JOhn Murphy

O’Mahony goes low in Lahinch, South of Ireland Day Two…

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Douglas Senior Scratch Cup 2019_Greg O'Mahony_4

Greg O’Mahony after winning the Douglas Scratch Cup earlier this year

Greg O’Mahony was the only Cork golfer to break par on a tough day in Lahinch today.  The Fota Island golfer went around in three under as the wind and rain tested golfers.

A total of eight golfers made the cut for tomorrow’s matchplay.  Peter O’Keeffe finished his 36 holes on one under and Sean Desmond was two shots behind.  Cork duo Gary O’Flaherty and Paul Buckley were both safely through on +2, and Cathal Butler had to endure a short wait before all of the +4’s were safely inside the top 59.  With James Sugrue and John Murphy, there will be a strong Cork challenge tomorrow with eight golfers hoping to make it through the first round.

Gallery: South of Ireland Day 2, strokeplay qualifier second round

Play gets underway at 7am tomorrow, with the second round starting after the completion of the first round matches.  Live scoring will be available at regular intervals.

South of Ireland Matchplay Draw

7.00am: James Sugrue v Jack Doherty
7.36am: Peter O’Keeffe v James Fox
7.45am: Paul Buckley v Shane O’Connor
8.48am: John Murphy v Aaron Ryan
10.18am: Greg O’Mahony v Evan Farrell
10.45am: Sean Desmond v Jack Ryan
11.12am: Cathal Butler v Ronan Mullarney
11.21am: Gary O’Flaherty v TJ Ford

O’Keeffe, Butler & Buckley through in North of Ireland

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Peter O'Keeffe

Peter O’Keeffe

Peter O’Keeffe staged a huge recovery at the North of Ireland today, jumping over 100 places on the leaderboard to make it into the matchplay stage of the provincial championship.  O’Keeffe, who only arrived in Portstewart yesterday after a week in Lahinch, needed to dig deep after an opening 78 (+5) in Castlerock yesterday.  And the big hitting Douglas golfer did just that, shooting a three under par 69 to finish inside the top 40, with two shots to spare from the cut mark of +4.  It wasn’t plain sailing for O’Keeffe on Portstewart’s Strand course, host of the 2017 Irish Open.  The 2017 Irish Open winner was two over after three holes, but two birdies and an eagle over the next four holes got him back in track.  A handful of pars followed until he dropped two more birdies on the 14th and 17th.  A bogey on the last meant he signed for a 69 and at that stage O’Keeffe was thinking it Continue reading →

Sugrue through to Amateur Matchplay

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The Amateur Championship 2019 Portmarnock & The Island Golf Club Monday 17th June 2019James Sugrue was the only Cork golfer to make it trough to the last 64 in the Amateur Championship.  After two strokeplay rounds in Portmarnock and The Island, the Mallow man finished in 46th place on +3 after two testing rounds.  Sugrue, with his usual partner Conor Dowling on the bag, was out on Portmarnock yesterday.  And like the majority of the field he found it a tough day.  While he commented the it was “insanely long”, he knew that a patient approach was probably the only way to survive the 7,000 yard course.  The wind picked up mid-morning and Sugrue couldn’t avoid a few bogies on the front nine.  A run of six pars was a welcome Continue reading →

Pro Shop Challenge IV, Kinsale Golf Club

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Kinsale Pro Shop Challenge 3_July 2018

Cathal Butler and John Murphy (centre) pictured with Ian Stafford and Ger Broderick at the Pro Shop Challenge at Kinsale last week. Picture: Aidan Stafford

Kinsale’s Pro Shop Challenge is back, and the fourth staging of the charity fundraiser is set for a change with the pro’s taking on the internationals in August.  The Kinsale Pro team remains the same, Ger Broderick and Ian Stafford are currently in training in the hope of winning back the title they lost last year.  The line up on the other side has changed though, the amateurs are now restyled as the “internationals” and it also features a change in the line up.  14 year old Eoghan Cassidy will line up with John Murphy.  Murphy is currently on the senior Irish team while Cassidy is on the Irish Under 14 and Under 16 squads.  The event takes place on Thursday 15th August, and there should be a great afternoon of golf and fun.  Ian Stafford has been the driving force behind the event, from a small start in 2016, the event has raised well over €11,000 for the charity partners.  Keen to keep the event moving, Ian proposed a change to the format this year.  “This year we are celebrating the fact that Kinsale Golf Club has had 2 International Golfers in the past twelve Continue reading →

Sugrue in contention in St Andrews

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James Sugrue_22

James Sugrue (Mallow) 

After rounds of 67 and 68, James Sugrue is in 5th place at the St Andrew’s Links Trophy in Scotland.  It’s another boost for the Mallow man has been on a good run of form.  Sugrue won the Castletroy Scratch Cup two weeks ago, before finishing in the top twenty in the Brabazon.  Although he is in 5th place, he is eight shots off the lead held by England’s Matty Lamb after a super 63 today.  Sugrue had a great run of four birdies in the middle of his round in the home of golf.  It was part of a five bogies in six holes starting at the fifth.  Sugrue had three birdies on the back nine but bogies on the 15th and 17th before a closing par would see him sign for a four under par 68.  Sugrue is the second best placed Irish golfer, he’s one behind Caolan Continue reading →

O’Keeffe takes 5th place at East of Ireland

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Douglas Senior Senior Scratch Cup 26th May 2019Peter O’Keeffe fired himself into a fifth place finish at the East of Ireland, thanks to a three under par 69 in his final round this afternoon.

