Karl Bornemann leads the way in Senior Cup Alliance

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Kerl Bornemann
Picture: Niall O’Shea

The final event of the Senior Cup Winter Alliance took place at Douglas Golf Club on Saturday, and home favorite Karl Bornemann was out of the blocks quickly shooting are very impressive 5 under par for the 12 hole competition.

Monkstown’s Nick Moore took second place just one shot behind the winner with James Walsh and Colin McGuire and Zac Collins from Muskerry all finishing on three under.  Ronan O’Keefe, JP Barry, Donal McDonnell, Paddy Quill and Jack Murphy rounded out the top 10, all finishing on two under par.

It was a clean sweep for Douglas when it came to the overall order of merit where the best three scores counted.  James Walsh took the overall series prize, narrowly beating Karl Bornemann with Jack Murphy in 3rd place.  Walsh got the series off to a fine start when he won in Muskerry on the opening day of the series. Sean Desmond had home win in Monkstown at the second event and Peter O’Keeffe was the winner Cork Continue reading →

Douglas golfers lead the way at Munster Golf Awards

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Teresa Coughlan pictured with her grandchildren Clodagh Coughlan and Jack Murphy who both won Golf Ireland Munster Order of Merit awards for 2022.

THE 2022 Golf Ireland Order of Merit award winners received their medals in Mallow last week, with Douglas golfers taking no less than four of the award categories. 

Peter O’Keeffe, Clodagh Coughlan and Jack Murphy were all winners while there were also wins for Fermoy’s Darragh Nolan and Castlemartyr’s John O’Brien.  First cousins Clodagh Coughlan and Jack Murphy were among the recepients for Douglas.  Clodagh won the Women’s Order of Merit Award after another impressive season. She had top-three finishes in scratch cups in Portrush and Hermitage and also finished in third place in the Munster Women’s Open in Tralee. She also won her first scratch cup when she led the field in the 36-hole competition in her home club, Douglas. Continue reading →

Murphy & Doyle selected for GoIf Ireland High Performance Panel

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Jack Murphy (Douglas) pictured during the Irish Boys Close Championship at Monkstown Golf Club. Picture: Niall O’Shea

The Golf Ireland Underage High Performance and Performance Development coaching panels for 2023-24 have been selected with two Cork golfers making the Boys Under 18 panel.  R&A Boys’ Amateur leading qualifier Jack Murphy (Douglas) along with Irish Boys Close winner John Doyle (Fota Island) are among the 12 selected, that also includes European Junior Ryder Cup bolter Sean Keeling (Roganstown) will look to have another outstanding year as part of the Under 18 Boys Continue reading →

Shane O’Connell enjoying life on Tour

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Shane O’Connell

Shane O’Connell is enjoying a well earned break, the Kinsale man travelled more than most in 2022.  Caddying with John Murphy, the 25 year old visited 15 different countries in 2022.  That involved two trips to the US, and another two to  South Africa.  He was on the bag for Murphy in all 34 events this year, and was there to celebrate with him when he qualified for the DP World Tour in November.

Shane jumped on the bag for Murphy in June 2021 when the Walker Cup star turned professional and he hasn’t looked back since.  Travel is a central part of tour life and Shane has had to navigate air travel, hotels and rental cars ever before they get to a golf Continue reading →

O’Keeffe wins Senior Cup Alliance at Cork

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Peter O’Keeffe was the latest winner in the Cork Senior Cup Alliance.  The Douglas golfer shot a winning three under par score in Cork Golf Club on Saturday to win the third event of the series.  Starting on the 15th hole, O’Keeffe got off to a fast start with a birdie on the par four.  He added another on the 2nd but gave that back on the short third hole.  He picked up another two birdies including one on the 12th hole on the way back to finishing the 15 hole competition.

Jack Murphy and Paddy Quill were just one shot off the lead, with Karl Bornemann and James Walsh also finishing in the red on one under.  Eoghan Ling, Morgan Cain and Tom Tupper signed for level par.  In total 26 golfers played which is a great result considering the recent weather.  It’s hoped to schedule the last of the four events in Douglas before the end of December.

Desmond takes home win at Senior Cup Alliance

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Sean Desmond made the most of home advantage in Monkstown on Saturday, he shot one under in testing conditions to win the second senior cup alliance event.  Desmond produced a great display of golf to finish one under and one shot ahead of the field of over 30 golfers.

