McGrane’s late charge in vain
A final round charge from Damien McGrane ultimately ended in double disappointment at the PGA Play-Offs at Saunton GC Last week. The Kells golfer began the day seven shots behind the eventual champion Matthew Cort but forced himself into the reckoning with a blistering run of six birdies over the opening 10 holes. The 45 year old briefly led midway through the final round but his putter suddenly went cold on the back nine and a bogey at the par four 16th effectively ended his chances. He signed for a best of the day five under par 66.
McGrane finished the tournament in a share of third place but then lost out on a place on the PGA Cup team to Greig Hutcheon (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre) who birdied the first play-off hole.
His consolation is that he has earned a trip to play in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth next year alongside Neil O’Briain who closed out his tournament with a three under par 68 to finish in fifth place.
Colm Moriarty (Drive Golf Performance) fired a final round one over par 72 to slip down to 11th place overall and outside the top 10 places guaranteed a start at the BMW.
Sharvin recovers from opening 74
Cormac Sharvin recovered from an opening 74 to finish tied 24th in the Ras Al Khaimah 2016 Golf Challenge last week. The 23 year old from Ardglass was 89th after the first day but he slowly climbed the leaderboard and followed a pair of 67s with a two under 70 to finish on 10 under par at Al Hamra Golf Club in Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates.
He was 10 shots behind England’s Jordan Smith, who produced a back nine charge to claim his a second European Challenge Tour win of the year and top spot in the Road to Oman rankings heading into the season finale.
The Englishman made four birdies in five holes to take a one-shot lead down the last hole where a safe par meant the 23 year old edged José-Filipe Lima into second place with a final round 66.
Dr David Sheahan dies aged 76
Former Ireland international Dr David Sheahan, who was rated among the leading players of his era and a Walker Cup star in 1963, has died at the age of 76. Most famous for his victory against the professionals at the Jeyes Pro-Am at Royal Dublin in 1962, the amazing Dr David Sheahan was the envy of his peers.
Despite being immersed in his medical studies at UCD, the then 22-year-old emerged victorious after a 72-hole strokeplay tournament featuring some of the world’s biggest names including five Ryder Cup players. Sheahan’s 10-under par total of 282 was too good for likes of Christy O’Connor Senior, Bernard Hunt, Dai Rees, Harry Weetman and Ralph Moffat.
Playing the 18th in that final round, Sheahan made birdie for a one-shot win over South African Denis Hutchinson. His success as an amateur among professionals was unequalled in Europe for 45 years, not until Pablo Martin’s win at the 2007 Estoril Open de Portugal.
The golfing doctor gained international honours in 1961 and was selected on the Britain and Ireland team for the 1963 Walker Cup at Turnberry, where he won both of his singles matches. A three-time winner of the Irish Amateur Close, Sheahan recorded his wins at Co Sligo in 1961, Royal Dublin in 1966 and at his home club Grange in 1970. He played 54 times for Ireland from 1961 to 1970, winning 25 matches and featured on victorious Irish teams at the European Team Championships in 1965 (Sandwich) and 1967 (Turin).
Sheahan played infrequently after the ‘63 Walker Cup as he concentrated on his medical career but he returned to the amateur scene with a bang in 1966 when he won the second of his Irish Close titles.
A much loved member of Grange, Dr Sheahan served as club captain in 1993 and club president in 2009 and 2010. Even at the age of 73, he was a force to be reckoned with on the golf course and was golfer of the year at Grange in 2013, still a Category 1 player off a handicap of five. Most recently, he played off six.
Mehaffey finishes tied 13th in Hawaii
Curtis Cup player Olivia Mehaffey, a student at Arizona State University, finished tied 13th in a field of 64 at the Nanea Pac 12 Preview college tournament at Nanea Golf Club, Kailua Kona, Hawaii.
Mehaffey had rounds of 74, 76 and 72 for a three-over-par total of 222 over a testing par-73 course of 6,372yd. She finished nine shots behind the winner by two, Robynn Ree (Southern California), with scores of 70-73-70 for 213.
Mehaffey’s effort helped Arizona State (878) win the team title ahead of great rivals Arizona (881) with Stanford (889) third in a field of 11 teams.
