Castlemartyr Links GC

Spioraid Naoimh & Patrician Academy, Irish Schools Senior Championship

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The Munster finals of the Irish Schools Senior Championships take place on Monday next in Castlemartyr Links.  The finals were originally scheduled for the Ring of Kerry, but the event was moved to Castlemartyr owing to weather concerns and the running inland links layout should provide a fine test for the four schools involved.

Colaiste an Spioraid Naoimh and Patrician Academy carry Cork hopes, Spioraid Naoimh face Crescent College Limerick in their semi-final, and Patrician Academy face De la Salle Waterford.  The semi-finals start at 9.00am and the final takes place after lunch.

Higgins wins Munster PGA event in Castlemartyr

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Munster PGA_Winter Series 2016_David Higgins

Munster PGA Captain David O’Sullivan presenting David Higgins with first prize after the Munster PGA event in Castlemartyr on Monday.

David Higgins (Waterville) was the only golfer to break 70 at the Munster PGA Winter Series event in Castlemartyr today.  The Kerryman won his first event of the 15/16 series and is now in with a strong shout for the order or merit title with events in Waterville and Monkstown left on the schedule.

David recorded birdies on the 3rd and 4th holes on the front nine and the 1 Continue reading →

Munster PGA Season gets back on track

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The Munster PGA will finally get their Winter Series back on track next week when they play in Castlemartyr.  Monday next will see only the third event of the weather affected season.  David Ryan won the opening event in Fota in November and Cian McNamara won last month in Adare Golf Club.  Wayne O’Callaghan was the winner last year in Castlemartyr, he shot a six under par 66 to win by one shot from John McHenry and Daniel Sugrue.  A large turn-out is expected as the 2016 half of the season eventually starts.  There are only two further events planned in the shortened season, Waterville will host the William Rushby Pro-Am next Month and the annual Morgan O’Donovan Perpetual Trophy will round off the PGB Winter Series in early April.

Golf_PGA Ireland_Danny Sugrue_Aug 2014

Danny Sugrue

Charlevile PGA Professional Frank Holly finished up in Charleville last week, marking an end of the “new” old guard at the north Cork club.  Frank had worked with Jamie O’Sullivan for several years, and now both have departed.  Holly is headed for North Carolina shortly and Monday’s Munster PGA event in Castlemartyr could be his last of the season.  Holly will have happy memories from Castlemartyr, he recorded his first competitive hole in one on the 12th hole during last year’s event.  Mark Collins was recently appointed Head Professional in Charleville, moving from Adare Golf Club.  Dooks made another addition to their staff when they announced this week that Killarney Professional Daniel Sugrue is joining the popular south-west Kerry club.  The club is a summer favourite for many Cork golfers and over the past decade the club invested heavily in developing the course and also the clubhouse.  In the off-season they announced that Maurice O’Meara was taking over the role of General Manager.  O’Meara has extensive experience in the top end of the Irish golf market.  Prior to Dooks he was Secretary/Manager of the Island Golf Club and prior to that he spent a successful term at Killarney Golf Club.  During his time at Killarney he played a key role in Killarney’s hosting of the Irish Open in 2010 and 2011.  Sugrue joins Dooks from his position as a PGA Professional attached to Killarney Golf Club.  Danny has been a prolific winner on the PGA Irish Region tour and is a two time winner of the Munster PGA Order of Merit.  He qualified for the Irish Open in 2014 at Fota Island and Sugrue will be a great addition to the Glenbeigh club.

Castlemartyr Ready for New Chapter

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It’s almost nine years since the course at Castlemartyr Resort opened, and the East Cork venue is set for an exciting 2016.  Hard work from the resort staff and the club committee since 2007 has kept the course and the club ticking along.  Now that new owners are in place, it seems like the club and course will grow and develop over the coming years.  Last month the club held their AGM, with representatives from the new owners attending to give an update on the plans that the new owners have.  Greg Shaw is the GM of the owners original property in Hampshire, Old Thorns Manor Continue reading →

Rain Stops Play for Cork’s PGA Professionals

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Golf_Munster PGA_David O'Sullivan_Nov 2015

Cobh’s Club Professional David O’Sullivan who is also the current Captain of the Munster PGA.

