Golfing Union of Ireland

Super 69 from Rumley to lead Leinster Students

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AIG Barton Shield Munster Final 2018 Thurles Golf Club Sunday 19th August 2018Eric Rumley came home in three under in Killeen today to sign for a 69 and lead the Leinster Students after the opening round.  Fresh from helping Kinsale to their first AIG Barton Shield title in Thurles on Sunday, the Kinsale man opened with a birdie but gave shots back on the third and fifth holes.  A birdie on the ninth got him back to even par, and set him up for the impressive back nine.  Birdies on the 12th and 13th got him into the red and a final birdie on the par three 18th saw him tie for the lead.  Stackstown’s John McCarthy is also on -3 while there are ten more golfers within three shots in the 54 hole tournament.

Gary Ward is in the top 15 on +3 while Darren Hourihan is in the top 30 two shots back.  The second round gets underway tomorrow morning with the top 45 plus ties qualifying for Friday’s final round.  The holder is John Murphy but he’s unable to defend his title as he returned to the University of Louisville last week.

Leinster Students Amateur Open Championship  Continue reading →

O’Flaherty set for 20th Munster Interpro battle

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Gary O'Flaherty

Gary O’Flaherty who makes his 20th appearance for Munster at the Interprovincial Championships. Picture: Niall O’Shea

It’s 22 years since Gary O’Flaherty made his Munster debut, as a 17 year old he was thrown into a cauldron dominated by career long elite amateurs.  And O’Flaherty survived.  Now making his 20th appearance on the Munster team, Gary is looking for his sixth win in Blue.  Back in 1996 he pitched up at Mount Juliet for his first outing as Munster tried to retain their title.  Munster did just that, and went to Ballybunion a year later to help Munster win the three in a row.  It was a big event for O’Flaherty, there was no under 16 or under 18 interpro’s back then and he was teeing it up with the elite amateurs from across the country.  “I was in awe of the guys there that week” said Gary when recalling that week.  “I played two singles matches and won both against Colin McElderry and Kevin Flanagan.  I remember watching Eddie Power and Dennis O’Sullivan play, and I tried to copy their games.  Not the longest hitters, but very straight and did very little wrong.  I played foursomes the following year in Ballybunion with Tom Cleary and we won 5.5 out of 6 points.”  O’Flaherty had two caps to his name, along with two wins.  As the years went on, there was not matching the two from two success rate and it would be Continue reading →

5 Cork golfers named on Munster team for Interprovincial Championship

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James Sugrue_22

James Sugrue (Mallow) teeing of in the third round of the South of Ireland.
Picture: Niall O’Shea

James Sugrue and Peter O’Keeffe lead a five strong Cork contingent on the Munster team for the interprovincial championship later this month.   Cork GC duo John Hickey and Gary O’Flaherty along with Kinsale’s Cathal Butler make up the majority of the eight man team to play in Athenry.

Sugrue and O’Keeffe were assured of their places thanks to finishing in the top three on the Munster Order of Merit.  Both have recorded wins this year and they have also been playing well, reaching the latter stages of the South of Ireland and the AIG Irish Close.  Gary O’Flaherty retains his place and he’s be hoping to add to the six wins that he’s racked up since his first appearance in 1996.  John Hickey and Cathal Butler return to the side after missing out last year, they both played in Fota Island in 2016.

Geoff Lenehan, Andrew McCormack and Eanna Griffin also retain their places from last year in what is a very experienced side.  There are two notable absentees though Continue reading →

Murphy picked on Irish Team, World Amateur Golf Championships

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East of Ireland Amateur Open Championship 2018Kinsale’s John Murphy was named on the three man Irish team to play in the World Amateur Team Championship in Carton House next month.  Murphy is joined by Tramore’s Robin Dawson and Portmarnock’s Conor Purcell.  The team, which is captained by Bandon’s John Carroll will play in the Eisenhower Trophy which is played over four rounds starting on Wednesday 5th September.  Dawson, who is ranked number six in the world rankings, secured his place as the top Irish golfer in the WAGR rankings, the Tramore man played on the Irish team in European Championships last month and won the Irish Amateur Open in Royal County Down at the start of the season and he was runner up at the Amateur Championship last month.  Murphy and Purcell were both selected on their form this season, it’s Purcell’s second year on the Irish Mens team, a former junior tennis champions he recorded five top ten finished this year is addition to reaching the semi-final at the AIG Irish Close this week.

