Jack Howard (Fota Island)
Jack Howard came agonisingly close to a spot in Lahinch this week, the Fota Island golfer was just one shot away from making the Irish Open field. Playing alongside 130 of Ireland’s top professionals and amateurs in Moy Valley, Howard shot a three under par 69 in his opening round. Five birdies and two bogies saw him reach the halfway point in fifth place and in with a great shot of claiming one of the four passes to Lahinch. David Ryan was also in on -3 while Conor Coyne was the next best Cork golfer on level par. While several golfers completed their first rounds on Sunday morning, the leaders had to wait to start their second rounds. Although Howard opened with two bogies in Sunday’s second round he recovered before the turn. A birdie on the 13th and an eagle two on the 15th put him back in a positive position but a bogey on the second last hole meant that he missed out on the playoff by one shot. A four under total, with two under par rounds is a strong performance, and given the quality of the field Howard’s top ten finish is impressive. David Ryan carded a second round Continue reading
Tim Rice won his second Munster PGA event of the season when he shot a five under par 67 in Killarney today. Rice knocked in six birdies in an impressive round on Mahonys Point. Close to 30 PGA Professionals played in the event, which was sponsored by John Caulfield from TaylorMade. The scoring was very impressive with 11 golfers shooting par or better. Cian McNamara took second place with and Fota Island’s Jack Howard picked up his first prize as a pro, he shot a 69 to finish tied for 3rd place. Lahinch’s Donal McSweeney was fifth with a two under par 70. The over 45 prize went to David Whyte while the team prize was won by Tin Rice, Alan O’Meara, Jamie O’Sullivan and David Whyte.
Mahony’s Point was in great condition and Munster PGA Captain Cian McNamara thanked Cormac Flannery and David Keating for their help with another great outing. Killeen is currently undergoing some work as a new green is being constructed on the iconic first hole. The new green brings the water into play for the second shot and a large proportion of the work has been completed with an opening due for early next year. The Captain also passed on his best wishes Danny Sugrue, the Dooks professional underwent major surgery last week for an ongoing condition and everyone was delighted to hear that he’s making a good recovery.
David 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.
David Ryan and David Higgins came out on top on a glorious day in Monkstown today as the annual Morgan O’Donovan Perpetual Trophy competition took place. Both players shot an impressive 67 and although the sun was out the combination of a hard wind blowing and fast greens meant that only a few golfers managed to break par. The competition is now in it’s fifth year and commemorates Morgan O’Donovan who was Head Professional in Monkstown before his death in 2012. The competition today was sponsored by Ping and the pro-am format saw plenty of Munster PGA Professionals take the opportunity to get out and play with an amateur partner.
Local knowledge seemed to give two local golfers the edge in Cork today as Padraig Dooley (Drive Golf Performance) and David Ryan (Cahir Park) won the Munster PGA event. Over 20 golfers started out this morning and while there was a cold wind blowing through Little Island, the course was in great condition and surprisingly dry given the heavy rainfall over the weekend. Both golfers trained under Peter Hickey and they returned today to triumph over a field of talented professionals. Both golfers played very steady golf, Ryan was an early starter and had birdies on the 6th, 11th & 12th. The only blemish came on the 17th, but the two under par 70 was enough to get into the winners circle. It was a similar story for Dooley, he also birdied the 6th and the 12th. A bogey on the 14th brought him back to -1 but a birdie on the 17th saw him sign for a 70 and take a share of 
