Weather conditions in Lahinch were slightly better today as the opening two rounds of the matchplay got underway. After two rounds there are still five Cork golfers involved, with two all-Cork clashes set for tomorrow morning.
Kinsale’s Cathal Butler and John Murphy made it through to the third round. Murphy had a two hole win over his Munster team mate Andrew McCormack this afternoon while Butler won on the 18th against Robert Brazill from Naas. Butler will face Peter O’Keeffe in the third round, O’Keeffe had wins today over two Limerick members, Owen O’Brien and Sean Poucher to book his place on the last 16. Gary O’Flaherty will face James Sugrue in the final match tomorrow morning. O’Flaherty needed all 18 holes this morning to beat Keith Murphy while this afternoon he dispatched Stephen Loftus 5&4. Sugrue was the last player left on the course this evening and he wrapped up his match with Darragh Coghlan on the 17th. With eight Cork qualifiers the hopes were high that someone might follow in Mervyn Owens footsteps and claim the prestigious South title. After today there are still five with a chance. Gary Ward won this morning but fell to Colm Campbell in the second round match this afternoon. Two Cork qualifiers lost out in this morning’s first round. Sean Desmond was handed a tough draw when he was put up against Conor O’Rourke from Naas. The form book ruled and Continue reading
It isn’t too often that a scratch golfer would have six bogies and a double – and still be happy with his round. Well that’s exactly what happened Sean Desmond in Lahinch today. Playing is his first South of Ireland, the Monsktown teenager shot a 74 in very testing conditions. That 74 included four birdies and an eagle, which helped Desmond to bounce back from the bogies. He was actually one under after an eagle on the 5th and he finished the front nine on level par. That included a lost ball on the 7th which led to a double bogey. A birdie on the 12th saw Desmond back in the red but three consecutive bogies on 13, 14 and 15 saw him return to the black and sign for a two over par 74.
Fancy a trip to the Old Head? Are you playing off 9 or lower? Are you free any of the next four Thursdays? If so a new Lee Valley competition might be of interest. Jack Boyd and Paul Keohane have come up with a new weekly competition in Lee Valley that’s aimed at single figure golfers. Four weekly qualifiers will take place in August, starting on Thursday 3rd August and three golfers will qualify each week for the series final. The top four golfers from the final will book their place for round of golf in the Old Head in September with the winner on the day claiming the inaugural Old Head Cup. The best golfer each day, along with the runner-up and best gross will all qualify for the final, and there will also be daily prizes on offer.
The Boy’s Interprovincial Championships get underway today in Blarney with the U18 and U14 competitions kicking off the three day festival of golf. Mallow trio Edward Walsh, Adam Boland and Greg Barrett lead a strong Cork line up in the Under 18 championship while Bantry’s Mel Deasy and Douglas’ Zak Collins are in action in the Under 14 competition.
A dozen Cork golfers will be hoping to bridge a 13 year gap and win the South of Ireland Championship this week. Mallow’s Meryvn Owens was the last man to bring the famous trophy back to Cork in 2003, when he beat the holder Colm Moriarty on the 18th green in Lahinch. Cork winners have been few and far between, John McHenry won in 1986 and before that there’s a 22 year gap to W A Kelleher’s win. The statistics would suggest that a few more years should pass before the next Cork winner, but given the strength and depth of the Cork golfers competing this year, don’t rule out a good run from a few of the form golfers.
Castlemartyr is a busy place right now and the August weekend will be one of the busiest with their annual scratch cup weekend. Starting on Friday 4th August, the event is set to attract well over 400 golfers over the three days and there’s a large prize fund in place. The event is again sponsored by McCarthy Insurance Group who have been on board for the past four years. The course is set to be in great condition for the showpiece event, the recent fine weather has allowed Trevor Norris and his team to speed up the course which is always a treat for handicap golfers. The three scratch cups (Junior, Intermediate and Minor) take place from Friday to Sunday and the timesheet is filling fast. Since the course opened it became an immediate favourite for both societies and casual golfers. The weekly open singles series are always popular and the membership has grown steadily over the past decade.
Midleton CBS Past Pupils GS won the 75th William Dwyer Trophy last week and this is the third time that the society have won the event. Previous winners in 2002 and 2006, the society are long term supporters of the event, and last week they ran away from the field with three great scores. Paul Cashman and Bernard Cashman led out the PPU team and their gross 80 was converted to a nett 71 when their nine shots were counted. Midleton’s third pairing of Derek Coll and Maurice Conway were also in the red after they shot a nett 71, thanks in part to a one over par front nine. Bob Cotter and John Moloney weren’t too far off the pace, set by their team mates, they signed for a level par 72 which beat CBS’s fourth card from Michael John Roche and Cormac Carroll. It was one of the best 
Cork’s Rachel Thompson is through to the final four in the Irish Girls Close. Thompson came through two tough rounds in Mallow today, and the leading qualifier is safely through to tomorrow’s semi-final. The Cork golf club member wrapped up yesterday’s first round match on the 13th winning 7&5 but today she went to the 19th before getting past Emma Forbes from Portrush. This afternoon her match with Georgina Carr went to the 17th with the Cork girl taking the match on a 2&1 margin to put her through to tomorrow’s semi-final with Maeve Rooney. There were wins too for Mairead Martin and Valerie Clancy, both golfers also come through two matchplay rounds today to qualify for the semi-final. They now face each other in the second semi-final tomorrow morning.
Cork Golf News 