PGA

Super 65 from Dooley, PGA Southern Championship Pro-Am

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Padraig Dooley

Padraig Dooley

Padraig Dooley finished ahead of the field today at the PGA Southern Championship Pro-Am, thanks to a seven under par 65.  Dooley has been in fine form this year, but this is his first win on the Irish Region tour.  The Riverstown based Professional finished one shot ahead of the field.

There was a real Cork Golf Club feel to the top of the leaderboard with the top three all having strong links to the Little Island club.  David Ryan was right behind Dooley on -6 and David Higgins was third with a 68.    Monkstown’s Cian McNamara finished in the top 20, and it was good to see Castlemartyr’s Brady Sherwood back in action on the course.

Today’s golfers will be joined by David Barry, Conor Coyne and Ciaran McKenna for tomorrow’s first round at Powerscourt.  Higgins is one of the form golfers entering the competition, he won two events last week bringing his season total to seven wins – including the prestigious PGA Pros Championship in England last month.  The Southern Championship is a 36 hole tournament, it has a prize fund in excess of €13,000 and will conclude on Tuesday.

Live scoring will be available from this link from around 12pm.

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O’Sullivan and McGrane win at Cork Golf Club

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Cork Pro-Am, Cork Golf Club, Monday 8th August 2016Seniors Tour and European Tour winners Denis O’Sullivan and Damien McGrane were joint winners of the Cork Pro-Am yesterday.

Experienced campaigners Damien McGrane and Denis O’Sullivan mastered the tricky conditions at Cork GC on Monday to share first prize.  Blustery winds and dry fairways put a premium on accuracy and it was McGrane and O’Sullivan who coped best.  The pair carded rounds of one under par 71 to edge out Damien Mooney (Nevada Bob’s Belfast), Philip Walton, Cian McNamara (Monkstown GC), Simon Thornton and Noel Murray (Massereene GC).  McGrane, winner of three PGA in Ireland events in July, birdied the second and third but came unstuck with a double bogey at the par four sixth as he went to the turn in level par 36.

The 45-year-old played some more steady golf on the back nine, racking up eight pars and just the one birdie at the par five 11th.  Local Continue reading →

Barry in 13th in PGA Assistants, Dooley Coyne & Collins qualify for Irish PGA

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Golf_Davey Barry_2 2016

Davey Barry

Davey Barry (Douglas Pro Shop) moved into the top 15 today at the Galvin Green PGA Assistants Championships in Little Aston.  An opening 72 put Barry into the top 20 after round one, and he went one better today, posting a one under par 71.  The under par round was thanks in part to an impressive eagle on the 15th.  Barry is tied for 13th place with one round remaining.  The Douglas based assistant has enjoyed his first two days in Little Aston and is looking forward to improving further in tomorrows final round.

Galvin Green PGA Assistants’ Championship

Davey is one of six Irish golfers to make it through to the final round.  Michael Kelly (Dun Laoighre) is in 6th place on -3, and Iarlaith Keane (Balcarrick) is tied with Barry on -1 in 13th place.  Tim Rice (Limerick), Richard Kilpatrick (Banbridge) and Ian Brennan (Greenore) are all a shot back on level par.  Ciaran Molloy (Blackwood) was the other Irish golfer to make the cut, he’s tied for 34th place.

Padraig Dooley, Conor Coyne and Ronan Collins all had good rounds today at the Irish PGA Championship qualifier at Moyvalley.  Dooley finished in 6th place with a one over par 73, and both Coyne and Collins were one shot behind.  Coyne Continue reading →

Top 20 for O’Sullivan in Switzerland

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Cork’s Denis O’Sullivan recorded his first top 20 finish of the 2016 Seniors Tour at Bad Ragaz.  O’Sullivan recorded his 300th Seniors appearance last month in Wales.  O’Sullivan opened with a four under par 66 on Friday to hold a share of second place.  On Saturday he was one under for the day and today he signed for a level par 70.  Denis now heads for Vorbeck, Germany for the Winstongolf Senior Open which starts on Friday.

