UCC Golf Club
There was an exciting finish to the Cork colleges inter-varsity league on Sunday as the overall result was decided on a sudden death play-off. The organisers had hoped for a competitive series and after four events the scores were tied on 20-20. It was another surprise though when Sunday’s final series of matches in Lee Valley was also tied 5-5. The draw looked unlikely as UCC had an advantage going onto the final hole but CIT’s Tristan Coakley won his match with superb 10-foot par putt on the 18th green. That brought the day’s score to 5-5 and meant that after a total of 50 matches the series was still tied. A sudden death play-off followed with Coakley continuing for CIT and John Boylan getting the nod for UCC. The first hole in Lee Valley saw both golfers take irons off the tee, Boylan went over the trees on the left to leave himself with a short approach that he duly hit to within 15 feet of the flag. Coakley had a longer approach and finished up on the Continue reading
John Murphy rued a disappointing front nine in St Andrews today as dropped one spot to finish second at the R&A Scholars Tournament. After 36 holes on the Eden Course in St Andrew’s on Monday, Murphy led the field by two shots. By doing so he started the third round in the final grouping on the famous Old Course. Scoring was difficult on the normally manageable links, tough winds meant that there were several returns in the high seventies and eighties. Murphy suffered on the greens on the way out, with an uncharacteristic number of three putts and a rare double bogey. He turned on +5 for the day to drop himself back into the field and two more bogies followed on the 11th and 12th holes. To his credit, Murphy bounced back with three birdies on his last seven holes and the turn-around in form meant that he finished in a tie for second place. John’s Maynooth teammate Stuart Grehan carded a very tidy level par 72 to win the tournament by three shots.
John Murphy (Kinsale, Maynooth University) continued his good form as he produced to rounds of 68 and 64 to lead the R&A Scholars Tournament in St Andrews. Both of today’s rounds were played on The Eden Course and Murphy bagged no less than 12 birdies in his 36 holes. Murphy (-8) shot the low round of the afternoon and holds a one shot lead as he goes into tomorrow’s final round. The final round takes place on the fabled Old Course, and Murphy will have the honour of playing in the final group. Murphy will be joined by Cloe Ryan (UCD) who won the ladies section in 2016. Sinead Sexton and Molly Dowling are in the top five and in the mens section Stuart Grehan is three of the lead and Robin Dawson is a further to shots back. Murphy won the Munster Students Championship in Cork Golf Club last week, posting the best score over the first 36 holes in the weather affected tournament.
David Ryan and David Higgins came out on top on a glorious day in Monkstown today as the annual Morgan O’Donovan Perpetual Trophy competition took place. Both players shot an impressive 67 and although the sun was out the combination of a hard wind blowing and fast greens meant that only a few golfers managed to break par. The competition is now in it’s fifth year and commemorates Morgan O’Donovan who was Head Professional in Monkstown before his death in 2012. The competition today was sponsored by Ping and the pro-am format saw plenty of Munster PGA Professionals take the opportunity to get out and play with an amateur partner.
This week will see three evenings of night golf in Lee Valley. The event will mark the first time that Lee Valley will be lit up for a unique golfing experience. The ten-hole event will take place in darkness, with coloured lights marking the fairways, greens and hazards, and with a luminous golf ball in play, golfers will have no excuse for not keeping it in play. The team of four event takes place from Wednesday 29th to Friday 31st March, the shotgun format will see the 20 teams start at 8pm with prizes and refreshments included on each night.
Cork Golf News 