Golfing Union of Ireland

O’Keeffe leads Cork challenge at Irish Amateur Open

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Munster Strokeplay Championship, Munster Golf, Cork Golf Club, Sunday 30th April 2017Peter O’Keeffe shot a one under par 70 on the opening day of the Flogas Irish Amateur Open.  Royal County Down was playing firm and fast today thanks to the recent dry weather and it proved a test for the Irish golfers as only seven made it into the top 25.  O’Keeffe started brightly with a birdie on the first but dropped shots on 4 and 8 meant that he turned on +1.  There were no more bogies for the Douglas member, and he birdied the 10th and 12th before parring his way home.  He’s in a tie for 8th place and three shots off the lead.

Turner leads in Ballykisteen, Great National Hotels Irish Masters R2

Ian O’Rourke is the next best Cork golfer but there’s a gap of over 50 players between him and O’Keeffe.  The Cobh native had been going well, he was two under to the 14th but dropped five shots in the closing holes.  That included a triple on the 15th which saw it’s fair share of bogies, doubles and triples on the opening day.  Kinsale’s John Murphy is one shot back from O’Rourke on +4, his card featured four birdies and nine pars but the four bogies, a double and a triple took the gloss from his debut round at the Irish Amateur.  Cathal Butler (+6) and James Sugrue (+9) will hoping for an improvement tomorrow.

Scoring: Flogas Irish Amateur Open

Play in the second round gets underway at 7.00am when Ian O’Rourke will lead the field of 144 golfers.  Live scoring updates are available from Golfnet.

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Butler finishes 2nd in Kilkenny Scratch Cup

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Munster Strokeplay Championship 2016Cathal Butler bounced back from a few disappointing performances to take second place in the Kilkenny Scratch Cup last weekend.  The Kinsale and Munster golfer travelled to Peru a few weeks ago for a 72 hole strokeplay event and despite enjoying the experience, he didn’t feature in the top 10.  Two weeks ago he missed the cut in the Munster Strokeplay in testing conditions at Cork Golf Club.  He was back in form in Kilkenny however and with rounds of 74/71 he took the runner up spot on the countback, just one behind the winner Graham Nugent.  ‘I was really disappointed after missing the cut in Cork for the Munster Strokeplay” said Butler reflecting on the past few weeks

“Kilkenny played firm and fast just like Cork did and that certainly helped.  I was delighted to bounce back from the disappointment with some nice golf and a really good strategy which was crucial for dealing with the firm conditions.”  With a good performance behind him Cathal is now heading to Royal County Down for the Flogas Irish Amateur Open.  “I’m really looking forward to playing one of the best courses in the world this week, from what I have heard it’s very bouncy in Royal County Down so I think that if I can get my strategy right and maintain the level of golf I played in Kilkenny, I will have a good chance of finishing high up the leaderboard.”

The event will see John Murphy make his debut, and Peter O’Keeffe make his first appearance in 10 years.  The only other Cork golfers to get on the starting list are James Sugrue and Ian O’Rourke.  Play gets underway on Thursday with all five Cork golfers hoping to make an impression.

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Walsh takes second place in Leinster Boys

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Munster Under 15/17 Close Championship, Carrick on Suir Golf Club, Thursday 4th August 2016

Edward Walsh (Mallow) pictured after winning the Munster U17 Boys Championship last year. Picture: Niall O’Shea

Mallow’s Edward Walsh finished in the runner-up spot at the Leinster Boys in Headfort today after a three hole play-off.  Walsh had a share of the lead going into the final round,  he tied with Castle’s Robert Moran on a one under par score of 143.  Walsh finished his final round tied with Aaron Marshall, the Lisburn golfer shot a two under par 70 compared with Walsh’s 72.  Although he birdied his final three holes yesterday, Walsh shot level par for his back nine today.  A three hole play-off followed with the Mallow golfer losing out when Marshall won the second and third play-off holes.  Greg Barrett gave Mallow a second place in the top ten, he finished tied for 10th place after a final round 76.  Adam Boland also from Mallow finished in a tie for 16th place.

Leinster Boys Final Results

Desmond through to Matchplay in West of Ireland

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AIG Senior Cup Munster Finals, Cork Golf Club, Saturday13th August 2016Monkstown’s Sean Desmond made it through to the matchplay stage on his debut in the West of Ireland Championship today.  Desmond shot a second successive 73 at Co Sligo and finished inside the top twenty.  Sean had a colourful card today, five bogies and a double were offset by five birdies on the testing links track.  Tomorrow he has a 7.27am start where he’ll face Robert Brazill from Naas.

Desmond was the only Cork qualifier in a very narrow field that saw just three Cork golfers get into the tournament.  James Sugrue finished 20 places outside the matchplay cut while Kinsale’s John Murphy had a tough debut with rounds of 79 and 77.  Conor O’Rourke secured the Silver Medal as the best qualifier on -2, while just two others managed to break par.  Three days of matchplay golf follow as all 64 qualifiers will have hopes of winning the season’s first major event.

