Peter O’Keeffe

O’Keeffe starts 2017 with a win, Mid West Golf Alliance

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AIG Barton Shield South Munster Final, Sunday 10th July, Monkstown Golf ClubPeter O’Keeffe opened his season on a high last Sunday when he finished joint top at the opening round of the Mid West Golf Alliance at Dromoland.  He shot 37 points to tie for the lead alongside Andrew McCormack and David Reddan Jnr.

O’Keeffe has been working hard on his own strength & conditioning programme and while that’s yielding results in the studio, and  his on course programme seems to be going to plan too.  Despite losing a ball on the 5th hole, he held his composure to plot his way around the parkland course in 37 gross points.  The gross stableford scoring system in use allowed O’Keeffe to recover quickly after the 5th, he hit a 320 yard bomb on the next hole and he went on to beat par by one shot.  Gross stableford gives one point for a bogey, two for a par, three for a birdie and so on.

This year the format for the Alliance has changed, there are four qualifying rounds in Dromoland and the top two scores will count. The top eight qualifiers will go forward to a matchplay shootout.  The second round takes place on Sunday next and any interested in playing should contact 061 368444.

Mid West Alliance 1st Round, Dromoland 
37: Peter O’Keeffe (Douglas), David Reddan Jnr (Nenagh), Andrew McCormack (Castletroy)
36: Eddie McCormack (Galway Bay)
35: Joe Lyons (Galway)
33: Nicky Duggan (Dromoland), Donncadh Nagle (Dromoland), Bob Loftus (Lahinch) Tony Cleary (Woodstock)

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O’Keeffe wins Doneraile Senior Scratch Cup

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peter-okeeffe-donerailePeter O’Keeffe notched up his third Senior Scratch Cup win this month with a fine 67 in Doneraile today.  O’Keeffe finished with a one under par 67, despite carding two bogeys and a double bogey.  The Douglas man did have five birdies which did help the card and he was cruising nicely until the 11th when he had a double after trying to go for the par 4 green.

 

After wins in Kinsale and Castlymartyr earlier this month, O’Keeffe is definitely on form.  He had a two shot winning margin over Irish Seniors International Michael Quirke who finished on 69.  Apart from the winner, the home club too the rest of the prizes,  David Finn finished on 72 and the nett prize was won by Hugh Dolan with a 68.

Doneraile Senior Scratch Cup, sponsored by Eilys Bar

  1. Peter O’Keeffe 67
  2. Michael Quirke 69
  3. Dave Finn 72
  4. Hugh Dolan 68 (Best Nett)

Long Read: O’Keeffe takes golf fitness to new level

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

O’Keeffe Golf Fitness has opened a new location and has added to the services available to golfers of all levels.

okeeffe-golf-fitness-sept-2016_4

Peter O’Keeffe training with the help of Trackman 4 at Dennehy’s Blackpool. Picture: Niall O’Shea

Although he’s only just over 12 months into a new career, Peter O’Keeffe has carved out a brand new market for golf fitness.  And that market is growing rapidly, O’Keeffe now has two locations providing screenings and exercises based on the Titleist Performance Institute fitness programme.  O’Keeffe set up in Dennhey’s Douglas in mid-2015, and from a standing start with no clients, Peter saw the business grow rapidly which meant opening a dedicated golf section when Dennehy’s were planning to open a new gym in Blackpool.  With dedicated training areas for golf fitness clients in both Douglas and Blackpool, Mark O’Connell has also come on board to deal with the growing demand for golf specific fitness training.  When Peter started in Douglas he was using the existing infrastructure, the gym and a large room which was normally used for classes.  As Blackpool was a new fit –out, this gave him the opportunity to develop a customised gym and golf performance room.  The performance room has a driving bay, and with the help of state of the art Trackman technology, O’Keeffe can not only observe the movement but he can also track results.  Detailed notes and statistics can be kept on mobility, speed and flexibility as well as the results from the simulated shots in the driving bay.  The customised gym provides golfer with a dedicated area for golf specific training while there’s also access to the large gym.  “During the plans for our new gym in Blackpool we added a golf performance room in the plans” explained O’Keeffe.  “I always had the vision of a golfer coming for a physical assessment for golf but Continue reading →

