Jack Howard finished runner-up in the Irish Club Professional Tournament in Dromoland last week, losing out to Damien McGrane after a play-off. Howard, representing Fota Island shot a four under par 68 to lead the tournament. That included important birdies on the 17th and 18th to get into a tie for the lead. It was in impressive round from Howard in a strong field, and it included seven birdies. At the end of the round the two leaders were tied on -4, and unlike other PGA events it was on the a play-off. After halving the first play-off hole, McGrane put the pressure on by hitting the green on the short par four 10th. When Howard missed his 12 foot birdie attempt the former European Tour winner tapped in or birdie to claim the title.
Davey Barry and Shane Irwin were the next bet placed Cork golfers, they both carded one par rounds of 73 to get a top ten place, while Cian McNamara and David Ryan were three back in a share for 24th place.
While Jack will be disappointed at missing out on the win, there are several positives. As well as the prize money for second place, the high placed finish means that the 22 year old will now be able to enter several of the high profile events as the Irish Continue reading
Round 1 Results
The second Cork Fourball Championship event takes place in Muskerry on Wednesday and interest is building following the successful first event earlier this month. The series runs over six qualifying dates with the top three pairs from each qualifier advance to the series final which takes place at the end of September. From that event, the lucky winners will head off on a golf trip to Portugal. The winners of the first qualifier were Paul O’Keeffe and Brian O’Keeffe from the home club. They scored 45 points to win in a competitive field. The other two pairs to qualify were Derek Kelly (Lismore) & Martin O’Driscoll (West Waterford) and Owen Barrett and Tony Hayes (Muskerry). Ryan’s Marketing Manager Jerry Manley was 
Mahon and Bandon were the two big winners over the weekend as they came through the first serious weekend of cups and shields action. Monkstown and Blarney were the host venues for the AIG Jimmy Bruen Shield qualifiers, with fine weather and great conditions adding to the spectacle of matchplay golf. All Ireland winners Kinsale were not in the shake up this time, they lost out to Skibbereen in a first round match the previous weekend. Mahon had also come through a preliminary match the previous week, they had a comprehensive win over Mallow in the first round to set up a meeting with Douglas on Saturday morning. Similar to their previous form, Mahon had a good win over Douglas but they faced a stiff challenge again Cork in the third round and two matches would need additional holes for Mahon to advance. Tim O’Mahoney needed to chip out of the water on 18 in order for himself and Gavin Carroll to half the hole. They went on to win on the 
