Sara Byrne

Mairead Martin leads Irish Close Challenge

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Mairead Martin June 2017

Mairead Martin, Kanturk.  (Photo: Pat Cashman Photography)

Kanturk’s Mairead Martin led the qualifiers at the Irish Ladies Close in Mullingar yesterday and now faces Doneraile’s Paula Walsh in an all-Cork matchplay clash.  Martin won the Leitrim Cup after finishing the 36 hole qualifier on level par, one ahead of the field.  Martin was not affected by tough windy conditions in Mullingar and her second round 73 included 4 birdies at the 1st, 2nd, 8th and 14th. “It was very tough in the blustery conditions, the wind kept changing direction all day. I putted very well this afternoon which was the key and kept my score going,” said Mairead, “I played well last week at the British Amateur in Wales and I got Continue reading →

Girls International call-ups for Byrne, Clancy, Martin & Thompson.

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Sara Byrne Fairhaven 2017

Sara Byrne

Four Cork golfers were selected on the Irish Girls team today, they’ll be heading off to Finland next month to take place in the European Team Championships.  Sara Byrne (Douglas) will be making her debut at this level while Valerie Clancy (Killarney/Mitchelstown), Mairead Martin (Kanturk) and Rachel Thompson (Cork) were all selected on the team for the second time.

It’s a great achievement and a rare case where four of the six team members are from one county.  They will be joined by French U18 Champion Annabel Wilson (Lurgan) and Lauren Walsh (Castlewarden), who holed the winning putt at the Girls’ Home International matches on her Irish debut in last year.  Byrne was also selected for an Under 16 girls team and has posted some very positive results thus far in 2017, most impressively a 3rd place finish at the prestigious Fairhaven Trophy earlier this month.  The Team Captain Gemma Butler said  “the girls have had some fantastic results so far this year and having won the second flight at the 2016 European Championships, we are excited to build on that result this time around.”
Irish Girls’ European Team
St. Laurence, Finland (July 11 – 15)
Sara Byrne (Douglas)
Valerie Clancy (Killarney)
Mairead Martin (Kanturk)
Rachel Thompson (Cork)
Lauren Walsh (Castlewarden)
Annabel Wilson (Lurgan)
Smartphones Direct 2

Thompson wins Cathy Smith Trophy in Baltray

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Rachel Thompson Baltray May 2017Cork’s Rachel Thompson finished strongly  at the Irish Womens Open Strokeplay in Baltray over the weekend.  She captured the Cathy Smith Trophy as the best under 18 and she also finished with the best nett score.  Rachel won the U18 prize with a one stroke lead over Germany’s Sarina Schmidt, but when it came to the gross prize she had a five shot lead over the field.  The competition was won by Mari Dunne who lead form the first round and closed on -9 for the tournament.

Thompson finished in second place in the Lahinch Scratch Cup recently and since then her golf has moved up a gear.  He performances over the weekend has seen her handicap drop from 2 to scratch.  Despite not playing in the Portuguese or Spanish Opens, Thompson is currently 9th in the ILGU Senior Order of Merit.  Valerie Clancy, Sara Byrne, Mairead Martin, Paula Walsh and Karen O’Neill all feature in the top twenty so there should be plenty of Cork golfers in contention for the Ladies and Girls interprovincials.

Byrne takes 3rd at Fairhaven

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Sara Byrne Fairhaven 2017Sara Byrne continued her good form as she finished in third place at the Fairhaven Trophy this weekend.  The Douglas golfer was in Lancashire along with a large number of Irish golfers competing in the Lytham and Fairhaven trophies.

Byrne posted rounds of 78,77,74 and 76 on the par 75 red course, and while she finished in place in the girls competition, she was 15th overall in the field of 40 top young amateurs from the UK & Ireland.

Just up the road from Fairhaven, John Murphy was in action in Lytham at the Lytham Trophy.  Unfortunately for the Kinsale man, he missed the cut after 36 holes.

Fairhaven Trophy Final Scores

Walsh wins in Cork, Munster Senior Championships

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Paula Walsh (Doneraile)

Paula Walsh (Doneraile)

Doneraile’s Paula Walsh won the Munster Senior Open Championship in Cork today, and her three under par display meant that she was a wire to wire winner over the three rounds.  Paula went into the final round with a three shot lead, and her four birdies and single bogey saw her extend her grip on the tournament to win by six strokes.  The Doneraile golfer is also a member of Cork and she used her knowledge of the Little Island course as she dominated the event.  Two early birdies on the first and second would have settled her as she continued with a very steady game to maintain and extend her lead.  It’s two in a row for North Cork, last years winner in Waterville was Valerie Clancy from Mitchelstown.  Second place went to Sara Byrne from Douglas who was one of only three players to break par on the final day.  It was a great finish for Byrne who opened with a disappointing 80 in the first round.  A second round 75 saw her jump up to 6th place and the one under par 73 today saw the Douglas golfer finish in second place overall.

