Pictures from the I Need Spain, Irish Mixed foursomes at Monkstown this morning: Continue reading
Cork Golf
Bornemann claims top ten spot in European Seniors
Karl Bornemann had a very good final round in the European Seniors in Spain today and claimed a spot in the top ten at the Golfclub Schloss Schönborn in Austria. The tree-lined parkland course proved a tough challenge for the elite amateurs, there were just five sub par rounds over the three days. Windy conditions also added to the challenge on the par 73 course. The Douglas man opened with a 77 on Thursday and finished in the top 30. He followed with two round of 75 which saw him over into the top ten after 54 holes. Bornemann took third place in the event last year and was happy with his performance considering that he admitted that he didn’t have his A game. “It demanded precision and afforded few opportunities” said Karl. “There was lots of slope and grain on the greens so made it tough to convert the opportunities that did come. If you pushed too hard, disaster awaited.” Karl has had a busy year, he’s Captain in Douglas this year which has limited the amount of competitive golf that he can play so a top ten finish is a very positive reminder that he can challenge at the top level. It’s also a timely boost as the AIG Senior Cup and Barton Shield qualifiers approach. Mallow host the Senior Cup while Macroom is the venue for the Barton Shield in three weeks time.
Collins at home in Fota Island Academy
He might only be there since the start of 2017, however Ronan Collins has been busy heading up the Fota Island Academy’s new custom-fitting programme. Ronan’s appointment was just one step on a journey to refresh what was on offer from the tour standard teaching and practice facility. After upgrading their Trackman launch monitor systems, the Academy brought in club fitting systems from all of the major manufacturers. The Academy is now a one stop shop for any golfer looking to examine their game. Having launch the Academy in 2006, Fota Island reinvested in their teaching bays, and upgraded their analysis tools to incorporate the latest Trackman technology. The new Trackman 4 system can be used in the specialised indoor fitting bays or on the range, and also includes the putting analysis software making it an essential resource for the five-star resort. Ronan is a seasoned PGA Professional and is ideally placed to analyse and advise golfers having worked directly for Callaway as a Continue reading
Macroom Senior Scratch Cup, Saturday 1st July
Macroom will host their Senior Scratch on Saturday 1st July, and the event is set to be a sell out as many golfers will use this event to as preparation for the AIG Barton Shield. Macroom are hosting the South Munster qualifiers for the Barton in Mid July and Cork’s top golfers will have the chance to see the mid Cork course during championship conditions. Nutricia have come on board to sponsor the event, boosting the prize fund for all the participants.
Ian Spillane won the 2016 event, beating James Sugrue to make it a Mallow 1-2. Macroom’s Alan Moriarty won the event in 2015 which was the first time the event was held in several years. Given the upcoming Barton Continue reading
Leinster Students win for John Murphy
John Murphy (Kinsale) with the 2017 Leinster Students Amateur Open Championship trophy after his victory at Newlands Golf Club today . Picture by Pat Cashman
John Murphy proved his credentials as a clutch player when he nailed a six foot par putt on the 18th green to win the Leinster Students title in Newlands today. Murphy was tied for the overnight lead alongside Cathal Butler and Ben Murray. Butler’s challenge faded after a few early bogies, the Kinsale man was unable to repeat the form that saw him shoot a course record 64 yesterday. Murray however kept pace with Murphy and although he went two behind on the 4th hole, he picked up a few birdies and was one behind at the turn. After Murphy and Murray bogied the 10th, the Waterford man drew level with a birdie on the 12th. Both golfers bogied the 15th and they were still level going onto the 18th tee. Although it was a short par five, the pressure was telling as neither golfer made the green in three. Murphy was left with a six foot Continue reading
Courtney’s Drive for Golf Fitness
Golf fitness is a relatively new discipline and it’s interesting that the newly opened Cork Golf Centre has its very own onsite golf gym. The centre which was formerly a stand-alone driving range reopened in April with a refurbished range and teaching room, shop, treatment room and gym. Francis Courtney is behind the gym side of Cork Golf Centre, and the TPI qualified fitness coach is a keen golfer himself. He started playing golf at just 7 years old, thanks to his Dad who was a greenkeeper in Dunloe. He’s currently a category one golfer playing out of his native Killarney. He’s now working alongside PGA Professionals Stephen Hoey, Wayne O’Callaghan and Liam Continue reading
Super 64 by Butler in Newlands, Leinster Students Championship Round 2
Cathal Butler shot a course record 64 in Newlands today and catapulted himself into a share of the lead going into tomorrow’s final round of the Leinster Students Championship. Butler made the most of the benign conditions on day two, and he eagled the par five 2nd hole to set the tone. He added two more birdies on the front nine to go out in 31 strokes (-4). Three more birdies followed on the back nine and although he failed to birdie the short par five final hole, the Maynooth student did enough to claim a course record.
