Fernhill & Fota through to Irish Open Pro-Am Qualifier Final

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Dooks was the venue yesterday for the Munster staging of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Pro-Am qualifier.  Close to 30 teams from clubs all over Munster took part in the fourball competition.  The top four clubs have qualified for the final which takes place in The K Club in two weeks.  Tony O’Donovan and Cathy McGuinness from Fernhill combined for a winning 43 points to finish first on the day.  Fota Island’s Anthony O’Connor and Pauline McKechnie took fourth place with 41 points to also book their place in the final.  Tipperary and Killarney were the other qualifiers.

Dooks

Dooks Golf Club

The Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Club Challenge is one of the key elements of Rory McIlroy’s ‘five point plan’ to encourage golf clubs to Continue reading →

Fred Daly wins for Mallow & Cobh, Country Clubs Results

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The last remaining quarter finals of the Fred Daly Trophy took place over the weekend at Douglas and Monkstown.  Mallow played their second match and again won on a 4-1 scoreline.  The Munster champions beat Youghal on Sunday, and for the second week running they won without losing a match.

Fred Daly Trophy (South Munster) 2016 Draw

Cobh had a thrilling win over East Cork on Continue reading →

Murphy selected for Fairhaven Trophy

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John Murphy April 2016Kinsale’s John Murphy has been selected on the Irish Boys team that will travel to the Fairhaven Trophy.  Murphy is one of a team of four from Ireland and this will mark his second international event.

Murphy has had a good start to the season, he played well in France and he also made the cut last weekend at the Lee Valley Senior Scratch Cup.  The leaving cert student is a busy man, he was at a training camp with the Irish Boys this weekend and he’ll head off  to North West England.  In addition to this, Murphy also played with the Kinasle Fred Daly trophy team last weekend – twice!  Kinsale saw off Douglas in the first round, and then they beat Blarney in the second round.  They will face Fota Island in the South Munster semi-final.

The Fairhaven Trophy is a 72 hole strokeplay event that takes place over three days.  Fairhaven is a championship links course next to the Open Championship venue, Lytham & St Annes.  150 golfers will take part in the competition.  It’s the first time that a Cork golfer has been selected since Mallow’s James Sugrue went in 2013 & 2014.  Sugrue finished in 10th place in 2014 .

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McCormack wins Douglas Senior Scratch Cup

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Douglas Senior Scratch Cup 2016

Andrew McCormack (Castletroy) 

Andrew McCormack stormed to his first senior scratch cup win today as he shot two rounds in the 60’s to run away from the field.  The Castletroy golfer’s 69,68 proved to be five shots better than the field and he scooped top prize.  McCormack was third in Muskerry and second in Lee Valley last week so he’s the form golfer in Munster at the moment.  McCormack has three bogeys over the 36 holes, but the ten birdies more than compensated.  It was a 1-2 for Castletroy as Continue reading →

Aimpoint Clinic returning to Douglas Golf Club

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Aimpoint Express is returning to Cork next month.  Stephen Hayes from Douglas GC Pro-Shop is teaming up with Donal Scott again to bring a two-hour masterclass on the popular green reading system.

Donal Scott

Donal Scott, Aimpoint Level 3 Instructor

Scott is one of only three qualified Aimpoint coaches in Ireland and the Leopardstown based PGA Professional has been working with the system for around five years: “I first became interested in AimPoint in 2011 when I contacted a friend and mentor mine John Graham about the possibility of hosting a clinic here in Ireland.  I completed my training with the founder Mark Sweeney that year as he was over in Ireland for the Solheim Cup that year.  Worldwide you have 45,000 amateurs, 500 juniors and 200 tour pros who have been coached in AimPoint green reading.  Adam Scott and Continue reading →

Top class field in place for Douglas Senior Scratch Cup

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Douglas is the place to be tomorrow, their Senior Scratch Cup will be the third of four consecutive cups that are taking place in April.  With Muskerry and Lee Valley complete, Douglas and Cork remain in what has proved to be an exciting month for Category 1 golfers in the county and indeed the province.  Eanna Griffin, Andrew McCormack and Shane Hogan lead the golfers that hoping to take the title outside of the county.  Gary O’Flaherty, David O’Donovan, John Hickey and holder Daniel Halliessey lead the local challenge, while Peter O’Keeffe will be representing his home club Douglas and he’s like nothing better than to mare his return to amateur status with his first big win on his own turf.

Golf_Douglas SSC_Daniel Hallissey_May2015_web

2015 winner Daniel Hallissey (Muskerry) pictured with Kieran Canty and  Brian O’Brien, Captain Douglas GC. 

Kieran Canty has been a busy man over the past few weeks, as a committed Douglas member, Kieran is one of the main drivers behind the scratch cup and he’s also sponsoring the event.  Senior Scratch Cups have been a challenge for most clubs over the past 8-10 years.  Limited numbers of entrants, pressure on timesheets, and competition from national and provincial events have all impacted on the perceived importance and prestige of senior scratch cups.  Douglas Continue reading →

Munster PGA Winter Series Finale

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Cian McNamara won the Premium Golf Brands Order of Merit on Monday as the Munster PGA winter series drew to a close.  The Morgan O’Donovan Perpetual Trophy hosted by Monkstown marked the final event in the weather affected winter series.  McNamara finished in third place on day but that was enough to pip his friend David Ryan for the title.  McNamara won earlier this year in Adare, on the day that the course closed before a major redevelopment project got underway.  He placed in Castlemartyr, Monkstown and Fota Island to stay on top of the leaderboard.   The PGB Order of Merit Continue reading →

St Colman’s win Schools Junior Championship

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2016 Irish Schools Junior Championship at Athlone Golf Club

St Colman’s Irish Schools Junior Champions.Picture by Pat Cashman

St Colman’s Fermoy put their name on the golfing map yesterday when they won the Irish Schools Junior Championships in Athlone.  St Colman’s won the title with two shot margin over the other three finalists and they took home the coveted green pennant.

Cashman Photography Gallery – Irish Schools Junior Championships Final

It was Colman’s first time to win the title.  More details to follow.