Senior Scratch Cup

Mallow Scratch Cup Launch

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Mallow SSC Launch 2019

Tournament organiser Conor Dowling and Amateur Champion James Sugrue at the launch of the Mallow Senior Scratch Cup. The event takes place in Mallow Golf Club on Sun 25th Aug. 

Mallow Golf Club have just announced details of their Senior Scratch Cup, the first time the competition will be held since 2012.  The 36 hole event will take place on Sunday 25th August, and uniquely it will feature a redraw at the end of round one to pair the leading players for the second round.  Already many of the top golfers in Cork and Munster have committed to the event which is limited to 72 golfers.  It’s another chance for Cork’s top golfers to claim some silverware as the opportunities to claim a scratch cup win are narrowing.  The season started with the Muskerry Senior Scratch Cup back in April.  That event was won by Peter O’Keeffe in a strong field of entrants, and the signs are that there will be another strong field in place in Mallow.  The organising team of Conor Dowling, Brian Attridge, Neil Gallagher and Sean O’Shea have a great prize fund in place, thanks in part to the sponsorship from Hegarty Building and Civil Engineering.  Fist prize is the maximum €575 with second taking €325 and a generous €250 for third place.  There are also nett categories and prizes for Continue reading →

Desmond is King of the South

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Sean Desmond South of Ireland Winner_1

South of Ireland Champion Sean Desmond.  Pic: Brian Arthur

Sean Desmond took full advantage of a South of Ireland that was full of shocks to become the 118th winner of the famous championship.  Desmond was a part of those shocks, beating Irish Internationals Conor Purcell and Tiarnan McLarnon.  His  good run started on Wednesday when he shot a five under par 67 in the fine conditions in Lahinch.  Although he followed with a 78 on day two it was enough to finish in the top thirty to get safely through to the matchplay.  There was an impressive list of golfers in the top 64, but after just two rounds of matchplay ten of the top ranked players were gone.  Desmond was part of that, beating Walker Cup panelist Conor Purcell on the 18th green in the second round.  Desmond was on fire on Saturday morning, but that was the standard needed – he was four under through nine holes and all square with Paul Coughlan, he went on to win on the 17th.  Later on Saturday afternoon he took out another international, he beat Tiarnan McLarnon in the fourth round when the match went to the 19th hole.  With his cousin Eoin Sawyer on the bag for the week resilience seemed to be Desmond’s theme for the tournament,  whether it was a big gun or a few bad holes, Desmond took it one hole at a time and battled when he needed to.

Gallery: South of Ireland Saturday

That win on Saturday evening took him through to this mornings semi-final where he faced Sligo native Sean Flanagan.  Desmond was up at the turn but things changed on the back nine when Flanagan went ahead.  Even though Sean’s drive on the 17th ended up on the 15th fairway, he made a great recovery and birdied the hole to get back to level terms.  He went on to birdie the 18th with a clutch five footer to advance to the final.

Sean Desmond Golffile_2

The Champion!  Pic: Thos Caffrey, Golffile

The Monkstown man faced Keith Egan in the final, and his opponent had also slayed a few giants.  The Carton House member had a good start and was two up after three.  Desmond hung in there, the resilience came to the fore again and he pegged back Egan to level.  He went ahead on the 13th but lost his lead on the 16th.  A nine foot par putt on the 17th gave him a lead going up 18. When Egan missed his birdie, that effectively crowned Desmond as the Champion.  It was another amazing five days in Lahinch, with the course, the club, the village and the atmosphere making it one of the most popular events on the calendar.

See the action from the final green below thanks for Brian Keogh:

 

O’Mahony goes low in Lahinch, South of Ireland Day Two…

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Douglas Senior Scratch Cup 2019_Greg O'Mahony_4

Greg O’Mahony after winning the Douglas Scratch Cup earlier this year

Greg O’Mahony was the only Cork golfer to break par on a tough day in Lahinch today.  The Fota Island golfer went around in three under as the wind and rain tested golfers.

A total of eight golfers made the cut for tomorrow’s matchplay.  Peter O’Keeffe finished his 36 holes on one under and Sean Desmond was two shots behind.  Cork duo Gary O’Flaherty and Paul Buckley were both safely through on +2, and Cathal Butler had to endure a short wait before all of the +4’s were safely inside the top 59.  With James Sugrue and John Murphy, there will be a strong Cork challenge tomorrow with eight golfers hoping to make it through the first round.

Gallery: South of Ireland Day 2, strokeplay qualifier second round

Play gets underway at 7am tomorrow, with the second round starting after the completion of the first round matches.  Live scoring will be available at regular intervals.

