Hickey leads Munster Boys

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Fred Daly Trophy Munster Finals 2019Fionn Hickey (Muskerry) holds a share of the lead in Ballybunion after the opening day of the Munster Boys.  Testing conditions were in play all day as 68 golfers – including 11 from Cork battled with wind and rain, and there was little in the way of respite as the rain continued into the late afternoon.  Hickey had a tough start, he had a double bogey seven on the opening hole.  He was four over after four holes but two birdies on the fifth and sixth got him back on track.  He turned on +3 and a very steady back nine (+1) saw him card a leading four over par 76.  Hickey is tied for the lead with Knock’s Lee Mitchell.

Youghal’s Charlie Flavin shot 81 to finish in the top ten while Stephen Riordan and Ronan Feerick are in the top 20.  Robbie Walsh and Alex Dineen are in the top 30 while Eoghan Casidy, Mel Deasy and Keelan McCarthy are all in the top 40.

Round two gets underway tomorrow morning at 7.54am on the Cashen course, and with better conditions forecast the race will be on to post a score in top 45.  That’s the cut mark for Friday’s final round.  The cut is currently +18, but th Continue reading →

Mairead helps Cardinals to title

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Louisville Womens Golf Cardinal Cup Oct 2019Kanturk’s Mairead Martin took second place in the Cardinal Cup as University of Louisville Womens Golf earned their first win of the season.  Playing as hosts on their home course, Louisville beat the field by eight strokes to come home in style.  Mairead was the best placed Louisville golfer, with rounds of 68, 73, 69 to finish on -6.

Now playing in her second year in Louisville, this was her best finish in a college tournament.  “It was a really great weekend,” Martin said. “I felt really comfortable out here and I enjoyed it a lot.  I felt really proud of my performance, and especially the team’s performance this weekend as well.”  She finished in second place, two shots off the lead on 210.  She carded a final-round 3-under-par 69, which included four birdies, as all of them came on the back nine.  Martin led the tournament in par-3 scoring, finishing with a 2.83 average and 2-under-par.  She was also second in par-4 scoring with a 3.87 average.

“It was an unbelievable day,” head coach Whitney Young said. “The team really came together. Everyone contributed this week, and today especially. They just kept fighting and making birdies. To be able to have my first team victory as Continue reading →

Colaiste Choilm though to Schools Final

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The 2018 Colaiste Choilm winning team

Colaiste Choilm from Ballincollig booked their place in the Munster Schools final on Monday with a hard fought win over De La Salle Waterford.  The reigning Munster champions were back in Castlemartyr, the venue where they won last year.  And they were up against the 2018 beaten finalists in the semi final.  Lee Valley’s Keelan McCarthy led the way for the Ballinollig side, he had a two hole win over Rory Milne to win the first point.  Zak Collins had to go to the 19th before he saw off the challenge from Alex King to win a second point.  Both Stephen Riordan and Jack O’Keeffe lost out to level the match at 2-2, meaning the match would be decided by John Lehane and Alex Browne.  That match went all the way to the 18th before Lehane secured the winning point for Colaiste Choilm.  In the second semi-final Colaiste an Spioraid Naoimh were very unlucky not to make it an all-Cork final.

The Bishopstown students were up against St Josephs Ballybunion and this too was a tight match.  Robbie Walsh and Jack Lucey put points on the board for the Cork side but James Walsh, Ben O’Connor and Eoghan Hallihan all lost out in the later stages of their games to see St Joesph’s advance.  Although the final was scheduled to take place in the afternoon the forecasted rain came early with lasted through the morning and early afternoon.  Unfortunately for all of the golfers, the rain persisted and a heavy downpour around lunchtime made the course unplayable.  Colaiste Choilm and St Joesph’s will now have to Continue reading →

JP McManus Pro-Am Announces Details of Ticket Tender, final 100 tickets available

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Paul McGinley, Rory McIlroy, JP McManus, Padraig Harrington and Shane Lowry after the round of golf 20/4/2018

Pictured at the JP McManus Pro-Am Launch in Adare Manor last year were Paul McGinley, Rory McIlroy, JP McManus, Padraig Harrington and Shane Lowry. Credit ©INPHO/Morgan Treacy

An additional 100 tickets will be tendered this month for the sold-out JP McManus Pro-Am, taking place at Adare Manor on the 6th & 7th July 2020. The tournament reached capacity on August 1st this year; however, due to unprecedented demand, The European Tour have released some additional tickets for public tender ahead of the sixth staging of the charity event.

Anybody wishing to submit a bid for a ticket cap, or number of ticket caps, is asked to now email tickets@jpmcmanusproam.com with their offer, full name and phone number. The highest bids will each receive the opportunity to purchase the cap or caps at the offer price they submitted.  The news comes as the no.10 ranked golfer in the world, Xander Schauffele, Ryder Cup stars Tommy Fleetwood, Tony Finau, Matthew Fitzpatrick & Tyrrell Hatton and former world boxing heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko join the field today.  Indeed, Fleetwood and Finau went head to head in Continue reading →

Sugrue named as Cork Person of the Month for October

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Sugrue Cork Person of the Month

Mallow golfer James Sugrue, who won the Amateur Championship this year, is October Person of  the Month. James has just announced he will turn Pro next summer. Pictured at the recent award presentation l/r Pat Lemasney, Southern; Manus O’Callaghan, Organiser; Ronan McManamy, M.D. Irish Examiner/The Echo; James Sugrue, Cork Person of the Month; Ann-Marie O’Sullivan, AM O’Sullivan PR; John Lehane, Lexus Cork. Pic by Tony O’Connell Photography.

