James Sugrue (Mallow) teeing off in the third round of the South of Ireland Championship at Lahinch. Picture: Niall O’Shea
James Sugrue lost his second round match in the South African Amateur Open this morning, losing out 4&2 to the top ranked home player. Although he face a tough challenge, Sugrue had played well enough in the opening three days to fancy his chances against the home favourite. Sugrue shot rounds of 68 and 73 over the weekend to finish in 15th place after the 36 hole qualifier. He went on to record a 2&1 win over Aymeric Laussot from France, thanks to a nice birdie on his final hole. Although faced with Nienaber who is 68th in the WAGR rankings, Sugrue would have fancied his chances. The South African played to his WAGR position however and was six under through 11 holes. Sugrue pulled a few shots back but when Nienaber birdied the 16th that was enough to close out a 4&2 win.
Ronan Mularney, Conor Purcell and Caolan Rafferty all made it through to the second round while Rob Brazill, Mark Power, Tiernan McLarnon and Alex Gleeson lost out in the round of 64. Play continues today and all nine of the Irish squad will remain in SOuth Africa to compete in the SA Strokeplay which commences next week. The travelling squad which includes John Carroll (Captain) and Neil Manchip (Coach) are combining both events into an extended winter coaching session.
Mairead Martin recently enjoyed a few weeks at home after an exciting few months in the US on a golf scholarship in Kentucky. The Kanturk golfer who completed her leaving cert in June and in August she moved to start with their acclaimed womens golf programme. It was a great first semester, Mairead finished the second highest ranked golfer on the roster claiming two top ten finishes on her first five tournaments. It was a busy few months for the teenager as she settled into her new home for the next few years. “The first couple of weeks were tough and quite intense it took a while for me to get used to how busy each day was between school, practice and workouts” explained Mairead. “I struggled to find time to even think about home or even be homesick. When I arrived in Louisville the team and coaches couldn’t have been 
This year could be summarised as a game of two halves for John Murphy. The Kinsale golfer spent the first half of the year playing well but struggling to get results, but the second half saw him hit some key milestones. These included an international win, an Irish cap and get finish to the season back in college in the US. While 2018 may have been his best year, Murphy didn’t feel like that at the beginning of the year a he explained. “The college semester was difficult for me” recalled Murphy. “I didn’t feel like I was competing as I had in the past. I wasn’t producing results that were reflecting how I was playing. In all honesty, I was worried, I was shooting some poor scores and I was getting very frustrated with myself. It was tough. I remember having a call with my parents at regionals where I just shot 7 over par. I told them I was playing well but I just couldn’t score, and then we all realized that I had been saying that all semester, and maybe I was being delusional. The week I got back 
It was a busy year for Lee Valley, but one that they will remember. 2018 marked the 25th anniversary for the club, and while everyone celebrated the milestone the club also went on to win their first Cups and Shields pennant. From the celebrations in January, through to the AGM this month, the club pulled together to celebrate. This time last year the club made Lee Valley owner Jerry Keohane and honorary Life President of the Club, and it was an honour that was very much appreciated by Jerry. He was involved in the consortium who purchased the land and commissioned Christy O’Connor Jnr to design the course. Jerry and his family would later take over full control of the Clashnure venture, and since then they have continued to develop and improve the course with a consistent focus on presenting a championship experience for every golfer. Lee Valley remains a 
Although the competitive golf season is well and truly over, James Sugrue was back in the news last week when he picked up an award. He was one of two recipients for golf at Mayor Patrick Gerard Murphy’s Co Council reception last week. Although Sugrue didn’t hit the high of a championship win, he continued to progress with two local wins and some great individual performances during the year. The season was book-ended by his two wins, the first in the Fota Island Senior Scratch Cup in early April, and the second in September when he won the John Whyte Fermoy Senior Scratch Cup to close out the season. The two wins may be highlights, but to be fair the Mallow golfer has had a very impressive summer of golf which was recognised with his selection to the Irish team. Sugrue joined the Irish Mens panel this year and represented the Irish selection at the South African and Spanish Amateurs in the early season, and in October he travelled to South America for two international events. His full cap finally came when he was selected to play for the Home Internationals which took place last week. Capped on multiple occasions in Boy’s golf, this was a big step up for Sugrue but one he took in his stride.
