tour in Morocco.  Byrne bagged over €5,400 but it could have been more as a final round 77 saw her drop a number of places on the leaderboard.  Rounds of 71 and 69 in the opening two days put the Douglas golfer inside the top ten.  A final round 77, which included a double bogey on the last.

On a positive note Byrne had 15 birdies for her 54 holes, an impressive total for the three days.  Byrne is unlikely to get into the field for this week’s Saudi Ladies International.  The tournament has a $5m purse and has attracted a top class field.  The 2024 Curtis Cup winner has status on the LET and the Epson Tour in the US.  It’s likely that Byrne will target the Epsom Tour when it starts in mid March.

Jack Murphy finished his first tournament in Hawaii on -8 but despite having a few good round he only finished in 38th place.  Murphy opened with a level par 72, mainly due to a tough opening nine that saw him record four bogies.  He improved with two rounds in the 60’s, a three under Continue reading →

Jack Murphy scores a top ten finish in California

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Jack Murphy got his 2025 off in good fashion last week with a top ten performance in his first event of the new year.  Murphy closed the 54 hole Southwestern Invitational in California with an impressive four under par 67, which included five birdies after an early bogey.  After an opening 74, Murphy scored his first under par round of the year with a 70 in the second round. He bettered that again on Wednesday with his 67.

Jack’s head coach Alan Murray was delighted with the performance.  “Jack played sensational and to be so competitive in a field this strong is something that should give him huge confidence and self-belief,” Murray said.  “His four-under round today was one of the most impressive rounds I have seen from a college player. The guys battled hard again today and it was a step forward for us.” Continue reading →

Scanlan’s double drive-in at Douglas

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Shane Scanlan teeing off with his Dad’s driver from 1991 at the Douglas Drive In.
Picture: James Doolan

Many golf clubs are holding their drive-ins this month, and in Douglas it was a special experience for Captain Shane Scanlan.  President Dermot McHugh and Ladies Captain Dara Norton got to hit off their drives to mark the ceremonial start to the year, but Men’s Captain Share drove in twice.  One was for himself but the other drive was in memory of his Dad John.

Back in 1991 John Scanlan was elected as Captain but sadly passed away before the drive in.  With the agreement of his fellow officers, Shane took the opportunity to take a drive for his dad, and he Continue reading →

Exciting 2025 ahead for Cork Golf

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Cork Golf Club which wil host a number of national events in 2025. Pic: Niall O’Shea

2025 promises to be a busy and exciting year for Cork golfers and Cork golf clubs.  Golf Ireland launched the 2025 calendar recently and four Cork courses will host important events in the months ahead.

Cork Golf Club will host four major events in a busy year for the club.  In addition to the Munster Stroke Play which has been held on the May Bank Holiday weekend for over a decade, the Little Island club will also host the Flogas Irish Boys Amateur Open and the Boys Home Internationals.  The club will also host the Women’s Cork Scratch Cup in early April.

Cork has a habit of being a winning venue for golfers who went on to greatness and with Irish Boys Captain watching over the field, he will be hoping for another winner with star potential when it comes to the Irish Boys.  The last big winner in Cork was Shane Lowry, he  won the Irish Close Championship when it was last held in Cork in 2007.  Lowry beat local favourite Niall Turner in the final to claim his first Irish title.  He went on to win the West and North, and the Mullingar Scratch Cup the following year, before winning the Continue reading →

Byrne wins second Golf Writers Award

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Dromoland Ambassador Sara Byrne 
Pic. Brian Arthur

After a 2024 to remember, Sara Byrne won a final accolade last week when she was named the the IGWA Women’s Amateur of the Year.  The Douglas golfer won the award in 2023 and won again for 2024 after another impressive set of performances.  The highlight for 2024 should be the key role she played in Gret Britain & Ireland’s win in the Curtis Cup in September.  That has been talked about for the past two weeks following the Sky Sports screening of a programme about the memorable weekend in London.

Byrne turned professional just after September’s Curtis Cup, but before that she made the most of her final eight months of 2024.  The year started with her final semester in University of Miami, and this was marked with two wins and four other top ten finishes.  She followed that with an impressive performance at the Women’s Amateur in Portmarnock, reaching the final 32.  Byrne also made her final appearance for Ireland as an amateur before going unbeaten over the weekend of the Curtis Cup in GB&I’s win.

