Pictures from this afternoon in Lahinch: Continue reading
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Gary O’Flaherty
O’Mahony goes low in Lahinch, South of Ireland Day Two…
Greg O’Mahony after winning the Douglas Scratch Cup earlier this year
Greg O’Mahony was the only Cork golfer to break par on a tough day in Lahinch today. The Fota Island golfer went around in three under as the wind and rain tested golfers.
A total of eight golfers made the cut for tomorrow’s matchplay. Peter O’Keeffe finished his 36 holes on one under and Sean Desmond was two shots behind. Cork duo Gary O’Flaherty and Paul Buckley were both safely through on +2, and Cathal Butler had to endure a short wait before all of the +4’s were safely inside the top 59. With James Sugrue and John Murphy, there will be a strong Cork challenge tomorrow with eight golfers hoping to make it through the first round.
Gallery: South of Ireland Day 2, strokeplay qualifier second round
Play gets underway at 7am tomorrow, with the second round starting after the completion of the first round matches. Live scoring will be available at regular intervals.
South of Ireland Matchplay Draw
7.00am: James Sugrue v Jack Doherty
7.36am: Peter O’Keeffe v James Fox
7.45am: Paul Buckley v Shane O’Connor
8.48am: John Murphy v Aaron Ryan
10.18am: Greg O’Mahony v Evan Farrell
10.45am: Sean Desmond v Jack Ryan
11.12am: Cathal Butler v Ronan Mullarney
11.21am: Gary O’Flaherty v TJ Ford
O’Keeffe keeps up momentum in Lahinch
Gameface; Peter O’Keeffe in action in the South of Ireland in Lahinch last year
Following his great performance at the North of Ireland two weeks ago, Peter O’Keeffe kept the championship momentum going with an opening 68 in Lahinch today. The opening round of the South of Ireland got underway today in benign conditions, and O’Keeffe was the first of the early starters to post a low score. The Douglas golfer started with a hot hand, birdieing the first two holes. He gave a shot back on the Klondyke, he got it back on the 9th to turn on three under.
Another birdie followed on the 10th and Peter had eight steady pars before a final birdie on the last. That put him in the clubhouse lead, although lower scores would follow. Cathal Butler had shot a 71 (-1), and Sean Desmond would follow with an impressive 67 later in the morning. Paul Buckley and Greg O’Mahony both shot level par, and Paul Tobin and Gary O’Flaherty finished on 73 to Continue reading
Joe leads in Cork, Lyons has 3 stroke lead in Munster Strokeplay (R2 Report & R3 Teetimes)
Joe Lyons in action in Lee Valley last week
It looks like Joe Lyons is enjoying his second trip to Cork in a fortnight. After finishing well in Lee Valley last week, he went and shot 70 and 71 in Cork today. The Galway man is now in a strong position going into the second day of the Munster Strokeplay.
While many golfers struggled with the wind this morning, Joe’s key was keeping the mistakes to a minimum. He had just one bogey in the first round and two more in the afternoon. When you add in six birdies it meant he finished on -3 for the day. Holder Alan Fahy (Dun Laoghaire) and Keith Egan (Carton House) are next on level par while Cork’s Gary O’Flaherty shot a great 66 in the second round to jump into fourth place alongside Continue reading
Gary eyes fourth Lee Valley title
Gary O’Flaherty is a fan of Lee Valley, and it’s easy to see why. The Cork Golf Club stalwart has racked up four wins at the Ovens venue, including three scratch cup titles. The Boylesports Lee Valley Senior Scratch Cup returns in two weeks time and excitement is building for the challenging 54 hole event. With two consecutive wins, O’Flaherty is on for a historic hat-trick, and will be the man to beat. Outside of his natural skill, Gary maintains that the secret to his success in Lee Valley is quite simple: “It just seems to fit my eye, horses for courses as they say.” But Gary adds that it’s not just the course that make the scratch cup a special event. “It’s from the minute you arrive at Lee Valley, you’re made to feel welcome, nothing is an issue” explained Gary. You’re looked after like your one of their own members. The Keohane family especially, as well as the members Continue reading
Busy start to the season for Lee Valley
Gary O’Flaherty who will be aiming for three in a row at Lee Valley next month
