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.
John Murphy was also in good form, shooting a 67 on day two. It was a bit more complicated for Murphy as three early birdies were cancelled out by three bogies on the front nine. Murphy hit the reset button and reeled off four consecutive birdies starting at the par three 12th. He couldn’t add to that on the 18th but the -4 return see’s him tied for the lead alongside Butler. Ben Murray (UCC) is the third man on -3, he shot a 68 to move from third place to tie the lead. Mallow’s James Sugrue is in 4th place two shots behind the leading trio, Sugrue was also in the 60’s with a two under par 69 to get to -1. Monkstown’s Sean Desmond also shot a 69 to get to back to +2 and a share of 9th place. Gary Ward had a 12 shot swing on day two, he had a 68 today after a disappointing 80 in yesterday’s testing conditions.
The man of the day was Butler though and after a few months of poor results the Kinsale golfer is back in the groove. “My swing felt really good today, it felt good yesterday as well only that it was very blustery” said the Kinsale man after the great round. “There were a lot of gusts and it was very tricky, and I didn’t get rewarded for the good shots. But today it was flat calm and it was pretty much target golf out there. I’ve did quite a lot of work on my swing with Paul Kiely in the past few months so it’s finally starting to come together.” And it wasn’t case of protecting a score as Butler kept on giving himself solid birdie chances. “I drove the ball really well today, and I’ve learned that when I’m playing well to put the boot down and keep going for birdies. I hit my only bad drive of the day on the 18th, I went into the trees but recovered and wedged on to eight feet. I hit the birdie putt around two feet past but overall I’m delighted with the round. There were great scores too from Gary [Ward] and John [Murphy] so hopefully there will be plenty more birdies for the Kinsale lads. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow, hopefully there will be more good weather and a few more birdies.”
Leinster Students Amateur Open Championship 12-14 June 2017
Results after 36 Holes
139
C BUTLER (Maynooth Scholars (a)), 75, 64; J MURPHY (Kinsale), 72, 67; B MURRAY (University College Cork), 71, 68
141 J Sugrue (Mallow), 72, 69
142 G Dunne (Maynooth University Club (b)), 75, 67; E Griffin (Maynooth Scholars (b)), 71, 71
143 J Quinn (DCU), 72, 71; R Dutton (Ulster University (a)), 70, 73
144 S Desmond (Monkstown), 75, 69; P Cummins (Lurgan), 74, 70; E O’Brien (Maynooth University Club (a)), 74, 70
145 C Woodroofe (Maynooth University Club (a)), 73, 72
146 G Carr (Maynooth University Club (b)), 78, 68; P Brennan (Belvoir Park), 76, 70; D Smith (Castle), 76, 70; M Ryan (New Ross), 74, 72; Z Glynn (Bray), 72, 74
147 J Mc Donnell (Maynooth University Club (a)), 79, 68; R Steedman (Maynooth University Club (c)), 78, 69; W Small (Tandragee), 75, 72; S Greenberg (Ulster University (a)), 74, 73
148 G Ward (Kinsale), 80, 68
149 K McCarron (Maynooth Scholars (a)), 79, 70; S Mc Dermott (NUI Galway (a)), 78, 71; M Norton (Belvoir Park), 77, 72; J McVicker (Ulster University (a)), 77, 72; M Kennelly (NUI Galway (b)), 76, 73; P Murphy (Rosslare), 76, 73; J Bolger (Jnr) (Courtown), 76, 73; N McCann (Lurgan), 75, 74; C Hughes (NUI Galway (a)), 75, 74
150 T Ford (Maynooth University Club (b)), 76, 74 (Team Qualifiers)
153 E Smith (Maynooth Scholars (a)), 77, 76 (Team Qualifiers)
Non Qualifying
150 O Crooks (Bushfoot), 78, 72; C Melvin (Maynooth University Club (c) ), 77, 73; G Fitzmaurice (University College Dublin (a)), 77, 73; B Doran (IT Carlow), 77, 73; M McKenna (Dun Laoghaire), 75, 75; M MCKINSTRY (Cairndhu), 75, 75; M Boucher (Carton House), 75, 75; D McAleenon (Lisburn), 74, 76; C Raymond (Newlands), 74, 76
