Monkstown’s Shane Irwin captured his first professional win on Monday when he won the Morgan O’Donovan Perpetual Trophy at his home course. The Limerick native shot a 65 to claim the final event in Munster PGA winter series. Irwin had a great start, he had a birdie on the second, and the had four in a row from the fourth to the seventh. Two more birdies followed on the back nine but he also had two bogies. Holding the lead from the back nine was crucial as he had one shot to spare over the holder David Higgins. Cian McNamara was third a further shot back. It was a double win for Irwin, he partnered Monkstown President Ada O’Sullivan won the pro-am competition. The pair scored 47 points to finish three points ahead of the field. Needles to say, Shane was delighted with his win. “It’s always nice to win, especially against such good players that were playing today’s event” said the Monkstown assistant. “To win is always great no matter what your playing. I didn’t except to have any great intentions as myself and Cian had so many things on our mind regarding the event. I must say that today’s event was a great success for everyone the club, and it was a great day to remember Morgan O Donovan and what I’ve been told a humble and great man he was not only in Monkstown but everywhere he worked and played.” The Monkstown pro-am marked the start of a busy summer season for PGA Professionals and Shane is looking forward to the season. “I’ll be Continue reading
PGA
JP McManus ProAm 2020
The golf course at Adare Manor officially reopened last week, marking the final stage in the redevelopment of the Adare Manor estate after it was purchased by the McManus family. The course closed in late 2015, and soon after world renowned designer Tom Fazio was commissioned to oversee the redevelopment of the course. Over two years later the property has been transformed, and has been christened “parkland perfection” by one tour professional. In typical McManus fashion, he staged an exhibition match to officially launch the course and the 2020 Pro Am. And even more typical the match was comprised of golfers who have won seven majors, three Continue reading
Adare now a very special course
Many Cork people will be familiar with Adare. A large proportion of Cork golfers will have played the course, and many more will have visited when it hosted the Irish Open or the JP McManus ProAm. On the redesigned course, every tee box and green remain are effectively the same place. While the order of the holes and general layout remains the same, everything else has been transformed. Each green and tee has been rebuilt and redesigned from scratch, with significant underground installations for drainage, new irrigation and watery delivery systems. Every bunker has been replaced with the latest capillary concrete liner drainage technology. All of the fairways have been sand-capped for the driest playing conditions. All of the numbers in Adare are astounding. Over 180,000 tonnes of sand were brought in to improve playability and redefine the course. On top of that 77 new tee boxes were constructed stretching the course from 5,120 metres on the red tees, to a massive 7,509 metres off the Gold championship tees. While there are four measured course lengths on the card, greenkeepers have plenty of choices in setting up the course for any Continue reading
Ian Stafford Awarded Fellow Status by PGA
Popular golf teaching Professional Ian Stafford was recently awarded the Fellow designation by the PGA. The Innishannon and Kinsale based pro has continued to invest in his continuing professional development and now becomes only the second PGA professional in Munster to hold the fellow status. Ian’s latest qualification was approved by the APAL process (Accreditation of Professional Achievement and Learning). Each application is considered by the APAL Council which consists of longstanding PGA Members, representatives of the R&A, the golf industry, an advisor from the university sector and two PGA Senior Staff members. On the island of Ireland there are currently over 500 PGA Professionals only 12 of which currently have Fellow status, with Stafford being the youngest to reach Fellow level at 36. This follows on Ian’s qualification as a Level 3 Advanced Coach which he achieved in 2016, and his motivation stems from one of the cornerstones of his teaching. “As a coach I’m Continue reading
Stephen Hayes new Performance Centre at Douglas Golf Club
Stephen Hayes has just opened a new performance centre in Douglas Golf Club, the Club Professional in Douglas has invested in a brand new facility for members and clients to learn and hone their golfing skills. Previously Stephen had worked from a teaching bay in the driving range, but that bay was a victim of the storm in October so an alternative was Continue reading
Cobh set for Bumper 2018
David O’Sullivan practicing with the help of Trackman in his swing room at the range in Cobh Golf Club. Picture: Niall O’Shea
Cobh Golf Club is looking forward to a busy 2018. Last year the club completed works on their new clubhouse and the completion of the club house and carpark marked the end of the beginning in some respects. Having moved to their new Championship course in Marino Point in 2009, the club committees and its large membership set about building a lasting legacy for the club and the local area. While the Hawtree designed course needed very little, the club invested time, energy and money in the surrounding facilities and now have the complete package. The clubhouse, Pro Shop and practice area compliment the signature course which looks out over Cork Harbour. The club is still open for new members and joiner can benefit from a special offer of €650 for the remainder of the year, while existing members of Cobh can benefit from the €80 per month direct debit option that makes the sub payment easier. Cobh celebrated their drive in earlier this month, President Teresa Delius, Captain Pat Feen, Lady Captain Maria Hughes and Junior Captain Peter Dennis all took part to mark the ceremonial start to the new year, and while conditions for golf mightn’t be great just yet, the lower harbour club will have a busy year ahead.
