Cian McNamara

McNamara on form, Irish PGA Championship Pro-Am

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com
monkstown-pro-shop_seamus-power-clinic_101

Monkstown PGA Professional Cian McNamara pictured with PGA Tour member Seamus Power on a visit to Monkstown Golf Club. Picture: Niall O’Shea

Monkstown’s Cian McNamara was tied second in today’s Irish PGA Championship Pro-Am in Moyvalley.  McNamara has been improving steadily in the early part of the season, last week he carded a final round 69 in the PGA Professional Championship to claim 6th place.  The event was held in Lutrellstown Castle which featured 150 PGA professionals from all over the UK and Ireland.

Today he followed up with another solid round in Moyvalley in the pro-am on the eve of the the 72 hole Irish PGA Championship.  The Limerick native was second, two shots off the lead set by David Higgins.

Moyvalley is a course that McNamara likes, he finished in the top ten last year and he’ll be hoping to challenge at the top of the leaderboard and add his name to the famous trophy.  Davey Barry (Douglas) also finished in the top Continue reading →

Turner finishes 4th in Ballykisteen, Europro Tour

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

Great National Hotels Irish Masters, Ballykisteen Golf & Country Club, Friday 12th May 2017A cold putter cost Niall Turner today in the final round of the Great National Hotels Irish Masters at Ballykisteen.  The overnight leader bounced back from a double on the first, and despite giving himself plenty of chances on the greens he couldn’t covert the birdies chances.  Turner finished in a tie for fourth place as all of the leaders struggled to match the scoring of the first two rounds.  Despite the missed chances the Muskerry golfer was withing a shot or two of the lead for much of the round, and when a bogey on the 12th brought him back to -9 it looked as if the win was out of reach.  The Asian Tour member rallied with birdies on the 16th and 18th and that brought him back to -11 and he took home just over €2,000 for his week in Tipperary.

Gallery: Great National Hotels Irish Masters Final Round

Waterville’s David Higgins had a great start and was -4 for his opening eight holes which saw him jump Continue reading →

Turner leads in Ballykisteen, Great National Hotels Irish Masters R2

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

Niall Turner shot a flawless 66 in the second round of the Great National Hotels Irish Masters at Ballykisteen today.  Turner had four birdies on the front nine and added two more at the 11th and 13th.  Surprisingly though the long hitter from Waterfall couldn’t add to his haul on the two closing par fives.  Despite that Turner should be happy, he goes into tomorrow’s final round on -11, with a one shot lead over English duo Jack Harrison and Ben Robinson.

“All parts of my game have been pretty good so far,” said Turner. “If you drive it nicely out here you have a lot of short irons in. I have driven well so far and my wedges have been good so I have given myself a lot of birdie chances.

“This is my first time at Ballykisteen – it is a really enjoyable course to play and it is in great condition. It will probably be similar scoring tomorrow. If you get to 16 or 17 under that would be tough to beat but there is a very low one out there so you are going to need to keep making birdies.”

David Higgins also had six birdies but the Waterville man had two bogies and signed for a 68.  He’s tied for 16th place, five behind the leader on -6.  Monkstown’s Cian McNamara dropped back after is one under a 71.  Despite five birdies in six holes on his front nine, he dropped for shots.  Although he’s safely inside the cut mark, he’s seven off the lead and will be hoping for a good day tomorrow to earn a decent cheque.

Turner 3rd in Ballykisteen, McNamara T16, Europro Tour Round 1

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com
Niall Turner

Niall Turner

Niall Turner carded a five under par round to lies in 3rd place on the opening day of the Great National Hotels Irish Masters at Ballykisteen Golf & Country Club.  The Europro Tour event saw over 150 professionals tee it up today for Munster’s first Europro event in several years.  Turner started on the back nine and reeled off four birdies in a row from the 15th to 18th to turn on -2.  He added another four birdies in six holes on the front nine and one dropped shot on the par three 6th hole saw him sign for a 67.  Turner is two shots off the lead which is held by England’s James Ruth.

Cian McNamara was one of the early starters this morning and he set the tone, birdieing the 1st & 3rd holes.  He added another on the par five 18th and finished on -3 in a big group of 19 players.  Waterville’s David Higgins is one Continue reading →

Top Ten for McNamara as Higgins wins, Irish Club Professional Tournament

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

David Higgins 2017David Higgins retained his PGA Irish Club Professional title in Dromoland today.  The Waterville man shot a second successive 70 to win by three and ahead of a three way tie for second which included Colm Moriarty, Brian McElhinney and Richard Kilpatrick.  Higgins had a steady round one birdie on the front nine was balanced by a bogey on the back nine as he eased to his first Irish Region win of the new season.

Cian McNamara carded a two under par 70 which tied for the low round of the day.  He was level par for the front nine but an eagle 2 on the par 4 tenth hole got his round going.  He birdied the 15th to get to -3 but a dropped shot on the last hole saw him finish on +5 for the tournament and take a share of 10th place.

Padraig Dooley added a 78 today after shooting a 73 yesterday, he finished two shots behind McNamara in 14th place.  David Ryan was the only other Cork golfer in action in Dromoland, he shot a second round 78 to finish in the middle of the pack in 34th place.

“I was delighted with that today. With it being so windy there was disaster around every corner so I kept it steady and kept the big numbers off my card,” said the 44-year-old.  “It was a great couple of days, fantastic weather and a spectacular setting for the course which was set up tough. It played a bit ‘linksy’ which was right up my alley and considering the course set-up and the high winds I was delighted to shoot level par.”