Speaking after the announcement, John Murphy was in great form.  “I’m obviously delighted to have made the team, it still hasn’t really sunk in.  I remember when I was at a boys panel session and Continue reading →

Sugrue & O’Keeffe bow out of Close

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AIG Irish CloseCork interest in the AIG Irish Close finished today as James Sugrue and Peter O’Keeffe lost in the third and fourth rounds respectively.  Sugrue was up against Conor Purcell and the match went all the way to the 20th hole before it was settled.  Unlike the result of extra holes in Lahinch, Sugrue came out on the wrong side when the match finished on the 2nd hole.  Purcell went on to beat Eugene Smith this afternoon and will face Eoin Leonard in tomorrow’s semi-final.

Peter O’Keeffe had a good win this morning, beating Jack Walsh with two holes to spare.  He faced Alex Gleeson in the quarter-final and unfortunately for O’Keeffe the 2016 winner from Castle won by a single hole.  Gleeson will now face Robbie Cannon in the other semi-final.

Continue reading →

O’Keeffe and Sugrue advance at the Close

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South of Ireland 2018Lahinch Golf Club Saturday 28th July 2018

Peter O’Keeffe in action in Lahinch at the South of Ireland.  Picture: Niall O’Shea

Peter O’Keeffe and Jame Sugrue are through to the last 16 after a tough day at the AIG Irish Close Championship at the European Club.  O’Keeffe, who had been struggling with illness yesterday, had a one hole win over Noel Crawford this morning, that was after being one down at the turn.  In the afternoon he faced John Murphy in an all-Cork clash.  Murphy wrapped up his first round match against Gary Cullen on the 12th signalling he was still the form player.  It was O’Keeffe who started better, going two up after the first three holes.  Murphy recovered quickly, levelling the match by the 6th, and he held a one shot lead at the turn.  O’Keeffe had another purple patch on the back nine, he was one up through 15, and he won the 16th to double his lead.  He won the match on the 17th, winning that hole to record a 3&1 win over Murphy.  O’Keeffe will face Jack Walsh in tomorrow’s third round.

James Sugrue also Continue reading →

Seven Cork Golfers through in AIG Close

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AIG Senior Cup Area Semi Finals 2018Cork Golf Club Sunday 24th June 2018

Gary Ward

It was a good weekend for Cork golfers as seven have made it through to the matchplay stage of the AIG Irish Close Championship.  The European Club in Co Wicklow is the venue for the final major of the year and the challenging Ruddy designed links saw the scores vary from 66 to 90+ over the opening two days.

The leader from day one, Peter O’Keeffe (Douglas) finished in tied third place.  Although he had a 76 today, his opening 66 from yesterday was always going to be enough to see him safely through to the matchplay phase.  A few early bogies set the tone for his day and despite a recovery on his second nine, two late bogies meant he finished on +5 and level par for the 36 holes.  Gary Ward (Kinsale) is just one shot behind in fifth place, tow rounds of 71 and 72 left the Kinsale golfer on +1.

Macroom’s Padraig O’Connor has reached the matchplay stage for the first time.  He shot a one over par 72 today, and finished on +5 to take 16th place.  John Hickey and Cathal Butler both made their second successive championship cut with solid play over the opening two days.  Hickey carded rounds of 75 and 75 to finish in 33rd place and although he’ll be disappointed by the two late bogies, he’s safely through to Continue reading →

Irish call up for three Cork golfers

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2017 Irish Boys Under 14 Amateur Open Championship at Ballina Go

Zak Collins

Zak Collins and Eoghan Cassidy have been named on the Irish squads to play in the Reid Trophy (Under 14 English Championship) in Reading next week.  Collins from Douglas and Cassidy from Kinsale have been playing well all season and both golfers featured on the successful Munster team who won the Under 14 interprovincial championship last week.  The event is a great opportunity for the cork duo, it attracts a top quality field of English and international players whose playing handicap is 7.4 or better.  The 54-hole stroke play championship is played over three days.  The full field plays 18 holes on each of the first two days with the leading 70 competitors going on to play the final 18 holes on the third day.  The Cork pair will be joined by two Limerick golfers, Ballyneety’s Morgan O’Sullivan and Iestyn Winn in a strong Munster line-up.  Faithlegg’s Alex King Continue reading →