Monkstown Golf Club

Fred Daly first round matches start today

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Interest in junior golf is building up as this weekend the first round of the Fred Daly Trophy takes place.  Cork, Monkstown, Douglas and Muskerry will all host the matches as Ireland’s premier junior golf competition gets underway.  This year the competition format has changed.  

Fred Daly Trophy Draw

The GUI Annual General Meeting voted to reduce the number of players from seven to five.  Seven first round matches take place on Saturday and Sunday.  Munster holders Mallow are in action in Monkstown on Sunday, where they will face Mahon.  Kinsale were Munster finalists in 2015 and they will face Douglas on Sunday.  That is without doubt the most interesting match of the first round.  Both clubs were also paired early on in the competition last year and Kinsale won only after the match went to playoff holes.  Kinsale went on to contest the Munster Final while Douglas won the Fred Daly Plate.
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Mallow’s Sugrue back on Form

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Munster Youths Amateur Open 2016Mallow’s James Sugrue got his season off to a solid start last week when he finished in third place in the Munster Youths at Monkstown.  Sugrue shot 71,71 over the two days and he was closing in on the lead when play was suspended on Friday, and the third round was eventually abandoned.  The 2014 Munster Youths winner was the best of the Cork finishers as 11 local golfers made the cut for the final day.  Kinsale were well represented on the final day, Cathal Butler finished in 6th place with Eric Rumley and John Murphy both finishing in 12th place.  Rumley too the 2nd net prize while Murphy won the Under 18 prize.  Adam McSweeney (Douglas), Alan Riordan (Muskerry) and Brian O’Connell (Bandon) were all in the top 30.  Paul Tobin, Greg O’Mahony, Mark Healy and Darragh O’Connor all made it through to the final round.  The event was won by Jack McDonnell from Forrest Little.  The Maynooth University student shot an opening 66 to lead by two strokes.  A second round 73 saw him take a two shot lead into the final round.  Unfortunately the rain beat everyone on Friday.  All 47 golfers who made the cut for the final round started at 8.30am on Friday.  The high winds couldn’t keep th rain from gathering on the greens and after just an hour of play reports were coming in of several flooded greens.  The course staff and tournament committee did their best to clear the standing water on several greens but at 10am they were forced to suspend play and abandon the final round.  The result was declared on the basis of the scores after 36 holes.   Continue reading →

Day 3 Abandoned at Munster Youths

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Munster Youths 2016 Winner

Jack McDonnell (Forrest Little/NUIM) receiving the Munster Youths trophy from John Moloughney, Chariman Munster Golf and Carl Toal, Captain Monkstown Golf Club. to bad weather on the final day. Picture: Niall O’Shea

Despite everyone’s hope that the forecasted weather would pass over Cork, the wind and persistent rain forced organisers to abandon play on Day 3 of the Munster Youths at Monkstown Golf Club.

The rain started around 7.30am and it looked like the golf might be completed in the morning.  47 golfers started at 9am sharp but by 10am greens were starting to flood from the heavy rain.  At 10.30 tournament director Sean O’Leary in consultation with the tournament committee and the Monkstown staff had no alternative but to abandon the third round.  The result was declared on the basis of the results of the first 36 holes.  And so the title went Continue reading →

Sugrue leads four Cork golfers in top 20 at Munster Youths

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Monkstown Clubhouse

Early morning sunshine burns away the frost from the clubhouse at Monkstown as Day 2 at the Munster Youths gets underway. Picture Niall O’Shea

Mallow’s James Sugrue is the best placed Cork golfer going into the final round of the Munster Youths at Monkstown Golf Club.  The 2014 winner is three shot behind leader Jack McDonnell who shot 73 to finish on -1.  Sugrue is tied for second on +2, Hugh O’Hare from Fortwilliam is also on +2.

