Ian O’Rourke
Ian O’Rourke made a jump of seven places on the Munster Senior Order of Merit thanks to his top eight finish at the East of Ireland at Co Louth. The Cobh native had two great under par rounds on the final day to jump up the leaderboard. O’Rourke is now in third place on the order of merit, and more importantly holds one of the four automatic places. Cathal Butler made the cut at the East to extend his lead at the top of the table and Gary O’Flaherty remains in second place after a very strong May. Andrew McCormack drops down to fourth place and there are three players tied for fifth place. Mark Shanahan, Robin Dawson and James Sugrue are all on 90 points, just 10 points behind McCormack.
There are just three official events remaining on the calendar, the British Amateur takes place this weekend with Eanna Griffin, Geoff Lenehan and John Hickey all hoping to make the draw. The Connacht Strokeplay also takes place this weekend, and the Kerry Scratch Cup (Tralee) takes place the following weekend.
Munster Senior Order of Merit (after 11 Events)*
| Pos. | Name | Total |
| 1 | Cathal Butler | 150 |
| 2 | Gary O’Flaherty | 120 |
| 3 | Ian O’Rourke | 110 |
| 4 | Andrew McCormack | 100 |
| 5 | Mark Shanahan | 90 |
| 6 | Robin Dawson | 90 |
| 7 | James Sugrue | 90 |
| 8 | John Hickey | 85 |
| 9 | Pat Murray | 65 |
| 10 | Eanna Griffin | 60 |
| 11 | Dave Redden | 45 |
| 12 | Geoff Linehan | 45 |
| 13 | Mark Ford | 40 |
| 14 | Peter O’Keeffe | 30 |
| 15 | Sean Barry | 30 |
| 16 | Gary Ward | 30 |
| 17 | Thomas Neenan | 30 |
| 18 | Ian Spillane | 30 |
| 19 | Declan King | 30 |
| 20 | Daniel Brennan | 30 |
| 21 | Fergal O’Sullivan | 25 |
| 22 | Ian O’Flynn | 20 |
| 23 | Mark Healy | 20 |
| 24 | Gavin Young | 20 |
| 25 | Daniel Hallissy | 20 |
| 26 | Emmet Leahy | 20 |
| 27 | C O’Donnell | 20 |
| 28 | Jack Ryan | 15 |
| 29 | Paul Tobin | 15 |
| 30 | Paul Flynn | 15 |
*Based on results received from host clubs, using the published weightings for each event, this is an unofficial list
Six Cork golfers will start in tomorrow morning’s first round of the East of Ireland. Munster Strokeplay winner Cathal Butler and Kinsale teammate Gary Ward are in action, as are Mallow duo Paul McCarthy and James Sugrue. Mark Shanahan (Castlemartyr) and John Hickey (Cork) are also playing.
Mark Shanahan and James Sugrue both shot two under par 70’s at Royal Dublin today in the second round of the Flogas Irish Amateur Open. Sugrue is now two under for the tournament and he’s just outside the top 10. Around half of the field have completed their second rounds. Castlemartyr’s Mark Shanahan is two shots behind Sugrue. He had a mixed start to his round but he birdied three of the last six holes to get back into the red and he’s on level par after 36 holes. Shanahan is tied for 20th place currently. John Hickey bounced back from his opening 75, he had four birdies and two bogies and signed for a 70 to get back to +1. Cathal Butler shot a second round 74 and he now also sits in 30th place on +1. Ian O’Rourke is currently on +5, he added a 75 to his opening 74 and he’ll need a better score tomorrow to make the 54 hole cut.
Cork Golf News 