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Cork’s Denis O’Sullivan celebrating his 300th European Senior Tour appearance this weekend with David MacLaren, Head of European Senior Tour, and Andy Stubbs, European Senior Tour Managing Director. Picture: Phil Inglis

Swiss Seniors Open 2016 Final Results

Denis is still clearly enjoying life on tour.  “This is my 18th year, but it doesn’t Continue reading →

Dooley & Higgins Qualify for PGA Professional Championship

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DAvid Higgins PGA CShip

David Higgins pictures at the Titleist & FootJoy PGA Professional Championship qualifer (Picture: Patrick Bolger/Getty)

Padraig Dooley and David Higgins are both headed for The Oxfordshire in July to take part in the Titleist & FootJoy PGA Professional Championship.  The Irish qualifier took place today in Carton House and both qualified for the second successive year.  Dooley finished in a tie for fourth place on +1, but Waterville’s Higgins shot an amazing nine under 63 to finish five shots ahead of the field.

 

David Higgins produced a dominant display, he carded an impressive nine under par round of 63 at the Co Kildare venue to win by an impressive five shots ahead of Clontarf Golf Club’s Eamonn Brady.  Higgins made five birdies on the front nine holes – with three in successive holes – to book a return to the £78,000 showpiece final being held The Oxfordshire course from July 26-29.

Results: PGA Professional Championship – Irish Qualifier

Davey on Path to PGA Qualification

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Golf_Davey Barry_2 2016

Assistant Professional Davey Barry pictured on the range at Douglas Golf Club. Picture: Niall O’Shea

Davey Barry is at the starting point of his career in golf.  The Ballinlough native is working as an assistant pro in Douglas Golf Club while he also studies for his PGA qualification.  Davey is in his second of three years and he’s enjoying the experience so far: “The first two years of the PGA Foundation Degree course have been really interesting” said the trainee.  “We have studied a whole range of subjects from golf coaching to time management.  It’s been a real eye opener for me, I used to think I knew quite a bit about golf, but learning from and talking to some of the best coaches and teachers in the game has shown me I need to keep my head in the books and keep studying.  It’s been great learning from people with such a deep knowledge of the game of golf and added to that they have a passion for the game also.”  The PGA course is not just a professional designation.  It’s a degree level course with a focus on the business of golf as Davey explained: The business side of the degree has been quite challenging for me.  Over the last two years though the course has helped with giving me a good understanding into the business side of our industry and again I have been very lucky with Stephen [Hayes, Club Pro in Douglas] as he has always helped here and involved me in the business side of the pro shop.  This has made my assignments and exams a little easier because it is now part of my daily life.  During the year we also spent a week over in the Belfry where we had a couple of Continue reading →

Ryan secures top 10 as Higgins takes the win

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David Higgins Irish Club ProThere was an air of familiarity today as David Higgins clocked up another win, this time it was a play-off win over Michael McDermott to secure the Irish Club Professional Tournament.  Higgins was the only golfer in the field to break par and his one under par 70 was enough to stake a share of 1st place.  Dunmurry Springs was the venue and it took two tie holes to separate the pair.  Higgins needed a good up an down to save par at the first, but he hit the green in regulation on the second when McDermott found water.

David Ryan added a second round 75 to his opening 72.  He finished on +4, tied for 5th placce with Colm Moriarty (Drive Golf Performance) and Richard Kilpatrick (Banbridge).

Davey Barry fell back to 22nd place, he finished with a disappointing 81 today, the Douglas trainee did finish in the money and he’ll look to better days in the long season ahead.  Davey is back in action next week at The Ruddy Cup which takes place at Pat Ruddy’s European Club.

Ryan and Higgins are back in action on Friday at the Foxrock Pro-Am.

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Aimpoint Clinic returning to Douglas Golf Club

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Aimpoint Express is returning to Cork next month.  Stephen Hayes from Douglas GC Pro-Shop is teaming up with Donal Scott again to bring a two-hour masterclass on the popular green reading system.

Donal Scott

Donal Scott, Aimpoint Level 3 Instructor

Scott is one of only three qualified Aimpoint coaches in Ireland and the Leopardstown based PGA Professional has been working with the system for around five years: “I first became interested in AimPoint in 2011 when I contacted a friend and mentor mine John Graham about the possibility of hosting a clinic here in Ireland.  I completed my training with the founder Mark Sweeney that year as he was over in Ireland for the Solheim Cup that year.  Worldwide you have 45,000 amateurs, 500 juniors and 200 tour pros who have been coached in AimPoint green reading.  Adam Scott and Continue reading →