James Sugrue

Desmond through to Matchplay in West of Ireland

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AIG Senior Cup Munster Finals, Cork Golf Club, Saturday13th August 2016Monkstown’s Sean Desmond made it through to the matchplay stage on his debut in the West of Ireland Championship today.  Desmond shot a second successive 73 at Co Sligo and finished inside the top twenty.  Sean had a colourful card today, five bogies and a double were offset by five birdies on the testing links track.  Tomorrow he has a 7.27am start where he’ll face Robert Brazill from Naas.

Desmond was the only Cork qualifier in a very narrow field that saw just three Cork golfers get into the tournament.  James Sugrue finished 20 places outside the matchplay cut while Kinsale’s John Murphy had a tough debut with rounds of 79 and 77.  Conor O’Rourke secured the Silver Medal as the best qualifier on -2, while just two others managed to break par.  Three days of matchplay golf follow as all 64 qualifiers will have hopes of winning the season’s first major event.

West of Ireland Matchplay Live Scoring

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Butler moves up to second place at Lahinch, Inter-Varsity Championship Day 2.

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Munster Strokeplay Championship 2016Cathal Butler (Maynooth) added a second 69 today at round two of the inter-varsities in Lahinch, and he no in second place just two shots off the lead.  Munster Youths winner Jack McDonnell is the leader on -8 after recording a 67 in his second round.  First round leader Kyle McCarron shot a 72 which sees him remain in second place level with Butler.

John Hickey (CIT) shot one of the low rounds of the day with a 68.  The Cork GC Barton Shield member had a flawless four under par round with birdies on the 4th, 5th and 9th, and he added a fourth on the 12th.  The round saw Hickey jump back into the top ten.  James Sugrue added a level par 72 to his opening 71 and he’s in 15th place going into the final round.  Adam McSweeney (CIT) dropped back today after a 76, he’s on +1 in a tie for 18th place.

Golffile.ie Intervarsity Championship Day 2 Gallery

Kieran Lynch (Maynooth) just make the cut on +4 but John Murphy (Maynooth) was one shot outside it on +5.  Timmy Broderick, John Boylan and Conor Roche were also among the golfers to miss the cut.  In the ladies competition, Paula Walsh missed the cut after an 82 in the second round.

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McSweeney and Butler in top ten at Intervarsities

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AIG Junior Cup Munster Finals

Adam McSweeney (CIT/Douglas)

Adam McSweeney (CIT) and Cathal Butler (Maynooth) lead the Cork challenge at the Inter Varsity Championship aft both shot 69’s in today’s first round.  Lahinch was in great condition for the opening round and the benign weather made for some good scoring.  Kyle McCarron (Maynooth) led the way with a great 66.

McSweeney had seven birdies in a colourful round.  A double bogey on the 6th hurt, as did a bogey on the 17th when he was standing on -4.  Cathal Butler had a tough start with bogies on the first and second, but he soon made up for it with an eagle on the 4th.  Six birdies followed but three dropped shots meant that he signed for a 69.  Both are well inside the top ten going into the second round.

Golffile.ie Inter Varsities Gallery Round 1

James Sugrue (CIT) was out early this morning and finished with a one under par 71, an eagle on the last brought him back into red figures and he’s in 12th place going into the second round.  John Hickey (CIT) is two shots back Continue reading →

Davey Barry wins in Rosslare, Spillane wins Macroom Senior Scratch Cup.

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DaDavey Barryvey Barry (Douglas Pro-Shop) won his first big event on the PGA Irish Region tour yesterday with a great round in Rosslare.  Playing in tough weather conditions the Douglas Assistant Pro won by two shots in the Kelly’s Resort sponsored Rosslare Pro-Am.  Barry started well with a run of birdies on the third, fourth and fifth, but he gave two shots back before the turn with bogies on the seventh and ninth.  Despite playing the very difficult conditions Davey had a great back nine, he added four birdies including two on 17 and 18 to see him finish two shots clear of Damien McGrane, Mark Murphy and Colm Moriarty.  David Ryan shot a two under par 70 to claim fifth position alongside David Higgins, and Wayne O’Callaghan finished in the top twenty.  It was a good weekend for Davey who was also named in the field for the Irish PGA Championship which takes place in Moyvalley at the end of this month.

Macroom’s 36 holes Senior Scratch Cup was hit by the weather yesterday, and the decision to reduce the event to an 18 hole format was welcomed by almost all of the field.  Mallow’s Ian Spillane won with a level par 71, three shots clear of James Sugure.  Macroom’s Alan Moriarty won the nett prize with a 76.  Eyes now turn to Kinsale and Castlemartyr who host their senior scratch cups next weekend.

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Sugrue & Murphy top 10 in Irish Youths, Ryan wins Wexford Pro-Am

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Golf_James Sugrue_MunsterNeither James Sugrue or John Murphy managed to overcome Neil McKinstry’s lead in the Irish Youths yesterday although they  both finished inside the top ten.  Murphy was in second place, two shots off the lead going into the final round and Sugure was just one shot behind Murphy.

