Cian McNamara won the Premium Golf Brands Order of Merit on Monday as the Munster PGA winter series drew to a close. The Morgan O’Donovan Perpetual Trophy hosted by Monkstown marked the final event in the weather affected winter series. McNamara finished in third place on day but that was enough to pip his friend David Ryan for the title. McNamara won earlier this year in Adare, on the day that the course closed before a major redevelopment project got underway. He placed in Castlemartyr, Monkstown and Fota Island to stay on top of the leaderboard. The PGB Order of Merit Continue reading
Monkstown Golf Club
Higgins retains Morgan O’Donovan Perpetual Trophy
David Higgins pictures with Stephen Hayes
Congrats to David Higgins who won the Morgan O’Donovan Perpetual Trophy in Monkstown today. The Waterville golfer shot an amazing 62 to win the title by 6 shots. David Ryan was second and Cian McNamara took third place.
Monkstown was in great condition today, with the greens in particular Continue reading
Fred Daly first round matches start today
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.
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
Mallow’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
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
Gallery: Munster Youths Final Day
Pictures from the final day at the Munster Youths Amateur Open in Monkstown Golf Club: Continue reading
Sugrue leads four Cork golfers in top 20 at Munster Youths
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
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
Munster Youths Timesheet
Play will get underway in Monkstown at 8.30am tomorrow morning
Monkstown set for Munster Youths
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.
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
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