It wasn’t the low round that he promised – but in any case it was enough to give Peter O’Keeffe the lead going into tomorrow’s final round of the Flogas Irish Amateur Open.
O’Keeffe started quickly with an eagle on the opening par five, but he gave the two shots back before the turn and started the second nine level for his round. It was an interesting back nine for all of the leading contenders. England’s Sean Towndrow took a two shot lead on the 16th thanks to an eagle on the short par four, but two doubles followed and he closed on a 77 and +3 for the tournament. Christopher McClean was level with O’Keeffe after 15, but bogies on the 16th & 18th saw him drop down also.
O’Keeffe continued his pattern of steady golf with the odd birdie or bogey balancing each other out. In the end only himself and Robin Dawson (T7) could match par on the closing three holes. That was enough for two over par 73 on day three, and surprisingly enough that see’s him with a one shot lead over Christopher McClean. O’Keeffe (L) will be joined by Mc Clean (+1) and Marc Norton (+2) in tomorrow’s final group which tees off at 11.12.
John Murphy saw the Continue reading
Peter O’Keeffe shot a one under par 70 on the opening day of the Flogas Irish Amateur Open. Royal County Down was playing firm and fast today thanks to the recent dry weather and it proved a test for the Irish golfers as only seven made it into the top 25. O’Keeffe started brightly with a birdie on the first but dropped shots on 4 and 8 meant that he turned on +1. There were no more bogies for the Douglas member, and he birdied the 10th and 12th before parring his way home. He’s in a tie for 8th place and three shots off the lead.
Barry Anderson followed up his recent win the West of Ireland by claiming the Munster Strokeplay Championship in Cork Golf Club today. Rounds of 70 & 72 saw Anderson edge out Peter O’Keeffe and Ronan Mullarney but one shot. The 2014 champion won the West two weeks ago and followed up with another win today in tough conditions in Cork. Anderson shot a two under par 70 this morning and needed to get up and down from the fringe on the 18th to sign for a 72. Anderson was battling with Peter O’Keeffe, the Douglas golfer found a fairway bunker on 18, and a bad lie meant he couldn’t go for the green. He had a 35 foot putt for par but missed, meaning Anderson won by a single stroke. Ronan Mullarney had two rounds of 71 today and finished tied for second place with O’Keeffe. Mullarney also won the Carr Bruen trophy as the best Under 25. 
Although the scratch cup weekend is now over, Lee Valley will continue to be a busy place for both golfers and staff. Lee Valley’s Director of golf David Keohane was delighted with the feedback from golfers over the weekend and he was quick to point out that they are continuing to develop the course which celebrates 25 years next year. “We have some great plans for the course in 2017” said Keohane. “Four new tee boxes are currently being constructed. The 1st, 6th, 12th and 16th will be completely redesigned with each of them being widened and lengthened. The pick of these tee boxes is our new par three sixteenth where we have raised the tee box by over five feet and created a surface 25 by 30 meters. The base for the new tee box was so large that many 
Cork’s Gary O’Flaherty won his second Lee Valley Scratch Cup in style today with a two shot win over a strong field. O’Flaherty started the third round one shot off the leaders, Andrew McCormack and Dave O’Donovan, but all three were level going onto the 9th hole. The conditions were near perfect and things were tight on the back nine until O’Flaherty birdied the 13th and 15th to stretch ahead. He parred his way home from the 15th, maintaining a two shot buffer. The only hope for the chasers was when he ended up in the greenside bunker on the 18th, but the 2012 winner splashed out to five feet and calmly made the uphill putt. O’Flaherty’s four under par total was made up of a 69/72/21 over the three rounds. James Sugrue took second place 
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