PGA Professional has been the club pro Continue reading
McNamara claims second win in Cork, Munster PGA Winter Series
Cork’s Peter Hickey congratulating Cian McNamara on his win the Munster PGA Winter Series event in Cork Golf Club Picture: Niall O’Shea
Despite the cold weather, the Munster PGA got the second half of their winter series off to a great start on Monday in Cork Golf Club. Twenty Pro’s braved the cold winds but the course in Cork was in great condition, and benefitted from the recent week of dry weather. Munster PGA Captain Cian McNamara was the winner on the day, the Monkstown Professional shot a one under par 71 to record his second win of the winter series. He turned on two under par thanks to birdies on the second, third and eighth, and he dropped a shot on the index one fourth hole. A bogey also followed on the 10th but he parred the remaining eight holes to remain in the red and sign for a one under par 71. After a break of a few months, David Higgins made his seasonal debut. The Waterville man had a beak towards the end of 2017 and was in Barbados for a pro-am in January. Although he carded an impressive 72 for second place, the form was mixed. He had an uncharacteristic six bogies but that was countered with four birdies and an eagle. David was joined on his team by brother Brian and dad Liam. They returned an impressive Continue reading
China Tour Card for Brian O’Donovan
China based golfer Brian O’Donovan made a huge breakthrough yesterday when he won a tour card for the PGA China Tour. Brian was competing in the second qualifying tournament in the PGA backed China tour at the Mission Hills Haikou course. The former Bandon amateur opened on Friday with a 68 for a share of third place, and a solid second round saw him remain in the top five. However a one over par 73 on Saturday saw him drop to 16th, one place outside the qualifying places. After a shaky start on Sunday morning, he steadied and was one over par for his front nine. After hovering around the qualifying mark he birdied the final hole to move to two under par overall and safely inside the top 15. Now armed with a full tour card, Brian will qualify for the series of fourteen events, all based in China with the top five on the tour qualifying for the Web.com tour. There’s a run of six events starting in May with the second half kinking off in late August after a six-week break. The Bandon native was a member of the very successful team from Bandon Golf Club who won the Irish Senior Cup national title in 2010. It was a family affair for the O’Donovan’s, Brian’s Dad Donal was also on that team in Castlebar when they won the most prized team competition in Ireland.
After winning the top team event, Brian decided to pursue a full time career in golf, and enrolled in the PGA programme. Two years of study followed and Brian was based in Douglas Golf Club under Stephen Hayes while studying for his PGA qualification. Brian moved to China soon after qualifying as a PGA Professional in late 2013. While he hoped to remain competitive on the local professional tours, a knees problem ruled him out of competitive action for the best part of a year. He returned to competitive action via the qualifiers for the PGA China Tour events, while also continuing work develop as a teacher in the Mission Hills Golf Academy.
Cork Golf Centre goes from strength to strength
Cork Golf Centre
Although it’s only open since April last year, Cork Golf Centre has quickly become a firm favourite for golfers on the western side of the city and beyond. With a reduction in the number of public range facilities, Cork Golf Centre was ideally positioned to fill a gap in the market for both casual and serious golfers. Located just beyond the regional park in Ballincollig, there’s a very large catchment area including several clubs. “The centre has had a very busy first year and it continues to grow” explained resident PGA Professional Wayne Continue reading
Capto Putting comes to Cork
It may be an old saying but it still holds true – drive for show, putt for dough and Wayne O’Callaghan is hoping to build on that with a brand new putting analysis system. Wayne, who is based at the Cork Golf Centre in Ballincollig, is one of only two PGA Professionals in Ireland to use the Capto Putting Technology system. Using a small sensor on the shaft of your putter, the system can instantly capture twenty key parameters of the putting stroke. Wayne along with Killarney based David Keating travelled to Spain in December to pick up their new systems, which offer a whole new level of detail when it comes to analysing putting. While there are several options for measuring the swing of irons and drivers, and there are several putting systems that capture the reaction of the ball once it’s hit, this is one of the first systems to focus on the swing and the actions of the golfer. The system operates by putting a small 3D sensor onto the shaft of the putter and using a computer or phone Continue reading
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