Cian McNamara

McNamara top 10 at Irish PGA, No joy for East Cork at Ladies Senior Foursomes

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

Golf_Cian McNamara_Monkstown GC_June2014Cian McNamara shot an impressive 73 today in very testing conditions to stay in contention at Moyvalley.  High winds hampered golfers all day with the later starters suffering the most.  McNamara’s solid round means that he’s in 7th place and just four shots off the lead.  David Higgins also carded a 73 and he’s in 12th place.  David Barry had one of the best rounds of the afternoon, his two over par 74 has him on +1 for the tournament and in a tie for 15th place.

Ciaran McKenna is tied for 36th place after a second round 78.  He’s on +8 for his first 36 holes.  David Ryan looked like missing the cut after a second round 78, but the afternoon scores saw him jump a few places and he made it through to the weekend right on the cut mark of +11.  Padraig Dooley, Stephen Hayes, Ronan Collins and Conor Coyne all had round in the 80’s and missed the cut which was limited to the top 50 plus ties.  Daniel Crowley and Peter Hickey also missed the cut after poor opening round yesterday.  The lead in the Continue reading →

McNamara 4th after Round 1 of PGA Irish Championship

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

Golf_Cian McNamara_Jun2014Cian McNamara followed up his good pro-am performance yesterday with an opening 69 at the first round of the PGA Irish Championship.  It was a second successive 69 for the Monkstown professional, with birdies on the 12th, 15th and 16th.  He had a steady round of 15 pars to go with the three birdies.  Davey Barry is two shots back on -1.   He’s tied for 12th place after a round that featured four birdies and three pars.  The lead is held by Simon Thornton who  is three clear of the field after an opening 69.  The 106th staging of the Championship is being hosted by Moyvalley Hotel and Golf Resort.

Cork interest is high with several golfers in line to make the cut.  Ciaran McKenna is inside the top 30 on +2, and Conor Coyne is one behind on +3.  Padraig Dooley, David Ryan, Stephen Hayes and Ronan Collins have some work to do to ensure they make the cut.  Dooley, Hayes and Ryan are inside Continue reading →

McNamara 2nd in Irish PGA Pro-Am, leads Cork hopefuls in 106th Irish PGA

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com
Cian McNamara

Cian McNamara (Monkstown GC)

Monkstown’s Cian McNamara shot a three under par 69 today to finish in second place at the Christy O’Connor Pro-Am.  McNamara was one shot off the pace set by winner Jimmy Bolger.  The pro-am is the curtain-raiser for the 106th staging of the Irish PGA Championship which starts tomorrow at Moyvalley.  The showpiece PGA event is a 72 hole competition with Niall Kearney looking to win his third title in a row.  There’s a lot of Cork interest with McNamara being joined by Stephen Hayes, Ronan Collins, Davey Barry, Ciaran McKenna, Peter Hickey, Padraig Dooley and David Ryan.

106th PGA Irish Championship Leaderboard

East Cork duo Don McFarlane and amateur partner Darren Burns will contest the final of the Lombard Trophy in Vilamoura tomorrow.  The first of two rounds gets underway tomorrow and hopes will be high that the Irish representatives can do well in the pro-am field of 14 qualifiers from the UK and Ireland.

Lombard Trophy Final Leaderboard

Smartphones Direct

O’Flaherty looking forward to Interpro Challenge

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com
Munster Strokeplay Championship 2016

Gary O’Flaherty pictured during the Munster Strokeplay at Cork Golf Club in May. Picture: Niall O’Shea

It’s been 20 years since Gary O’Flaherty made his debut on the Munster Inter-provincial team and the Cork Golf Club member is really looking forward to the 2016 event in Fota Island next week.  O’Flaherty won on that original outing in Mount Juliet and has been on five winning teams.  In that time the Munster and Irish golfer has won numerous individual and team titles but he is still very fond of the interpro’s and has some great memories.  “There are so many good ones” said O’Flaherty. “being 4 down after 9 holes in foursomes against Rory McIlroy & Johnny Caldwell in Ballyliffin in 2006 is probably the best.  Myself and Pat Murray managed to reel off five birdies to go one up, only to be pegged back on 16 where McIlroy holed from 40ft for an eagle.  We halved the match in the end.”  Golf has moved on a lot, even in the ten years since Ballyliffin, and many top amateurs are now effectively full time with easy access to all the Irish and International championships.  The senior interpro’s remain an important part of the Irish golfing calendar and Gary still sees the competition as one of the most important in the year: “I believe it’s very important.  It gives guys a goal at the start of the season.  Not everyone can make Irish teams and compete in championships every week, so it’s great to be able to compete against the best for a few days.  It also gives selectors a chance to see how guys are in a team environment, as well as playing foursomes together.”  Gary is also a big fan of Munster Captain Phil Cooney who has helped deliver two titles for Munster in the past four years.  He’s also a fan of the team spirit that Phil promotes: “I think so, it’s very important to have a good team atmosphere. Any year we have Continue reading →

