Gary Ward
It was a good weekend for Cork golfers as seven have made it through to the matchplay stage of the AIG Irish Close Championship. The European Club in Co Wicklow is the venue for the final major of the year and the challenging Ruddy designed links saw the scores vary from 66 to 90+ over the opening two days.
The leader from day one, Peter O’Keeffe (Douglas) finished in tied third place. Although he had a 76 today, his opening 66 from yesterday was always going to be enough to see him safely through to the matchplay phase. A few early bogies set the tone for his day and despite a recovery on his second nine, two late bogies meant he finished on +5 and level par for the 36 holes. Gary Ward (Kinsale) is just one shot behind in fifth place, tow rounds of 71 and 72 left the Kinsale golfer on +1.
Macroom’s Padraig O’Connor has reached the matchplay stage for the first time. He shot a one over par 72 today, and finished on +5 to take 16th place. John Hickey and Cathal Butler both made their second successive championship cut with solid play over the opening two days. Hickey carded rounds of 75 and 75 to finish in 33rd place and although he’ll be disappointed by the two late bogies, he’s safely through to Continue reading
The second round in Lahinch came to an abrupt halt today as heavy rain flooded the course causing the second strokeplay round to be abandoned. With the first round scores counting, the top 64 cut fell at +2 with not all on that score qualifying. Kinsale’s Eric Rumley was one of those to miss out, the countback from yesterday costing him a place in the matchplay.
Peter O’Keeffe and James Sugrue are safely through to the matchplay stage of the North of Ireland, comfortably finishing in the top 64 from the mammoth field of 300 golfers. O’Keeffe carded rounds of 68 and 70 over both courses in Royal Portrush to finish on -5 and in a tie for 4th place. The Douglas man fired in eight birdies and an eagle over the two rounds and if he can continue in that form he should extend his time in Portrush. He’s currently in action against Haryey Byers from Walton Heath in the first matchplay round.
James Sugure finished in the top 15 at final qualifying for The Open at St Anne’s Old Links on Tuesday. The Mallow golfer has had a busy two weeks, covering the British Amateur, playing Senior Cup for Mallow in Cork Golf Club, and then playing Co Louth, Rosapenna, and St Annes in quick succession. With only three spots available for the Open, qualification was always against the odds, and Sugrue found himself four over after his opening nine holes. He recovered two shots on the back nine to finish the opening round on +3. James got his second round off to a blistering start, with four birdies in his first five holes. He dropped a few shots in the middle of the round but finished strongly, closing with two birdies and an eagle. A second round 67 saw him jump over twenty places, in fact Sugrue had nine birdies and an eagle in his final 27 holes. Speaking after the qualifier, James cited the lack of a practice round as a critical reason for the difference between both rounds.
Cian McNamara and James Sugrue have a solid chance of making the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open after the opening round of the Rosapenna qualifier. McNamara shot a three under par round of 69 to lie in 4th place at the halfway stage. After a bogey on the 5th he came back in four under par, with a final birdie on the 17th to get himself back into contention. James Sugrue is two shots back on -1, and currently in 10th place. Sugrue had an interesting round, made up of seven birdies and six bodies. irrespective of what happens tomorrow both golfers will travel to the UK from Donegal to take part in final qualifying for the British Open.
Cork Golf News 