Senior Scratch Cup

Sugrue & O’Keeffe bow out of Close

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AIG Irish CloseCork 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.

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Seven Cork Golfers through in AIG Close

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AIG Senior Cup Area Semi Finals 2018Cork Golf Club Sunday 24th June 2018

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 →

Strong Cork Challenge in Baltray

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Lee Valley Senior Scratch Cup 2018, Lee Valley Golf Club. Second Round, Saturday 21st April 2018

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

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

Douglas SSC 2018_2Eoghan 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

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Peter O'Keeffe Kerry Scratch Cup 2018

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

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Munster Strokeplay ChampionshipCork Golf Club Sunday 6th May 2018

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 →

The Famous Cork Scratch Cup

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Munster Strokeplay Championship, Munster Golf, Cork Golf Club, Sunday 30th April 2017

2017 winner Barry Anderson with the Cork Scratch Cup

Many people will know that this weekend’s competition is called the Munster Strokeplay, but not everyone will know that when the event was given Championship status it had the additional designation of “incorporating the Cork Scratch Cup”.  The Cork Scratch Cup is one of the oldest trophies in Irish golf and according to Cork’s GM Matt Sands, it the original cup that was awarded over 90 years ago.  The cup dates from 1923 and it holds the names of the all of the winners.

The trophy was presented by William Dwyer, a man and a family that are synonymous with Cork Golf Club, and the same person who started the inter-society competition which still runs today.  Dwyer presented the trophy in 1923 and won it in himself in 1924.  The trophy bears the names of the great Cork Golf Club stalwarts, Crosbie, Simcox, Bruen and Higgins are all represented, with Jimmy Bruen claiming four consecutive titles from 1938-1941.  There was a gap of four years during the war and Redmond Simcox won his fourth title in 1947 when the competition resumed.  Simcox was one of three golfers Continue reading →