John Hickey
John Hickey shot a two under par 70 in Baltray this morning to finish the first round in 5th place. A steady round saw Hickey turn on -2 after two birdies. He added a third bridie on the 14th but bogied the par three 15th immediately after that. Two more pars followed and he signed for a 70 which is just one shot off the lead set but a group of four golfers. Gary O’Flaherty returned to competitive golf after a short break and he went round the Co Louth links in a very respectable 71 strokes. Like his Cork Golf Club partner Hickey, Gary also had a very tidy round. Two birdies, one bogey and fifteen pars made up the card that saw him tie for ninth place just two shots away from the leading bunch. The fourway tie Continue reading
There was no joy for John Murphy in Paris today as he tried to improve his position at the French Amateur Open. Murphy was tied for 5th place after 36 holes and with 36 more to play today. Unfortunately the Kinsale man couldn’t capitalise and a morning 72 (+1) meant that a win was out of reach. Things weren’t much better in the final round this afternoon, an eagle on the par five ninth was the only positive to report. He singed for a 74 in the afternoon giving him a final score of +2 in a tie for 20th place. Murphy is staying in France this week and will play in the Alps Tour event that takes place in ClementAder.
John Murphy is in the top five heading into the final day of the French Amateur Open at Chantilly Golf Club. Murphy started the second round in a tie for 12th place but shot 3 under to jump up seven places. Murphy had six birdies but a cold putter and lost ball meant that he dropped three shots to sign for a 68.
It wasn’t the low round that he promised – but in any case it was enough to give Peter O’Keeffe the lead going into tomorrow’s final round of the Flogas Irish Amateur Open.
Peter O’Keeffe and John Murphy both sit within touching distance of the lead after solid performances in round two of the Flogas Irish Amateur Open. Royal County Down was firm and bouncy again today but the links proved a challenge as just a dozen golfers broke par at the testing Irish Open venue. O’Keeffe was out this afternoon and he continued in the same form as yesterday with plenty of birdies. Two early bogies didn’t distract the Douglas member, and he got back to level before bogeying the the ninth to turn on +1. Three birdies followed on the back nine but a dropped shot on the 14th meant that he signed for another 70 and is now one off the lead on -2. Sean Towndrow 
Peter O’Keeffe shot a one under par 70 on the opening day of the Flogas Irish Amateur Open. Royal County Down was playing firm and fast today thanks to the recent dry weather and it proved a test for the Irish golfers as only seven made it into the top 25. O’Keeffe started brightly with a birdie on the first but dropped shots on 4 and 8 meant that he turned on +1. There were no more bogies for the Douglas member, and he birdied the 10th and 12th before parring his way home. He’s in a tie for 8th place and three shots off the lead.
Monkstown’s Sean Desmond made it through to the matchplay stage on his debut in the West of Ireland Championship today. Desmond shot a second successive 73 at Co Sligo and finished inside the top twenty. Sean had a colourful card today, five bogies and a double were offset by five birdies on the testing links track. Tomorrow he has a 7.27am start where he’ll face Robert Brazill from Naas.
John Murphy rued a disappointing front nine in St Andrews today as dropped one spot to finish second at the R&A Scholars Tournament. After 36 holes on the Eden Course in St Andrew’s on Monday, Murphy led the field by two shots. By doing so he started the third round in the final grouping on the famous Old Course. Scoring was difficult on the normally manageable links, tough winds meant that there were several returns in the high seventies and eighties. Murphy suffered on the greens on the way out, with an uncharacteristic number of three putts and a rare double bogey. He turned on +5 for the day to drop himself back into the field and two more bogies followed on the 11th and 12th holes. To his credit, Murphy bounced back with three birdies on his last seven holes and the turn-around in form meant that he finished in a tie for second place. John’s Maynooth teammate Stuart Grehan carded a very tidy level par 72 to win the tournament by three shots.
Cork Golf News 