Cork Golf Club celebrated the 25th anniversary of their 1991 Irish Junior Cup win recently, with Team Captain Tom Monaghan hosting a dinner for the winning team. It was a great way to round off 2016, as four of the panel from 1991 were involved with this year’s Barton team. The panel in 1991 was comprised of Gary O’Flaherty, Mark Ford, Brian Kelleher, Vincent Twohig, Mick Power, Mark O’Connor, Tony Duncan and John Carroll. The Captain in 1991 was George Dwyer and Michael Hurley (RIP) was President. Gary O’Flaherty set down an early marker during that campaign, the fresh faced teenager won eight matches out of eight in the campaign winning the first point for Cork in every match. Gary’s handicap Continue reading
Gary O’Flaherty
No Opportunity for Crowley or O’Keeffe in rain affected Munster Over 30’s
Peter O’Keeffe
Poor weather forced the abandonment of the the Munster Over 30’s final round this morning. The heavy overnight rain meant that the course in Ballyclough was unplayable for the final round.
Sean Poucher was a deserving winner based on the opening day. He had an eagle and two birdies in his opening round on Friday. His 69 was enough to get him over the line as the winner by one stroke from Peter O’Keeffe. This is O’Keeffe’s third time to claim a runner up spot this season and even though he’ll be disappointed, it does prove that his game is still good enough to compete at the top amateur level. Pat Murray also left a calling card, his third place was down to shooting a low round of 70 on Friday afternoon. Keith Crowley (Fota Island) took fifth place and Kenny McGarry (Castlemartyr) and Gary O’Flaherty (Cork) were just outside the top 10.
Attention now turns to Macroom, the mid-Cork club are hosting a 36 hole senior scratch cup next Saturday, bookings Continue reading
O’Keeffe & Crowley in the hunt for Munster Over 30’s, No joy for Doneraile in Mixed
Peter O’Keeffe
Peter O’Keeffe is just one shot off the lead going into the final round of the Munster Over 30 Championship at Limerick Golf Club. O’Keeffe opened with a one under par 71 this morning and he followed that with a 73 this afternoon. Fota Island’s Keith Crowley is in fifth place on +2. Crowley shot a 75 this morning but he was one of only two golfers to beat par this afternoon as he signed for a 71. Sean Poucher from Limerick Golf Club leads the competition after shooting 69/74 today, holder Pay Murray is in third place on +1, and both Kenny McGarry and Gary O’Flaherty are in 12th and 13th place respectively. The final round gets underway at 9.45am tomorrow with the top 49 golfers qualifying for the third round.
Doneraile had no luck today in the semi-final of the I Love Spain sponsoted Irish Mixed Foursomes. Doneraile were playing Greystones and secured their first point when Peter Duane and Clare Hamilton won. Sean Barrett and Karena Hunter also won Continue reading
Fota the perfect venue for tournament golf
Gary O’Flaherty & Geoff Lenehan pictured during practice today at Fota Island
Fota Island has proven itself to be the perfect tournament venue and next week it will host the GUI Senior Interprovincials. The famous Deerpark course has a long-standing association with top level tournament golf, hosting European Tour, Seniors Tour, ILGU PGA and GUI events. It’s a three time host for the Irish Open, in 2001 and 2002 it hosted the Murphy’s Irish Open and attracted record crowds as the Cork headquartered Brewery wrapped up their nine-year sponsorship of the competition. More recently Fota attracted 100,000 spectators during the 2014 Irish Open. As a championship venue, the Deerpark course in Fota has been lengthened but very little else has happened to the Jeff Howes designed course. Tightly cut fairways, strategic bunkering, and receptive true greens are all hallmarks of the Fota golf experience. While the vast majority of competitions held in Fota have been strokeplay, it’s also a wonderful course for matchplay. The signature par five 18th makes Continue reading
O’Flaherty looking forward to Interpro Challenge