Munster PGA Winter Series Finale

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

Cian McNamara won the Premium Golf Brands Order of Merit on Monday as the Munster PGA winter series drew to a close.  The Morgan O’Donovan Perpetual Trophy hosted by Monkstown marked the final event in the weather affected winter series.  McNamara finished in third place on day but that was enough to pip his friend David Ryan for the title.  McNamara won earlier this year in Adare, on the day that the course closed before a major redevelopment project got underway.  He placed in Castlemartyr, Monkstown and Fota Island to stay on top of the leaderboard.   The PGB Order of Merit Continue reading →

Higgins retains Morgan O’Donovan Perpetual Trophy

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com
David Higgins pictures with Stephen Hayes

David Higgins pictures with Stephen Hayes

Congrats to David Higgins who won the Morgan O’Donovan Perpetual Trophy in Monkstown today.  The Waterville golfer shot an amazing 62 to win the title by 6 shots.  David Ryan was second and Cian McNamara took third place.

Monkstown was in great condition today, with the greens in particular Continue reading →

Monkstown set for Munster Youths

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

Monkstown will host the prestigious Munster Youths Open this week and this is another event in a line of high profile events held at the club in recent years.  In 2014 they hosted the ILGU National finals over five days and in 2008 they hosted the week long GUI Cups & Shields finals.

Golf_Monkstown Golf Club 18th Fairway

Monkstown’s 18th fairway with the water hazard in the foreground. The course will host the Munster Youths from Wednesday to Friday. Picture: Niall O’Shea

Monkstown Captain Carl Toal is really looking forward to the event, especially considering the long run of poor weather endured by golfers locally.  “It was a difficult few months where the bad weather was relentless really said the Captain, “and like many courses in the area, we welcome the recent improvement and stretch in the evenings.  We are only back to playing 18 holes in the last two or three weeks. The course has stood up well considering the conditions we Continue reading →

Monkstown Junior Easter Camp

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

Monkstown Golf Club Junior Easter CampMonkstown has been a busy place this week, in addition to the usual weekly competitions, over 50 young golfers have been taking part in a three day Easter Camp.  Following the success of a junior camp last October, Monkstown Club Pro Cian McNamara had planned to run another camp over Christmas.  Wet weather put a stop to that but McNamara along with Monkstown’s assistant Pro Graeme Dunlea have had a very busy week.  They have been running three sessions daily to cater for kids taking part in their Easter Camp.  “We have a group of 51 kids involved in camp” Cian explained, “with juniors ranging from 6 years of age to 13.  The majority of juniors are not members.  The main reason for this is that we have coaching provided weekly for juniors that are members alongside with events scheduled so members are more than catered for during holiday period.”

>>>Gallery: Monkstown Junior Easter Camp<<<

Graeme Dunlea

Monkstown’s Graeme Dunlea

Graeme Dunlea joined Monkstown from Adare Golf Club in late 2015 and his addition to the Monkstown team has allowed himself and Cian to develop a strong junior golf programme.  Both were introduced to the game at a young age and Cian explained their objectives for the camps: “The primary goal from the camp is to introduce Juniors at the youngest possible age to the game of golf in the most friendly environment possible.  Both Graeme and I have firm beliefs in how juniors should be nurtured during their introduction to the game.  The club are very supportive with our coaching plan and we plan to hold camps during all holiday periods.”  In addition to the three day camps, Monkstown have an ongoing programme to encourage new juniors to take up the game as Cian explained: “We also have three weekly junior time slots that non-members can attend, so if anybody was interested they could just contact the pro shop and ask for either Graeme or myself and we will give information about are on-going junior golf program.  Our highest priority is growing the enjoyment of the game.  We are very happy with our progression and continue to improve our coaching plan.  Once we can keep juniors having fun we can implement different coaching principles over time.

Double-Double for David Higgins

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

David Higgins made it a double-double today, he won his second consecutive Munster PGA event, and his second consecutive Waterville Pro-Am.  Higgins has jumped to the top of the Premium Golf Brands Order of Merit in the weather shortened Munster PGA Winter Series.

Gallery: Bill Rushby Waterville Pro-Am 2016

Munster PGA_Waterville ProAm_David Higgins_Mar 2016

David Higgins takes a driver off the deck on the 13th, during the 2016 Bill Rushby Waterville Pro-Am on Monday. Picture: Niall O’Shea

While the sun was shining in Waterville Continue reading →