Sugrue got off to a great start with a birdie on the opening hole but bogies on 4,5 and 6 meant that he dropped back and wasn’t able to put pressure on the leaders.  The par 70 course had a CSS in round three of 73, indicating the difficulty in scoring for all golfers.  None of the 100 golfers playing were able to match par with only seven golfers returning 71.  Murphy had a tough start to the day, he was in the final group with leader Neil McKinstry.  Murphy had a double bogey on the 2nd, and Continue reading →

Butler through to last 16 in AIG Irish Close at Ballyliffin

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Munster Strokeplay Championship 2016Cathal Butler is the last Cork golfer left in the Irish Close at Ballyliffin, winning both of his matches today.  The Irish international and Munster Strokeplay winner beat Jonathan Yates 3&2 this morning and followed that with a 19th hole win over John Cleary.  Butler faces Jake Whelan in the second match tomorrow morning and is off at 8.09am.

Despite finishing in the top 20, James Sugrue ended up with one of the toughest draws, he was up against defending champion Tiernan McLarnon.  Unfortunately for Sugrue, McLarnon won on the 16th, and he also won in the afternoon to go through to the last 16.

Both John Hickey and John Murphy won their first round matches but exited the competition this afternoon.  Hickey beat Ronan Mullarney on the 18th today, and he took Richard Knightly to the 20th hole before losing out to the Royal Dublin man.

John Murphy saw the 20th as well, his morning match needed two extra holes before he saw off Rob Brazill.  The effort took Continue reading →

Sugrue Leads Cork challenge at Irish Close

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James Sugrue 2016

James Sugrue pictured with the Muskerry Senior Scratch Cup which he won earlier this year

The business end of the AIG Irish Close Championship gets underway tomorrow with four Cork golfers qualifying for the matchplay phase.  Mallow’s James Sugrue lead the Cork challenge with a pair of 75’s that saw him finish day two inside the top 20.  Sugure was going very well he was one over for the front nine, but a double on the par five 13th meant he signed for his second 75.  Kinsale’s John Murphy playing in his first Close is just one shot behind Sugrue.  He came in with a two over par 74 which bettered his opening round by three shots.  Cork’s John Hickey also bettered his opening score by three shots, a 75 today was a disappointing finish as the recent Barton Shield winner was -1 at the turn.  Hickey is Continue reading →

Hickey, McCarthy & Butler make the cut in the East of Ireland

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Munster Strokeplay Championship 2016

John Hickey

John Hickey (Cork) remains the leading Cork golfer after the second round of the East of Ireland Championship at Baltray.  Today Hickey added a 73 to yesterday’s 71, and his level par total saw him safely through to the final day tomorrow.  Mallow’s Paul McCarthy is one shot behind Hickey, as is Kinsale’s Cathal Butler.  Paul O’Hanlon still holds the lead, his -9 total is four shots clear of the field.

Gary Ward (Kinsale) was very unlucky to miss the cut, he shot a wonderful 69 today.  Although he opened with two bogies in his first four holes, he rattled off three birdies and an eagle in five holes in the middle of his round.  Unfortunately for Ward he missed the cut by one shot, Saturday’s untidy 78 came back to cost the Kinsale man a place in the final day.  James Sugrue also missed the cut following a second round 75.

 

Hickey, McCarthy and Butler have 36 holes to play tomorrow, with order of merit points on offer all three will have an added incentive for finishing strongly.

East of Ireland Amateur Open Championship Scores

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O’Flaherty runner-up in Ballybunion Senior Scratch Cup

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Munster Strokeplay Championship 2016

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 →

Sugrue jumps into Top Ten at Flogas Irish Open

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James Sugrue 2016James Sugrue recovered from an early double bogey to post a two under par 70, and jump into the top ten at the Flogas Irish Amateur Open.  Sugrue had a 5 on the par three fourth hole, but bounced back with quick two birdies.  More birdies on the back nine saw him move under par and he signed for a 70.  The Mallow teenager is the best placed Cork golfer in action in Royal Dublin, he now on -3.  Mark Shanahan finished with a one under par 71 to move inside the top 20.  It could have been much better only for a double bogey on the 17th and he’s now on -1 for the tournament.

Cathal Bulter continued his consistent form, a level par 72 saw him finish tied for 28th place, slightly better where he say yesterday.  Ian O’Rourke also shot a level par round to make the cut which fell at +5.  Cork’s John Hickey had a tougher day, he signed for a disappointing 80 that saw his drop out of contention for a place in the top 50.

Colm Campbell remains on top of the leaderboard, he’s two shots clear of the field on -14 after 54 holes.  The final round takes place tomorrow.

Flogas Irish Amateur Open Live Scoring

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