Pictures from the third round this morning: Continue reading
Senior Scratch Cup
O’Flaherty goes low to lead in Lee Valley
Gary O’Flaherty had a super second round of 64 in Lee Valley this afternoon to claim the lead in the Senior Scratch Cup. Nine birdies and a single bogey saw the Cork GC golfer post an 11 shot swing from his morning round. His 75/64 has given him a two shot lead in the competition with the final 18 holes scheduled for tomorrow. Ronan Mullarney (-3, 70/71) leads the chasers with Jack McDonnell and Sean Desmond on -2. James Sugrue is 4th on -1, he’ll be looking for his second scratch cup win after success in Fota Island last week.
Gallery: Lee Valley Senior Scratch Cup 2018 (R2)
O’Flaherty went on a roll from the second hole this morning. He birdied the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and the index one 5th hole thanks to a chip in. He parred the 6th and the 7th which was playing into a very strong wind. Another birdie followed on the par five 8th and he turned on 30 strokes after a sixth birdie on the 9th.
Another birdie followed on the 10th with two more following on the Continue reading
Gallery: Lee Valley Senior Scratch Cup 2018 (R2)
Pictures from this afternoon in Lee Valley: Continue reading
Sugrue starts 2018 with a win in Fota Island
James Sugrue got his season off to the perfect start when he won the Fota Island Senior Scratch Cup last weekend. Having missed the West due to a family bereavement this was his first competitive start. After an impressive 2017, he was included on the Irish senior mens panel for 2018 and last weekend he set down an early marker. He needed a strong finish as he was two over par after 16, but a birdie on the par three 17th and the par five 18th got him back to level par and that was enough to secure the win. The birdie on 17 was unlikely, facing a very strong wind, Sugrue hit a three wood which went over the back of the green. He chipped in with the second shot to give him some momentum on the final hole where he found another birdie. Conditions were tough in Fota, the 7,000 yard Deerpark course played to all of its length in the unseasonal weather. Second place went to Kinsale’s Cathal Butler just one shot back. Jack Leacy from Dungarvan also finished on +1 and took third place with Daniel Rather (Dungarvan) finishing in fourth place. Mitchelstown’s Sean Leonard won Continue reading
Lee Valley Senior Scratch Cup Timesheet
September date for John Whyte Memorial
Fermoy will host the John Whyte memorial on Sunday 10th of September, with a bumper prize fund in place for the senior scratch cup. The 18 hole event which includes a meal will see defending champion James Sugrue return to defend his title. The South of Ireland winner has been in great form this year, and earned a spot on the Munster Senior team for the interprovincials in July. Previous winners include European Seniors star Denis O’Sullivan and Fermoy native Tom Cleary. A full timesheet is expected and anyone interested in playing should book early. Online entry is available on http://www.fermoygolfclub.ie and you can also call the club on 025 31472.
Fermoy has been a busy spot, the clubs is celebrating their 125th anniversary this year and they’ve already hosted two Munster finals. Next weekend Fermoy will host the Michael Cashman fourball Munster final. Dromoland Castle will take on Ballykisteen in the battle for the last Munster pennant of 2017.
Ward wins on the Double
Gary Ward had a double win last weekend, the Kinsale man scooped two senior scratch cups over the course of two days. On Saturday he headed to Kanturk and went around the North Cork course in one under par to record his second win of the year. On Sunday it was off to Co Clare for the 36 Dromoland Senior Scratch Cup, and Ward topped the leaderboard again after shooting rounds of 69 and 77. Ward won the Cobh Senior Scratch Cup in May, shooting a course record 66 on the way to his first senior scratch cup title. Ward played Kanturk for the first time on Saturday and it was a winning debut as he described. “It was my first time playing Kanturk and all I knew was that it was tight” said Ward. “I hit the ball where I could see it and played really steady golf the whole way around. The pins were very tough, a few hanging off slopes so it was tough to put it close. I never went over par and never went better than -2, my 3rd birdie on the par 3 16th saved my round and took my pars on 17 and 18 for a 70 to win by 1 from Peter Duane.”
After that win it was off to Dromoland for the Top Golfer 36 hole scratch cup. There was a top class field in Continue reading
Cork’s Top Golfers to challenge in Lahinch
A dozen Cork golfers will be hoping to bridge a 13 year gap and win the South of Ireland Championship this week. Mallow’s Meryvn Owens was the last man to bring the famous trophy back to Cork in 2003, when he beat the holder Colm Moriarty on the 18th green in Lahinch. Cork winners have been few and far between, John McHenry won in 1986 and before that there’s a 22 year gap to W A Kelleher’s win. The statistics would suggest that a few more years should pass before the next Cork winner, but given the strength and depth of the Cork golfers competing this year, don’t rule out a good run from a few of the form golfers.
Irish Amateur Open winner Peter O’Keeffe leads the Cork challenge, and O’Keeffe be hoping to play all seven rounds over the five days that will see him into the final. The big hitting Douglas member is currently playing of +3.3, and he’ll be joined by his friend and Barton Shield teammate Karl Bornemann. Kinsale have three representatives in the field, John Murphy has two wins in the bag this year and will be hoping to gain his first senior title. Cathal Butler won the Munster Strokeplay Continue reading
Murphy through to final 16 in North of Ireland
John Murphy had two matchplay wins today to advance to the third round of the North of Ireland Open in Royal Portrush. They were two contrasting rounds, he needed a huge putt on the last this morning to get past Kiet Van Der Weele but made short work of Andrew Mulholland this afternoon. Murphy always seemed to have a narrow edge over his opponent from Holland this morning but it took a 25 foot putt on the last to go one up and advance to the last 32. This afternoon he faced Castlerock’s Mulholland and solid golf – and a good few birdies – saw him go five up at one stage near the end of the front nine. In the end he closed put the match on the 15th with a 4&3 win. He now goes on to play Derek Downie from Kirkistown Castle. It’ll be another early start for Murphy with a 7.45am tee time. He’ll be hoping for another long day tomorrow with two rounds scheduled to bring the competition down to the final four golfers.
Cathal Butler lost out on the 18th green this evening, he was beaten by Tandragee’s Ross Dutton on the 18th. Butler had gone two down earlier in the match but had levelled it by the time they reached the 14th. The home player persevered however and took the win on the final green. Butler had overcome Andrew Continue reading
Sugrue heads Cork qualifiers, North of Ireland Championship
James Sugrue is one of three likely Cork qualifiers to make it through to the match play stages of the North of Ireland Championship at Royal Portrush. The Mallow man recovered from a disappointing front nine one the championship course that saw him turn on +3. Sugrue fought back with three birdies to level his score on the back nine on the Dunluce links, he finished with a 36 hole total of 140 (-3) to claim a place in the top 25. Sugrue’s level par 72 was one of the better scores today with many golfers failing to get around the difficult course links without dropping shots. Kinsale’s Cathal Butler carded a three over par 75 today, when added to his 66 from yesterday the Kinsale man also qualified comfortably on 2 under par. He had 15 pars and a birdie, but two consecutive double bogies on the front nine cost him a few spots on the leaderboard. Conditions were much better for day two of the championship which saw 300 golfers play over both courses at the famous resort on the northern coast.
John Murphy had nervy wait Continue reading
Cork Golf News 