Today started with five Cork golfers still in contention in Lahinch, however as play came to a close that was reduced to just two. The draw meant that there were two all-Cork clashes this morning, and one more this afternoon. Tomorrow will see another all-Cork match with Peter O’Keeffe taking on James Sugrue.
Peter O’Keeffe marched on to the semi-final of the South of Ireland today, the Irish Open Champion was up against Cathal Butler this morning and beat the Kinsale man on the 17th. This afternoon he was up against Robbie Cannon and again closed out the match on the 17th. O’Keeffe has surely done enough at this stage to secure his place on the Home International side, he’ll be hoping to go further and become the first Cork man to win the South since Mervyn Owens. James Sugrue will be having similar ideas after his two wins today.
James Sugrue was up against Gary O’Flaherty in the other Cork match, Sugrue won that contest on the 16th green. Sugrue faced John Murphy in the quarter-final after Murphy beat Colm Campbell on the 19th. This morning Murphy was three down but birdied the 12th, 13th and 14th to level the match. He had a putt to win on the 18th but the ball refused to drop while resting on the lip. He made no mistake on the 19th however and booked his place in the final eight. On paper, Murphy probably had a slight edge over Sugrue, but it was the Mallow man who won. It was a tight match all the way through with Sugrue one ahead for a few holes on the back nine. Sugrue stretched that the two holes when he won the 16th, giving him the upper hand. A half on the 17th was enough to see Sugrue go through to the semi-final.
In the other semi-final Conor O’Rourke will take on West of Ireland winner Barry Anderson. O’Rourke had a marathon 27 hole match this morning to get past Thomas Mulligan and was taken to the 18th this afternoon by leading qualifier Lester Rowan. Play in Lahinch get’s underway at 8.30 in the morning.
Weather conditions in Lahinch were slightly better today as the opening two rounds of the matchplay got underway. After two rounds there are still five Cork golfers involved, with two all-Cork clashes set for tomorrow morning.
John Murphy had two matchplay wins today to advance to the third round of the North of Ireland Open in Royal Portrush. They were two contrasting rounds, he needed a huge putt on the last this morning to get past Kiet Van Der Weele but made short work of Andrew Mulholland this afternoon. Murphy always seemed to have a narrow edge over his opponent from Holland this morning but it took a 25 foot putt on the last to go one up and advance to the last 32. This afternoon he faced Castlerock’s Mulholland and solid golf – and a good few birdies – saw him go five up at one stage near the end of the front nine. In the end he closed put the match on the 15th with a 4&3 win. He now goes on to play Derek Downie from Kirkistown Castle. It’ll be another early start for Murphy with a 7.45am tee time. He’ll be hoping for another long day tomorrow with two rounds scheduled to bring the competition down to the final four golfers.
James Sugrue is one of three likely Cork qualifiers to make it through to the match play stages of the North of Ireland Championship at Royal Portrush. The Mallow man recovered from a disappointing front nine one the championship course that saw him turn on +3. Sugrue fought back with three birdies to level his score on the back nine on the Dunluce links, he finished with a 36 hole total of 140 (-3) to claim a place in the top 25. Sugrue’s level par 72 was one of the better scores today with many golfers failing to get around the difficult course links without dropping shots. Kinsale’s Cathal Butler carded a three over par 75 today, when added to his 66 from yesterday the Kinsale man also qualified comfortably on 2 under par. He had 15 pars and a birdie, but two consecutive double bogies on the front nine cost him a few spots on the leaderboard. Conditions were much better for day two of the championship which saw 300 golfers play over both courses at the famous resort on the northern coast.
Kinsale’s Cathal Butler opened with a very impressive 66 at the North of Ireland Amateur Open yesterday. Playing on the Valley links in Royal Portrush the Maynooth student shot a round of -5 to grab a tie for fifth place. Butler went out in -1 after three birdies and two bodies on the opening nine, but a powerful back nine saw him return in -4. Birdies on the 10th & 11th were followed by an eagle on the par five 16th. That see’s him just two shots off the lead held by Rowan Lester.
Cathal Butler shot a course record 64 in Newlands today and catapulted himself into a share of the lead going into tomorrow’s final round of the Leinster Students Championship. Butler made the most of the benign conditions on day two, and he eagled the par five 2nd hole to set the tone. He added two more birdies on the front nine to go out in 31 strokes (-4). Three more birdies followed on the back nine and although he failed to birdie the short par five final hole, the Maynooth student did enough to claim a course record.
James Sugrue and John Murphy both recorded rounds of 72 to lie two shots behind the leader after the first round of the Leinster Students Championship today. The dry but windy day in Newlands was a welcome change for both, they had played in Kerry Scratch Cup in Tralee over the weekend and had endured driving wind and rain for much of the 54 holes. Sugrue and Murphy had near identical rounds in the tight parkland layout, four birdies and five bogies added up to a +1 result for the opening round. They are two shots behind leader Ross Dutton (Ulster University). Waterford Duo Ben Murray and Eanna Griffin are tied for second place on level par. Griffin travelled from Athenry where he won the Connacht 
Cork Golf News 