Trojan effort from O’Keeffe just falls short

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com
Gameface; Peter O'Keeffe in action in the South of Ireland in Lahinch last year

Peter O’Keeffe in action in the South of Ireland in Lahinch last year

Peter O’Keeffe’s two week marathon is finally over, but after eight rounds of golf in five days the Douglas member came agonisingly close to claiming his second major amateur title.  This morning O’Keeffe dispatched Robert Brazill on the 17th green to reach the final of the North of Ireland in Portrush.  This afternoon he faced England’s Arron Edwards-Hill in the final.  Having spent last week in Lahinch caddying for Robin Dawson, O’Keeffe was onto day 11 of his golfing marathon.  He was heading into his 14th round this afternoon, and he was determined to give it his all in pursuit of the famous provincial title.

Gallery: Golffile’s North of Ireland Final Round Gallery

The final started with a few scrappy holes, Edwards-Hill won the first, Peter won the second, and Edwards-Hill won the third when O’Keeffe lost a ball.  But after that the golf improved with both Continue reading →

Top Four for Fionn in Leinster, Final Four for Peter in Portstewart

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com
Douglas Senior Senior Scratch Cup26th May 2019

Fionn Hickey

It was another positive day for Cork golfers, 16 year old Fionn Hickey was in the prizes a the Leinster Boys while Peter O’Keeffe dispatched another two challengers and is into the semi-final of the North of Ireland.

Muskerry’s Fionn Hickey continued his positive set of results this summer with a fourth place finish at the Leinster Boys.  Played in Waterford Golf Club over the past three days, Hickey close with a one under par 70.  Three birdies in his final five holes helped the Muskerry golfer move up one spot on the leaderboard, and he also won the best Under 17 prize.  Mel Deasy (Lee Valley) finished inside the top ten, two birdies on the back nine helped improve his position after going through the front nine in +3 today.  Keelan McCarthy and Robbie Walsh came home together in 14th position.  Both golfers shot identical rounds of 74,73,78 over the three days, while Mallow’s Daniel O’Sullivan was one shot back in 22nd place.

In Portstewart, Peter O’Keeffe claimed his fourth matchplay win in two day, closing out all four matches before he reached the 18th hole.  In the round of 32, O’Keeffe faced Jake Rowe from Tandragee, and he beat the Ulsterman 2&1.  This afternoon he faced Malone’s Matthew McClean in the quarter-final and closed out the match on the 16th after holding a solid lead throughout.

Douglas Senior Senior Scratch Cup26th May 2019

Peter O’Keeffe

Tomorrow morning the Douglas golfer will face the top qualifier and 2018 West of Ireland winner Rob Brazill from Naas.  Both golfers are currently on the Irish Senior Mens panel and it promises to be an interesting match.  In the second semi final, Liam Grehan will take on Arron Edwards-Hill.  O’Keeffe has been on the road for well over a week.  Last week he caddied for his friend Rob Dawson in the Irish Open in Lahinch, and when they finished up on Sunday, O’Keeffe made the long journey to the Northern coastline for Monday’s first round in the strokeplay qualifier.

Vintage celebration for Vintners GS

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com
Cork Vintners 50th Anniversary_June 2019_1

Pat Bourke, Peter Collins and Fergal Murray pictured at Douglas Golf Club. Picture: Niall O’Shea

The Cork Vintners GS celebrated their 50th anniversary in style recently with a great day out in Douglas and Carrigaline recently.  Douglas Golf Club was the first stop for the society and they had a packed timesheet for a bumper society outing.  With past captains and officers joining the large current playing membership, it was a day to enjoy the golf and the stories that spanned the last 50 years.  After the golf it was off to Carrigaline Court Hotel where Peter Collins hosted 150 people for a gala celebration dinner.  Chairman of the organising committee Michael O’Donovan was delighted with the day and night.  “A great night was had by all in The Carrigaline Court Hotel where almost 150 people told stories and sang and danced the night away. I must thank John McHenry and all the team at Douglas Golf Club, the course was in fantastic condition and the Continue reading →

Last 16 for O’Keeffe in North

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com
Peter O'Keeffe

Peter O’Keeffe

The O’Keeffe train kept on pulling today.  After well over a week on the road Peter O’Keeffe put together back to back wins in Portstewart today to get through to the last 16 in the North of Ireland.  He had another action packed day today, at 8.03am he was on the first tee facing Eoghan Collins.  A steady performance saw him dispatch the Laytown & Bettystown member on the 16th.  This afternoon he faced Rosslare’s Ian Lynch, and the Douglas man got off  to a flier winning four of the first seven holes.  O’Keeffe held his lead before eventually winning 3&1.  He’s now safely through to tomorrow’s third round where he’ll face Tandragee’s Jake Rowe.

After spending most of last week in Lahinch where he was working with Robin Dawson, O’Keeffe left Co Clare on Sunday to head for the North, where he had an afternoon tee time for the first round in Castlerock.  A poor start on Monday (+5) was followed by a very impressive 69 on Tuesday when he played on Portstewart’s championship links.

