James Sugrue

Sugrue Makes the Most of Oman Chance

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

James Sugrue 
Picture: Niall O’Shea

James Sugrue made the most of a good start in his latest event on the Clutch Pro Tour.  The Mallow man was in Oman for the second of three events in the opening swing of the season.  Sugrue had finished down the field in the opening event a week earlier.  Rounds of 70, 68 and 70 didn’t look too bad but he found himself ten shots behind the winner in a tie for 43rd.

The golfer who five years ago played in the Masters Tournament in Augusta went low on the opening day in La Vie.  He carded seven birdies in Continue reading →

Exciting 2025 ahead for Cork Golf

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

Cork Golf Club which wil host a number of national events in 2025. Pic: Niall O’Shea

2025 promises to be a busy and exciting year for Cork golfers and Cork golf clubs.  Golf Ireland launched the 2025 calendar recently and four Cork courses will host important events in the months ahead.

Cork Golf Club will host four major events in a busy year for the club.  In addition to the Munster Stroke Play which has been held on the May Bank Holiday weekend for over a decade, the Little Island club will also host the Flogas Irish Boys Amateur Open and the Boys Home Internationals.  The club will also host the Women’s Cork Scratch Cup in early April.

Cork has a habit of being a winning venue for golfers who went on to greatness and with Irish Boys Captain watching over the field, he will be hoping for another winner with star potential when it comes to the Irish Boys.  The last big winner in Cork was Shane Lowry, he  won the Irish Close Championship when it was last held in Cork in 2007.  Lowry beat local favourite Niall Turner in the final to claim his first Irish title.  He went on to win the West and North, and the Mullingar Scratch Cup the following year, before winning the Continue reading →

Twomey wins in Muskerry

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

Ronan Twomey pictured with the Muskerry Scratch Cup at American Golf in Wilton. Twomey won the Brewin Dolphin sponsored event after a play-off. Picture: Niall O’Shea

Muskerry’s Ronan Twomey scooped home success, winning the Brewin Dolphin Senior Scratch Cup recently.  The 36 hole competition saw a two way tie at the top after two rounds, with Twomey tied with John Waldron, with Twomey winning on the first play-off hole.

Twomey is a regular winner of senior scratch cups, and previously won his home event in 2009 and he was delighted to add another win to his growing list of scratch cups.  Twomey admitted that his thoughts of a win were low.  “At this stage, probably not, but i suppose in your home club you always fancy your chances” said Twomey after his play-off win.  “We were going on a holiday the Continue reading →

Strong Season finish for Sara Byrne

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

Sara Byrne (Douglas) in action in the AIG Irish Womens Close in 2022.
Picture: Niall O’Shea

Sara Byrne wrapped up her third year in the US with a solid performance at the NCAA National Championship.  Sara was one of nine individual golfers who qualified for the finals in Greyhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale Arizona.  She booked a place in the finals thanks to a second place finish in the Palm Beach Regional which should have been her final event of the college schedule.  Byrne was just the second Cork golfer to make it to the NCAA finals, John Murphy played with Louisville in 2019 and again in 2021 in his senior year.  It’s been another very positive season for the Douglas golfer, she recorded three top tens in the very competitive ACC conference and the third year led the Miami Hurricanes on a number of occasions.  She played in 37 competitive rounds this year and had an impressive stroke average of 72.9, an improvement of over Continue reading →

Cork golfers into the swing of the action in Europe and Egypt

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

John Murphy

THE stretch in the evenings is now clear to see for all golfers and now that we’re into March golf courses around Cork are much busier. 

The ground has also firmed up and thoughts are turning to qualifying competitions and championships which will get underway later this month. There are a large number of tournaments and events scheduled to take place in Cork over the next eight months, and the first event on the schedule is the Cork Women’s Scratch Cup which takes place in Cork Golf Club on Saturday week. Continue reading →

Early Season Action for 2023

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

James Sugrue and Rob Brazill pictured during the 2022 Irish Challenge at the Palmer South course at the K Club.  Pic: Niall O’Shea

The stretch in the evenings is now clear to see for all golfers and now that we’re into March golf courses around Cork are much busier.  The ground has also firmed up and thoughts are turning to qualifying competitions and championships which will get underway later this month.  There are a large numbers tournaments and events scheduled to take place in Cork over the next eight months, and the first event on the schedule is the Cork Women’s Scratch Cup which takes place in Cork Golf Club on Saturday 11th March.

In April Monkstown will host the Munster Women’s Senior and Junior Championships and at the end of April the Munster Men’s Amateur Open will be hosted by Cork.  This is the new name for the Munster Strokeplay which incorporates the Cork Scratch Cup, the oldest scratch cup in the Country.  This year marks the centenary of the Cork Scratch Cup and in a nod to the original format, a match play Continue reading →

Mallow set for Sugrue Classic

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

James Sugrue 

Mallow Golf Club is getting behind James Sugrue, they are holding a fundraising classic later this month to help the new pro find his feet on tour.  The classic takes place on the 13th & 14th May and already it looks like it will be a sell-out.  The three-person team event will have plenty of prizes on offer including a raffle for some great golf related prizes.

Mallow Captain John Coleman has known James for well over a decade and he’s especially happy to be involved in the classic.  “As a golfer and this year’s Captain of Mallow Golf Club I am Continue reading →

Early start to the season for Cork golfers

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

Fota Island’s John Doyle receiving the Munster U14 Order of Merit medal from Jim Long, also included is John’s Dad Barry.

It might still be the off-season for golf in Ireland but there are a few Cork golfers have already started their 2022 campaigns.  John Murphy competed in his fourth tournament of the new season in South Africa last week.  Murphy has had a busy start to the year, after a few weeks of preseason work in Spain he travelled to California for the AT&T ProAm in Pebble Beach.  Unfortunately for John he missed the cut but it was a big learning experience for him as he teed it up alongside the stars of the PGA Tour.  From there it was a sprint across the Atlantic to South Africa for the start of the Challenge Tour.  He finished just inside the top fifty in his opening event three weeks ago, and after missing the cut in the second event he went on to secure a top twenty finish in Durban last week.  Murphy has picked up close to €5,000 in prize money this season and he’ll be hoping for another good finish this week.

Murphy clocked up over €120,000 in his thirteen tour events last year after turning professional in June.  It was a sprint for the Kinsale man over the course of five months.  He played in nine different countries on three separate tours, but most importantly he finished inside the top 70 and Continue reading →

Cork’s Top Amateurs (Men)

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

So how do you start to build a ranking of Cork’s top men’s golfers over the past 100 years?

Rankings and lists are always subjective, and I’m sure many people will have their own opinions on the list as they work their way through it.  Rankings always come down to points, and allocating points for Continue reading →