Two Cups in Two Days – O’Keeffe is the form golfer, Castlemartyr Senior Scratch Cup

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

peter-okeeffe-munsterPeter O’Keeffe has worked hard all year to win a senior scratch cup, and this weekend he won two.  After shooting a winning 68 in Kinsale yesterday, O’Keeffe was back on course this morning in Castlemartyr.  Starting early again, the Douglas man plotted his way around the Ron Kirby designed links and carved out a three under par 69.

And O’Keeffe repeated another thing this morning that he did yesterday.  He lost a ball on the opening hole and took a double bogey.  The Munster golfer’s tee shot found the heavy rough and the ball was lost.  Like yesterday he recovered and added three pars before getting his first birdies on the 5th.  He also birdied the par five 8th to gt back to level par before parring the 9th.  O’Keeffe went under par following a birdie on the 11th but couldn’t do better than that as he parred the next five holes where at least a birdie or two might have been expected.  He capitalised on the closing holes however.  He chipped in on the 17th after missing the green, and on the last hole he hit a nine iron from 175 yards to ten feet.  He made the putt to sign for a winning 69.

Dave O’Donovan (Muskerry) took second place with a 73 and Kinsale’s Cathal Butler was third with a 74.  Mallow’s James Sugrue was fourth with 75 and Michael Lenihan won the best nett prize.

 

O’Keeffe Wins Kinsale Senior Scratch Cup, Murphy helps Ireland to European Boys Team Title

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Interpros 2016 Peter O'Keeffe

Peter O’Keeffe (Douglas) 

Peter O’Keeffe won the Kinsale Senior Scratch Cup today with a four under pat 68.  O’Keeffe recovered after an interesting start, he put a three iron out of bounds on the first tee which meant he walked onto the second hole on +2.  He recovered however and started racking up the birdies.  He went under par on the 3rd, 6th and 8th before dropping a shot on the 9th.  O’Keeffe added four birdies and five pars on the back nine to set the clubhouse lead on -4.  The round could have been better, O’Keeffe missed a birdie putt on the 17th and an eagle putt on the 18th.  Still it was enough to give the Douglas and Munster golfer his first scratch cup of the year.  Kinsale’s Keith Fitzpatrick also finished with a 68 but had to settle for second place with O’Keeffe beating him on the back nine.  Cork’s John Hickey finished in third place.  Many of the golfers today will be in action again tomorrow in the Continue reading →

No Opportunity for Crowley or O’Keeffe in rain affected Munster Over 30’s

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Peter O'Keeffe

Peter O’Keeffe

Poor weather forced the abandonment of the the Munster Over 30’s final round this morning.  The heavy overnight rain meant that the course in Ballyclough was unplayable for the final round.

Sean Poucher was a deserving winner based on the opening day.  He had an eagle and two birdies in his opening round on Friday.  His 69 was enough to get him over the line as the winner by one stroke from Peter O’Keeffe.  This is O’Keeffe’s third time to claim a runner up spot this season and even though he’ll be disappointed, it does prove that his game is still good enough to compete at the top amateur level.  Pat Murray also left a calling card, his third place was down to shooting a low round of 70 on Friday afternoon.  Keith Crowley (Fota Island) took fifth place and Kenny McGarry (Castlemartyr) and Gary O’Flaherty (Cork) were just outside the top 10.