Alex Maguire victorious as Portmarnock
Laytown and Bettystown teenager Alex Maguire took the nett prize in the weekly Winter series event at Portmarnock Hotel and Golf Links. The four handicapper, winner of last year’s Irish Under 14 title, fired a 69 nett for a three shot win over Carton House’s Nathan Talbot and Edmonstown professional Andy Hogan.
Former Stackstown amateur Michael McDermott, now a professional with Pure Golf Leopardstown, won the gross prize with a 71, edging out Newlands’ Jake Whelan and Carton House’s Declan O’Neill by one.
ILGU pinpoint need for girl’s specific recruitment programme
The Irish Ladies Golf Union (ILGU) and the Confederation of Golf in Ireland (CGI) have pinpointed the need for a girl’s specific recruitment programme. There was a need across Ireland to significantly grow the number of girl members, with over 25% of clubs in Ireland having no girl members and 50% having less than five girls. The ILGU and CGI designed the Golf4Girls4Life (G4G4L) Framework, together with the support of the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA).
A group of PGA Professionals and Junior Convenors have contributed hugely to the design of the programme and will be heavily involved in the delivery of G4G4L. Another core area of the programme is the use of positive role models, and 2017 National and Regional Ambassadors will be announced in the coming weeks.
For 2017 Stage One - Girls Recruitment will be piloted with the aim of progressing these clubs into stages two - four. There are three main strands to Stage One:
1. Recruitment - Form links with the local primary schools and run awareness days in the schools and/or club
2. Golf4Girls4Life Programme: Lessons delivered by a PGA Professional; Rules & Etiquette activities.
3. Follow on membership and activities, offering of a suitable staged girls membership offer; regular playing opportunities.
Mark Power withdraws from BMW Junior Golf Championship
Irish boys’ champion Mark Power has been forced to withdraw from this week’s 2016 Telegraph BMW Junior Golf Championship at Portugal’s Quinta do Lago resort after injuring himself playing football. Power was due to be one of 12 boys and nine girls competing in the Algarve for the chance to emulate the likes of European Ryder Cup stars Justin Rose and Matthew Fitzpatrick and add their names to the list of past event winners.
But the 16-year-old, a member at Kilkenny Golf Club, took the agonising decision to pull out of the competition just days before heading to Portugal, after an injury last week. Power had earned his place in the elite line-up with an impressive seven-under-par on his way to winning the Irish Boys’ Amateur Championship at Castle Golf Club in June, which followed his victory in the Peter McEvoy Trophy at Copt Heath Golf Club in April, again with a seven-under-par total.
Entering its fourth decade, the prestigious 54-hole stroke play competition - which will be held on Quinta do Lago’s highly-acclaimed North Course - will be returning to the resort for the fourth successive year, with the finalists coming from all parts of the British Isles and Ireland.
The 2015 event saw Northern Ireland’s Olivia Mehaffey - now fourth in the world amateur rankings - win the girls’ event by a staggering 16 shots while England international Jamie Li triumphed at the third time of asking in the boys’ tournament, and this year’s championship will feature another high-class field.
Heading the line-up will be English girls’ amateur champion Cloe Frankish and Harrison Linney, who topped qualifying after shooting an amazing course-record 62 at his home club, West Essex, in a round which included ten birdies.
Representing Scotland will be Peebles teenage ace Darren Howie, Denbighshire’s John Roberts will carry the hopes of Wales while Hugh O’Hare will be aiming to copy the exploits of Northern Ireland compatriot Mehaffey.
England international Louisa Brunt will be playing for the third year in a row, Frankish, Olivia Hamilton, Harry Goddard and Barclay Brown will all be making their second appearances, while Roehampton’s Alfie Fox will join them at the prestigious event after winning the McGinley Junior Cup at Quinta do Lago this summer.
Hailed by 2014 European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley as one of junior golf’s Majors, the tournament will be staged for the third year running on Quinta do Lago’s North course, one of three 18-hole championship courses at the luxury resort. Officially opened by McGinley in October 2014, the 6,156m-layout has quickly risen to become one of the new stars of European golf, and played a key role in Quinta do Lago be named as Portugal’s best golf resort in Golf World’s inaugural rankings of the Top 100 Resorts in Continental Europe 2016/17.
An eight-time host of the Portuguese Open, the resort has reinvented itself over the last six years into one of the world’s most vibrant luxury lifestyle experiences.
