Peter Kerr (Royal Portrush) driving at the 6th tee during the second day of the AIG 2017 Irish Amateur Close Championship at Galway Golf Club. Picture by Pat Cashman
Cathal Butler and James Sugrue will tee it up this morning in the matchplay stage of the AIG Irish Close in Galway. Butler carded two rounds of 73 to get through in the middle of the qualifiers (top 64), and James Sugrue battled tonsillitis to shoot a great 72 yesterday to finish one shot behind Bulter on +7. Mark Healy and Kieran Lynch were unlucky, they both missed to cut by one shot. John Hickey recovered from a disastrous opening day to shoot a one under par 69 on the second day, but that wasn’t enough to get him into the top 64. There was also disappointment for Shane Kenneally, Sean Desmond, Conor Dowling and Darragh O’Connor but all will have gained valuable experience at the elite level of Irish amateur golf. The leading qualifier was Peter Kerr from Royal Portrush after he shot two rounds of 69.
The matchplay commences this morning, Butler faces West of Ireland and Munster Strokeply winner Barry Anderson. Sugrue will be up against James Fox Continue reading
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.
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.