Higgins was happy to get off the mark today: “I’m delighted to get off to a good start. The standard is getting better each year on the Irish Region and every win is going to be crucial in the order of merit race.  I was my first time to Dromoland, its a cracking venue and definitely worth a visit for any golfer.”  Next up for Higgins is a EuroproTour even in Ballykisteen next week and then it’s on to the Roganstown Golf Hotel Pro-Am in Monday week.

As well as a busy schedule on the Irish Region tour, Higgins also has a place in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, and the links specialist is looking forward to July: “I haven’t played Portstewart yet but I hear it is a great links.  I would love for the wind to blow really strong during the week of the open.  I feel this would play right into my hands and give me my best chance of doing well.”

walker_01

Seamus Power visits Monkstown

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com
monkstown-pro-shop_seamus-power-clinic_122

Seamus Power pictured with Monkstown President Colm Ó Riain, Club Professional Cian McNamara and Monkstown Captain Martin Walsh. Picture: Niall O’Shea

PGA Tour golfer Seamus Power took some time out of his break back in Ireland when he spent a few hours in Monkstown Golf Club on Saturday for a special golf clinic for members.  Power was in Monkstown following an invite from his college team-mate Cian McNamara.  The pair spent a four years in East Tennessee University, both were on the college’s golf roster following impressive junior golf performances in Ireland.  McNamara returned to Ireland, studied for his PGA qualifications and two years ago he landed the job in Monkstown.  Power stayed in the US and spent a few years developing his game on the mini-tours.  The mini-tours in the US are a tough learning ground but Power served his time and moved up the hierarchy step by step until he reached the secondary US tour, the web.com tour.  Following a great year on the web.com tour last year, Power secured his card on the main PGA Tour, and followed that with four successive cuts in his four most recent tournaments.  Power has earned close to $100k so far from the four events and is currently inside the top 100 in the FedEx Cup points list.  The good start to the season means that Seamus Continue reading →

McNamara wins in Dromoland, Munster PGA Winter Series

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com
cian-mcnamara-dromoland-munster-pga

Munster PGA Captain Stephen Hayes presents Cian McNamara (Monkstown) with first prize.

Cian McNamara won on the double today when he won the singles and the pro-am competitions at Dromoland Golf Club.  The Monkstown Professional won by one shot from David Ryan and only two golfers managed to break par.  Gary Howie took third place with level par and Patrick Sheehy was fourth with a 73.  Dan Sugrue, Diarmuid Frazer and David Foley all tied for fifth place

It was McNamara’s first win in the 2016 PGB Winter Series had a steady start but dropped a shot on the long par five 6th.  He struck a purple patch around the turn, knocking in four birdies in five holes.  McNamara birdied the 9th, 10th, 12th & 13th.  Unfortunately he dropped a shot in the 14th but he bagged another birdie on the closing hole.

  • McNamara also claimed the honours in the pro-am when he partnered Peter Brazil (Limerick GC) to a winning 44 points.  Ian Colleran and amateur partner Brian Lenihan took second place with 42 points.

The next event in the series takes place in Castlemartyr next Monday, the event is a pro-only event.

PGA Winter Series Event #3, sponsored by Golfbuddy
Dromoland Golf Club
1st Cian McNamara 69
2nd David Ryan 70
3rd Gary Howie 72
4th Patrick Sheehy 73
5th Dan Sugrue 74 Diarmuid Fraser 74 David Foley 74

Pro-Am Results
1st Cian McNamara and Peter Brazil 44
2nd Ian Colleran and Brian Lenihan 42

Smartphones Direct

Top Ten finish for McNamara and Barry at 106th Irish PGA Championship

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

Golf_Cian McNamara_Monkstown GC_June2014_2The 106th Irish PGA Championship came to a conclusion today with two Cork golfers in the top 10.  Monkstown’s Cian McNamara finished of his tournament in style with a two under par 70.  The Limerick native got off to a great start with three birdies on the front nine and another one on he 11th.  He bogied the 13th and 16th which pegged him back a little but still stayed in the red and signed for a 70.  Davey Barry also rounded off a great week, finishing in a tie for 7th place alongside McNamara.  Davey signed for a one over par 73 today but jumped up two places on the leaderboard.  Barry was three over par through 11 holes but added two birdies on the way home to get back on track and ensure his top ten finish.

David Higgins had a 71 to stay inside the top ten and finish in 6th place just ahead of McNamara and Barry.  David Ryan shot a level par 72 to move up into the top 30.  Mallow’s Ciaran McKenna had another disappointing round and finished near the back of the field.

Damien McGrane joined the legendary past winners with a hugely impressive 69 to put his name alongside some of the greatest Irish golfers.  Overnight leader Continue reading →

Davey Barry into Top Ten at Irish PGA

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com
Davey Barry (Douglas)

Davey Barry (Douglas)

Davey Barry shot a one under par 71 at Moyvalley today in the third round of the Irish PGA Championship.  Barry moved up the leaderboard on day three and now he’s in 10th place.  The Douglas assistant professional started brightly with a birdie on the first but a bogey on the 5th brought him back to level par for the day.  A bogey on the 16th was book-ended by birdies on the 12th and 17th which meant that Barry signed for a 71.  Cian McNamara slumped to a 77 for this third round, a double bogey on the last was a tough way to finish for the Monkstown Professional  who had recovered from a poor start.  McNamara is now in 13th place.  David Higgins is the best placed Munster Pro, he had a 71 today and is tied for 8th place.  The lead is still held by Colm Moriarty from Drive Golf Performance.  Moriarty’s 70 was one of the low rounds of the day and he has a one stroke lead  over Damien McGrane and holder Niall Kearney.

David Ryan jumped up 14 places on the leaderboard thanks to his 73 today, but Ciaran McKenna dropped out of contention after a disappointing round.  Tomorrow will see the final round of Continue reading →