Interest Building in BoyleSports Lee Valley Scratch Cup

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Robbie Walsh (Douglas) pictured after winning the 2023 BoyleSports Lee Valley Scratch Cup.
Picture: Niall O’Shea

The field is building for the 2024 BoyleSports Lee Valley Scratch Cup which takes place in less than three week’s time.  Already there are close to 50 entries of scratch or better, with Walker Cupper Caolan Rafferty leading the field with a handicap index of +5.6.  Rafferty leads a number of players from the north east with Eoin Murphy, Evan Farrell and Gavin Tiernan all set to tee it up on the 20th and 21st of April.

Rafferty and Murphy both played last year, and after getting the know the course on the opening day, and they both finished tied for fourth.  Evan Farrell is also in good form at the moment, reaching the quarter finals of the Connolly Motors West of Ireland in Co Sligo on Continue reading →

Cope Alliance rase over €40,000

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The Cope Golf Alliance had another successful year in 2023, and recently held their AGM where the cheque was presented to the Cork charity.  Since the late 1970’s the Alliance has raised over €1.7million, and last year they added another €43,500 to that amount.

The Alliance is in its 47th year, and each year the members raise a huge amount of money.

There are close to 500 members of the Alliance and membership is highly valued by each of the members.  It is limited to 60 men and 60 ladies from each of the four Cork clubs, Cork, Douglas, Monkstown and Muskerry, a rule which dates back to the founding of the alliance in 1977.

The four clubs provide Continue reading →

Monkstown’s Pat O’Keeffe Honoured

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Pat O Keeffe Club Volunteer of the Year Award 2023
Picture: Golffile | Denis O’Flynn
All photo usage must carry mandatory copyright credit (© Golffile | Denis O’Flynn)

Monkstown’s Pat O’Keeffe was recently honoured by Golf Ireland, he won the Munster Club Volunteer of the Year Award.  The well-known personality has been a member in Monkstown for over 50 years and after being honoured by the club at the AGM, he won the provincial award a few weeks ago.

Interestingly Pat, who led the club to two Munster pennants in the past ten years was the first in his family to play golf.  He ended up in Monkstown by happenstance.  He had only hit a few balls in the Douglas driving range and after playing nine holes in Monkstown with a member for the first time, John O’Reilly spotted him and encouraged him to join.  O’Reilly, who would later become the GUI President, was the Junior Officer and signed up Pat for an annual sub of four pounds.  O’Keeffe describes that encounter in 1972 as incredibly lucky.

O’Keeffe took to the sport quickly, going from a starting handicap of 18 to 2 within 14 months.  “I played here in the 70’s, we had a brilliant team.  We won the Aer Lingus (u22’s) in ‘76 and ’78 and Continue reading →

Muskerry Junior Scratch Trophy returns for 2024

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John McSweeney in action at the Muskerry Junior Scratch Trophy semi-final
Picture: Niall O’Shea

The Muskerry Junior Scratch Trophy returns next month with the two day qualifier taking place in mid March.  The early Easter date this year means that the qualifier will take place 15th and 16th of March and the timesheet is now open.  The event usually marks the start of the competitive season in Cork and over 300 golfers are expected to play over the two days.  32 golfers will qualify from each day, and they will then go forward to the match play stage in Muskerry which will be held over Easter at the end of March.

Starting on Good Friday, six rounds of match play will follow over three days with the two finalists playing the Continue reading →

Early Season promise from Reddy in Spain

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Sean Reddy 
Picture: James Doolan

Sean Reddy got 2024 off to a bright start last week when he finished on top of the leaderboard in Spain.  The 17 year old was playing in the final event of the Toro Tour Andalucia series and he put together 3 great rounds to finish joint first and win the amateur category.

Reddy was playing in Villa Padierna Golf Club just outside Marbella and he led from start to finish in a field which featured several professionals and elite amateurs.  The Douglas golfer was in fine form, firing in 10 birdies over the Continue reading →

O’Callaghan bringing putting to the fore

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Wayne O’Callaghan lining up a putt using the SAM Puttlab camera and video system.
Picture: Niall O’Shea

Most of the golf courses around Cork remain very soft, and instead of playing many golfers are honing their skills at ranges and through lessons and classes.  Cork Golf Centre has been a busy place since January and Wayne O’Callaghan’s putting studio is one of the busiest.  O’Callaghan started focusing on putting around four years ago and now he’s recognised as one of the leading coaches in Ireland.

Wayne has invested a lot in terms of new technology, in addition to Continue reading →

Monkstown Improvements Continue

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Monkstown Golf Club.  Pic: Niall O’Shea

Monkstown is continuing the set the pace when it comes to course improvements, the club have nearly completed phase one of their bunker redevelopment programme.  Monkstown Manager Maurice O’Meara explained what has been involved in the six month plan.  “Phase one of our bunker programme commenced in October 2023 which covered the entire back nine.  We plan to open the new bunkers and have them back in play in early April.  Phase two is planned to commence in October 2024 and will follow a similar timeline and will hopefully be completed and re-opened in April 2025.”

“The programme is a complete redesign of the existing bunkers, and modernisation with new and Continue reading →

Membership Options in Cobh and Youghal

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Youghal Golf Club. Picture: Niall O’Shea

We’re just about into February and many golfers who took the winter off will be targeting their return to the fairways this month.  Many clubs have announced membership offers for those looking to join a club, an option that gives golfers a number of benefits compared with casual golfers.

Golf Ireland is the national governing body for the sport and any affiliated club can provide a Golf Ireland handicap index for new members looking to play in competitions.  Generally three rounds of golf are needed to get an initial handicap index, but once a golfer has that there are very limitations.  Club members can usually access a large number of weekly open Continue reading →

Irish Mens Debut for Jack Murphy

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Jack Murphy

Jack Murphy is making his Irish Men’s debut this week, the teenager was selected on the Irish team that is taking in the Octagonal Tournament in Spain.  The tournament features eight European countries, with Ireland set to compete against England, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland and Spain.  The eight competing teams will be drawn into two groups of four, which will be decided by a lottery during the team presentation ceremony. Each match will have three foursomes matches in the morning and six singles in the afternoon.  Once the round robin has concluded, the two groups will compete with each other according to their group position to determine their overall tournament finish.

Murphy’s selection should be no surprise given his form.  Last year was another very positive year for the Douglas golfer.  Early in 2023 he committed to Washington College after getting a scholarship offer from the Division 1 college.  Once the season started won the Connacht and Munster Continue reading →

Busy January for Stephen Hayes in Cork Golf Centre

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PGA Professional Stephen Hayes pictured at Cork Golf Centre.  Picture: Niall O’Shea

The January weather continues to hamper many golfers, the recent cold temperatures have meant that many courses have had delayed opening times or stay closed, further impacting the available time for golfers to play with the limited daylight hours.  With limited playing options the driving ranges in Cork have been busy, and many golfers are also tuning up their games with lessons from their PGA Professional.  Stephen Hayes, is one of those, and he’s had a busy January so far.

Hayes is one of five PGA professionals working from Cork Golf Centre in Ballincollig, and the range and the teaching bays have been busy since Christmas.  Hayes encourages all golfers to hit a few balls at the range.  “This is a great time of the year to get to the driving range as the golf courses are closed quite a bit due to poor weather.  If you have been planning to play at the weekend and the course is closed, use some of that time at the range” suggests Hayes.

He’s also advises golfers to focus on the their time at the range to get the most from it.  “When you go to the range it is so important that you go, they’re with a plan and don’t just beat balls.  Identify wh Continue reading →