Attention now turns to Macroom, the mid-Cork club are hosting a 36 hole senior scratch cup next Saturday, bookings Continue reading →

O’Keeffe & Crowley in the hunt for Munster Over 30’s, No joy for Doneraile in Mixed

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Douglas Senior Scratch Cup 2016

Peter O’Keeffe

Peter O’Keeffe is just one shot off the lead going into the final round of the Munster Over 30 Championship at Limerick Golf Club.  O’Keeffe opened with a one under par 71 this morning and he followed that with a 73 this afternoon.  Fota Island’s Keith Crowley is in fifth place on +2.  Crowley shot a 75 this morning but he was one of only two golfers to beat par this afternoon as he signed for a 71.  Sean Poucher from Limerick Golf Club leads the competition after shooting 69/74 today, holder Pay Murray is in third place on +1, and both Kenny McGarry and Gary O’Flaherty are in 12th and 13th place respectively.  The final round gets underway at 9.45am tomorrow with the top 49 golfers qualifying for the third round.

Doneraile had no luck today in the semi-final of the I Love Spain sponsoted Irish Mixed Foursomes.  Doneraile were playing Greystones and secured their first point when Peter Duane and Clare Hamilton won.  Sean Barrett and Karena Hunter also won Continue reading →

No Friday Feeling for Cork Golfers in Lahinch, South of Ireland Day 3 Report

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Munster Strokeplay Championship 2016

Cathal Butler (Kinsale) 

Friday was a bad day for Cork golfers in Lahinch as the matchplay stages of the Pierse Motors South of Ireland got underway. Four Cork golfers qualified through to the top 64 matchplay, but by Friday evening all four had exited the competition.  Paul McCarthy made a stunning start to the competition on Wednesday and Thursday during the strokeplay qualifying rounds.  McCarthy was -5 for 36 holes but lost out in the matchplay when David Foy beat him on the 16th green.  Peter O’Keeffe also lost out in the first round.  Robbie Cannon, his playing partner from Wednesday and Thursday got the better of him with an impressive 6&4 win.

Golffile Gallery from Day 3 at Lahinch

John Hickey won his morning match against Rosslare’s Gary Collins but then lost out in the second round when beaten by Daniel Holland by one hole.  Kinsale’s Cathal Butler also made it through the first round with a win on the 18th green over former champions Pat Murray.  Like the other Cork golfers though, he lost out in one of the later matches this afternoon, losing on the 16th to Stephen Watts.  The final 16 are back on the course tomorrow morning and four more round face the finalists when the competition concludes on Sunday.

South of Ireland Amateur Continue reading →

McCarthy continues leading role in Lahinch, South of Ireland Day 2

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Paul McCarthy Munster Youths Tralee

Paul McCarthy

Paul McCarthy shot another under par round to finish the strokeplay phase in a tie for second place.  McCarthy shot a two under par 70, with two birdies in the last three holes to get back into the red.  McCarthy, currently playing off +2 was just one shot behind leader Jake Whelan from Newlands.  Peter O’Keeffe carded his second successive 74 to finish in on +4 and safely inside the cut for the matchplay phase.  Cork’s John Hickey finished one shot outside O’Keeffe, Hickey was having a solid round until the 11th when he went on to bogey five of the closing holes.  Both O’Keeffe and Hickey were in great positions after the opening round, and solid second rounds meant that they were never at risk of missing the cut.

Kinsale’s Cathal Butler was hovering around the cut line after day one and a second round 73 certainly helped his chances of making the Continue reading →

Super 69 for McCarthy in Lahinch, South of Ireland Day 1 Report

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Paul McCarthy (Mallow Golf Club)

Paul McCarthy (Mallow Golf Club)

Mallow’s Paul McCarthy took advantage of an early start this morning to set the tone for the opening round of the South of Ireland Championship.  McCarthy raced into the lead with a near flawless 69 and finished in second place at the end of play on the opening day.  The 2015 Munster Youths champion went out in 34 thanks to birdies on the 2nd and 8th.  He had another two birdies on the way back but dropped a shot on the index one 15th hole.  He signed for a 69 leaving him one shot off the lead held by Jake Whelan from Newlands.

McCarthy was naturally very happy with the round, especially because it was an all-round performance: “It was an all round solid day really, but if I had to pick something it was my putting which was very good from start to finish.”  McCarthy goes into day two as Continue reading →