Kinsale’s Eric Rumley followed yesterday’s 70 with a 76 and that saw him drop from 3rd to a tie for 12th.  John Murphy is also tied for 12th place, both are seven shots off the lead so at best their chances of winning are marginal.  Cathal Butler is the third of four Kinsale golfers to make the cut, he added a 71 today to his 74 from yesterday, he is now in 6th place but is six strokes off the lead.

Munster Youths Amateur Open Scoring

Adam McSweeney (Douglas) finished in 24th place along with Alan Riordan (Muskerry).  Bandon’s Brian O’Connell was a shot Continue reading →

Rumley leads Cork golfers at Munster Youths

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Fred Daly Trophy Munster Finals

Eric Rumley

Kinsale’s Eric Rumley led the Cork golfers in action today at the Munster Youths in Monkstown Golf Club.  Rumley shot a level par 70 to finish in a tie for third place, and his round was even more impressive when he had to contend with the worst of the weather.

Rumley had a challenging start, he was three over after nine following bogies on the 3rd, 6th and 8th holes.  He bounced back with birdies on the 10th and 11th, and he eagled the par five 15th hole.  A bogey on the closing hole brought him back to level par for his round, but it was still a very impressive round given Continue reading →

Monkstown set for Munster Youths

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

Monkstown will host the prestigious Munster Youths Open this week and this is another event in a line of high profile events held at the club in recent years.  In 2014 they hosted the ILGU National finals over five days and in 2008 they hosted the week long GUI Cups & Shields finals.

Golf_Monkstown Golf Club 18th Fairway

Monkstown’s 18th fairway with the water hazard in the foreground. The course will host the Munster Youths from Wednesday to Friday. Picture: Niall O’Shea

Monkstown Captain Carl Toal is really looking forward to the event, especially considering the long run of poor weather endured by golfers locally.  “It was a difficult few months where the bad weather was relentless really said the Captain, “and like many courses in the area, we welcome the recent improvement and stretch in the evenings.  We are only back to playing 18 holes in the last two or three weeks. The course has stood up well considering the conditions we Continue reading →

Monkstown Junior Easter Camp

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Monkstown Golf Club Junior Easter CampMonkstown has been a busy place this week, in addition to the usual weekly competitions, over 50 young golfers have been taking part in a three day Easter Camp.  Following the success of a junior camp last October, Monkstown Club Pro Cian McNamara had planned to run another camp over Christmas.  Wet weather put a stop to that but McNamara along with Monkstown’s assistant Pro Graeme Dunlea have had a very busy week.  They have been running three sessions daily to cater for kids taking part in their Easter Camp.  “We have a group of 51 kids involved in camp” Cian explained, “with juniors ranging from 6 years of age to 13.  The majority of juniors are not members.  The main reason for this is that we have coaching provided weekly for juniors that are members alongside with events scheduled so members are more than catered for during holiday period.”

>>>Gallery: Monkstown Junior Easter Camp<<<

Graeme Dunlea

Monkstown’s Graeme Dunlea

Graeme Dunlea joined Monkstown from Adare Golf Club in late 2015 and his addition to the Monkstown team has allowed himself and Cian to develop a strong junior golf programme.  Both were introduced to the game at a young age and Cian explained their objectives for the camps: “The primary goal from the camp is to introduce Juniors at the youngest possible age to the game of golf in the most friendly environment possible.  Both Graeme and I have firm beliefs in how juniors should be nurtured during their introduction to the game.  The club are very supportive with our coaching plan and we plan to hold camps during all holiday periods.”  In addition to the three day camps, Monkstown have an ongoing programme to encourage new juniors to take up the game as Cian explained: “We also have three weekly junior time slots that non-members can attend, so if anybody was interested they could just contact the pro shop and ask for either Graeme or myself and we will give information about are on-going junior golf program.  Our highest priority is growing the enjoyment of the game.  We are very happy with our progression and continue to improve our coaching plan.  Once we can keep juniors having fun we can implement different coaching principles over time.