There was more good news for clubs last week when the GUI announced that four Cups and Shields events will take place. Having selected four competitions that could potentially proceed, the mens union polled all of the participant clubs and received a strong mandate to plan for the provincial stages. Over 75% of clubs backed the plans to proceed with the AIG Senior and Junior Cups, the Jimmy Brun Shield and the Pierce Purcell Shield. The GUI had previously announced that the Mixed Foursomes and the Barton Shield would not proceed this year.
At this stage of the year most of the qualifying rounds would have been completed, and it will be another few weeks before the competitions get underway as a statement from the GUI expla Continue reading
A birdie three on the last hole was the perfect finish to Cathal Butler’s round in Co Sligo today, as he signed for a 65 after a great second round. Butler, who had a four over par 75 in his opening round, got to work early today and was three under through five holes. He added another two birdies before the turn to go out in 31 (-5). Although he had a few good birdie chances on the back nine he ended up with eight consecutive pars. He did close out on the 18th with a birdie, leaving him on -2 and tied for 20th at the halfway stage. Needless to say the Kinsale golfer was in a positive frame of mind after his round. “It was a relief as much as anything – it feels like a long time since I shot a low one” said Butler after the round. “I was hitting it lovely, I only missed one green and hit a lot of the shots close. The putter was steady throughout and it was nice to hole a long one on 18 to finish.” Butler has been struggling with a back injury for the past while and that has contributed to his lack of recent appearances near the top of the leaderboard. “I’m off around 2pm tomorrow so I’ll get a chance to go to the gym before hand. My back has been troublesome for the past few weeks so I’ll do some exercises before I go out to play.” As for the strategy for tomorrow, it more of the same for Cathal. “I’ll just keep trying to make good decisions and smooth swings. If I can stay as relaxed as I was today it should be another good day.”
This year could be summarised as a game of two halves for John Murphy. The Kinsale golfer spent the first half of the year playing well but struggling to get results, but the second half saw him hit some key milestones. These included an international win, an Irish cap and get finish to the season back in college in the US. While 2018 may have been his best year, Murphy didn’t feel like that at the beginning of the year a he explained. “The college semester was difficult for me” recalled Murphy. “I didn’t feel like I was competing as I had in the past. I wasn’t producing results that were reflecting how I was playing. In all honesty, I was worried, I was shooting some poor scores and I was getting very frustrated with myself. It was tough. I remember having a call with my parents at regionals where I just shot 7 over par. I told them I was playing well but I just couldn’t score, and then we all realized that I had been saying that all semester, and maybe I was being delusional. The week I got back 
Kinsale’s John Murphy was named on the three man Irish team to play in the World Amateur Team Championship in Carton House next month. Murphy is joined by Tramore’s Robin Dawson and Portmarnock’s Conor Purcell. The team, which is captained by Bandon’s John Carroll will play in the Eisenhower Trophy which is played over four rounds starting on Wednesday 5th September. Dawson, who is ranked number six in the world rankings, secured his place as the top Irish golfer in the WAGR rankings, the Tramore man played on the Irish team in European Championships last month and won the Irish Amateur Open in Royal County Down at the start of the season and he was runner up at the Amateur Championship last month. Murphy and Purcell were both selected on their form this season, it’s Purcell’s second year on the Irish Mens team, a former junior tennis champions he recorded five top ten finished this year is addition to reaching the semi-final at the AIG Irish Close this week.
Cork interest in the AIG Irish Close finished today as James Sugrue and Peter O’Keeffe lost in the third and fourth rounds respectively. Sugrue was up against Conor Purcell and the match went all the way to the 20th hole before it was settled. Unlike the result of extra holes in Lahinch, Sugrue came out on the wrong side when the match finished on the 2nd hole. Purcell went on to beat Eugene Smith this afternoon and will face Eoin Leonard in tomorrow’s semi-final.
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