John Murphy was also in good form, shooting a 67 on day two. It was a bit more complicated for Murphy as three early birdies were cancelled out by three bogies on the front nine. Murphy hit the reset button and reeled off four consecutive birdies starting at the par three 12th. He couldn’t add to that on the 18th but the -4 return see’s him tied for the lead alongside Butler. Ben Murray (UCC) is the third man on -3, he shot a 68 to move from third place to tie the lead. Mallow’s James Sugrue is in 4th place two shots behind the leading trio, Sugrue was also in the 60’s with a two under par 69 to get to -1. Monkstown’s Sean Desmond also shot a 69 to get to back to +2 and a share of 9th place. Gary Ward had a 12 shot swing on day two, he had a 68 today after a disappointing 80 in yesterday’s testing conditions.
The man of the day was Butler though and after a few months of poor results the Kinsale golfer is back in the groove. “My swing felt really good today, it felt good yesterday as well only that it was very blustery” said the Kinsale man after the great round. “There were a lot of gusts and it was very tricky, and I didn’t get rewarded for the good shots. But today it was flat calm and it was pretty much target golf out there. I’ve did quite a lot of work on my swing with Paul Kiely in the past few months so it’s finally starting to come together.” And it wasn’t case of protecting a score as Butler kept on giving himself solid birdie chances. “I drove the ball really well today, and I’ve learned that when I’m playing well to put the boot down and keep going for birdies. I hit my only bad drive of the day on the 18th, I went into the trees but recovered and wedged on to eight feet. I hit the birdie putt around two feet past but overall I’m delighted with the round. There were great scores too from Gary [Ward] and John [Murphy] so hopefully there will be plenty more birdies for the Kinsale lads. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow, hopefully there will be more good weather and a few more birdies.”
Leinster Students Amateur Open Championship 12-14 June 2017
Results after 36 Holes
139 C BUTLER (Maynooth Scholars (a)), 75, 64; J MURPHY (Kinsale), 72, 67; B MURRAY (University College Cork), 71, 68141 J Sugrue (Mallow), 72, 69
142 G Dunne (Maynooth University Club (b)), 75, 67; E Griffin (Maynooth Scholars (b)), 71, 71
143 J Quinn (DCU), 72, 71; R Dutton (Ulster University (a)), 70, 73
144 S Desmond (Monkstown), 75, 69; P Cummins (Lurgan), 74, 70; E O’Brien (Maynooth University Club (a)), 74, 70
145 C Woodroofe (Maynooth University Club (a)), 73, 72
146 G Carr (Maynooth University Club (b)), 78, 68; P Brennan (Belvoir Park), 76, 70; D Smith (Castle), 76, 70; M Ryan (New Ross), 74, 72; Z Glynn (Bray), 72, 74
147 J Mc Donnell (Maynooth University Club (a)), 79, 68; R Steedman (Maynooth University Club (c)), 78, 69; W Small (Tandragee), 75, 72; S Greenberg (Ulster University (a)), 74, 73
148 G Ward (Kinsale), 80, 68
149 K McCarron (Maynooth Scholars (a)), 79, 70; S Mc Dermott (NUI Galway (a)), 78, 71; M Norton (Belvoir Park), 77, 72; J McVicker (Ulster University (a)), 77, 72; M Kennelly (NUI Galway (b)), 76, 73; P Murphy (Rosslare), 76, 73; J Bolger (Jnr) (Courtown), 76, 73; N McCann (Lurgan), 75, 74; C Hughes (NUI Galway (a)), 75, 74
150 T Ford (Maynooth University Club (b)), 76, 74 (Team Qualifiers)
153 E Smith (Maynooth Scholars (a)), 77, 76 (Team Qualifiers)
Non Qualifying
150 O Crooks (Bushfoot), 78, 72; C Melvin (Maynooth University Club (c) ), 77, 73; G Fitzmaurice (University College Dublin (a)), 77, 73; B Doran (IT Carlow), 77, 73; M McKenna (Dun Laoghaire), 75, 75; M MCKINSTRY (Cairndhu), 75, 75; M Boucher (Carton House), 75, 75; D McAleenon (Lisburn), 74, 76; C Raymond (Newlands), 74, 76
151 L Donnelly (Kilkenny), 76, 75; P Jordan (Lurgan), 75, 76
152 P KERR (Royal Portrush), 80, 72; L Grehan (Maynooth Scholars (b)), 79, 73; R Abernethy (Dun Laoghaire), 79, 73; T Collins (University College Dublin (a)), 78, 74; K Murphy (University of South Carolina), 78, 74; R Williamson (Holywood), 76, 76; M SHIEL (NUI Galway (b)), 74, 78; R Brazill (Naas), 73, 79
153 A Fahy (Dun Laoghaire), 78, 75
154 R Browne (University College Dublin (b)), 81, 73; C Harte (University College Dublin (b)), 80, 74; J Boyd (Cork IT (a)), 79, 75; D Pollock (Garden City Community College), 79, 75; J Blake (DCU), 78, 76; A McDaid (Dublin Business School), 75, 79; M McCormack (Ashbourne), 74, 80
155 A Riordan (Cork IT (a)), 81, 74; D Hourihan (University College Cork), 79, 76; D Coghlan (University Limerick), 79, 76; S Sweeney (USA), 77, 78