151 L Donnelly (Kilkenny), 76, 75; P Jordan (Lurgan), 75, 76
152 P KERR (Royal Portrush), 80, 72; L Grehan (Maynooth Scholars (b)), 79, 73; R Abernethy (Dun Laoghaire), 79, 73; T Collins (University College Dublin (a)), 78, 74; K Murphy (University of South Carolina), 78, 74; R Williamson (Holywood), 76, 76; M SHIEL (NUI Galway (b)), 74, 78; R Brazill (Naas), 73, 79
153 A Fahy (Dun Laoghaire), 78, 75
154 R Browne (University College Dublin (b)), 81, 73; C Harte (University College Dublin (b)), 80, 74; J Boyd (Cork IT (a)), 79, 75; D Pollock (Garden City Community College), 79, 75; J Blake (DCU), 78, 76; A McDaid (Dublin Business School), 75, 79; M McCormack (Ashbourne), 74, 80
155 A Riordan (Cork IT (a)), 81, 74; D Hourihan (University College Cork), 79, 76; D Coghlan (University Limerick), 79, 76; S Sweeney (USA), 77, 78
156 C Moloney (Fota Island), 79, 77; E Collins (DCU), 79, 77; D BRADY (Maynooth Scholars (b)), 78, 78; T Coakley (Cork IT (c) ), 78, 78; J Murphy (Greenore), 77, 79
157 C FEENEY (Co. Sligo), 79, 78; J Dunne (Borris), 78, 79; B Smyth (Howth), 78, 79
158 R Dineen (Cork IT (b)), 78, 80
159 L Cummins (Cork IT (c) ), 81, 78; A Crowley (Dublin Institute of Technology), 80, 79; A McSweeney (Cork IT (a)), 80, 79; L Branagan (Dublin Institute of Technology), 78, 81
160 C Bolger (IT Carlow), 82, 78; D O’ Brien (IT Carlow), 79, 81
161 B MURRAY (University College Cork), 82, 79; S Campbell (Ballyclare), 78, 83
162 J Murphy (Cork IT (b)), 79, 83
163 D O’Sullivan (Cork IT (b)), 87, 76
165 J Cleary (University College Dublin (b)), 89, 76; A Comerford (NUI Galway (b) ), 78, 87
166 L Flynn (Dun Laoghaire), 87, 79
NR J McCarthy (University College Dublin (a))
NS B Fehily (Newlands); C Nolan (NUI Galway (a))
Women:
Round 1 Par: 73; SSS: 73; CSS: 76
Round 2 Par: 73; SSS: 73; CSS: 73
153 S Burke (Maynooth Scholars (w)), 77, 76
154 M Doyle (Maynooth Scholars (w)), 79, 75
155 C Walsh (Maynooth University Club (c)), 77, 78
165 R Mc Donnell (Elm Park), 84, 81
170 M Doyle (Maynooth Scholars (w)), 91, 79
RTD J ALLEN (Ulster University (b))
Teams
285 Woodroofe/O’Brien/Mc Donnell, 147, 138
286 BUTLER/McCarron/Smith, 152, 134; Carr/Dunne/Ford, 151, 135
289 McVicker/Dutton/Greenberg, 144, 145
Non Qualifers
293 Griffin/BRADY/Grehan, 149, 144
294 MURRAY/Hourihan/MURRAY, 150, 144
296 Steedman/Walsh/Melvin, 154, 142
224 Mc Dermott/Nolan/Hughes, 153, 71
297 Blake/Quinn/Collins, 150, 147
307 Burke/Doyle/Doyle, 156, 151
301 Comerford/SHIEL/Kennelly, 150, 151
302 Collins/McCarthy/Fitzmaurice, 155, 147
307 Bolger/Doran/O’ Brien, 156, 151
308 Boyd/Riordan/McSweeney, 159, 149; Harte /Browne/Cleary, 161, 147
313 Murphy/O’Sullivan /Dineen, 157, 156
315 Coakley/Cummins, 159, 156
318 Branagan/Crowley, 158, 160
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.
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 
Peter O’Keeffe overcame a one shot deficit in the final nine holes in Tralee today to claim the prestigious Kerry Scratch Cup. O’Keeffe was joint leader going into the final round but Tralee’s Fergal O’Sullivan led by one shot after 45 holes. It was a tough day for the players in Tralee, O’Sullivan was +3 at the turn and O’Keeffe was +4 as high winds and squally rain did its best to wear down the competitors.
Tough weather conditions meant that the scoring was high in Tralee, but Peter O’Keeffe finished his 36 holes tied for the lead. Rounds of 76 and 75 from O’Keeffe were matched by Tralee’s Fergal O’Sullivan. The Tralee man has won already this season, he retained his Ballybunion Scratch Title a few weeks ago and will be fancied by locals. Both O’Sullivan and O’Keeffe are on 151, three shots ahead of second placed John Murphy who had two rounds of 77.
Cork Golf News 