Fionn Hickey
It was another positive day for Cork golfers, 16 year old Fionn Hickey was in the prizes a the Leinster Boys while Peter O’Keeffe dispatched another two challengers and is into the semi-final of the North of Ireland.
Muskerry’s Fionn Hickey continued his positive set of results this summer with a fourth place finish at the Leinster Boys. Played in Waterford Golf Club over the past three days, Hickey close with a one under par 70. Three birdies in his final five holes helped the Muskerry golfer move up one spot on the leaderboard, and he also won the best Under 17 prize. Mel Deasy (Lee Valley) finished inside the top ten, two birdies on the back nine helped improve his position after going through the front nine in +3 today. Keelan McCarthy and Robbie Walsh came home together in 14th position. Both golfers shot identical rounds of 74,73,78 over the three days, while Mallow’s Daniel O’Sullivan was one shot back in 22nd place.
In Portstewart, Peter O’Keeffe claimed his fourth matchplay win in two day, closing out all four matches before he reached the 18th hole. In the round of 32, O’Keeffe faced Jake Rowe from Tandragee, and he beat the Ulsterman 2&1. This afternoon he faced Malone’s Matthew McClean in the quarter-final and closed out the match on the 16th after holding a solid lead throughout.
Peter O’Keeffe
Tomorrow morning the Douglas golfer will face the top qualifier and 2018 West of Ireland winner Rob Brazill from Naas. Both golfers are currently on the Irish Senior Mens panel and it promises to be an interesting match. In the second semi final, Liam Grehan will take on Arron Edwards-Hill. O’Keeffe has been on the road for well over a week. Last week he caddied for his friend Rob Dawson in the Irish Open in Lahinch, and when they finished up on Sunday, O’Keeffe made the long journey to the Northern coastline for Monday’s first round in the strokeplay qualifier.
Peter O’Keeffe fired himself into a fifth place finish at the East of Ireland, thanks to a three under par 69 in his final round this afternoon.
A birdie three on the last hole was the perfect finish to Cathal Butler’s round in Co Sligo today, as he signed for a 65 after a great second round. Butler, who had a four over par 75 in his opening round, got to work early today and was three under through five holes. He added another two birdies before the turn to go out in 31 (-5). Although he had a few good birdie chances on the back nine he ended up with eight consecutive pars. He did close out on the 18th with a birdie, leaving him on -2 and tied for 20th at the halfway stage. Needless to say the Kinsale golfer was in a positive frame of mind after his round. “It was a relief as much as anything – it feels like a long time since I shot a low one” said Butler after the round. “I was hitting it lovely, I only missed one green and hit a lot of the shots close. The putter was steady throughout and it was nice to hole a long one on 18 to finish.” Butler has been struggling with a back injury for the past while and that has contributed to his lack of recent appearances near the top of the leaderboard. “I’m off around 2pm tomorrow so I’ll get a chance to go to the gym before hand. My back has been troublesome for the past few weeks so I’ll do some exercises before I go out to play.” As for the strategy for tomorrow, it more of the same for Cathal. “I’ll just keep trying to make good decisions and smooth swings. If I can stay as relaxed as I was today it should be another good day.”
Cork Golf News 