Ryan wins PGA Southern Championship

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Monkstown Captain Donal Delaney presenting the PGA Southern Championship trophy to David Ryan (East Cork GC) after his win last week.

David Ryan picked up the first bit of silverware in the PGA season last week.  The East Cork Club Pro won the Irish PGA Southern Championship in Monkstown, beating an impressive field.  Ryan went around in 66 strokes and took the title by a single stroke.  “It was great to win last week said David, “it just goes to show there’s life in the old dog yet and it was nice to have East Cork GC after the name up in lights.”  Ryan is well used to winning on the Irish PGA circuit and he has racked up a number of wins in Monkstown, as well as previously winning the Southern Championship.

“I won the same event in Powerscourt in 2012 shooting the same score.  As for Monkstown golf club I love playing up there always have. It’s the type of course that suits my game.  It’s not the longest but you have to think your away around.  I’ve had a bit of success in Monkstown.  I’ve won the pro-am and also the Morgan O’Donovan event which was a nice one to win as Morgan was one Continue reading →

€800k for Cork Clubs

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Kanturk Golf Club was one of 12 Cork clubs to receive a Sports Capital Programme grant last week. Picture: Niall O’Shea

A dozen Cork golf clubs celebrated last week as they were successful in the most recent round of Sports Capital Programme grants.  Over €830,000 was allocated to twelve clubs across the county, and they will now look forward to investing the funds to improve their course and facilities.

Kanturk, Mallow, Kinsale and Doneraile all received grants of more than €100,000 while another eight shared funds from €14,000 to €90,000.  While golf clubs have received sports capital funding in the past, the recent announcement is by far the biggest on an individual and collective Continue reading →

Early start to the season for Cork golfers

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Fota Island’s John Doyle receiving the Munster U14 Order of Merit medal from Jim Long, also included is John’s Dad Barry.

It might still be the off-season for golf in Ireland but there are a few Cork golfers have already started their 2022 campaigns.  John Murphy competed in his fourth tournament of the new season in South Africa last week.  Murphy has had a busy start to the year, after a few weeks of preseason work in Spain he travelled to California for the AT&T ProAm in Pebble Beach.  Unfortunately for John he missed the cut but it was a big learning experience for him as he teed it up alongside the stars of the PGA Tour.  From there it was a sprint across the Atlantic to South Africa for the start of the Challenge Tour.  He finished just inside the top fifty in his opening event three weeks ago, and after missing the cut in the second event he went on to secure a top twenty finish in Durban last week.  Murphy has picked up close to €5,000 in prize money this season and he’ll be hoping for another good finish this week.

Murphy clocked up over €120,000 in his thirteen tour events last year after turning professional in June.  It was a sprint for the Kinsale man over the course of five months.  He played in nine different countries on three separate tours, but most importantly he finished inside the top 70 and Continue reading →

Fitting the Key to Better Golf

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PGA Professional Padraig Dooley.
Picture: Niall O’Shea

It’s that time of year, the manufacturers have released their new golf clubs and the dazzling marketing claims and new terminology are tempting golfers to change.  Speed optimised, jailbreak speed frame, carbonwood, rebound frame and zero CG are some of the buzzwords doing the rounds this year as the manufacturers do their best to convince golfers to upgrade.  While the technology continues to improve, the price also increases with new drivers now averaging over €500 in the premium space and iron sets even more expensive.  For many club golfers a new set of clubs might cost more than their annual subscription.  While many golfers will buy off the shelf, an increasing number are choosing custom fitting.

Padraig Dooley is a PGA professional and for well over a decade he has been building up a large base of customers who Continue reading →

2022 Inter-Club Plans

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Inter-Club events are again set to be a key centre-point of the Golf Ireland calendar and a recently issued guidance document spells out some of the key features of the 2023 events.  One change in Munster will see the split of home and away matches be removed and instead one team will have the home advantage for all matches.  In 2020 a home and away arrangement was put in place, this was brought about due to the shortened season due to covid, and the need to move away from the traditional weekend events due to course availability.  This was continued last year with all matches including the area finals being split on a home and away basis.  Club surveys carried out last November saw almost two thirds of respondents in Munster favouring all matches being played at one venue.  Munster was the Continue reading →

Golf for Everyone, Golf Ireland’s new strategic plan

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Just a year after golf’s new governing body came into being, Golf Ireland this week launched an ambitious five-year plan to build on the success of the sport over the past two years.