South of Ireland Matchplay Draw

7.00am: James Sugrue v Jack Doherty
7.36am: Peter O’Keeffe v James Fox
7.45am: Paul Buckley v Shane O’Connor
8.48am: John Murphy v Aaron Ryan
10.18am: Greg O’Mahony v Evan Farrell
10.45am: Sean Desmond v Jack Ryan
11.12am: Cathal Butler v Ronan Mullarney
11.21am: Gary O’Flaherty v TJ Ford

O’Keeffe keeps up momentum in Lahinch

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Gameface; Peter O'Keeffe in action in the South of Ireland in Lahinch last year

Gameface; Peter O’Keeffe in action in the South of Ireland in Lahinch last year

Following his great performance at the North of Ireland two weeks ago, Peter O’Keeffe kept the championship momentum going with an opening 68 in Lahinch today.  The opening round of the South of Ireland got underway today in benign conditions, and O’Keeffe was the first of the early starters to post a low score.  The Douglas golfer started with a hot hand, birdieing the first two holes.  He gave a shot back on the Klondyke, he got it back on the 9th to turn on three under.

Another birdie followed on the 10th and Peter had eight steady pars before a final birdie on the last.  That put him in the clubhouse lead, although lower scores would follow.  Cathal Butler had shot a 71 (-1), and Sean Desmond would follow with an impressive 67 later in the morning.  Paul Buckley and Greg O’Mahony both shot level par, and Paul Tobin and Gary O’Flaherty finished on 73 to Continue reading →

Home win for Ward in Kinsale

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Gary Ward who won the Kinsale Senior Scratch Cup on Saturday.Gary Ward scooped the Kinsale Senior Scratch Cup yesterday, but only after the winner was decided on the 19th after a play-off.  It’s a fourth scratch cup for the Kinsale man, but it’s the first since 2017 and will no doubt be a welcome return to the winners circle.

After a gap of a year, the Kinsale Scratch Cup returned, and the organisers had a strong field assembled.  And thanks to the club and sponsors ODC Advisory they also had an attractive prize pot on offer.  With fine weather in Kinsale, the scoring was expected to be low but the 7,000 yard championship course proved to be a good challenge for the 50+ golfers taking part.

Ward led the scoring after the first round.  He shot a two under par 70 and was alongside Karl Bornemann on -2.  Shane Kenneally and Zak Collins Continue reading →

Kinsale Scratch Cup set for 29th June

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Kinsale GC Scratch Cup Facebook.inddKinsale’s Senior Scratch Cup is set to be played on Saturday 29th of June, and with the club hosting the AIG Barton Shield in July, it’s sure to attract a large field of golfers.  The Scratch Cup has a fresh feel as a result of its inclusion on the 2019 Munster Senior Interprovincial Order of Merit. The competition expects a high-quality field of Munster hopefuls, aiming to play their way on to the Munster Senior Interprovincial team.  The South Munster Barton Shield qualifier will take place in Kinsale Golf Club in July. Kinsale won the Munster Barton Shield in 2018 and will be relishing the prospect of qualifying at home. The Scratch Cup will provide an ideal opportunity for clubs participating in the Barton Shield to get acquainted with some of the course changes in advance of the qualifier.  With a gap in the national calendar, it’s also gives everyone a chance at a win at a major local event, one which dates back over 50 years.

Kinsale Scratch Cup Winners 2007The Kinsale Scratch Trophy was first played in September 1961 as a club competition and was won by Cork Golf Club. The format consisted of an inter-club scratch competition for teams of four, involving morning foursomes followed by afternoon singles with all scores to count in a Ryder Cup style format. In more recent years, the Scratch Cup has switched from a team to an individual format intermittently. Kinsale signalled the end of the team format of the competition on a winning note. Kieran McCarthy, Paul Crowley, Shane Kenneally and Keith O’Shea emerging victorious in 2007.

In 2008, the event returned to an individual format and the cup remained in Kinsale after John Keating secured the win. Notable past winners (as individuals and team players) include the Higgin’s family from Cork Golf Club in Continue reading →

O’Keeffe takes 5th place at East of Ireland

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Douglas Senior Senior Scratch Cup 26th May 2019Peter O’Keeffe fired himself into a fifth place finish at the East of Ireland, thanks to a three under par 69 in his final round this afternoon.

O’Keeffe has an impressive back nine, he went on a birdie run and was three under for his final seven holes, and it was an impressive finish given the difficulty of the course in Baltray.  The result is a nice boost for the 2017 Irish Open Champion as he looks to cement his place on the Irish Squad.  O’Keeffe started the season with a win in the Muskerry Senior Scratch Cup, and the performance in Co Louth signals that he’s back on form.  Greg O’Mahony built on last week’s win in Douglas with a top twenty finish.  The Fota Island member will probably be disappointed with a closing 75 having been well placed after a 71 this morning.

Sean Desmond was the only other Cork golfer to make the cut, he finished in 23rd place on +5 after a final round 72.

Mallow’s James Sugrue and Kinsale’s both missed the East as they played in the Brabazon Trophy in The Alwoodley Club in Leeds.  Sugrue had a an impressive event, finishing in the top twenty.  Like much of the field, Sugrue batteld with the back nine over the four days, but on Sunday he had four birdies on the first ten holes before he eventually succumbed to two bogeys on the closing holes.  It meant that he finished with a 70, which saw him jump from 35th to tied 18th.  Both are back in action this week in the St Andrews Links Trophy.  Murphy will be keen to show some of the form he had on display recently in the NCAA Regionals and Finals, especially as he missed the cut in Leeds last weekend.