The K Club

IGWA Awards for O’Sullivan and Byrne

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

Denis O’Sullivan
Pic: Fran Caffrey

There were two Cork winners at the Irish Golf Writers awards at The K Club last week as Sara Byrne and Denis O’Sullivan were both recognised.  Byrne received the Women’s Amateur of the Year award, her second time to win it, and O’Sullivan was recognised for his distinguished services to golf.  Byrne recorded several notable wins and performances in 2023 while O’Sullivan’s career stretches over four decades.

Sara Byrne captured the Women’s Amateur award for the second time.  The 22-year-old from Douglas Golf Club won her second AIG Irish Women’s Continue reading →

Collins set for Gold Medal Challenge

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

GUI LogoMonkstown’s Ferghal Collins tees it up in the K Club this week, he’s the only Cork golfer to make it through to the inaugural finals of the All Ireland Gold medal.  Collins is among the top 36 golfers, the finalists made it through to play on the famous Palmer Course in the K Club, the host course for the 2006 Ryder Cup.  There were three stages to the event, which is a unique to the GUI calendar.  It’s the only event that club golfers can participate at individual level in an all-Ireland GUI event. Spread across three different handicap categories, the competition was open to all club members with free entry for all affiliated golf clubs.  To qualify for the new competition each club who entered nominated one of their singles competitions as a club qualifier.  Entrants on the day competed in one of three handicap categories – 9 and below, 10-17 or 18 and over.  The best nett score in each category qualified for the regional final.  From there the three golfers progressed to the regional finals hosted by Cahir Park in August.  Collins was one of the top three in his category (10-17) and qualified for the All Ireland final this week.

Sharon Smurfit, Director of Golf at The K Club said: “I, along with my team are honoured that The K Club is hosting the inaugural 2019 All Ireland Gold Medal Final on our Ryder Cup Course. We look forward to welcoming the all-Ireland finalists to what will be a thrilling end to this new competition. The Ryder Cup course has hosted many special events including the Ryder Cup in 2006 and more recently the Irish Open in 2016, so the finalists will have a challenging day.”  The winners of each of the three handicap categories will be awarded the Gold Medal.

Pro-Am Final for Fernhill and Fota Island

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

 

Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Ð Pro-Am Qualifying Competition

Pauline J McKechnie & Anthony O’Connell (Fota Island GC) taking part in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Pro-Am Qualifying Competition at Dooks, Picture: Golffile | Thos Caffrey

Two Cork clubs will be represented at the K Club today for the final of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Club Challenge.  Both Fernhill and Fota Island will play in a fourball qualifier that will see the winning team qualify to play in the Irish Open Pro-Am next week.  Pauline J McKechnie and Anthony O’Connell will represent Fota Island while Cathy McGuinness and Tony O’Donovan will head out in Fernhill colours.  Killarney and Tipperary were the other successful qualifiers from the competition which was held in Dooks Golf Club two weeks ago.

22 teams from golf clubs across Ireland will do battle this today on the Smurfit Course at The K Club in the final of this year’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Club Challenge – with a chance to play alongside international golf superstars and world famous celebrities in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Pro–Am at stake.

The qualifying events took place at five of Ireland’s top golf courses, including Powerscourt GC in County Wicklow, Hollystown GC in Dublin, Rockmount GC in Belfast, Dooks GC in County Kerry and Galway Bay Golf Club, all of whom donated their excellent facilities in support of this year’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open.

Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Ð Pro-Am Qualifying Competition

Cathy McGuinness and Tony O’Donovan (Fernhill GC) taking part in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Pro-Am Qualifying Competition at Dooks, Picture: Golffile | Thos Caffrey

The theme for this year’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, hosted by the Rory Foundation at The K Club (May 19-22) is ‘History in the Making’ and that will certainly be the case when, for the first time ever, one lucky club team lines up to play alongside a top golfer in the prestigious Pro-Am competition.  This initiative is part of Europe’s Race to Dubai Champion Rory McIlroy’s five-point plan to drum up support for the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open from Ireland’s 420 golf clubs, as well as helping to further develop the game of golf in Ireland. For more information on the 2016 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open hosted by the Rory Foundation or to purchase tickets http://www.dubaidutyfreeirishopen.com.

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