Cork Golf
Thompson wins Connacht Senior Womens title
Rachel Thompson won the Connacht Senior Championship in Westport today, going under par to hold her overnight lead and claim her first senior championship. It was an impressive win, underlined by the winning margin of 11 strokes.
After opening with a six over par 80 yesterday, Thompson found herself just three shots off the lead as everyone struggled to get to grips with the course. The Cork Golf Club member did just that in the second round on Thursday afternoon, shooting three under to jump up the leaderboard. Rachel carded five birdies and two bogies to lead the field by five shots and take the overnight lead.
Thompson opened her third round this morning in the same fashion as the previous two – with a birdie. However it was a mixed opening nine with just two pars. Two more birdies and four bogies meant that she went out in one over par. Thompson didn’t put a foot wrong on the way back. Seven pars and two birdies saw her finish the 18 holes in red for the Continue reading
Another title for Hickey, Irish Boys Under 17 Trophy Winner

Fionn Hickey (Muskerry) pictured at the Douglas Senior Scratch Cup recently.
Fionn Hickey won another title today, he scooped the Under 17 Trophy at the Irish Boys in New Forest today. Hickey had a disappointing 78 yesterday, but he bounced back today with a very steady level par round of 72. A birdie 4th hole saw him turn on one under, but two bogies on the back nine saw him move from the red to +1. Another birdie on the 16th, followed by two closing pars saw him return to level, on a four round total of 292 (+4). That was just two shots behind the overall Irish Boys winner, Aaron Marshall from Lisburn. It was another positive weeks for Fionn, the four rounds of 72, 70, 78, 72 will mean another handicap cut for the Muskerry golfer who is currently playing off scratch. That’s the second trophy of 2019 for Continue reading
Howard wins Again

David Howard (Fota Island) in action at the Ford Muskerry Junior Scratch Trophy recently. Picture: Niall O’Shea
David Howard racked up his second win of the year recently when he captured the Fota Island Junior Scratch Cup. Having won the Muskerry Junior Scratch Trophy at the start of the season, Howard was runner up at Fota Island Senior Scratch Cup soon after. The Fota Island member kept up the run of good form this month with a win at his home course. While Fota was in great condition, heavy showers tried to dampen spirits and it certainly made scoring more difficult for everyone. Howard was the best on the day, shooting a three over par 74, one ahead of the field. Despite claiming to have a cold putter he had a few birdies, including a crucial one on the 18th which proved to be the difference. Now playing off a new handicap of 3, it might be the last Junior Scratch Cup for Howard for a while, and the impressive 20 year old has his mind set on lowering his handicap. He featured on the Fota Island Mixed and Senior Cup teams, and this week he’ll be in Junior Cup action in Castlemartyr.
It’s been a Continue reading
Glengarriff hosts Maureen O’Hara Blair Festival of Golf
It’s a big week for Glengarriff Golf Club, the picturesque nine hole course in West Cork is hosting the annual Maureen O’Hara Festival of Golf, taking place all week. It makes the claim that it’s the longest running golf classic in Ireland, and from humble beginnings 35 years ago, the classic has developed into a week-long festival. Last weekend there was a ladies classic held over Friday and Saturday, and mixed open singles on Sunday. This week there were competitions for juveniles, ladies and gents with a mixed foursomes competition taking place today. On Friday and Saturday the gents classic will take place. It’s a team of four open event and there is still some availability for anyone wishing to play. With many local businesses supporting the event, there’s a wide array of prizes on offer, and a share Continue reading
Fota Island first with New Tech

Jack Howard from Fota Island with the new TagMarshal devices
Everyone knows that pace of play, more commonly described as slow play, is a big problem in golf, and Fota Island is the first Cork course to introduce a new technological aid to help manage this issue. The five-star resort is one of the first courses in Ireland to launch the groundbreaking Tagmarshal system. The new system provides and easy way to monitor every group on the course. A small gps unit is given to each group when they start, and the unit reports back to a base station in real time, collecting live information on the pace of play. The base station (which is actually an iPad) relates the live information to the bank current and historic information. Using data analytics and advanced algorithms, the system creates a heat map which identifies areas on the course where delays are likely to happen. As the system tracks golfers in real time, any group that’s out of position can be easily identified. Prior to the use of this technology, many courses including Fota Island would have used a course marshal. While a roving course marshal will have a good understanding of Continue reading
Major Sugrue, The Amateur Champion!

James Sugrue (Mallow) winner of the 2019 The Amateur Championship at Portmarnock Golf Club today (22/06/2019). Picture by Pat Cashman
Portrush, Augusta, and New York will all be on James Sugrue’s agenda over the next 12 months. That’s part of his reward for winning the famous Amateur Championship in Portmarnock. The 22 year old Mallow man created a piece history, becoming only the second Cork golfer to win the most famous prize in amateur golf. As the winner he’ll play in the Open Championship in Portrush next month, he’ll play in the US Open in Winged Foot New Jersey next year, and the established tradition is that the Amateur Championship winner always receives an invitation to the Masters. Watched by his parents Margaret and Mick, and sister Michelle and brother Edward, and hundreds of supporters and friends from Mallow, James calmly rolled Continue reading
Gallery: The Amateur Championship Final
Pictures from Portmarnock (with thanks to Pat Cashman & Portmarnock for the trophy pics): Continue reading
Mahon’s Senior Circle win William Dwyer Trophy
There was great excitement in Douglas on Monday as the final of the William Dwyer Inter-Society Trophy took place. Midleton CBS Past Pupils Union were aiming to win the trophy for a third year in a row, but in their way were seven other teams who all had eyes on the trophy. Douglas was in great condition for the annual event, two qualifying rounds took place in Mahon last month and the top eight qualifiers lined out for the final. The format is scotch foursomes with each team fielding four pairs. This was the 78th staging of the oldest inter-society event in the country. The winners on the day were Senior Circle, in a very close contest that went to the final card to determine the winner. Barry Ryan and Ray Duane were first out for Mahon’s Senior Circle and they came home with a respectable level par 72. Sean Hosford and Denis O’Sullivan were second out and they shot a very impressive Continue reading
Gallery: The Amateur Championship Day Four
Pictures from Portmarnock: Continue reading