Munster lead after Day Two in Athenry, GUI Interprovincial Championship

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Sugrue & Michael P

James Sugrue pictured with Michael P Murphy after his win this afternoon.

Munster’s fate is very much on their own hands tomorrow as they have a chance to win the Inter Provincial title in Athenry.  After a narrow loss to Ulster yesterday, the Munster team bounced back today with a strong win over Connacht.  Munster lead 2.5-1.5 after the Foursomes this morning, but they had a strong return in the singles, winning six of the seven matches.

James Sugrue, Eanna Griffin, Peter O’Keeffe and Andrew McCormack all won down 18 in what was a closely fought contest overall.  John Hickey enjoyed a clear-cut 4&3 win against Joe Lyons and Garry O’Flaherty held sway in the back match, beating home favourite David Kitt 3&2.

As Leinster beat Ulster it means that all four teams have one win and one loss going into the final day. With the four team tied, the advantage is with Munster who have the highest number of match wins, they have a 1.5 match lead over Connacht.  If Munster win the chances are they will win the title after a four year gap.

Interpro 2018

Munster v Leinster, 08:40 Foursomes
A McCormack & C Butler v C Rafferty & E Smith; J Sugrue & E Griffin v J Yates & R Brazill; G Lenehan & P O’Keeffe v A Fahey & C Denvir; G O’Flaherty & J Hickey v R Cannon & R Moran Continue reading →

Deasy Doubles Up – Munster Boys Under 16 Open Winner

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Munster Boys Under 16 Amateur Open 2018 Newcastlewest Golf Club Thursday 21st August 2018Mel Deasy (Bantry Bay) bagged his second Munster title when he won the Munster Boys Under 16 Open at Newcastlewest today.  The Munster Under 15 champion from two weeks ago, Mel was up against a tough field for the Under 16 Open.  Deasy started the second round in a  four-way tie for the lead, and a rain delay meant he started his final round an hour later than scheduled.  A hard south westerly wind tested everyone and Deasy parred the opening hole which proved problematic for many golfers.  A solid front nine followed with birdies on the 4th and 8th holes.  That gave the Ballincollig man a two shot lead over the field as he faced into the final nine holes.  The back nine proved testing, with Deasy dropping shots on the 12th and 15th.  After his playing partner Joshua McCabe fired in two birdies leaving the Bantry golfer two behind.  McCabe found trouble coming home however dropping four shots over the 16th and 17th.  That gave Deasy back his two shot lead, and he played the 18th like a pro.  He found the fairway off the tee and played a steady approach that finished just short of the green on the long par four.  A chip and two putts later he was the Munster Boys Under 16 Champion.  His one over par second round meant that he finished on a level par total of 140 for this two rounds.

Gallery: Munster Boys U16 Open 2018, Newcastlewest GC

Munster Boys Under 16 Amateur Open 2018 Newcastlewest Golf Club Thursday 21st August 2018Joshua McCabe (Roganstown) was second, one shot behind Deasy, and third place went to Robert Galligan (Elm Park).  Kinsale’s Robbie Walsh had a disappointing second round of 81, dropping outside the top ten.  Muskerry’s Stephen Riordan jumped ten places following his second round but Jack Murphy and  Brian McCarthy both dropped places in the testing conditions.  They were the only Cork golfers to make the cut for the second day.

For Deasy it was a great finish to the week.  On Tuesday he was on the Bantry Bay Junior Foursomes team who lost out in the Munster semi-final.  Mel is now a double Munster winner, holding the U15 and U16 titles.

Munster Boys Under 16 Open Championship, Full Results

 

 

Super 69 from Rumley to lead Leinster Students

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AIG Barton Shield Munster Final 2018 Thurles Golf Club Sunday 19th August 2018Eric Rumley came home in three under in Killeen today to sign for a 69 and lead the Leinster Students after the opening round.  Fresh from helping Kinsale to their first AIG Barton Shield title in Thurles on Sunday, the Kinsale man opened with a birdie but gave shots back on the third and fifth holes.  A birdie on the ninth got him back to even par, and set him up for the impressive back nine.  Birdies on the 12th and 13th got him into the red and a final birdie on the par three 18th saw him tie for the lead.  Stackstown’s John McCarthy is also on -3 while there are ten more golfers within three shots in the 54 hole tournament.

Gary Ward is in the top 15 on +3 while Darren Hourihan is in the top 30 two shots back.  The second round gets underway tomorrow morning with the top 45 plus ties qualifying for Friday’s final round.  The holder is John Murphy but he’s unable to defend his title as he returned to the University of Louisville last week.

Leinster Students Amateur Open Championship  Continue reading →

O’Flaherty set for 20th Munster Interpro battle

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Gary O'Flaherty

Gary O’Flaherty who makes his 20th appearance for Munster at the Interprovincial Championships. Picture: Niall O’Shea

It’s 22 years since Gary O’Flaherty made his Munster debut, as a 17 year old he was thrown into a cauldron dominated by career long elite amateurs.  And O’Flaherty survived.  Now making his 20th appearance on the Munster team, Gary is looking for his sixth win in Blue.  Back in 1996 he pitched up at Mount Juliet for his first outing as Munster tried to retain their title.  Munster did just that, and went to Ballybunion a year later to help Munster win the three in a row.  It was a big event for O’Flaherty, there was no under 16 or under 18 interpro’s back then and he was teeing it up with the elite amateurs from across the country.  “I was in awe of the guys there that week” said Gary when recalling that week.  “I played two singles matches and won both against Colin McElderry and Kevin Flanagan.  I remember watching Eddie Power and Dennis O’Sullivan play, and I tried to copy their games.  Not the longest hitters, but very straight and did very little wrong.  I played foursomes the following year in Ballybunion with Tom Cleary and we won 5.5 out of 6 points.”  O’Flaherty had two caps to his name, along with two wins.  As the years went on, there was not matching the two from two success rate and it would be Continue reading →

Munster Final Galleries, links to pictures from Thurles & Nenagh

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It was a busy few days, with five pennants up for grabs between Saturday and today.  Plenty of pictures in the galleries below:

Gallery: AIG Junior Cup Munster Finals, Kinsale v Clonmel

Gallery: AIG Senior Cup Munster Finals, Monkstown v Dungarvan

Gallery: AIG Barton Shield Munster semi-finals

Gallery: AIG Barton Shield Munster Final 2018, Kinsale v Castletroy

Gallery: Fred Daly Trophy Munster semi-final, Muskerry v Limerick

Gallery: Fred Daly Trophy Munster Final 2018, Dungarvan v Muskerry

Gallery: Irish Junior Foursomes Munster Final, Nenagh Golf Club

Munster Golf Logo

 

 

Barton Shield win for Kinsale

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AIG Barton Shield Munster Final 2018It may have taken Kinsale over 100 years to win their first Munster pennant, but it was a much shorter wait for their second.  Just four weeks after winning the Jimmy Bruen Shield, Kinsale doubled their haul when they won the Munster Final of the AIG Barton Shield in Thurles last Sunday.  On paper Kinsale were up against it, in the semi-final they faced Dungarvan who had won the AIG Senior Cup title the day before.  In the semi-final they were up against it when Dungarvan stretched their lead the three holes early in the back nine.  The four Kinsale golfers battled back, and two birdies on the 17th turned the match to send Kinsale into the final.  After a quick break it was back to the first tee in Thurles to face off against a fancied Continue reading →