Niall Turner shot a flawless 66 in the second round of the Great National Hotels Irish Masters at Ballykisteen today. Turner had four birdies on the front nine and added two more at the 11th and 13th. Surprisingly though the long hitter from Waterfall couldn’t add to his haul on the two closing par fives. Despite that Turner should be happy, he goes into tomorrow’s final round on -11, with a one shot lead over English duo Jack Harrison and Ben Robinson.
“All parts of my game have been pretty good so far,” said Turner. “If you drive it nicely out here you have a lot of short irons in. I have driven well so far and my wedges have been good so I have given myself a lot of birdie chances.
“This is my first time at Ballykisteen – it is a really enjoyable course to play and it is in great condition. It will probably be similar scoring tomorrow. If you get to 16 or 17 under that would be tough to beat but there is a very low one out there so you are going to need to keep making birdies.”
David Higgins also had six birdies but the Waterville man had two bogies and signed for a 68. He’s tied for 16th place, five behind the leader on -6. Monkstown’s Cian McNamara dropped back after is one under a 71. Despite five birdies in six holes on his front nine, he dropped for shots. Although he’s safely inside the cut mark, he’s seven off the lead and will be hoping for a good day tomorrow to earn a decent cheque.
David Higgins retained his PGA Irish Club Professional title in Dromoland today. The Waterville man shot a second successive 70 to win by three and ahead of a three way tie for second which included Colm Moriarty, Brian McElhinney and Richard Kilpatrick. Higgins had a steady round one birdie on the front nine was balanced by a bogey on the back nine as he eased to his first Irish Region win of the new season.
Niall Turner carded a final round 73 to finish in 44th place at the Panasonic Open in Japan this morning. On Friday Turner made birdie on the final hole to get inside the cut, this event is his first in seven weeks after he played in the Maybank Open in Malaysia in February. Turner had a 69 yesterday to jump up to 30th place but dropped back today as a result of his two over par 73.
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.
Local knowledge seemed to give two local golfers the edge in Cork today as Padraig Dooley (Drive Golf Performance) and David Ryan (Cahir Park) won the Munster PGA event. Over 20 golfers started out this morning and while there was a cold wind blowing through Little Island, the course was in great condition and surprisingly dry given the heavy rainfall over the weekend. Both golfers trained under Peter Hickey and they returned today to triumph over a field of talented professionals. Both golfers played very steady golf, Ryan was an early starter and had birdies on the 6th, 11th & 12th. The only blemish came on the 17th, but the two under par 70 was enough to get into the winners circle. It was a similar story for Dooley, he also birdied the 6th and the 12th. A bogey on the 14th brought him back to -1 but a birdie on the 17th saw him sign for a 70 and take a share of 
Fota Island Golf Academy is opening its doors to keen golfers for the week between 9am and 4pm allowing guests to experience the finest and most comprehensive golf training facilities in the country. Always innovating, Fota Island recently launched a new membership package for their Academy which for the first time incorporates playing rights and access to the course. The new package will be unique in Munster, in addition to full access to the extensive practice facilities members will also have access to the nine holes on the Barryscourt course that wraps around the Academy. Ideal for those who want to improve their game, the Fota Island Golf Academy offers a sophisticated analysis of swing, putt and technique, as well as excellent, comfortable and relaxing surroundings and invaluable advice from PGA Professionals along with 
2016 brought lots of news from the major equipment companies. Nike pulled out of club design while having two of the biggest paid stars on their books, and TaylorMade was put up for sale by Adidas at a time when they dominated the Driver market. It was also the year that a few of the smaller and newer manufacturers made a breakthrough. Edel wedges and putters were one of those breakthrough brands and the custom made clubs are now available in Cork. Glanmire based PGA Professional Padraig Dooley has been known for his interest in clubs, and the mechanics and technology behind the clubs. Although the Edel brand made a big breakthrough this year, Padraig has been a fitter for the bespoke brand for well over a year and has helped over a dozen golfers to lower their scores with the unique fitting process. “I came across Edel 