O’Keeffe has an impressive back nine, he went on a birdie run and was three under for his final seven holes, and it was an impressive finish given the difficulty of the course in Baltray.  The result is a nice boost for the 2017 Irish Open Champion as he looks to cement his place on the Irish Squad.  O’Keeffe started the season with a win in the Muskerry Senior Scratch Cup, and the performance in Co Louth signals that he’s back on form.  Greg O’Mahony built on last week’s win in Douglas with a top twenty finish.  The Fota Island member will probably be disappointed with a closing 75 having been well placed after a 71 this morning.

Sean Desmond was the only other Cork golfer to make the cut, he finished in 23rd place on +5 after a final round 72.

Mallow’s James Sugrue and Kinsale’s both missed the East as they played in the Brabazon Trophy in The Alwoodley Club in Leeds.  Sugrue had a an impressive event, finishing in the top twenty.  Like much of the field, Sugrue batteld with the back nine over the four days, but on Sunday he had four birdies on the first ten holes before he eventually succumbed to two bogeys on the closing holes.  It meant that he finished with a 70, which saw him jump from 35th to tied 18th.  Both are back in action this week in the St Andrews Links Trophy.  Murphy will be keen to show some of the form he had on display recently in the NCAA Regionals and Finals, especially as he missed the cut in Leeds last weekend.

Murphy ready for Summer Challenge

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John Murphy Links Trophy 2018It’s almost twelve months on from where it all kicked off.  The St Andrew’s Links Trophy 2018 was when John Murphy had his first major win, and the Kinsale man has kicked on with a great season with University of Louisville in NCAA Division One college.  Today he kicks on with his first appearance at the Brabazon Trophy, the English Strokeplay championship.  From there it’s onto St Andrew’s to defend his Links trophy, and from there it will be a mixture of Irish, English and European events as the seasons builds towards August.  Murphy has the added benefit of being named in the extended Walker Cup panel, and although he missed out on a few early season events in England, he’s now on the right side of the Atlantic for the selectors to see what he can do.  Twelve months ago it’s was a sudden death play-off that decided the winner of the St Andrews Links.  Given Murphy’s experience in matchplay situations going back to when he was under 15 it was no Continue reading →

Murphy helps Cardinals to NCAA Finals

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John Murphy May 2019_1

John Murphy in action at the NCAA Regionals today (Pic: @UofLMGolf/Twitter)

“That was a grind” – that was the first reaction from a smiling John Murphy after finishing his final round at the NCAA Regionals in Louisville.  But it was a very positive finish as two birdies on 16 and 17, and a long par putt on 18 from Murphy proved to be crucial as his University of Louisville side qualified for the NCAA National Championships earlier this evening.  Murphy finished the 54 hole tournament tied for 12th place on -2, and his finish ensured that the Cardinals finished in the top five and now go though to the final stage of the college season.  Overnight the Cardinals were in fifth place, with a six shot cushion over their nearest challenger.  At the turn though it was a different story with the Louisville holding the last qualifying spot by just one shot.  Murphy was level par for his first nine but dropped three shots in the next five holes.  At that stage it was getting tight, but the third year student was two under for his final four holes which helped the Cardinals go through to the nationals for just the fourth time in their history.  In the end they took fourth place as other teams dropped shots on the closing holes.

 

The Cardinals were playing on their home Continue reading →

Sugrue & Murphy included in Walker Cup Squad

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South of Ireland 2018Lahinch Golf Club Saturday 28th July 2018

James Sugrue in action in the South of Ireland last year

James Sugrue and John Murphy were today named on a 26 man extended panel for the Walker Cup, and both will be hoping for a good summer of golf to boost their chances of making the ten man team for September.  The Walker Cup takes place in Royal Liverpool (Hoylake) later this year, and both will hope to follow in the footsteps of John McHenry (1987) and Jimmy Bruen (1938/49/51) in making the final team.  Mallow’s Sugrue (22) was disappointed two weeks ago when he had to withdraw from the European Nations Cup due to injury.  Now he’s back at full strength he’ll be looking forward to the squad practice in Hoylake next week prior to playing in the Lytham Trophy the following weekend.  Kinsale’s John Murphy (20) is currently in Kentucky with Continue reading →