West of Ireland Matchplay Live Scoring

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Positive Start for Egan, Irish Under 16 Quadrangular

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Munster Boys Under 16 Open Championship 2016, Nenagh Golf Club, Wednesday 29th June 2016, Jack Egan

Jack Egan

Muskerry’s Jack Egan had a positive start to his representative career as he came away with two wins, a half and a loss from his first two days in Wales.  The annual Quadrangular competition featuring Under 16 teams from Ireland, Wales, England and the Netherlands.  Egan was in action against the hosts yesterday, and while he lost his opening foursomes match with partner Sean Doyle on the 18th, he bounced back in the afternoon with a 2&1 singles win over Wales Tom Peet.  Ireland finished day one with a 9-3 win over Wales.  He was back in action this morning, this time partnering Josh Mackin.  They had a 3&2 win and Egan went on to claim a second win this afternoon in the singles.  Ireland at tied at the top of the table with England and the top two will face each other tomorrow in a winner takes all decider.  Egan will be back in action with Mackin for the morning foursomes.

International duty prevented Egan from playing the Munster Boys Under 16 Championship which took place in Blarney on Monday and Tuesday.

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Murphy on top in St Andrews

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John Murphy Munster StudentsJohn 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.

Contested over 54 holes at the Eden and Old Courses, the two-day tournament offers the leading men’s player a place on the European Arnold Palmer Cup team to face the USA, with the leading women’s player receiving a starting place at a Ladies European Tour event.  The tournament features Continue reading →

Irish Call Up for Edward Walsh

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Munster Under 15/17 Close Championship, Carrick on Suir Golf Club, Thursday 4th August 2016Mallow’s Edward Walsh will make his debut for the Irish Boys next month as he was selected on a team that will play Spain in La Manga.  The Munster Boys Under 17 Champion was named on the Irish Boys squad in December.

Ireland Boys’ Captain Cathal McConn has named two different teams to represent the Golfing Union of Ireland in their upcoming internationals against Spain (La Manga, 11-12 March) and Wales (Rosslare, 18-19 March).

Walsh will be joined by Kilkenny’s Mark Power, Irish Boys’ Champion in 2016, and Rosslare’s John Brady, who captured the Irish under-16 title last year. Reece Black (Hilton Templepatrick), Sean Enright (Limerick), Jack Hearn (Tramore), Ross Kelly (Tuam), and Cameron Raymond (Newlands) complete the Irish line-up for their two-day encounter with Spain.

The following week, Wales visit Rosslare for a two-day match (18-19 March). The Ireland team features eight different players: Jack Doherty (Carton House), Andrew Hickey (Ballyhaunis), Scott Jones (Belvoir Park), Jonathan Keane (Lahinch), Jack Madden (Dungannon), Robert Moran (Castle), Andrew Mulhall (Waterford Castle) and Liam Power (Galway).

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Munster Golf update Handicap Committee Advice

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Munster Golf LogoMunster Golf have just released an updated list of key points for club handicap committees.  The initiative follows a commitment made at the Annual Delegates Meeting to continue the efforts to stamp out handicap cheating.

The eight page document includes a very important piece on the mandatory reporting of all golf scores – including non qualifying events.  There is a feeling that not all golfers of club officials realise the obligations that are already in place regarding the reporting of scores.  The document also contains important references to the Rules of Golf and the CONGU rulebook which should help to educate and empower Handicap Secretary’s, Competition Secretary’s and everyone involved with competitions at club level.

Reporting Scores – Mandatory – Home or Away – All forms of Golf
(b) Non Qualifying Scores. – 4 Balls/ Scrambles/Classics/Societies – Relevant clauses are at (4.5(b), pg 19), (8.10 + 8.12, pg 24), (23.7 IrelandNote- pg 51) Direction from Union to report NQ Scores for immediate consideration/action for General Play Adjustment (Except Category 1 players). NB: In Ireland Players and Clubs must report Non Qualifying scores to Home Clubs: See 8.12 GP Adjustment based on Nett Diff, with Clause 19 adjustment if necessary, and SSS. This is a GPA and can not take effect until the player is notified personally agreed method, 23.5) Players who fail to comply with their obligations or responsibilities may be dealt with under Clause 24.1 pg 55 All other forms of Golf are for consideration as notable using the guidelines as set out in Appendix M at Page 86

Full text of Munster Golf’s Key Points for Handicap Committees:

https://www.golfnet.ie/about-us/handicapping/315/munster-golf-key-points-for-handicap-committees

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Clubs support latest CGI Networking Event

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

cgi_14-dec-2016_2The lastest CGI Networking Seminar took place in Cork GC a few weeks ago and the event was a great success with full house present for the two hour session.  17 clubs from all over the county were represented, with managers, staff, captains, presidents and Officers making up the audience.  The CGI’s Gordon Campbell facilitated the interactive session and he brought a number of topics out for discussion.  Gordon gave several personal experiences from life before the CGI, as well an ideas collected from other sessions.  Feedback from the clubs was positive with many ready to workshop and implement some of the ideas that were discussed.  Gordon was delighted with Continue reading →