Cork Golf

Crean & O’Donovan Challenge in Leinster.

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Munster Seniors Open Championship 2016, Tramore Golf Club, Wednesday 11th May 2016

Donal O’Donovan

Jerry Crean and Donal O’Donovan are tied for fourth after they both shot opening rounds of 76 in the Leinster Seniors Open at Dun Laoghaire.  Kinsale’s Crean had a tough start with bogies on the first and second, and a double bogey on the ninth meant that he turned on +4.  He made the trip back in level par though, and that saw him finish in a tie for fourth place.  Donie O’Donovan had a better start with a birdie on the 2nd, but a few dropped shots saw him turn on +2.  He followed that with eight straight pars but a mistake on the final hole cost him two shots and he also signed for a 76 (+4).

Holder Micheal Quirke is one shot back alongside Tom Cleary on 77, both are in a large group that are tied for 10th place.  Both are six shots off the lead and still in with a chance of challenging in tomorrow’s final round.  Fota’s George Mellerick is back in the pack after a disappointing 85.  Dun Laoghaire Golf Course proved to be a very testing challenge for the players at the Leinster Seniors Championship today despite the very benign conditions.  Frank Flynn (Laytown & Bettystown) leads Continue reading →

Just four teams remain, AIG Senior Cup

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AIG Senior Cup Munster Finals, Cork Golf Club, Saturday13th August 2016

Sean Desmond who helped Monkstown to two wins today

Sixteen teams started out in Mallow this morning and now just four remain after a bumper day of golf in North Cork.

Munster Champions Monkstown advanced this morning with a win over Muskerry.  This afternoon no less than three matches went to the 19th before they overcame Muskerry in a thrilling match.  Monkstown face Cork tomorrow, the reigning Barton champions saw off Castlemartyr.

Kinsale’s young guns are still in the hunt, they had two good wins, accounting for Mahon and Bandon.  Hosts Mallow were expected to play well and they obliged with a win over Fota Island although Fota made them work for their win. This afternoon they faced Lee Valley who beat Douglas in the first round this morning.  The hosts prevailed this evening to set up at match with Kinsale tomorrow morning.  The first match gets underway at 9am tomorrow.

Full Draw & Results: AIG Senior Cup :: South Munster 2017

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Cork interest ends in Mullingar, Irish Womens Close

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ILGU LogoCork interest in the Irish Womens Close ended today as all five Cork golfers lost out.  Top qualifier Mairead Martin lost to Irish Strokeplay Champion Maria Dunne.  There were also losses for Sara Byrne and Rachel Thompson as the competition reduced from 16 to 8.  Valerie Clancy made it through to the quarter finals but lost out to Ciara Casey from Hermitage.

There was no joy either for Paula Walsh in the Ita Wallace Plate competition.  She lost to Castletroy’s Chloe Ryan in the quarter Continue reading →

Martin through to last 16, Irish Womens Close

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Mairead Martin June 2017

Mairead Martin (Kanturk), Photo: Pat Cashman

Top qualifier Mairead Martin won her first round match at the Irish Womens Close in Mullingar today.  It was a north Cork battle as Karturk’s Martin took on Doneraile’s Walsh.

Martin faced 2017 Munster Women’s Champion Walsh in today’s first matchplay round and got off to a good start, winning 3 of the first 6 holes.  Walsh steadied the match but the deficit was too much for her to fight back and the game finished on the 16th green, 3&2 to Martin.  Martin now faces Irish Womens Strokeplay Champion Maria Dunne who’ll be looking to complete a rare double.  Walsh goes on the the plate matchplay where she faces Shannon Burke tomorrow.

It was a good day for Cork golfers, and the 17th was the hole where the other four Cork matches finished.  Sara Byrne had a 2&1 over Alice Hutchinson and Rachel Continue reading →

McNamara on form, Irish PGA Championship Pro-Am

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Monkstown PGA Professional Cian McNamara pictured with PGA Tour member Seamus Power on a visit to Monkstown Golf Club. Picture: Niall O’Shea

Monkstown’s Cian McNamara was tied second in today’s Irish PGA Championship Pro-Am in Moyvalley.  McNamara has been improving steadily in the early part of the season, last week he carded a final round 69 in the PGA Professional Championship to claim 6th place.  The event was held in Lutrellstown Castle which featured 150 PGA professionals from all over the UK and Ireland.

Today he followed up with another solid round in Moyvalley in the pro-am on the eve of the the 72 hole Irish PGA Championship.  The Limerick native was second, two shots off the lead set by David Higgins.

Moyvalley is a course that McNamara likes, he finished in the top ten last year and he’ll be hoping to challenge at the top of the leaderboard and add his name to the famous trophy.  Davey Barry (Douglas) also finished in the top Continue reading →

Slow start for O’Keeffe, British Amateur Open

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Peter O’Keeffe had a slow start to the British Amateur yesterday as a wide range of scores were reported on day one in Royal St Georges.  O’Keeffe is the only Cork golfer in action and he signed for a three over par 73 on the par 70 layout.  O’Keeffe was one under through nine, he responded to an early bogey on the third with two birdies on the 7th and 9th.  The back nine was tougher though and the Douglas man ran up five bogies and one birdie to come back in 39 strokes.  O’Keeffe is just inside the top 200 and has a lot of work to do today on the Princes course.  He’ll need to get under par to have a chance of making the top 64 and get through to the match play stage.  Princes played somewhat easier yesterday with 18 of the top 20 scores coming from that course.  That included a course record -8 by Iceland’s Gisli Sveinbergsson.  Qualification is definitely possible for the big hitting Irish Amateur Open Champion.  He’s in a good vein of form after winning in Tralee last week and a good start is all he’ll need to mount a strong challenge for qualification.

Robin Dawson is the best placed Irish golfer, the Munster golfers shot a four under par 68 on the Princes course to lie tied for 20th place after the first round.  Fellow Munster golfers Geoff Lenehan and Jack Pierre are both outside the top 200 and qualification for the match play stage is unlikely.

O’Keeffe tees off at 10.45 this morning while Dawson is out on St George’s at 8.50.

Munster Debuts for Murphy & Sugrue

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John Murphy of Ireland during the final round

John Murphy, Pic: Tristan Jones

John Murphy and James Sugrue are set to make the Munster senior debuts next month in Carlow, they are two of three new caps to be named on the Munster Senior Interprovincial team.  Both Murphy and Sugrue have represented Munster at Boys level and are set to join the senior ranks in a new look team.  Captain Phil Cooney has named Murphy, Sugrue and Dublin based Jack Pierse in a team that see’s four changes from last year.  Waterford’s Eanna Griffin has also been named in the side that see’s four changes from last year.

It’s the biggest shake up in several years, although all eight golfers were the form players over the past few months, they took the top eight spots on the qualifying order of merit.  Cooney along with selectors John Carroll and Michael Coote had four picks to make after Peter O’Keeffe, Robin Dawson, John Murphy and Continue reading →

Frankfield Kids Golf Camps

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Frankfield July 2017David Whyte and Michael Ryan have announced dates for their summer golf camps taking place in July and August.  The three day camps take place on the 24/25/26 July and again on 22/23/24 August  The camps are open for boys and girls aged 7 – 13 and all levels will be catered for.  The camps take place at the Golf Academy at Frankfield Golf Range and are run by experienced PGA Professionals.  The golf academy has recently been upgraded and golfers will benefit from learning and practicing at the top qualify facility.  Further details and bookings can be made by contacting David or Michael.