A major new open competition, big plans for the senior scratch cup, and a new indoor practice room all add up to a busy few months for the Lee Valley committee. With the golf season now ready to get into top gear, the next few months will be busy in the Ovens club. “April will be a busy month with Boyle Sports kindly sponsoring two large competitions for us” explained Club Captain Chris O’Sullivan. “First on April the 13th we have the Boyle Sports Open Four ball with prizes including a VIP trip to the Irish Grand National, this is followed two weeks later by our Boyle Sports Senior Scratch Cup. This has become a firm fixture for the top amateurs all over the country with world ranking amateur points on offer to competitors. We are delighted to have Boyle Sports sponsorship and support. They took over sponsorship last year and have supported our club further this year with their sponsorship again. Without which, we would struggle to host the competition to the standard that we now have it under the stewardship of Vincent Drinan who continues to look after this event. It is a tournament that has had winners including Shane Lowry. However, the Continue reading
Another Lee Valley win for Gary
It was win number four for Gary O’Flaherty in Lee Valley when he won the Munster Mid-Amateur title on Sunday. His season started with a win in the Lee Valley Senior Scratch Cup in April, and he closed out on Sunday with another win on the championship course in Ovens. Back in April O’Flaherty maintained his overnight lead to win his third Lee Valley title, this time he overturned a three-shot deficit to win on the final green in a tense finish. Although the weather was much better than the wet conditions on Saturday, there was a stiff breeze blowing through Lee Valley which tested many of the golfers. O’Flaherty played some very tidy golf, his only bogey of the day came at the 7th and his birdie on the 9th got him back to level for the round. He birdied the par five 15th to get into the red, and he narrowly missed good birdie opportunities on the 16th and 17th. Standing on the 18th, Gary was one Continue reading
Gallery: Munster Mid-Am Final Round, Lee Valley
Pictures from the third round in Lee Valley: Continue reading
Kieran O’Donoghue leads Munster Mid-Am in Lee Valley, Round 3 Draw
Kieran O’Donoghue (Douglas) carded two level par rounds of 72 to hold the 36 hole lead in the Munster Mid-Am in Lee Valley. In a tough day for golf the wind and rain took it’s toll, and O’Donoghue was the only golfer to match par. Padraic Connolly (Killeen Castle) is in second place, two strokes off the lead, and Cork duo Gary O’Flaherty and Mark Ford are next on +3. Although O’Flaherty is three off the lead he has a strong record in Lee Valley, and all eyes will be on him. Mark Ford and John OBrien are in the hunt with Dave O’Donoghue and Karl Bornemann having an outside change of victory tomorrow.
The cut fell at +19, a measure of the testing conditions. Thirty golfers made it though to tomorrow’s final round with play getting underway at 8.30am.
DRAW FOR ROUND 3:
8.30AM: R Kennedy (Monkstown), N Duggan (Dromoland (Castle), K Collins (Fermoy)
8.40AM: A Considine (Lahinch), C O’Donnell (Fota Island), D Coughlan (Castleknock)
8.50AM: J O’Sullivan (Fota Island), P Power (Lee Valley), C Ryan (Killeen Castle)
9.00AM: J Kehoe (Limerick), B Timlin (Galway), S Miskelly (Knock)
9.10AM: R Connelly (Grange), P Murray (Clontarf), J Waldron (Muskerry)
9.20AM: D O’Donoghue (Bandon), P Flynn (Tramore), E Long (Monkstown)
9.30AM: K Bornemann (Douglas), G Dunne (Co Louth), G Lenehan (Portmarnock)
9.40AM: D O’Donovan (Muskerry), J O’Neill (Lee Valley), A Thomas (Dungarvan)
9.50AM: J O’Brien (Castlemartyr), A Condren (Greystones), G O’Flaherty (Cork)
10.00AM: M Ford (Cork), P Connelly (Killeen Castle), K O’Donoghue (Douglas)
Munster win Interprovincial Chamionship in Athenry
The winning Munster team pictured with Team Captain Michael Coote receiving the trophy from John Moloughney, President GUI, picture Fran Caffrey, Golffile.
There was a dramatic finish to the Interprovincial Championship this afternoon, with Geoff Lenehan again sealing a win for Munster. The Waterville member won the crucial point in 2012 and 2014, and he was at the centre of the action again in Athenry, winning his singles match to give Munster the win against Leinster and the title.
Munster went into day three with a narrow lead, all four teams had one win each, with Munster ranked first on the basis of matches won. The meant that a win for Munster should have been enough to seal the title. The foursomes didn’t quite go to plan, with Munster trailing 3-1 at lunchtime. The only win came from O’Keeffe and Lenehan. Munster came out firing in the singles though, with Peter O’Keeffe and James Sugrue claiming the first points. Munster needed five of the seven points to claim the title and with two in the bag the odds favoured the men in blue. Eanna Griffin brought in a third point and while Andrew McCormack lost, John Hickey won to make it 4-1 with two matches on the course. Both playing the final Continue reading
