John Murphy, left, enjoying himself with Shane O’Connell and Cathal Butler at the South of Ireland in July.
Kinsale’s John Murphy was back Cork for a few weeks in December, and the Kentucky based golfer took a well deserved break after a busy few months on the course. After 30 plus tournaments in 2019 John took advantage of the winter break to recharge with family and friends in Kinsale. Having used the 2018 Christmas break to practice in Australia, John took a different angle this year with an extended break at home.
“The last few weeks were very different to my normal schedule,” said Murphy. “Apart from having to study for my finals a lot, I had a lot of time to spend with friends and family which I don’t normally get to do, so I really enjoyed it. I took a couple weeks away from golf just to recharge. “Towards the Continue reading
Monkstown’s Ferghal Collins tees it up in the K Club this week, he’s the only Cork golfer to make it through to the inaugural finals of the All Ireland Gold medal. Collins is among the top 36 golfers, the finalists made it through to play on the famous Palmer Course in the K Club, the host course for the 2006 Ryder Cup. There were three stages to the event, which is a unique to the GUI calendar. It’s the only event that club golfers can participate at individual level in an all-Ireland GUI event. Spread across three different handicap categories, the competition was open to all club members with free entry for all affiliated golf clubs. To qualify for the new competition each club who entered nominated one of their singles competitions as a club qualifier. Entrants on the day competed in one of three handicap categories – 9 and below, 10-17 or 18 and over. The best nett score in each category qualified for the regional final. From there the three golfers progressed to the regional finals hosted by Cahir Park in August. Collins was one of the top three in his category (10-17) and qualified for the All Ireland final this week.
Ireland had a super win against hosts Denmark in semi-final of the European Seniors today. In a match that went all the way to the wire Ireland ended up on the right side of the result after one additional hole. Alan Condren won with a few to spare and Steven Graham won on the 18th. Karl Bornemann & Jim Carvill lost their foursomes match on the 17th, and Peter Sheehan also lost his singles match. With four matches in the score was 2-2, meaning O’Brien’s match would decide the outcome. The Castlemartyr member was one down after 15, and despite winning the 16th the momentum shifted when he lost 17 to a birdie. With the pressure of the match on him, O’Brien birdied the last to extend the match. On the 19th, he calmly slotted a ten foot putt to send Ireland through to tomorrow’s final. It’s been a great week for O’Brien on his international debut, and his form has been matched by his teammates who also have been very solid all week. Ireland now face England tomorrow in the final.
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