Monkstown Golf Club came in for lots of praise last week after their successful hosting of the Irish PGA Championship. One of the oldest professional championships in the world, the 115th staging is the showpiece event of the PGA Irish Region tour, and it returned to Cork for the first time since 1997 when Fota Island hosted the event.
With the course in great condition, Monkstown put on a show from start to finish. The action started on Monday with a sold out ProAm where Neil O’Briain, Dick Dunlea, Dan Cronin and Continue reading
PGA Irish Region
Brown & Brown to sponsor Irish PGA Championship
Diarmuid Nolan, CEO of Brown & Brown Ireland, pictured (centre) with Cian McNamara, Head PGA Golf Professional at Monkstown Golf Club; Michael Doorley, Chairman of Monkstown Golf Club; Conor Dillon, Manager of The PGA in Ireland, and Ada O’Sullivan, Former Curtis Cup Captain, R&A Open Championship Committee Member, and Monkstown Golf Club member, at Monkstown Golf Club, Cork, as Brown & Brown (Ireland), one of the country’s leading insurance brokerages, announces that it is the new title sponsor of the 115th Irish PGA Championship, which returns to Munster for the first time since 1997. The Championship will take place from 4–7 August 2025 at Monkstown Golf Club.
Picture: Michael O’Sullivan / OSM PHOTO
With the 2025 Irish PGA Championship set to take place in August, Monkstown Golf Club is making its final preparations to host the prestigious event for the first time in its history. The club, which has undergone a large scale bunker redevelopment and significant upgrades to its practice facilities, is ensuring that players will experience championship-level conditions when competition begins on August 5th.
Last week the PGA announced Brown & Brown, one of the country’s leading insurance brokerages, has announced that it is the new title sponsor of the 115th Irish PGA Championship. The tournament, now named The Brown & Brown Irish PGA Championship, marks the event’s return to Munster for the first time since 1997, bringing together Ireland’s top PGA club professionals in a battle for a large prize fund.
The tournament returns to Munster for the first time since 1997, when Paul McGinley claimed victory at Fota Island, and the former Ryder Cup Captain was delighted to see Brown & Brown getting involved. “I’m thrilled to see Brown & Brown backing Irish golf. It’s a proud and exciting moment for the sport. Having met Diarmuid and the Brown & Brown team through Continue reading
Grant wins Douglas PGA Open Series
Douglas Golf Club hosted it’s first fully professional tournament in a few decades last week when the Irish Region PGA Open Series took place. This was the only event to take place in Cork in 2023 and was the 35th event in a packed schedule of tournaments. The tournament was played from the challenging par 70 Black Course, and with Douglas in great condition for the event, there was some very positive feedback from the players.
Despite playing 36 holes over two days there was a tie at the top. Nicky Grant shot a second round 66 to get to -7 but Ryan Gribben had a six under par round for 64 to also get to -7. Unlike most Irish Region events, there was no sharing of the win and Continue reading
Ryan wins PGA Southern Championship
Monkstown Captain Donal Delaney presenting the PGA Southern Championship trophy to David Ryan (East Cork GC) after his win last week.
David Ryan picked up the first bit of silverware in the PGA season last week. The East Cork Club Pro won the Irish PGA Southern Championship in Monkstown, beating an impressive field. Ryan went around in 66 strokes and took the title by a single stroke. “It was great to win last week said David, “it just goes to show there’s life in the old dog yet and it was nice to have East Cork GC after the name up in lights.” Ryan is well used to winning on the Irish PGA circuit and he has racked up a number of wins in Monkstown, as well as previously winning the Southern Championship.
“I won the same event in Powerscourt in 2012 shooting the same score. As for Monkstown golf club I love playing up there always have. It’s the type of course that suits my game. It’s not the longest but you have to think your away around. I’ve had a bit of success in Monkstown. I’ve won the pro-am and also the Morgan O’Donovan event which was a nice one to win as Morgan was one Continue reading
Busy time for Fred in Muskerry
Fred Twomey with a welcoming smile at the Pro Shop in Muskerry Golf Club.
It was far from a quiet start to the day in Muskerry on Monday. Even though it was a bank holiday the car park was busy and the timesheet was full. The outdoor dining area was ready to reopen and in the pro shop Fred Twomey was busy running the show from behind the counter. From filling out cards, to booking in golfers and lessons it’s all in a days work for the popular PGA Club Professional. After the lockdown closure that lasted over five months, Fred is busy, but he’s delighted to be back in the thick of it in a very busy club.