The rain caused the postponement of the Munster PGA pro-am in Castlemartyr and this was the second event in succession that fell to the weather.  The Munster PGA Captain is David O’Sullivan and although he is disappointed with the cancellation, he had little option but to put back the event.  “The weather went against us during December and even though we had great entries for our Killarney and Castlemartyr events we decided to restage these events in the New Year” said O’Sullivan who is the Club Professional in Cobh Golf Club.  He added:  “We started the series with a Professional plus one amateur invite.  This format was something we wanted to try and after early feedback it was a huge success with our opening event held at Fota Island Resort.”  The opening event in November was won by David Ryan with a very impressive 63 on Fota’s Deerpark course.  Ryan also won the pro-am where he partnered his Dad Ellis.  The Munster PGA winter series has Continue reading →

Castlemartyr Launches Race to Old Thorns

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Castlemartyr's 4th hole Picture: Jamie Gibson.

Castlemartyr’s 4th hole Picture: Jamie Gibson.

Not satisfied with another very strong golfing season, Castlemartyr are running another open qualifier series, running all the way into December.  The popular links style course was the venue for open competitions right through the peak season and now they have a top quality prize on offer for their November and December events.  The series winner will win a trip for two to the Old Thorns golf estate in southern England.  The Shaw family from Old Thorns recently completed the purchase of the five star resort in Castlemartyr and this is the first sign of collaboration between both venues.  The qualifiers were very popular during the summer with up to 200 golfers competing weekly, obviously it’s a different time of the year but we’re still expecting a lot of interest.  We’ve harvested a Continue reading →

Cork Winter Golf Alliance

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Unfortunately the Alliance outing planned for November is not going ahead.  Bookings for the event were too low to proceed.  Apologies to those people who booked and paid, refunds will go out tomorrow morning so please allow 1-3 days for it to appear in your PayPal account.

Many thanks to those who did book in and to those who paid, and thanks to Brady and Alan in Castlemartyr who were very helpful in organising the competition.

We will look into the possibility of running a competition over Christmas but demand will ultimately decide if the Alliance gets off the ground.  Continue reading →

Griffin wins Castlemartyr Senior Scratch Cup

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Eanna Griffin

Eanna Griffin

Waterford’s Eanna Griffin shot two under par rounds to win the Castlemartyr Senior Scratch Cup on Sunday.  The Waterford golfer has come close to winning a few times this year, he was runner up at the West of Ireland and led the Munster Strokeplay at the halfway stage, but his first win of 2015 finally came on Sunday.  Griffin was the only golfer to break 70 in the opening round, his 96 had him two shots clear of the Cork GC duo of John Hickey and Paul Tobin.  Continue reading →

Shanahan Aims for Fourth Castlemartyr Title

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Castlemartyr's Mark Shanahan

Castlemartyr’s Mark Shanahan

The final senior scratch cup of the year takes place in Castlemartyr this weekend and a top quality field will challenge for the large prize fund on offer.  A full field of 66 golfers will take on the 6,790 yard Ron Kirby designed ‘inland links’ course.  Holder by Mark Shanahan leads the handicaps, he’s currently playing off +2.3.  Shanahan is joined by John O’Brien, Kenny McGarry and Kieran McCarthy as the home club’s representatives.  2014 runner up Shane McGlynn (Carton House) leads the challenge from outside Cork.  He’s joined by Sean Barry, Billy McGarry, Geoff Linehan, Mark Somers and Ian Spillane, all six golfers are playing off a mark of +2.  The young players include James Sugrue, Paul Tobin, Sean Desmond, Cillian Moloney, Rory Dineen and Tramore’s Continue reading →