Wet Weather in East Cork

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Pictured on a dry spring day, the 12th at East Cork Golf Club.  Pic: Niall O’Shea

The recent wet weather has not been kind to Cork golf courses, with many closed at different times over the past two weeks.  While Midleton and Glanmire were in the news, the heavy rain also had a devastating impact on East Cork Golf Club.  Close to 30 centimetres of rain fell on the course, and when feeder streams to the Owenacurra burst its banks a large part of the course was underwater.

Head greenkeeper Alex Newenham explained the impact of the heavy rain on the course.  “The day of Storm Babet saw the two rivers that border it burst their banks.  Our 12th fairway and 13th and 15th fairways Continue reading →

Mark Healy, the Tusculum Pioneer

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Mark Healy pictured with Morgan Cain after their win.

Mark Healy’s journey to Tennessee started out as a college student and while the journey isn’t over, Mark is now director of the golf programme he was playing in just two years ago.  Healy first went to Tennessee in 2019 after finishing his Leaving Certificate in Hamilton High School.  Although it was Covid interrupted, Mark played for three years on the golf team, racking up a few top twenty results for the Division 2 college.

In addition to his golf exploits, Mark also secured a degree in economics.  And when he decided to stay on to pursue a post graduate degree, he took on a role of associate coach with the golf Continue reading →

Byrne continues form, Walsh second at Intervarsities

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Sara Byrne

Sara Byrne continued her current run of form with a solid, performance at the World Amateur Team Championships in Abu Dhabi last week.  Byrne started with a blistering 68 on the opening day, taking full advantage of an early tee time and cooler playing conditions.  Six birdies in that opening round showed that the course was set up for low scores and at the end of the opening day Byrne led the field of 108 golfers.  A later tee time on the second day meant Sara was playing in the hottest part of the day, and a Continue reading →

Byrne claims first NCAA Win

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Sara Byrne has had a good start to her final year in college in Miami. Pic: Niall O’Shea

While there was little in the way of golf in Cork last weekend, there were a few Cork golfers making waves.  Sara Byrne recorded his first NCAA win last week when she came out on top in the Pat Bradley Invitational in Florida.  Byrne opened with a level par 72, but found herself eight shots off the lead after teammate Barbora Bujakova shot a 64.  It didn’t even look like Byrne might match par after a tough start.  She found herself three over par after just five holes thanks to three bogies in a row from the third hole.  Four birdies would follow to get Byrne into the red but a bogey on the second last hole saw her sign for level par.

Day two saw a very different start from Byrne, she dropped six bridies in her opening nine holes to race up the leaderboard.  A level par Continue reading →

Cork hosts MacKenzie Society Gathering

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Harry Canning receiving the MacKenzie Gathering trophy from Alan McKinght. Pic: Niall O’Shea

Cork Golf Club celebrated part of their history when the club hosted the 33rd Annual Gathering of the Alister MacKenzie Society.  MacKenzie was the most prolific course architect and designer in the early 1900’s.  MacKenzie is responsible for some of the most famous golf courses from the first half of the last century including Augusta National, Cypress Point and Royal Melbourne.

In 1925 he came to Cork and redeveloped the Little Island links which had been home to Cork since 1897.  MacKenzie also had a hand in designs in Muskerry and Douglas in the 1920’s as well as designing Lahinch’s famous Old Continue reading →

Impressive US Debut for Cain

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Mark Healy pictured with Morgan Cain after their win.

Cork duo Morgan Cain and Mark Healy were part of a win in the US last week when their college team Tusculum Pioneers won the King University Invitational.  Healy is in his first year as Director of Golf Operations while Cain joined the Pioneers as a student freshman in August.

Morgan Cain was playing in his first NCAA event and he led the competition after day one thanks to a four under par round.  Cain posted five birdies on the opening round including three on his outward nine for a 32.  He moved his score to -4 with a birdie on the 13th before surrendering a bogey on the 16th. He bounced back with a birdie on 17 and would end the day with a par on the final hole for his opening 66.  He got off to a rocky start in the second round as he went out with a 38, but shot three-under par 32 for his final nine holes of Continue reading →

No joy for Cork clubs at inter-club finals

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The final weekend of AIG Inter-Club All-Ireland finals took place in Westport over the week with five competitions down for decision.  It was the third weekend of events and it saw Cork clubs still looking for their first green pennant of the 2023 campaign.  Quarter-finals had taken place already in these events, and that meant the there were just two Cork teams in action from the five competitions.  Lee Valley had qualified from Munster East in the Women’s Minor Cup, the Cork club have a good record in the ladies cups events and they saw off the challenge from Rockmount in the semi-final on Thursday.  Impressive wins for Emma O’Halloran, Dinah O’Mahony and Joesphine Martin saw them through to the final on Continue reading →

Douglas Senior Scratch Cup set for Saturday

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2022 winner Morgan Cain

The Douglas Senior Scratch Cup takes place on Saturday and it marks one of the last opportunities for a major title in Cork this season.  The 36 hole competition is set to attract a strong field for is usually a very competitive event.  Holder Morgan Cain is not around to defend his title.  The Cork member is the US now having moved to Tusculum University in Tennessee last month to start his first year with Pioneers golf programme.

2021 winner Peter O’Keeffe will be among the favourites for the event.  After finishing in second place on five occasions he finally won his home scratch cup two years ago.  He’ll be hoping to add a second title this Continue reading →

Poucher wins Kinsale Scratch Cup

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Partin Poucher receiving the Kinsale Senior Scratch Cup from Tim Smyth from sponsors ODG Advisory.

Martin Poucher claimed his first scratch cup in almost a decade when he won in Kinsale on Saturday.  The Limerick native was the only one to get around Farrangalway in level par in what was a very testing morning for golf.  The winner found himself three over par after 12 holes, but a massive 40 foot birdie putt dropped to start a charge to the finish.  Three more pars and two birdies followed, he birdied the last to get to level and that proved to be the winning score.

West Waterford’s Mark Shanahan was one behind the winner on +1 and Cork’s Jonathan O’Sullivan took third place with a 74.  James Walsh rounded off the prize winners in fourth place, he also shot a two over Continue reading →

Grant wins Douglas PGA Open Series

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Douglas Golf Club hosted it’s first fully professional tournament in a few decades last week when the Irish Region PGA Open Series took place.  This was the only event to take place in Cork in 2023 and was the 35th event in a packed schedule of tournaments.  The tournament was played from the challenging par 70 Black Course, and with Douglas in great condition for the event, there was some very positive feedback from the players.

Despite playing 36 holes over two days there was a tie at the top.  Nicky Grant shot a second round 66 to get to -7 but Ryan Gribben had a six under par round for 64 to also get to -7.  Unlike most Irish Region events, there was no sharing of the win and Continue reading →