Douglas and Cork both made it as far as the semi-finals of the Ladies Irish Senior Cup which took place in Thurles over the weekend. Douglas faced Kinsale in the first round and it was the city side who won. Sara Byrne, Karen O’Neill, Clodagh Coughlan and Jemma Barry all recorded wins while Kate McCann halved her match. While it was a good win for Douglas it should be noted that Kinsale gave up over 40 shots in total in the five matches. In the second round Douglas were up against local opposition again, this time it was East Cork. Douglas led from the start with Byrne, O’Neill and Coughlan winning their matches. That was as good as it would get for Douglas as they lost out to Lahinch in the semi-final. The handicaps were going against Douglas in this match, with 16 shots between the two sides. Chloe Ryan and Sinead Sexton (both playing off +3) won the first two matches, and the contest was over when Lahinch’s Sarah Cunningham won on the 16th. Lahinch would go on to have an impressive win over Killarney in the final on Sunday aftermoon.
Cork had a good start on Saturday with an opening win over Ballybunion in the first round. There were wins for Rachel Thompson, Claire Coughlan Ryan and recently returned Paula Walsh while Miriam Abernethy and Ailish Thompson were Continue reading
Alex Newenham embarked on the dream greenkeeping assignment recently when he travelled to Florida for the Players Championship at Sawgrass. Alex attend the PGA Tour event as one of seven representatives from Britain and Ireland, and it was the trip of a lifetime for the Douglas greenkeeper; “Needless to say the whole experience from start to finish was incredible and without wanting to use every cliche going that we hear so much on the X-Factor it was life giving and changing. I found it a worthwhile experience – professionally and personally.” The 12 day trip was a working holiday, with the team of visiting greenkeepers working as part of the 70 plus team on duty, and Alex described the schedule: “The working day was hard, not because of the actual work itself because there is such a team environment that others keep you going when you’re struggling, but because of the length of it and in my case the 
2018 was a breakthrough year for Sara Byrne, and that was recognised last week when she won the Irish Golf Writers Womens Amateur of the Year award. The award was a reflection on the results Sara achieved during the year as well representing Ireland at two international competitions. It was a busy year for Sara, although she committed to playing in fewer events this year, the competitions she did select were higher in profile and the quality of the field was generally stronger. In terms of other awards, Byrne topped the Girls Order of Merit by a clear margin, and she also finished third on the women’s order of merit. Sara’s season started in March when she finished third in the Munster Womens Championship in Killarney. Rounds of 74, 75 and 78 saw her claim a podium finish although she did miss out on retaining her Munster Girls title by one shot. Despite playing well, she couldn’t manage to claim the top spot until she got to Enniscrone in June for the Irish Womens Close. She came through two rounds of Strokeplay and five rounds of matchplay golf to win the national title. Aside from the mental battle of matchplay, she also had to contend with extreme weather as wind and 
Sean Reddy is one of Cork’s emerging young golfers who continues to work on his game and improve, and the 2018 season was an important one for the 11 year golf nut. Having started playing golf many years ago, Sean joined Douglas Golf Club at the start of the season and quickly became a regular on the course. The young golfer rounded off his season when he got his hands on some important silverware last month, he won the Minor Matchplay Cup in Douglas in September. Any the way he won was pretty impressive. Playing in a matchplay competition, he won the 18th with a birdie to force the match onto the 19th hole. And on the testing par four he won the match with a par. Sean was a busy boy all Summer, playing competitions and practicing. Like most young golfers, the summer holidays meant more time on the course and he put himself to good use picking up the club almost every day. “All summer I played most days in Douglas and then other days I practiced in the Academy in Fota Island” said Sean, “I was usually playing or practicing everyday. I got to play Hollywood in Belfast, Rory Milroy’s home course, it was incredible to play there. My favourite also was the K Club, last time I was there on a Sunday was to watch Rory win the Irish Open in 2016.” Unlike many other golfers of his age, Sean doesn’t just practice for fun, he does it to improve. And he spent the summer working on a few important areas. I worked on my swing path and alignment mostly, trying to keep my swing consistent on every shot” explained Reddy, “I know my swing speed and distance will come as I get older, I am not 12 until next year and I want my swing to be perfect now so when I am older it hopefully will be always be consistent as I swing faster. I worked on many speed and strength drills with Peter for most of the summer.” Now playing off an official GUI handicap, Sean has seen this tumble as he played in Douglas over the Summer. He dropped ten shots and he’s now playing off 14 – a very impressive mark for an eleven year old. “In February had a handicap of 24” explained Sean, “I am now down to 14 since 
Cork Golf News 