156 C Moloney (Fota Island), 79, 77; E Collins (DCU), 79, 77; D BRADY (Maynooth Scholars (b)), 78, 78; T Coakley (Cork IT (c) ), 78, 78; J Murphy (Greenore), 77, 79
157 C FEENEY (Co. Sligo), 79, 78; J Dunne (Borris), 78, 79; B Smyth (Howth), 78, 79
158 R Dineen (Cork IT (b)), 78, 80
159 L Cummins (Cork IT (c) ), 81, 78; A Crowley (Dublin Institute of Technology), 80, 79; A McSweeney (Cork IT (a)), 80, 79; L Branagan (Dublin Institute of Technology), 78, 81
160 C Bolger (IT Carlow), 82, 78; D O’ Brien (IT Carlow), 79, 81
161 B MURRAY (University College Cork), 82, 79; S Campbell (Ballyclare), 78, 83
162 J Murphy (Cork IT (b)), 79, 83
163 D O’Sullivan (Cork IT (b)), 87, 76
165 J Cleary (University College Dublin (b)), 89, 76; A Comerford (NUI Galway (b) ), 78, 87
166 L Flynn (Dun Laoghaire), 87, 79
NR J McCarthy (University College Dublin (a))
NS B Fehily (Newlands); C Nolan (NUI Galway (a))
Women:
Round 1 Par: 73; SSS: 73; CSS: 76
Round 2 Par: 73; SSS: 73; CSS: 73
153 S Burke (Maynooth Scholars (w)), 77, 76
154 M Doyle (Maynooth Scholars (w)), 79, 75
155 C Walsh (Maynooth University Club (c)), 77, 78
165 R Mc Donnell (Elm Park), 84, 81
170 M Doyle (Maynooth Scholars (w)), 91, 79
RTD J ALLEN (Ulster University (b))
Teams
285 Woodroofe/O’Brien/Mc Donnell, 147, 138
286 BUTLER/McCarron/Smith, 152, 134; Carr/Dunne/Ford, 151, 135
289 McVicker/Dutton/Greenberg, 144, 145
Non Qualifers
293 Griffin/BRADY/Grehan, 149, 144
294 MURRAY/Hourihan/MURRAY, 150, 144
296 Steedman/Walsh/Melvin, 154, 142
224 Mc Dermott/Nolan/Hughes, 153, 71
297 Blake/Quinn/Collins, 150, 147
307 Burke/Doyle/Doyle, 156, 151
301 Comerford/SHIEL/Kennelly, 150, 151
302 Collins/McCarthy/Fitzmaurice, 155, 147
307 Bolger/Doran/O’ Brien, 156, 151
308 Boyd/Riordan/McSweeney, 159, 149; Harte /Browne/Cleary, 161, 147
313 Murphy/O’Sullivan /Dineen, 157, 156
315 Coakley/Cummins, 159, 156
318 Branagan/Crowley, 158, 160
Sugrue & Murphy well placed, Leinster Students R1
James Sugrue and John Murphy both recorded rounds of 72 to lie two shots behind the leader after the first round of the Leinster Students Championship today. The dry but windy day in Newlands was a welcome change for both, they had played in Kerry Scratch Cup in Tralee over the weekend and had endured driving wind and rain for much of the 54 holes. Sugrue and Murphy had near identical rounds in the tight parkland layout, four birdies and five bogies added up to a +1 result for the opening round. They are two shots behind leader Ross Dutton (Ulster University). Waterford Duo Ben Murray and Eanna Griffin are tied for second place on level par. Griffin travelled from Athenry where he won the Connacht Continue reading
Tralee Win for O’Keeffe, Kerry Scratch Cup
Peter O’Keeffe overcame a one shot deficit in the final nine holes in Tralee today to claim the prestigious Kerry Scratch Cup. O’Keeffe was joint leader going into the final round but Tralee’s Fergal O’Sullivan led by one shot after 45 holes. It was a tough day for the players in Tralee, O’Sullivan was +3 at the turn and O’Keeffe was +4 as high winds and squally rain did its best to wear down the competitors.
O’Keeffe had a tough start, he lost a ball out of bounds on the third, and frustratingly he could see the ball was less than a foot on the wrong side of the markers. A triple bogey there was a setback but O’Keeffe parred the next nine holes to get back into contention. He parred the difficult 12th hole to get back to a share of the lead and his only birdie of the day came on the 14th when he took Continue reading
Mahon March On in Pierce Purcell Shield
Mahon won the South Munster area final last night in very competitive and sporting game in Lee Valley. Mahon and Macroom were the last two teams standing after winning three matches each at their respective venue qualifiers. Despite the heavy rain, the course in Lee Valley was in great condition and the course provided a solid test for all of the golfers. Mahon as usual had a huge number of supporters while Macroom members were also well represented. Both clubs seemed evenly matched overall and after the front nine it was very close.
Gallery: Mahon v Macroom, AIG Pierce Purcell Shield Area Final
Mahon secured the first point on the 13th green when Declan Power and Michael Sexton beat Ed Neville and John Donvovan. Macroom balanced the scorecard soon after with another early win. Martin Kavanagh and William Buttimer beat Continue reading
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