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 Continue reading
Senior Scratch Cup
John Whyte Memorial set for Sunday 16th, Fermoy Senior Scratch Cup
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.
Previous winners include European Seniors star Denis O’Sullivan and Fermoy native Tom Cleary and current Irish international James Sugrue.
Last year’s winner was Darren O’Donoghue from Bandon. Online entry is available on http://www.fermoygolfclub.ie and you can also call the club on 025 32694.
Sugrue & O’Keeffe bow out of Close
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.
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.
Seven Cork Golfers through in AIG Close
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
Gallery: South of Ireland Championship 2018 Day 3, Lahainch Golf Club
Pictures from Saturday morning at Lahinch: Continue reading
Strong Cork Challenge in Baltray
John Hickey
There was a strong Cork presence in Baltray over the weekend as the course hosted the East of Ireland Championship. Favourable scoring conditions led to some very impressive scoring with several 66’s recorded on the first day. Cork’s John Hickey was one of those to finish the opening round on 66, he was five under after his opening six holes. Two more birdies along with a bogey followed on his way to the -6 round which saw him tie the lead. Hickey added rounds of 72, 73 and 71 to finished in 13th place. Gary O’Flaherty was one behind Hickey on the opening day after a 67. He added a 74 on Sunday but two rounds of 69 on Monday saw him jump into the top ten and finish in 7th place. Continue reading
Major win for Long in Douglas
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.
Play in Douglas was delayed on Sunday morning due to heavy rain. Although the overnight downpour had stopped the course staff needed some time to clear some standing water. Although the threat of rain was never too far away the course dried out and some good golf was on display. O’Keeffe and Rumley were the only golfers to break par. Long along with Stephen O’Neill and Darren Continue reading
O’Keeffe retains Kerry Scratch Cup title
Peter O’Keeffe from Douglas being presented with the 113 year old Kerry Scratch up by Frank Hayes (Director of Corporate Affairs Kerry Group PLC) and Kevin McCarthy (Captain Tralee Golf Club). Photo by Domnick Walsh Eye Focus LTD
Peter O’Keeffe claimed his first win of the 2018 season when he successfully defended his Kerry Scratch Cup title in Tralee last weekend. It was the perfect weekend for O’Keeffe as he fine-tuned his game in preparation for the Irish Amateur Open which started today. O’Keeffe has been a big fan of the event in Tralee and having finished second in 2016, he won the event last year. The Douglas man held the overnight lead after 36 holes. He was tied with Monkstown’s Sean Desmond who Continue reading
Fahy wins Munster Strokeplay
Dun Laoghaire’s Alan Fahy who won the Munster Strokeplay Championship at Cork Golf Club. Picture: Niall O’Shea
Leinster’s dominance of the Munster Strokeplay continued yesterday when Dun Laoghaire‘s Alan Fahy became the fifth winner from the province in seven years. Claiming his first senior championship win, he had a very impressive second day in Cork, he was eight under for his final 36 holes. That helped him overturn a four shot deficit, and that was enough to hive him a two stroke win. Fahy shot an excellent 66 on Sunday morning to tie for the lead with halfway leader Robbie Cannon, and he was still level with the Balbriggan man after the final front nine. Although Fahy birdied the 16th, he felt he need more and was disappointed when a good putt on the 17th shaved the hole. With one chance remaining, the 20 year old Maynooth University student drilled his tee shot on the 18th, and he followed that with a superb 8 iron from 140 yards which finished five feet from the hole. A firm uphill putt hit the centre of the hole and he carded Continue reading
Gallery: Munster Strokeplay Final Round
Pictures from Cork GC on Sunday afternoon: Continue reading