Golf was one of a number of sports to see a big increase in participation during the pandemic.  Although courses were closed at three different stages through 2020 and 2021, the sport added over 20,000 registered players.  That increase reversed a decade of dropping numbers and there are over 200,000 Golf Ireland members with golf making as the fourth highest sport in terms of participation in Ireland.  Overall it’s thought that there are over 500,000 people who play golf once a year, and the governing body will be hoping Continue reading →

PGA Tour Debut for John Murphy

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John Murphy.  Picture: Niall O’Shea

It’s a big week for Kinsale’s John Murphy as he makes his debut on the PGA Tour at Pebble Beach.  It’s an exciting start to Murphy’s 2022 schedule, and it came thanks to a chance meeting when he was practicing in Florida in December.  He was advised to contact the AT&T Tournament Director with a letter of request and Murphy was delighted to hear back from Steve John.  “Thankfully the Tournament Director was generous enough to accept the request, he sent me a text shortly after to confirm I was i.  It’s very exciting, especially as it’s something I didn’t really expect.  It’s a great opportunity to have and I’m looking forward to trying to make the most of it.”

Murphy along with caddy Shane O’Connell travelled to California last week and the pair settled into their tournament routine.  “Since we’ve got here the prep has been very good, the weather has been great” said Shane.  Continue reading →

Carroll fighting fit in California

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Mike Carroll pictured at the American Express PGA Tour event last week.

It’s a long way from Mahon Golf Course to La Quinta California but that’s the journey that Cork’s Mike Carroll has taken.  Carroll is one of a small number of full-time golf fitness professionals, and he’s built a training business that supports all levels for golfers from beginners to veterans to tour professionals.  After studying in Limerick he moved back to Cork in 2014 where he started Fit for Golf Cork.  But by 2016 he was on the move to the US to take up a job with Mike Hansen, one of the early leaders in the area of golf fitness.  Mike worked with Hansen Fitness for Golf for 4 years and in 2021 he set out on his own and drive his own business forward.  Carroll has quickly become one of the key players in this specialist area.

“2021 was a very important year for me as I left Hansen Fitness For Golf, the company which I came over here to work for in 2016, and went full time with the Fit For Golf App.  Being able to commit fully to Fit for Golf really helped progress things.”  And the results were clear for Mike as subscriber numbers grew.  “I have been extremely happy with the growth of the app. There are currently close to 5,000 subscribers, with a huge range of countries, ages, Continue reading →

Full Schedule for Golf Ireland

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Munster Stroke Play winner Peter O’Keeffe receiving the Cork Scratch Cup from Margaret Keane, Lady President Cork Golf Club. Also included are Vincent Twohig President and Bob Savage Captain Cork Golf Club.
Picture: Niall O’Shea

For the first time in three years, the championship golf season is back to normal.  Restrictions in 2020 and 2021 meant that Golf Ireland, and previously the ILGU and GUI ran a reduced calendar with championships not starting until the second half of the year.  Thankfully the possibility of closing courses over the early months of the year is very unlikely, allowing clubs and the national governing body to plan for a full season.  This has given the new governing body their first opportunity to plan for a complete season and the 2020 schedule will see increased opportunities for men, women, boys and girls to compete together in National Championships.  Ireland’s best Senior golfers will converge on Thurles GC in May to play in the Irish Senior Men’s & Women’s Amateur Close Championships.  The event will see Karl Bornemann from Douglas defend his title in the mens event.  For the first time ever, the best boys and girls Continue reading →

Cork Golf Centre ready for 2022

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David Keating pictured at Cork Golf Centre.
Picture: Niall O’Shea

The recent wet weather may have closed some courses, but Cork Golf Centre in Ballincollig offers golfers cover from the elements and the soft ground, and it’s this ideal place to keep golfers swinging through the wet and cold winter months.  Many golfers continue to play all year around but there are a number who stay away from the course during the winter months.

The centre is one of just a few driving ranges in Cork, and it’s an ideal alternative for golfers looking to keep their swing in shape but not head out to the course.  The centre has been a busy spot over the past 12 months in particular, with a big increase in the number of active golfers playing the game.  When the centre opened in May 2017 it was a much-needed addition to the western side of the city.  It was within easy reach of a large number of golfers Continue reading →