Kinsale Golf Club celebrates John Murphy’s participation in the Walker Cup
Picture: Niall O’Shea
Excitement is building in Kinsale as the golf club and the community look forward to watching John Murphy compete in the Walker Cup this weekend. Murphy will become just the fifth Cork golfer to take part in the Walker Cup after the Kentucky based golfer was selected on the team last month. Although many would have liked to travel to Seminole in Florida, not even his family or his coach were able to travel. That didn’t stop the Officers of Kinsale Golf Club from celebrating closer to home. The club unveiled a Walker Cup flag last Sunday, a nice gesture to connect the members with their star player in Florida. Watch by John’s parents Owen and Carmel, his sister Faye raised the flag in front of the clubhouse, and next week the Walker Cup pin flags will feature on Continue reading
There’s less than a week to go to Kinsale’s Pro Shop Challenge is back, the fourth staging of the annual charity fundraiser. And there’s a change this year with Kinsale’s two amateur internationals taking on the Pro’s. The Kinsale Pro team remains the same, Ger Broderick and Ian Stafford are currently in training in the hope of winning back the title they lost last year. The line up on the other side has changed though, the amateurs are now restyled as the “internationals” with 14 year old Eoghan Cassidy teaming up with senior Irish international John Murphy. Murphy is currently on the senior Irish team while Cassidy is on both the Irish Under 14 and Under 16 squads. The event takes place next Thursday, and there should be a great afternoon of golf and fun. “The event itself is a fourball betterball match between Ger and myself and John Eoghan” explained 
The Amateurs reclaimed the bragging rights in the Pro Shop Challenge last week, as Cathal Butler and John Murphy beat Ger Broderick and Ian Stafford in Kinsale. It was the third staging of the unique event and while the amateurs won on the course the real winner was the charity partners. Over €4,000 was raised for Marymount and the RNLI. Organiser Ian Stafford was delighted with the results of their fundraising event. “We’re absolutely delighted with the amount of money that we have raised to date which is in the region of €4,500” said Stafford. “To surpass our target of €3,600 by nearly €1,000 is phenomenal and much of this is down to the hard work of our captain Brian Doran who has been a huge help in securing sponsorship to the event. This year we had local businesses sponsoring each hole as well of a number of sponsored challenges throughout the round. To think when we first discussed this event three years ago that we would have raised nearly €11,000 from the first 3 events is hard to believe and we are absolutely delighted with the support we have got.”
Cathal Butler was delighted to win back the title they lost last year, although they may have had some assistance from 
The Pro Shop Challenge returns to Kinsale Golf Club this month, this will be the third staging of the very popular charity fundraising event. The brainchild of Ian Stafford and Cathal Butler, the challenge started in 2016 with Ian and Cathal partnering with Ger Broderick and John Murphy respectively. The amateurs took the win that year, the young guns took an early lead and never looked back as the the confidence of youth helped them to wrap up a win. Most importantly the event raised over €3,000 for Special Olympics. Delighted with their efforts in 2016, Butler and Murphy spearheaded the second staging of the event last year. This time however their wings were clipped. Broderick and Stafford used all of their experience and knowledge to take down the cocky amateurs, beating them by a clear margin in the end. Both professionals, who were involved first hand in the coaching and development of Butler and Murphy, were delighted to beat the amateurs in front of a huge crowd in Kinsale. Yet again the main winner was the charity partner. Marymount Hospice was the selected beneficiary and over €3,000 was handed over after the event. With the series score at 1-1, interest is building in this years competition. The event was first proposed by Ian Stafford who quickly enlisted a core team to turn the idea into an event. Keeping the event going is now the priority for Ian. “With the third edition this year, the fact that the pro’s managed to win last year has given the event this year a heightened sense of interest” said Ian Stafford. “The event needs to stay competitive to be a success. Having said that both Ger and I have thoroughly enjoyed our year as Champions 
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