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
Golfing Union of Ireland
Cleary takes 2nd place in Connacht Seniors
Cork’s Tom Cleary heralded the start to his season when he took second place at the Connacht Seniors today. The former Munster and Irish Seniors winner shot a par par 73 today in Claremorris to jump up the leaderboard and take the runner-up spot. Cleary had three birdies on the back nine to get back to level par for the day. He finished one shot behind winner Nigel Duke (Killiney) who retained the title he won last year. Cleary was the only golfer to match par over the two days as the golfers struggled in testing weather conditions.
Pat Lyons (Cork) and Donie O’Donovan (Bandon) both finished in a tie for 11th place. Both golfers put in a challenge on the front nine today but they faded on the back nine as they dropped a number of shots. Michael Quirke (Doneraile) was in Continue reading
Murphy & Sugrue best placed in East of Ireland
John Murphy, Credit: Tristan Jones
John Murphy and James Sugrue were the best placed Cork finishers in the East of Ireland which concluded on Monday. Murphy ended up claiming a spot in the top ten, finishing in a tie for 6th place on +2. Murphy birdied the last to sign for a 73 and continues a good run of form. Like many other Cork and Munster golfers he’ll now head for Tralee for the Kerry Scratch Cup which takes place this weekend. With more Munster Order of Merit points on offer the competition for places on the Munster interprovincial team is heating up. Janes Sugrue closed with a two over par 74 today but signed for a very impressive 69 yesterday. The Mallow man tied the low round of the day with five birdies and two bogies which saw him jump up on the field. The winner was Reece Black from Hilton Templepatrick who blew the Continue reading
Hickey & O’Flaherty lead Cork charge at East of Ireland
John Hickey
John Hickey shot a two under par 70 in Baltray this morning to finish the first round in 5th place. A steady round saw Hickey turn on -2 after two birdies. He added a third bridie on the 14th but bogied the par three 15th immediately after that. Two more pars followed and he signed for a 70 which is just one shot off the lead set but a group of four golfers. Gary O’Flaherty returned to competitive golf after a short break and he went round the Co Louth links in a very respectable 71 strokes. Like his Cork Golf Club partner Hickey, Gary also had a very tidy round. Two birdies, one bogey and fifteen pars made up the card that saw him tie for ninth place just two shots away from the leading bunch. The fourway tie Continue reading
O’Keeffe out of the East, strong Cork challenge remains
Murphy pictured during the Alps Tour event in Clement Ader last week. Pic: Tristan Jones
Peter O’Keeffe was a late withdrawal this afternoon from the East of Ireland Championship which gets underway in Co Louth Golf Club tomorrow. O’Keeffe was one the highest ranked qualifiers but a neck injury has prevented him from taking part. He struggled with the problem last week during the Douglas Senior Scratch Cup and with no improvement he made the tough call to withdraw late this afternoon. Although the Irish Open champion is missing, there’s still a strong challenge from Cork.
Munster Students Champion John Murphy (Kinsale) returned from France earlier this week and he’ll be confident from a run of recent good form while fellow Kinsale member Cathal Butler will be looking to return to the form he displayed at the Munster Students in March. Both Sean Desmond (Monkstown) and Gary Ward Continue reading
No Joy for Cork Golfers
There was no joy today for the seniors who were playing in the Irish Seniors Open Championship in Co Tipperary, and Brian O’Donovan also failed to secure a full card in the PGA China final qualifying.
Holder Tom Cleary was among the local hopefuls in action but he couldn’t match the results of 2016 and rounds of 78,76,78 saw him finish just inside the top 20. Not much of a consolation but he was the highest placed golfer from Cork after the three rounds. Doneraile’s Tahg Heenan opened with a disappointing 81 on Wednesday but closed with two rounds of 76 to finish one shot behind Cleary and inside the top 30. Micheal Quirke had threatened the lead on day one after shooting a 73 but rounds of 79 yesterday and 82 today saw him drop out of contention. Kinsale’s Jerry Crean was the only other Cork golfer to make the cut and he finished one shot behind Quirke. The winner was Wales Nicholas Grimmitt who finished on +7 to edge out Tramore’s John Mitchell by one shot.
Bandon’s Brian O’Donovan was in action in the final round of qualifying at the PGA China Tour School this morning. O’Donovan had been hoping to claim on of the 16 full tour cards on offer after posting rounds of 71/72/70. The wheels came off on the final round however and O’Donovan shot a 77 to finish outside the qualifiers. In the past O’Donovan has used Monday qualifying to gain entry into some of the events, the Shenzen based professional is a Lead Instructor at one of the Mission Hills Academies in Shenzen.
Gallery: Champion O’Keeffe comes home to Douglas
Pictures from Peter O’Keeffe’s return to Douglas Golf Club as Irish Amateur Open Champion 2017: Continue reading
Video: Peter O’Keeffe, Flogas Irish Amateur Open, Golfing Union of Ireland
Major win for O’Keeffe, Flogas Irish Amateur Open
Peter O’Keeffe (Pic: Pat Cashman)
Peter O’Keeffe has been playing top level golf for 20 years and today he captured the top prize, the Flogas Irish Amateur Open at Royal County Down. From an elite junior golfer he moved into the US college ranks and from there he spent close to a decade on the Challenge Tour and Europro Tour trying to make the breakthrough in the paid ranks. In late 2015 he was reinstated as an amateur and last year he challenged on the local scratch cup circuit. Today he broke through to elite senior golf ranks when he won the Irish Open in style. One-stroke clear overnight, O’Keeffe cruised through much of the final round, winning by three thanks to a final round 73. The 35-year-old from Douglas ended the week on two over, three clear of Scotland’s Christopher MacLean and England’s Tom Sloman.
Needless to say the Douglas man was delighted with the win. “It feels fantastic. It was tough to keep my emotions in check there going up the last,” said O’Keeffe, who claimed his maiden championship title. “It was nice Continue reading
O’Keeffe leads Irish Amateur going into final round, Royal County Down
It wasn’t the low round that he promised – but in any case it was enough to give Peter O’Keeffe the lead going into tomorrow’s final round of the Flogas Irish Amateur Open.
O’Keeffe started quickly with an eagle on the opening par five, but he gave the two shots back before the turn and started the second nine level for his round. It was an interesting back nine for all of the leading contenders. England’s Sean Towndrow took a two shot lead on the 16th thanks to an eagle on the short par four, but two doubles followed and he closed on a 77 and +3 for the tournament. Christopher McClean was level with O’Keeffe after 15, but bogies on the 16th & 18th saw him drop down also.
O’Keeffe continued his pattern of steady golf with the odd birdie or bogey balancing each other out. In the end only himself and Robin Dawson (T7) could match par on the closing three holes. That was enough for two over par 73 on day three, and surprisingly enough that see’s him with a one shot lead over Christopher McClean. O’Keeffe (L) will be joined by Mc Clean (+1) and Marc Norton (+2) in tomorrow’s final group which tees off at 11.12.
John Murphy saw the Continue reading
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