James Sugrue (Mallow) teeing off in the third round of the South of Ireland in July. Picture: Niall O’Shea
There was a nice symmetry to James Sugrue’s golfing summer. On Sunday last he won the John Whyte Fermoy Senior Scratch Cup to close out the season, that followed his win in Fota Island at the start of the season when he won the very first Senior Scratch Cup to be played in Cork. The two wins may be highlights, but to be fair the Mallow golfer has had a very impressive summer of golf which was recognised last month with his selection to the Irish team. Sugrue joined the Irish Mens panel this year and represented the Irish selection at the South African and Spanish Amateurs in the early season. His full cap finally came when he was selected to play for the Home Internationals which took place last week. Capped on multiple occasions in Boy’s golf, this was a big step up for Sugrue but one he took in his stride. The easy going 20 year old went on to win four matches as Ireland finished as runners-up in the four team tournament. “There was actually no real difference, I didn’t Continue reading
It was win number four for Gary O’Flaherty in Lee Valley when he won the Munster Mid-Amateur title on Sunday. His season started with a win in the Lee Valley Senior Scratch Cup in April, and he closed out on Sunday with another win on the championship course in Ovens. Back in April O’Flaherty maintained his overnight lead to win his third Lee Valley title, this time he overturned a three-shot deficit to win on the final green in a tense finish. Although the weather was much better than the wet conditions on Saturday, there was a stiff breeze blowing through Lee Valley which tested many of the golfers. O’Flaherty played some very tidy golf, his only bogey of the day came at the 7th and his birdie on the 9th got him back to level for the round. He birdied the par five 15th to get into the red, and he narrowly missed good birdie opportunities on the 16th and 17th. Standing on the 18th, Gary was one 
Fermoy will host one of the final scratch cups of the year on Sunday 16th September. The John Whyte Memorial Senior Scratch Cup takes place, with a bumper prize fund of €1,000, Entry for the 18 hole event is just €30, which includes a meal.
Cork 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.
Eoghan Long claimed his first scratch cup win on Sunday when he won the 36 hole Douglas Senior Scratch Cup. The Monkstown man posted the best score of the afternoon when he signed for a two under par 70. Added to his level par 72 from the morning, his total of 142 for the 36 holes was enough to win the title by one shot. Long had two challengers, both Peter O’Keeffe and Eric Rumley had shot 70’s in the first round, but they both finished with 73’s in the afternoon.