“We’ve been up the walls, and it’s a great problem to have” explained Continue reading
Top Ten finish for Davey Barry at Irish PGA Championship
Davey Barry continued his solid run of form with a top ten finish at the Irish PGA Championship in Bunclody. After a very impressive 68 yesterday, the Douglas Pro finished with a one over par 73, which saw him claim 7th place. It’s his fourth top ten of the season after positive results in Dromoland, Malahide and of course his win in the Conor O’Dwyer Pro-Am in Kilkea Castle. There were two birdies on Davey’s card today, bringing his total for the week to 10. At the start of the season he committed to give €10 to charity for every birdie he had in competition. He already has close to 40 birdies in the bag for the season and with a few more events left on the calendar. He’s headed for Derry this evening for the City of Derry Pro Am which Continue reading
Super 68 from Davey Barry at Irish PGA Championship
Davey Barry pictured on the range at Douglas Golf Club. Picture: Niall O’Shea
Davey Barry jumped into contention at the Irish PGA Championship in Bunclody, a second round 68 saw him move 15 places on the leaderboard into a tie for third place. Barry went out in a level par 37 after two birdies and two bogies. A birdie on the 10th started his back nine nicely, and he went on the have three more to sign for a four under par 68. Added to his opening 74, he’s now on two under, five shots off the lead. And the change in form had a lot to do with a new putter according to the Douglas GC Professional. “I spent an hour on the putting green last night with a new putter, and it worked pretty well. I also hit 16 greens so that also helped” said a delighted Davey. “I played well yesterday but the putting was off. Today was much better though.” Barry’s 68 was one of only three scores in the 60’s.
Cian McNamara is in 20th place with Padraig Dooley and Jack Howard Continue reading
Close Call for Howard at Irish Open Qualifier
Jack Howard (Fota Island)
Jack Howard came agonisingly close to a spot in Lahinch this week, the Fota Island golfer was just one shot away from making the Irish Open field. Playing alongside 130 of Ireland’s top professionals and amateurs in Moy Valley, Howard shot a three under par 69 in his opening round. Five birdies and two bogies saw him reach the halfway point in fifth place and in with a great shot of claiming one of the four passes to Lahinch. David Ryan was also in on -3 while Conor Coyne was the next best Cork golfer on level par. While several golfers completed their first rounds on Sunday morning, the leaders had to wait to start their second rounds. Although Howard opened with two bogies in Sunday’s second round he recovered before the turn. A birdie on the 13th and an eagle two on the 15th put him back in a positive position but a bogey on the second last hole meant that he missed out on the playoff by one shot. A four under total, with two under par rounds is a strong performance, and given the quality of the field Howard’s top ten finish is impressive. David Ryan carded a second round Continue reading
Howard runner up in Irish Club Professional at Dromoland
Jack Howard finished runner-up in the Irish Club Professional Tournament in Dromoland last week, losing out to Damien McGrane after a play-off. Howard, representing Fota Island shot a four under par 68 to lead the tournament. That included important birdies on the 17th and 18th to get into a tie for the lead. It was in impressive round from Howard in a strong field, and it included seven birdies. At the end of the round the two leaders were tied on -4, and unlike other PGA events it was on the a play-off. After halving the first play-off hole, McGrane put the pressure on by hitting the green on the short par four 10th. When Howard missed his 12 foot birdie attempt the former European Tour winner tapped in or birdie to claim the title.
Davey Barry and Shane Irwin were the next bet placed Cork golfers, they both carded one par rounds of 73 to get a top ten place, while Cian McNamara and David Ryan were three back in a share for 24th place.
While Jack will be disappointed at missing out on the win, there are several positives. As well as the prize money for second place, the high placed finish means that the 22 year old will now be able to enter several of the high profile events as the Irish Continue reading
Top Ten for Davey in Derry
Davey Barry
Davey Barry was in the top ten at the 36 hole Waled City of Derry pro-am over the weekend. Davey shot a two under par 69 to finish on three under in a tie for 7th place.It’s Davey’s first top ten since May although the busy Douglas professional has been playing on a reduced schedule. Davey has been a busy man this year, he completed his PGA studies earlier this year and he’s been busy coaching and teaching in Douglas over the past three months. He’s made the cut in all 14 events that he has play in, and has earned prize money in nine events.
It has been a quiet year for Cork golfers, Michael Collins and Wayne O’Callaghan cut back their schedule in 2016 and this year both Cian McNamara and David Ryan have also reduced their number of events. Davey will be back in action next week in the St Margaret’s and then it’s on to Rosslare where he’ll defend the title he won last year. After that the PGA season will start to wind down, the last pro-ams on the schedule are Lutrellstown, Tulfarris and Galway Bay with the season closing with the €20,000 Connemara pro-am in late September.
Damien McGrane continues to lead the PGA Irish Region Order of Merit, the Wexford based professional has a sizeable lead over David Higgins and looks likely to win the Order of Merit at this stage. Simon Thornton is in third place and David Ryan is the best placed Cork golfer in 15th place.
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