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
O’Flaherty wins Irish Mid-Am title for second time
John Moloughney (Chairman, Munster Branch, GUI) presenting Gary O’Flaherty (Cork) with the 2016 Irish Over-30s Amateur Open Championship trophy after his victory at Limerick Golf Club today (19/06/2016). Also in the picture is Frank O’Mahony (Captain, Limerick Golf Club). Picture by Pat Cashman
Gary O’Flaherty won the Irish Mid Amateur Championship for a second time today in tough conditions in Limerick. O’Flaherty had a five shot lead going into the final round however difficult playing conditions meant that a win was far from guaranteed at Limerick Golf Club. He was four shots ahead of Eddie McCormack (Galway) and both golfers matched each other on the front nine. After three pars each, they both birdied the 4th and they both went on to bogey the 5th. They both turned on +1 but McCormack started a charge with birdies on the 10th and 12th to cut the lead to three. O’Flaherty was playing very steady golf but bogied the 16th when his ball Continue reading
O’Flaherty shoots 64 at Irish Mid-Am
Gary O’Flaherty, the new Sales Manager Ireland for Cobra/Puma Golf
Gary O’Flaherty (Cork Golf Club) shot rounds of 64 & 72 to take a four shot lead into the final round of the Irish Mid-Amateur (Over 30) Open in Limerick today. The recent Castletroy Scratch winner has taken a shine to Limerick and he rattled in 9 birdies in his opening round. A bogey on the back nine meant that he had to settle for a 64 but that gave him a four stroke lead.
O’Flaherty has been busy on and off the course, he recently took over as Sales Manager for Cobra/Puma Golf in Ireland. His second round started like the first adding two more birdies at the 1st and 5th. He dropped a few shots around the turn but he didn’t give anything away as he signed for a level par 72 in the afternoon. He’s four ahead of Woodstock’s Tony Cleary.
Castlemartyr’s Kenny McGarry also continued his good form, two consecutive 72’s see’s him in 9th place on level par. McGarry dropped six shots in three holes on the back nine of his second round, but showed great strength to birdie the next hole to get himself back to level par. Fota duo Keith Crowley and Sean Barry are inside the top 20 on +2 and Bandon’s Dave McCarthy also made to cut for tomorrow’s final round.
Irish Mid-Amateur (Over-30s) Open Championship Leaderboard
Order of Merit Race Heats Up
Gary O’Flaherty
Gary O’Flaherty’s performances in Castletroy, Cork and Ballybunion this month will have moved him up the Munster Senior Order of Merit. There are four automatic places in the team from the Order of Merit, and three of them look like going to Cathal Butler, Andrew McCormack and Gary O’Flaherty. Mark Shanahan, John Hickey and James Sugrue are all battling for the last automatic place, as are Waterford duo Eanna Griffin and Robin Dawson. There are plenty of points on offer over the coming weeks. The East of Ireland takes place next week and the Tralee Scratch Cup, the Connacht Strokeplay and the British Amateur all take place in June. Captain Phil Cooney will have a tough job selecting his four picks as all of the above along with Pat Murray, Ian O’Rourke, Peter O’Keeffe and Continue reading
Castletroy Scratch Cup Results
Final Results:
O’Flaherty runner-up in Ballybunion Senior Scratch Cup
Gary O’Flaherty (Cork)
Gary O’Flaherty proved he’s a golfer on form last weekend when he finished in second place at the Ballybunion Senior Scratch Cup. The 2014 winner was just one shot behind winner Fergal O’Sullivan (Tralee) on level par. This is the third year that Cork golfer finished in the top two, 2015 winner Ed Stack was third also finishing on level par.
Keith Crowley (Fota Island) was fourth and James Sugrue (Mallow) was fifth, both finished on +1 total of 144. Jack Howard (Fota Island) finished just inside the top ten and Mark Ford (Cork) was 11th. Mallow’s Eoin Goggin won the nett prize on -4.
The next senior scratch cup takes place Continue reading
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