Mallow golfer James Sugrue, has joined the greats of golf, and has now been named Cork Person of the Month for October. James has also announced that he will turn professional next June, after his involvement in the US Open.  Last June, the 22 year old Mallow native won gold at the 124th Amateur Championship, following in the footsteps of Cork great Jimmy Bruen, and so became only the fourth Irishman to win the Amateur Championship, with a nail-biting one-hole win over Scotland’s Euan Walker at Portmarnock.  Other past Republic of Ireland winners were Bruen, Carr and McElhinney. As a result of this win James will play in two more Majors over the next 10 months following his Open Continue reading →

Collins set for Gold Medal Challenge

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GUI LogoMonkstown’s Ferghal Collins tees it up in the K Club this week, he’s the only Cork golfer to make it through to the inaugural finals of the All Ireland Gold medal.  Collins is among the top 36 golfers, the finalists made it through to play on the famous Palmer Course in the K Club, the host course for the 2006 Ryder Cup.  There were three stages to the event, which is a unique to the GUI calendar.  It’s the only event that club golfers can participate at individual level in an all-Ireland GUI event. Spread across three different handicap categories, the competition was open to all club members with free entry for all affiliated golf clubs.  To qualify for the new competition each club who entered nominated one of their singles competitions as a club qualifier.  Entrants on the day competed in one of three handicap categories – 9 and below, 10-17 or 18 and over.  The best nett score in each category qualified for the regional final.  From there the three golfers progressed to the regional finals hosted by Cahir Park in August.  Collins was one of the top three in his category (10-17) and qualified for the All Ireland final this week.

Sharon Smurfit, Director of Golf at The K Club said: “I, along with my team are honoured that The K Club is hosting the inaugural 2019 All Ireland Gold Medal Final on our Ryder Cup Course. We look forward to welcoming the all-Ireland finalists to what will be a thrilling end to this new competition. The Ryder Cup course has hosted many special events including the Ryder Cup in 2006 and more recently the Irish Open in 2016, so the finalists will have a challenging day.”  The winners of each of the three handicap categories will be awarded the Gold Medal.

Winning 63 for Murphy in Cincinnati

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Murphy Bearcat_2

John Murphy

John Murphy claimed his first win on US soil today, winning the Bearcat Invitational in Coldstream Country Club. His 54 hole total of -17 (196) was a result of three rounds in the 60’s.  Murphy finished his summer with a win in the Mullingar Scratch Cup, and he continued his good form with an impressive start to the college season.  Yesterday he shot rounds of 67 and 66 to lead the tournament on nine under, and there was no let up today.  A birdie on the second was followed by an eagle three on the fourth hole, and another birdie on the sixth saw him turn on four under.  Another eagle followed on the tenth and he went par, birdie, bogey, birdie to get to -7 on the 14th green.  A final birdie on the 18th saw him sign for a 63 on the par 71, 7,111 yard course.  It was Murphy’s lowest competition score, beating the several impressive scores he posted on his home course in Kinsale over the summer.  The 17 under total contained 17 birdies and two eagles, and beat his previous 54 hole score of -15 from Hawaii when he finished in second place.

Murphy Bearcat

Murphy’s Louisville Cardinals also won the team event, with the first second and eighth places, Louisville finished on -37, an amazing 26 shots ahead of second placed Arkansas.  The Cardinals have a break next week before they are back in action in Tennessee in the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate.

Irish Mid-Am title for Peter O’Keeffe

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Peter O'Keeffe Irish Mid Amateur Sept 2019_2

Peter O’Keeffe (Pic: Golffile)

Peter O’Keeffe scooped a second national title today, winning the Irish Mid Amateur in Royal Belfast.  The Douglas golfer had a wire to wire win following rounds of 68,70 & 71.  His winning score of 209 was the only score to break par on the Harry Colt designed course.  O’Keeffe jumped into the lead after an opening 68 on Saturday morning, the two under par round had four birdies and one double bogey in the opening round to lead the field by one.  He followed that with a level par 70 in the afternoon, again closing with birdies on the 16th and 18th.  The 2017 Irish Open winner had a one shot lead going into today’s final round.  Rathmore’s Ben Best was one behind but two bogies on the first and second gave Peter a lead of three.  O’Keeffe went out in a steady level par, made up of seven pars, one birdie and one birdie.  The back nine was even steadier, eight pars and just one bogey on 17th say him sign for a 71.  Playing with the two nearest competitors, O’Keeffe knew he was in the lead and closed out the win with ease.  Colm Campbell and France’s Christophe DeGrancey were one back on level par for the tournament.

Kinsale’s Kieran McCarthy finished in the top ten, he finished on eight over for 8th place.  Mark Collins was one shot back and finished in 11th place.  Lee Valley’s Jason Galway was the Continue reading →