Paul Buckley had a good win this morning when the Kanturk native had a 4&2 win against Barry Cashman.  That saw him face Geoff Lenehan in the second round. Buckley was one up early doors but Portmarnock’s Lenehan, who was tied as the strokeplay leader battled hard and won 4&2.

Cathal Butler was a casualty in this morning’s first round.  Despite a bright start which saw him go two up on Aaron Edwards Hill, the Englishman fought back and beat Butler on the 17th.

Monkstown’s 180 hole Challenge

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

Cian McNamara Jul 2019Monkstown Golf Club are hosting a unique challenge on Saturday, two golfers will try and complete 180 holes in one day. Monkstown’s Club Professional Cian McNamara and General Manager Brian Hurley have set themselves the challenge to play ten rounds of golf in one day. Playing under the rules of golf, and counting both scores, the pair will be walking the course adding to the difficulty of the task. Starting at 4.30am on Saturday morning (28 minutes before dawn!), the challenge is expected to last well into the evening, and with no guarantee of success the two PGA Professionals will have a long day ahead of them on Saturday. The only other similar feat in Cork was completed by Lee Valley’s Denis O’Brien who completed seven rounds at the Clashnure course in Ovens well over a decade ago.

While other similar challenges have been completed in the US, the ten round target is a unique event in Ireland. The event is a fundraiser for the Monkstown Cups and Shields teams, and give that the Club Pro and the GM are doing all of the hard work, it’s not surprising that many of the club members have jumped in to sponsor the holes. All 180 holes in the challenge are now sponsored and with Ronan Murphy’s Smarttech 24/7 joining in as the main sponsor for the event, the club is well on the way to achieving the €10,000 target they set for themselves.

The event has become a real talking point in Monkstown, with many golfers question the reality (and sanity) of trying to complete the 180 hole challenge. That said there’s a great atmosphere around the fundraiser and a large number of members and supporters are expected to come out to cheer on the two golfers on Saturday. While there won’t be too many out for the 4.30am start, it is expected that the crowds will build, especially on Saturday evening.

O’Keeffe, Butler & Buckley through in North of Ireland

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com
Peter O'Keeffe

Peter O’Keeffe

Peter O’Keeffe staged a huge recovery at the North of Ireland today, jumping over 100 places on the leaderboard to make it into the matchplay stage of the provincial championship.  O’Keeffe, who only arrived in Portstewart yesterday after a week in Lahinch, needed to dig deep after an opening 78 (+5) in Castlerock yesterday.  And the big hitting Douglas golfer did just that, shooting a three under par 69 to finish inside the top 40, with two shots to spare from the cut mark of +4.  It wasn’t plain sailing for O’Keeffe on Portstewart’s Strand course, host of the 2017 Irish Open.  The 2017 Irish Open winner was two over after three holes, but two birdies and an eagle over the next four holes got him back in track.  A handful of pars followed until he dropped two more birdies on the 14th and 17th.  A bogey on the last meant he signed for a 69 and at that stage O’Keeffe was thinking it Continue reading →

East Cork advance in Junior Cup

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com
AIG Junior Cup 2019South Munster Area Final

Shane Connors

East Cork booked their place in the Munster finals of the AIG Junior Cup with a dramatic win in the area final.  Muskerry was the venue for the exciting match last week when it hosted the area final of the Junior Cup.  Bandon were hoping add a second team to the schedule for the Munster finals, that was after their AIG Senior Cup team qualified for the finals in Tramore the previous week.  East Cork were their opponents, the Midleton club came through from the Castlemartyr qualifier but only by the skin of their teeth after winning when the last match went to the 19th hole.

Muskerry was in great condition for the match, and the intense sunshine was welcomed by the large crowd of spectators from both clubs.  Area finals in recent times have been tense affairs with matches invariably going down to the last few holes Continue reading →

Walsh wins in Oughterard, Connacht Boys Champion

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com
Dubai Duty Free Irish Open

Enter a Robert Walsh JNR (Kinsale) winner of the Connacht Boys Amateur Championship 2019. Picture: Golffile | Fran Caffrey

Robbie Walsh claimed his first provincial title today when he overturned a three shot deficit to win the Connacht Boys in Oughterard.  It was a long three days for the Kinsale golfer, he was in contention from the start and held a share of the lead with Galgorm Castle’s Joshua Hill after an opening 68.  He fell back to second place after round two though when he shot a level par 72 and Hill shot a 69.  With a three shot lead, Hill was favourite to win the title, and after the opening nine it still looked like that.  The Kinsale teenager was still three behind at the turn but two mistakes from Hill and a birdie from Walsh on the par five 14th saw the pair tied for the lead on the 16th tee.  Hill went one ahead with a birdie on the 16th, but he closed with two bogies that would put him into second place.  Walsh’s birdie on the par three 17th was crucial, it gave him a one shot lead heading to the 18th tee.  Although both golfers bogied the last, Walsh knew he had a cushion and claimed his first provincial title.

Muskerry’s Fionn Hickey carded a final round 69 (-2) to move up to 4th place, that’s another good result after he won the Under 17 trophy at the Irish Boys last week.  Jack Egan (Muskerry) and Keelan McCarthy (Lee Valley) both finished inside the top twenty, and Ronan Feerick (Mallow) dropped Continue reading →