The Irish Golf Writers announced five award winners before Christmas.  Royal Dublin’s Max Kennedy was named Men’s Amateur of the Year.  The University of Louisville senior was runner-up in the East of Ireland Championship and the European Amateur Championship before going on to complete all three stages at the DP World Tour Qualifying School, securing a European Challenge Tour card.

Tom McKibbin, like Byrne was an award winner in 2023 and he won the Men’s Professional Award for a second time.  McKibbin enjoyed another memorable year in just his second season on the DP World Tour, finishing 18th in Continue reading →

Blarney honour Tom McKibbin

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Blarney’s Paul O’Neill and Ronan O’Riordan presenting Tom McKibbin with a momento of his win in Blarney in the Munster Boys

Officers from Blarney Golf Club travelled to Antrim recently, to mark the exploits of a 14 year old golfer back in 2017.  That golfer was current PGA Tour Card holder Tom McKibbin, and when the Co Down star was 14 he won the Munster Boys Under 16 in Blarney.  McKibbin came from one behind after the opening round to win the event by three shots after a closing 69.  It was one of the first Munster Championships to be hosted by Blarney and the 2017 President Paul O’Neill was delighted to recall the

Led by 2024 Captain Ronan O’Riordan, the club decided to honour the DP World Tour winner, making a presentation to him and with the support of Blarney Golf Club owners, they also made him an Continue reading →

Sustainability to the fore for Golf

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While golf is often considered to be environmentally friendly, there is now a major drive to make the sport more sustainable.  Golf Ireland has positioned sustainability as one of its key programmes.  Drive the Green is the plan that was launched earlier this year and has the aim of advancing sustainability and climate action through the sport.

The view on Ireland’s golf courses can be mixed.  Some take the view that courses are already environmentally friendly with others countering that the active management of the course limits the ecological value of the land.  Ireland’s golf courses cover an estimated 20,000 hectares of land with over half of this estimated as “out of play” landscape available for nature.  Just 5% of golf course land is designated intensively maintained such Continue reading →

Work Continues at Fermoy Golf Club

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The back nine in Fermoy Golf Club
Pic: Niall O’Shea

Fermoy Golf Club was a busy spot all summer, and that has continued through the Autumn as the club embarked on an impressive course improvement programme.  This included an intensive sanding programme in addition to some work on tee boxes and the irrigation system.  Fermoy manager Denis Twomey has been overseeing the progress and he gave some details of the current work and the next phases.

“We completed the installation of a new irrigation system on all 18 holes plus practice area in 2024” said Twomey.  “We also upgraded six tee boxes and have connected irrigation to the new tee boxes. The plan is to start connecting irrigation to all tee boxes on a phased basis over the next three years.”

When this is added to the sanding programme, you can see that Fermoy is building towards providing members and Continue reading →

Exciting 2025 Ahead for Cork Golf Club

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The view back from the 15th green at the famous Alister MacKenzie designed course at Cork Golf Club. Picture: Niall O’Shea

Next year promises to be a busy one for Cork Golf Club, as the Little Island course will hold several major competitions.

Golf Ireland have launched the 2025 championship schedule and Cork will host three major events.  In addition to the Munster Stroke Play which has been held on the May Bank Holiday weekend for over a decade, the course will also host the Flogas Irish Boys Amateur Open and the Boys Home Internationals.  In addition to these, the club will also host the Women’s Cork Scratch Cup in early April.

Cork has a habit of being a winning venue for golfers who went on to greatness.  Shane Lowry won the Irish Close Championship when it was last held in Cork in 2007.  He beat local favourite Niall Turner in the final to claim his first Irish title.  He went on to win the West and North, and the Mullingar Scratch Cup the following year, before winning the Irish Open in Baltray to Continue reading →

Ciaran McKenna teams up with Blarney Golf Club

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Ciaran McKenna pictured outside his  golf studio in Mourneabbey. Picture: Niall O’Shea

Ciaran McKenna is holding a clinic in Blarney on Saturday to launch his new role as teaching professional at the busy club.  McKenna has been based from his purpose build studio in Mourneabbey for the past two years, and his new appointment with Blarney will be a big addition for the club.  While we’re heading into the winter, Ciaran was delighted to kick off the new partnership with an on-course clinic for members this weekend.

“I’m really excited to host a short game clinic at the club on Saturday.  at 11am. It’ll be 1.5 hours long with a 30 min Q&A afterward – it’s a fantastic way to meet and greet the members and have a good chat about their Continue reading →