Pictures from Kinsale: Continue reading
Kinsale Golf Club
Less than a week to go to Kinsale Pro Shop Challenge
There’s less than a week to go to Kinsale’s Pro Shop Challenge is back, the fourth staging of the annual charity fundraiser. And there’s a change this year with Kinsale’s two amateur internationals taking on the Pro’s. 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” with 14 year old Eoghan Cassidy teaming up with senior Irish international John Murphy. Murphy is currently on the senior Irish team while Cassidy is on both the Irish Under 14 and Under 16 squads. The event takes place next Thursday, and there should be a great afternoon of golf and fun. “The event itself is a fourball betterball match between Ger and myself and John Eoghan” explained Continue reading
Gallery: AIG Barton Shield, Kinsale – teams starting on the back nine
Pictures from the four matches starting on the back nine this morning: Continue reading
Walsh wins in Oughterard, Connacht Boys Champion
Enter a Robert Walsh JNR (Kinsale) winner of the Connacht Boys Amateur Championship 2019. Picture: Golffile | Fran Caffrey
Robbie Walsh claimed his first provincial title today when he overturned a three shot deficit to win the Connacht Boys in Oughterard. It was a long three days for the Kinsale golfer, he was in contention from the start and held a share of the lead with Galgorm Castle’s Joshua Hill after an opening 68. He fell back to second place after round two though when he shot a level par 72 and Hill shot a 69. With a three shot lead, Hill was favourite to win the title, and after the opening nine it still looked like that. The Kinsale teenager was still three behind at the turn but two mistakes from Hill and a birdie from Walsh on the par five 14th saw the pair tied for the lead on the 16th tee. Hill went one ahead with a birdie on the 16th, but he closed with two bogies that would put him into second place. Walsh’s birdie on the par three 17th was crucial, it gave him a one shot lead heading to the 18th tee. Although both golfers bogied the last, Walsh knew he had a cushion and claimed his first provincial title.
Muskerry’s Fionn Hickey carded a final round 69 (-2) to move up to 4th place, that’s another good result after he won the Under 17 trophy at the Irish Boys last week. Jack Egan (Muskerry) and Keelan McCarthy (Lee Valley) both finished inside the top twenty, and Ronan Feerick (Mallow) dropped Continue reading
Home win for Ward in Kinsale
Gary Ward scooped the Kinsale Senior Scratch Cup yesterday, but only after the winner was decided on the 19th after a play-off. It’s a fourth scratch cup for the Kinsale man, but it’s the first since 2017 and will no doubt be a welcome return to the winners circle.
After a gap of a year, the Kinsale Scratch Cup returned, and the organisers had a strong field assembled. And thanks to the club and sponsors ODC Advisory they also had an attractive prize pot on offer. With fine weather in Kinsale, the scoring was expected to be low but the 7,000 yard championship course proved to be a good challenge for the 50+ golfers taking part.
Ward led the scoring after the first round. He shot a two under par 70 and was alongside Karl Bornemann on -2. Shane Kenneally and Zak Collins Continue reading
Kinsale Scratch Cup set for 29th June
Kinsale’s Senior Scratch Cup is set to be played on Saturday 29th of June, and with the club hosting the AIG Barton Shield in July, it’s sure to attract a large field of golfers. The Scratch Cup has a fresh feel as a result of its inclusion on the 2019 Munster Senior Interprovincial Order of Merit. The competition expects a high-quality field of Munster hopefuls, aiming to play their way on to the Munster Senior Interprovincial team. The South Munster Barton Shield qualifier will take place in Kinsale Golf Club in July. Kinsale won the Munster Barton Shield in 2018 and will be relishing the prospect of qualifying at home. The Scratch Cup will provide an ideal opportunity for clubs participating in the Barton Shield to get acquainted with some of the course changes in advance of the qualifier. With a gap in the national calendar, it’s also gives everyone a chance at a win at a major local event, one which dates back over 50 years.
The Kinsale Scratch Trophy was first played in September 1961 as a club competition and was won by Cork Golf Club. The format consisted of an inter-club scratch competition for teams of four, involving morning foursomes followed by afternoon singles with all scores to count in a Ryder Cup style format. In more recent years, the Scratch Cup has switched from a team to an individual format intermittently. Kinsale signalled the end of the team format of the competition on a winning note. Kieran McCarthy, Paul Crowley, Shane Kenneally and Keith O’Shea emerging victorious in 2007.
In 2008, the event returned to an individual format and the cup remained in Kinsale after John Keating secured the win. Notable past winners (as individuals and team players) include the Higgin’s family from Cork Golf Club in Continue reading
Pro Shop Challenge IV, Kinsale Golf Club
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
Murphy ready for Summer Challenge
It’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
A Year of Two Halves for Murphy
This year could be summarised as a game of two halves for John Murphy. The Kinsale golfer spent the first half of the year playing well but struggling to get results, but the second half saw him hit some key milestones. These included an international win, an Irish cap and get finish to the season back in college in the US. While 2018 may have been his best year, Murphy didn’t feel like that at the beginning of the year a he explained. “The college semester was difficult for me” recalled Murphy. “I didn’t feel like I was competing as I had in the past. I wasn’t producing results that were reflecting how I was playing. In all honesty, I was worried, I was shooting some poor scores and I was getting very frustrated with myself. It was tough. I remember having a call with my parents at regionals where I just shot 7 over par. I told them I was playing well but I just couldn’t score, and then we all realized that I had been saying that all semester, and maybe I was being delusional. The week I got back Continue reading
Hilary says goodbye to Monkstown
Hilary Madden pictured with Martin Travers and Cian McNamara
Monkstown’s Hilary Madden will retire this week after 16 years as general manager in the golf club. It’s been a very eventful time for golf clubs in Ireland, with big changes happening in those two decades. In 2002, when Hilary took on the role in Monkstown golf in Ireland was very different. There were waiting lists and large entry fees for anyone wanting to join, that period also marked a big increase in the number of courses. Like many other courses, Monkstown had impressive development plans at the time which included an impressive new clubhouse, a new maintenance and greenkeeper compound. Work on the course which drainage and bunker redevelopment, and it fell to the manager to oversee the plans which was set to reposition Monkstown back to the top table. Luckily for Monkstown the work was completed by time the downturn came, but they still had to finance the projects which was a challenge for the club. “As common with most clubs in Ireland the economic depression from 2008 to 2014 resulted Continue reading
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