Gallery: Munster Senior & Junior Championships

Sara had a dream start, with three straight birdies from the first hole.  Two more birdies followed on the back nine and she played a very tidy game with just four bogies on the card.  Byrne also won the De Courcey Trophy and Continue reading →

Martin, Clancy, Thompson & Byrne named on ILGU Panels

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Valerie Clancy

Valerie Clancy

The ILGU announced their coaching panels for 2016/2017 and there was good news for several Cork golfers.  Valerie Clancy and Mairead Martin were both named on the ILGU High Performance panel for 2017.  It’s a great achievement for both girls as they have continued to improve through the 2016 season.

2016 was also a breakthrough for Cork’s Rachel Thompson who was added to the funded performance panel for the year ahead.  The high performance panel has the stated objective of developing world class players while the funded performance panel is aimed at encouraging golfers to compete at international level, at individual and team events.  Thompson, Martin and Clancy all featured on the Irish Girls team that won  the home internationals in Wales earlier this year.

Sara Byrne (Douglas) was named on the Horizon coaching panel which is aimed at supporting and developing younger players, and preparing them for the transition to the high performance panel in years to come.  The ILGU are currently in the process of developing the new structure with the regional professionals with a view to rolling out the revised plans early in the new year.

HIGH PERFORMANCE PANELSmartphones Direct
Ciara Casey
Valerie Clancy
Maria Dunne
Paula Grant
Leona Maguire*
Mairead Martin
Julie McCarthy
Niamh McSherry
Olivia Mehaffey*
Annabel Wilson
(*Denotes US based players)
FUNDED PERFORMANCE PANEL
Georgia Carr
Louise Coffey
Elisa Corcoran
Mary Doyle
Meadhbh Doyle
Kate Dwyer
Emma Forbes
Alice Hutchinson
Lisa Maguire
Jessica Ross
Chloe Ryan
Sinead Sexton
Rachel Thompson
Lauren Walsh
HORIZON PERFORMANCE PANEL
Sara Byrne
Beth Coulter
Aine Donegan
Anna Foster
Kate Lanigan
Niamh O’Dwyer
Canice Screene

Continue reading →

Coughlan and Ní Thuama retain National Foursomes Title, Byrne competes in

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May Fitzgibbon Winners 2016

Winners of the May Fitzgibbon Trophy final, Clodagh Coughlan & Aoife Ni Thuama from Douglas Golf Club with ILGU President Valerie Hassett Pic Ronan Lang

Douglas pair Clodagh Coughlan and Aoife Ni Thuama won the May Fitzgibbon Trophy on Monday, making it back to back national wins for the Douglas Girls.  The competition took place on Greystones Golf Club and twenty foursomes pairs took part, all having qualified from the five districts.  The Douglas girls had qualified for the national finals in May when they were in the top four at the Munster qualifier in Adare Manor.  The qualified in Adare as the best gross winners.  Last year the Douglas girls combined for 37 points to win by two shots.  This year they dominated, carding 39 points for their foursomes round and winning bay a margin of five shots.  Conditions were perfect in Greystones which set the scene for some good scores throughout the day.  Scoring seemed to be fairly Continue reading →

Byrne loses out on 23rd hole in Irish Close Plate

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2016 Irish Girls Close Championship at Kilkenny Golf Club

Sara Byrne (Douglas) competing in the semi final of the Plate (Pat Fletcher Trophy) at the 2016 Irish Girls Close Championship at Kilkenny Golf Club.. Picture by Pat Cashman

Sara Byrne from Douglas was the unlucky loser in a titanic battle at the plate final in the Irish Girls Close at Kilkenny yesterday.  The 23 hole battle was Byrne’s second time that day going to additional holes.  In the morning semi final she beat Cork’s Rachel Thompson on the 19th.

Byrne got off to a good start in the final, with 2 birdies and a par to bring her 4 shots clear after 8 holes.  Sara’s opponent Beth Coulter wasn’t going to be put off and clawed back the deficit with a number of birdies.  It took 23 holes for the match to come to an eventual conclusion in which the Douglas member lost out.

Byrne had finished in the top ten after the first two strokeplay rounds.  Mairead Martin was third in the strokeplay qualifier and Rachel Thompson and Valerie Clancy were tied for fifth place.  Martin made it through to championship semi- Continue reading →

Foursome Changes for Munster Men, Ladies & Girls matches Day 2

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2016 Interprovincial Championship at Fota Island Golf Club

Robin Dawson (Munster) lines up his putt at the 15th green during the second day of the 2016 Interprovincial Championship at Fota Island. Picture by Pat Cashman

After another disappointing day for Munster yesterday, Munster have made several changes to their foursome pairings for the final match against Connacht.  Robin Dawson and Cathal Butler pair off in the opening match and Peter O’Keeffe and John Hickey have been paired in the second match.  Andrew McCormack and Geoff Lenehan play together in the third pairing while Munster stalwarts Pat Murray and Gary O’Flaherty team up in the back match.  Munster had a very Continue reading →