Kinsale’s John Murphy had a pretty special bank holiday weekend, Murphy was in Portugal for the Darren Clarke Champions Weekend. As winner of the Munster Youths in August, Murphy was invited to take part in the event which was hosted by the Amendoeira Golf Resort in the Algarve. The 18 winners from the top youths, boys and girls competitions in 2016 invited for the three day trip. Rachel Thompson, Mairead Martin and Valerie Clancy also earned invitations after their performances this year. After a 4am start in Dublin airport on Friday morning, the golfers met Clarke on arrival at the golf club and played golf with the Ryder Cup Captain three times over the two days. Although vastly experienced at top level national and international boys golf, Murphy admitted that it was a pretty special experience. “We went over to the golf club and Darren introduced himself to us. It was kind of weird at the start, but I got used to it after a few hours” said Murphy who is now a student in Maynooth. “We played 18 holes with Darren playing with us and watching us, pointing Continue reading
JOhn Murphy
O’Keeffe Wins Kinsale Senior Scratch Cup, Murphy helps Ireland to European Boys Team Title
Peter O’Keeffe (Douglas)
Peter O’Keeffe won the Kinsale Senior Scratch Cup today with a four under pat 68. O’Keeffe recovered after an interesting start, he put a three iron out of bounds on the first tee which meant he walked onto the second hole on +2. He recovered however and started racking up the birdies. He went under par on the 3rd, 6th and 8th before dropping a shot on the 9th. O’Keeffe added four birdies and five pars on the back nine to set the clubhouse lead on -4. The round could have been better, O’Keeffe missed a birdie putt on the 17th and an eagle putt on the 18th. Still it was enough to give the Douglas and Munster golfer his first scratch cup of the year. Kinsale’s Keith Fitzpatrick also finished with a 68 but had to settle for second place with O’Keeffe beating him on the back nine. Cork’s John Hickey finished in third place. Many of the golfers today will be in action again tomorrow in the Continue reading
Murphy leads Ireland to top spot in European Boys qualifying
John Murphy eagled his second last hole of the day today to jump into the lead after two rounds of strokeplay qualifying at the European Boys Team Championships in Czech Republic. After opening with a bogey, John added two birdies to turn on -1. He played steady par golf all the way back until a great eagle on the par five 17th saw him move to -3 and jump into the lead. It was another good day for Ireland as they took four of the first five spots, and finished 23 shots ahead of second placed.
Murphy’s second round 69 followed a level par opening round and his two rounds will put him in good stead for tomorrow’s opening matchplay phase. Ireland face Switzerland in the morning with second place Iceland facing Slovakia in the other semi-final.
The winner and runner-up teams of Divison 2 will be promoted to the European Boys’ Team Championship, which will be played at La Manga Club, Spain, in 2017. Murphy will partner Kilkenny’s Mark Power in the first of the two foursomes pairs, and the afternoon will see five singles matches being played to decide who goes trough to the semi-final.
In Flight B, Estonia Continue reading
Murphy Top 5 at Euro Team Championships, Cork Lose out in Barton semi-final
John Murphy (Kinsale) shot a level par 72 on the opening day of the European Boy’s Team Championships today. The competition is taking place in Czech Republic and Murphy was one of the later starters this morning and opened with birdie. He had three bogies on the front nine but turned on +1, two birdies and a bogey on the back nine meant that he signed for a level par 72 to lie in 5th place. It was a very good day for Ireland, Kevin leBlanc holds the lead on -4 and all six Irish golfers are in the top 20. Tomorrow will be an important day for the Irish, the second round of strokeplay qualifying will determine the matchplay draws with the top four countries playing-off for the Championship title.
Cork Golf Club put up a strong battle today against Warrenpoint, losing out on the 18th green in Continue reading
Sugrue & Murphy top 10 in Irish Youths, Ryan wins Wexford Pro-Am
Neither 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
Murphy goes low at Irish Youths
Kinsale’s John Murphy shot the low round of the day in Galway today to move into second place at the Irish Youths. Murphy shot a one under par 69 to see him finish on level par after 36 holes, and two off the lead held by Neil McKinstry. Murphy had plenty of colour on his card with four bogies and five birdies, but it was enough to jump him 10 spots up the leaderboard. Munster’s Robin Dawson also matched Murphy’s 69 and he’s one shot back on +1. Mallow’s James Sugrue is also within touch of the lead, he added a 73 to his opening 68 and is tied with Dawson on +1 in 4th place. Darragh O’Connor (Fota Island) added another 72 and he’s in 14th place, six shots off the lead. Cathal Butler (39th) is currently 10 shots off the lead and Continue reading
Gallery: Kinsale Pro Shop Challenge
Congrats to everyone involved in the Pro Shop Challenge in Kinsale Golf Club this afternoon: Continue reading
Butler through to last 16 in AIG Irish Close at Ballyliffin
Cathal 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
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
Murphy retains Kerry Boy’s Championship at Ballybunion
It’s been 30 years since anyone has managed to win back to back titles, and today John Murphy waited until the 19th hole to grasp back the trophy that he proudly won last year.
The Munster Boys Champion beat Monkstown’s Sean Desmond 4&3 in the morning semi-final. The Monkstown man reached the same stage last year – and just like last year he will have to re-focus for tomorrow’s AIG Senior Cup when Monktown face Ballybunion.
In the final he faced Ballybunion’s Ronan Cross and a close match followed. The pair were all-square through six holes but by the turn Murphy had a one hole advantage. By the 12th Cross had turned the match and went one up, and he went two up on the 13th hole. Murphy pulled one back on th 14th and he levelled the match on the 16th, setting it up for a thrilling finish. Cross and Murphy halved the 17th and 18th, with some very impressive golf being played in tough conditions. The match headed for the 19th Continue reading
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