Muskerry Golf Club

Down to final 8 golfers in Muskerry

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

The Round of 16 was completed this morning and only 8 golfers remain in the hunt for the Ford Junior Scratch Trophy.  There were several more tight matches with three of the eight matches going to the 19th.  Muskerry have two golfers left in the competition and Cork are guaranteed a semi-finalist as Jack O’Flynn faces Kevin O’Connell.

Ford Junior Scratch Trophy Quarter Finals:
Bernard Twomey (Muskerry) v Kevin Byrne (East Cork)
Jack O’Flynn (Cork) v Kevin O’Connell (Cork)
Sean Leonard (Monkstown) v Jack Heffernan (Doneraile)
Michael O’Callaghan (Muskerry) v Desmond O’Regan (Mahon)

Round 3 Results:

Ford Junior Scratch 2016 R3

Favourites bite the dust in 1st Round matches – Ford Junior Scratch Trophy

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

Leading qualifiers Jack Egan and John O’Mahony were both victims in the first round at Muskerry this morning.  Egan’s match was one of four matches that went beyond the 18th, he was beaten by Ronan Curran on the 1st/19th.  At the other end a few matches were closed off at the 14th green.

Ford Junior Scratch 2016 R1

Muskerry Showdown Starts Tomorrow

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

The most exciting handicap competition of the year gets underway tomorrow in Muskerry.  The Ford Junior Scratch Trophy will see the 64 top qualifiers face off tomorrow morning with the eventual winner getting though six rounds of matchplay.  Two qualifiers took place earlier this month with over 300 golfers participating.  Due to the prevailing wet weather and soft ground conditions, the organisers decided on a gross stable ford scoring format.  With gross stableford scoring, golfers would not be overly penalised for losing a plugged ball.  John O’Mahony (Muskerry) came out on top from the Friday qualifier with a very impressive 35 points (gross).  Kinsale’s Alan Buckley Continue reading →

Big Entry expected for Muskerry Junior Scratch Trophy

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

 

AIG Junior Cup Munster Finals

2015 Winner Adam McSweeeny

The timesheet for the Ford Muskerry Junior Scratch Trophy qualifiers has opened and a full entry is expected for the unique event.  The top 64 qualifiers from the two day qualifier will go forward to the matchplay phase where the eventual winner will come through six rounds of matchplay golf.  The six rounds are played over three days, giving the successful qualifiers a taste of tournament golf that’s normally reserved for scratch golfers.  The competition has been running since 1970 and the trophy has some well-known local names including Donal O’Donovan, Kieran McCarthy, Mark Ford and Eoghan O’Connell.  Muskerry winners include Niall Turner, Donal Healy, John O’Mahony and two-time winner Ger O’Shea.  Last year’s winner was Adam McSweeney from Douglas.  McSweeney was a member of the successful Douglas Junior Scratch Cup team but he’s now too low to enter the competition this year.  Already there are over 150 golfers registered for the qualifiers which take Continue reading →

Weather Continues to Disrupt Golfing Plans

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

Course ClosedThe last nine weeks have been challenging for Cork’s golfing community, to borrow a phrase from Muskerry, it started with Abigail and continues with Imogen.  The past two months have been unprecedented in terms of the disruption caused by the weather.  While a bit of frost and even snow might be expected, the volumes of rainfall have effectively shut down the business of golf across the county and beyond.  While course and clubhouse damage has been minimal, the disruption has been severe.  Courses, bars and restaurants and pro-shops have all been affected, with courses in particular seeing footfall drop to close to zero since November.  Muskerry is a case in point, the ladies club has completed just one competition since November with eight consecutive cancellations since the start of December.  The Men’s club in Muskerry hasn’t fared much better with seventeen competitions cancelled since November.  It’s not all bad news however as the club has succeeded in growing it’s Continue reading →

2015 Review of the Year – Part 3

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

July

There were four Cork golfers in action in the Inter-Provincials which took place in Donegal’s Rossapenna.  Gary O’Flaherty, John Hickey, Dave O’Donovan and Ian O’Rourke all played their part in a sprited defence of the title they won in 2014.  Munster started well in the first two days with wins over Connacht and Ulster, but they lost out in a winner takes all match with Leinster.

Philip Quinn (Douglas) teeing off the 18th during in Cork GC

Philip Quinn (Douglas) 

Philip Quinn (Douglas) had two dramatic finishing holes in the qualifier final of the AIG Junior Cup.  Douglas were looking like losing to Mahon but the experienced 5 handicapper won the 17th and 18th in Cork GC to overturn a deficit and secure the third and Continue reading →

Successful finish for Turner on Asian Tour

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

Niall Turner3Niall Turner completed his first year back on the Asian Tour with a top five finish at the season ending Phillipine Open.  After two years on the Asian Development Tour, Turner earned a full card by finishing third in the Order of Merit last year.  Turner had already secured a full tour card for next year, but he went on to card three rounds in the 60’s for a high placed finish in the rain shortened event.

The Ballincollig native was in seventh place going into the final round and opened brightly with a birdie on the Continue reading →

Muskerry Lead the Charge for New Members

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

Muskerry are one of the early birds looking at 2016, they have put in place a very attractive offer for new members under the age of 35.  Munster clubs have seen membership drop by over 20% in the past five years, that’s over 7,400 members between the 86 clubs.  Nationally the game has lost almost 50,000 members so many clubs are now looking at new ways to attract and retain members.  In addition to the membership loss, clubs are also having to manage an aging profile.  This has an impact on revenue and in many clubs, older members qualify for discounts or reduced membership fees.  At a recent EGM, Muskerry approved a new scheme that will see new members pay €520 in their first year of membership.  They then graduate to €700 in the second year and €900 in the third year.  After the third year Continue reading →

Turner in Top 10 in Macau

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

Niall Turner shot a four under par 67 overnight to jump up to 8th spot in the Venetian Macau Open on the Asian Tour.  That’s three under par rounds for Turner in the event where he has made the cut for a second successive week.  Going into the third round the Muskerry man was in 19th place on four under.  Another good round tomorrow should see him earn a sizeable cheque and improve his chances of retaining his full tour card.

Niall Turner

Niall Turner

Turner had an opening bogey followed by two birdies, and he followed that with another bogey in an eventful four holes.  He added four birdies in the remaining holes to sign for a 67.  Royal Dublin’s Niall Kearney missed the cut after two successive 73’s.