Desmond eagled the par four fourth hole and followed that with a birdie on the fifth which was playing really hard in the cold wet conditions.  He did give tow shots back to the course on 6th and 8th, but he played very steady golf on the way back to finish as the only player under par.

Muskerry’s Stephen Riordan finished in second place on level par, he’s just back from the Faldo Series Grand Final in Dubai and the warm weather practice is still paying dividends for him.  Jack Murphy from Douglas took third place with a two over par 60 and Conor McDowell and Robbie Walsh were next best on 61.

This was the second event in the series, James Walsh was the winner on Muskerry last month.  The competition for members of Cork, Douglas, Monkstown and Muskerry was created to keep a competitive aspect for inter-club players through the winter months.  The next event is scheduled for Cork Golf Club on Saturday 3rd December.

 

Cork Senior Cup Alliance (Monkstown)

1 Sean Desmond (Monkstown) 57

2 Stephen Riordan (Muskerry) 58

3 Jack Murphy (Douglas) 60

4 Conor McDowell (Monkstown) 61

5 Robbie Walsh (Douglas) 61

Mahon Launch new Trackman Studio

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Mahon juniors pictured with PGA Professional Stephen Hayes in the new Trackman Studio.

Mahon Golf Club have recently installed a new Trackman Studio which will be a huge boost for their members.  The new development comes after a few years of planning from the city club.  Given that the course has no means for expansion, a range or outdoor practice wasn’t an option, so the club instead looked at the option of building an indoor simulator.  2021 Club Captain Denis Kavanagh was one of the people behind the initiative and he explained how the exciting development came about.

“The Club Committee formed a sub-committee in 2020 to look into options available to develop some alternative to a practice range, that would provide members and juveniles alike with facilities to develop their game” said Kavanagh.  “After researching what options were available by contacting other clubs, and speaking with Golf Simulator suppliers both in the UK and Denmark, a preferred solution was agreed.  The sub-committee then met Continue reading →

Stephen Hayes keeping golfers winter ready

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Stephen Hyes has launched his winter coaching programmes at Cork Golf Centre.
Picture: Niall O’Shea

PGA Professional Stephen Hayes is planning for a busy off-season, he’s developed a new golf coaching plan that should allow golfers to improve over the winter months.  After a busy summer, Hayes has switched up the coaching options, focusing on a structured approach that takes in four sessions over the course of a number of weeks.  “I came up with the Long Game Winter Assessment as a way of structuring a lesson and practice plan for my students over the winter” explained Stephen.  “The first step is carrying out a 90 minute assessment with the students which includes a TPI movement screening, Trackman video and data analysis and a Trackman combine test.  The second step is then sitting down with the student to go through the findings and agree on a plan going forward over the winter. The student can then choose option of five lessons, they can also choose the length of each coaching lesson; 30, 45 or 60 minutes.”

The TPI screening, developed and pioneered by the Titleist Performance Institute has become the industry Continue reading →

Morgan Cain and Stephen Riordan in UAE golf action

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Morgan Cain and Stephen Riordan were in the United Arab Emirates last week, the Cork pair were taking part in the Faldo Series Grand final which saw close to 60 golfers from over 20 countries take part in the 54-hole event.  The Cork lads qualified for the final back in August in Luttrellstown Castle and along with Lauren Kelly book their place at Al Ain.  Morgan Cain from Cork Golf Club finished in 5th place, on 7 under par for his three rounds.

Cain shot rounds of 70, 67 and 66, and the final round 66 included a birdie on the last which ensured he had a top-five Continue reading →

Ryan & O’Sullivan take PGA win in Castlemartyr

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David Ryan (East Cork) and Shane Sullivan (Callaway Golf) receiving the Munster PGA Fourball Trophy from Ted Higgins at the first Winter Series event at Castlemartyr Links.

The Munster PGA made a welcome return to the course this week with their first Winter Series event in two years.  Castlemartyr Golf Links was the venue for the first event and the format was a fourball with the Munster PGA Fourball Cup on offer for the winners.  David Ryan from East Cork and Shane O’Sullivan from Callaway Golf led the way with a really impressive 63.  The pair set off on an early charge that saw them six under par after eight holes.  Ryan dropped birdies at the 2nd, 5th, 6th and 8th, while O’Sullivan added two more on the 2nd and 7th holes.  The back nine was a bit quieter with six pars and just three birdies, but it meant that they finished on nine under par and were the clear winners with five shots to spare over the field.

Tied for second were Donal McSweeney (Lahinch) and Gavin Continue reading →