JOhn Doyle

2025 a year to remember

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John Doyle (Fota Island) receiving the Munster Stroke Play trophy from Paul Buckley from C2O Group, sponsors of the tournament.
Picture: Niall O’Shea

2025 proved to be a year to remember for Cork golf, with several notable successes in the bag.  Douglas, Monkstown and Lee Valley all won green national pennants, and there were notable individual successes as well.

Douglas did a rare double, winning the AIG Senior Cup in the Women’s and Men’s, taking full advantage of the status as hosts for the AIG Inter-Club finals at the end of August.  Monkstown travelled to Northern Ireland and came home as winners of the AIG Junior Cup, and Lee Valley won their Girls Inter-Club title in Donabate in August.

It was a breakout year for John Doyle, the Mitchelstown teenager started the season in style with wins at the Irish Boys and the Munster Continue reading →

Bornemann claims 3rd Irish Title

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Karl Bornemann in action at the Irish Seniors Mens Close at Nenagh last week. Bornemann retained his Irish Veterans title, beating John O’Brien in the final.
Credit ©INPHO/Leah Scholes

Karl Bornemann claimed another national title last week, he won his third Irish title when he retained his Irish Veterans title in Nenagh.  The Douglas golfer set his intention early when he posted a one under par 71 for the opening round.  He finished the 36 hole qualifier stage in the leading position with Castlemartyr’s John O’Brien two shots behind in second place.

As it happened the top two finishers both reached the final with Bornemann getting the better of O’Brien to in his second Irish Continue reading →

Doyle wins Irish Boys title

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John Doyle (Fota Island) Picture: ©INPHO | Bryan Keane

John Doyle went wire to wire in Cork Golf Club as the Fota Island golfer produced a commanding performance from start to finish on the south coast as he was crowned the 2025 Flogas Irish Boys Amateur Open Champion with a four shot victory.

Having come into the final day with a five-shot lead over his nearest rivals, the 17-year-old showed no signs of letting his advantage slip and although he finished one over par for his final round it was enough to see him take the title in comfortable fashion.

“I’m delighted”, said Doyle.  “I really wanted to win this one ever since it got scheduled that it was on in Cork it was on the list of, I really wanted to win this, and it feels great. It’s kind of sinking in a bit now.”

Doyle opened his championship with a stunning seven under par 65 from the back tees in Little Island.  He followed this with a solid two under par 70 in much tougher conditions on day two, but it was his third and final round where the Cork native showed maturity beyond his years as he plotted his way around the course, opting for the safe play, hitting irons off the tee where required.  Added to his strategic play, Doyle’s power off the tee was also on show, with drives touching almost 350 yards on the 11th and 14th holes.

“Those two days put me in a really good position, kind of took a bit of the stress out of today”, said Doyle on the third day.  “Going in with a bit of a lead you know you can play a little bit more conservative and take a lot of the danger out of some holes.”

William O’Riordan (Greystones) and John William Burke (Ballyhaunis) were Doyle’s closest challengers as the final round got underway but a birdie on the second helped settle any early nerves and extend Continue reading →

Cope Alliance has another bumper year

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The Cope Golf Alliance recently celebrated another great year when they presented a cheque for over €40,000 to Cope Foundation following their 2024 season.  The full amount was €41,500 and that means in the past 48 years the Alliance has raised over €1.7million for one of Cork’s favourite charities.

Cope Foundation, which recently changed it’s name to Horizons has provided support to people with an intellectual disability or autism, and currently supports over 2,800 people.  The charity has an annual fundraising target of over €1m so the contribution from golf alliance each year is a source the charity can depend on.

There are close to 500 members of the Alliance and membership is Continue reading →

2023 in Review

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Sara Byrne pictured back at Douglas Golf Club with the Irish Women’s Close Trophy.
Picture: Niall O’Shea

2023 was another great year for golf in Cork.  It didn’t hit some of the highs of previous years but there was a lot of success.  There was just one national title added to the honour roll in 2023, that was when Sara Byrne won the AIG Irish Women’s Close in Connemara in June.

It was a second win for Sara, particularly impressive when you consider she’s only 21.  She previously won in 2017 in Enniscrone, three years before she headed off to University of Miami.  The win this year in Continue reading →

Impressive US Debut for Cain

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Mark Healy pictured with Morgan Cain after their win.

Cork duo Morgan Cain and Mark Healy were part of a win in the US last week when their college team Tusculum Pioneers won the King University Invitational.  Healy is in his first year as Director of Golf Operations while Cain joined the Pioneers as a student freshman in August.

Morgan Cain was playing in his first NCAA event and he led the competition after day one thanks to a four under par round.  Cain posted five birdies on the opening round including three on his outward nine for a 32.  He moved his score to -4 with a birdie on the 13th before surrendering a bogey on the 16th. He bounced back with a birdie on 17 and would end the day with a par on the final hole for his opening 66.  He got off to a rocky start in the second round as he went out with a 38, but shot three-under par 32 for his final nine holes of Continue reading →

Fota win Barton Shield

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Sean Barry and John Doyle sheltering from the rain during the AIG Barton Shield in Dungarvan.
Picture: Niall O’Shea

Fota Island captured their first Golf Ireland pennant in Dungarvan at the weekend, they came through four matches to win the Munster East Area Final.  The Cork side had an impressive win over Macroom on Saturday morning, and they had a similar win over hosts Dungarvan in the afternoon.  Going with the pairings of Sean Barry & John Doyle and Keith Crowley & David Howard they came through the first two matches to reach the semi-finals.

Gallery: AIG Barton Shield 2023, Munster East

With John Doyle unavailable due Continue reading →

Murphy retains Munster Boys title

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Jack Murphy (Douglas) pictured during the Irish Boys Close Championship at Monkstown Golf Club. Picture: Niall O’Shea

Douglas golfer Jack Murphy created a little bit of history last week, he became the first person to retain the Munster Boys title in 50 years.  The defending champion picked up his first win of the season in Tipperary Golf Club thanks to some impressive play in the 54 hole event.

After an uneventful opening round, Murphy shot the low round of the event with a five under par 67 to take him two shots clear of the field going into the final round.  But he didn’t have it all his own way and found himself two behind the local Donnacha Cleary halfway through the front nine.  Four birdies took the holder clear of the challenger and Murphy Continue reading →