By SHAY KEENAN
Royal Portrush set sights on record 25th Irish Senior Cup
ROYAL Portrush will be seeking a record 25th Irish Senior Cup title later in the year after they successfully came through the Ulster section of qualifying last week at Shandon Park.
Up against Malone in the final they progressed on a 3½ to 1½ winning scoreline to progress to the All-Ireland quarter finals which will be played at the Grange Golf Club next August.
And joining them and the other regional winners in the last eight will be the three best runners-up: Roscommon, Enniscorthy and Muskerry. The draw for the quarter finals – which take place on August 17th – has paired Kilkenny against Roscommon; The Island against Portumna; Douglas against Enniscorthy and Royal Portrush against Muskerry.
A fundraiser for the Cardiac Ward at Our Ladys Hospital for sick Children will take place on Friday, June 1st at Greystones GC, Co Wicklow.
Anyone wishing to enter a team should contact club professional Karl Holmes at 2875308.
Team Entry is €220 while hole sponsorship (name on tee box) is €50. There will be a charity auction and a raffle on the night, while donations will also be accepted.
A great evening’s entertainment is lined up. Barry Murphy of Après Match will attend, followed later by a DJ.
Shotgun starts at 10.30am and 3.30pm.
Leinster launch online support
EUROPEAN Tour professional, Shane Lowry was in attendance last week at the GUI Leinster Branch offices in Carton House for the launch of a new development that will provide valuable online high-performance support for members of the various Leinster coaching panels.
With 270 boys and youths involved in the Leinster elite golf coaching programme, this new online facility will allow players interact more effectively with their provincial coaches and coaching team.
The website will provide information exclusively for Leinster panellists in all aspects of the game, including golfing technique, practice procedures as well as fitness, psychology, nutrition and much much more.
The development is a first for the Leinster branch and a smartphone application has also been included for Iphone and android users.
Access to the website and apps will be through the players' GOLFnet number when it goes live in the coming weeks on www.leinsterelitegolf.com
The recently-crowned Irish Open Amateur Champion, Gavin Moynihan from The Island, who has been part of the Leinster coaching programme since 2006, will welcome this new initiative to assist in his overall high performance training.
Fingal sporting greats remembered
FORMER Curtis Cup captain Mary McKenna is among a group of eight golfers honoured in Fingal Sporting Heroes, a new book by former Fingal county librarian Paul Harries which was launched last week.
The book celebrates stars from over 10 different sports, and the Donabate club woman is delighted to be included.
“Very honoured. When you flick through the book and see some of the greats – some of them would have been ahead of my time, some from my era,” she said at the launch in Swords.
“It’s a fabulous book and there’s definitely scope for another one”
She is joined in the book by the likes of Harry Bradshaw, Tom Craddock, Philip Walton, Jimmy Kinsella, Joe and Roddy Carr, and Willie Nolan from the golfing fraternity.
Fingal Sporting Heroes is available from libraries in the Fingal region for € 10.
Leona Maguire to defend Open title
LEONA MAGUIRE from the Slieve Russell club will defend her Irish Women’s Open Amateur Strokeplay title at The Island GC, starting on Saturday. Maguire, recently selected for the Curtis Cup team to play the US in Nairn next month, led all the way to win last year’s event at Elm Park from Curtis Cup team-mate Stephanie Meadow from Royal Portrush. Meadow misses the championship because of college commitments in the US.
Leona’s twin sister Lisa is sure to feature as are high-performance panellists Paula Grant (Lisburn) and Jessica Carty (Holywood). With a quarter of the 72-strong quality field playing off scratch or lower, internationals Gillian O’Leary (Cork), Charlene Reid (Royal Portrush) and Emma O’Driscoll (Ballybunion) will face stiff competition from internationals travelling from Belgium, France, England, Scotland and Wales.
Past Irish champions Mary Dowling (New Ross), Karen Delaney (Carlow) and Deirdre Smith (Co Louth) join Munster champion Amy Farrell (Moate), while Leinster interprovincal champions Maria Dunne (Skerries) and Áedín Murphy (Carlow) and youngsters Jean O’Driscoll (Muskerry), Olivia Mehaffey (RCD Ladies) and Ariana Coyle Diez (Elm Park) also compete.
Dunbar and McElroy set for Irish Open
ALAN DUNBAR and fellow St Andrews Trophy squad member Dermot McElroy have been selected by the Golfing Union of Ireland to compete in the Irish Open at Royal Portrush next month.
Dunbar and McElroy are joined in the field by two other amateurs, the North of Ireland champion Patrick McCrudden, who is a member of Royal Portrush and the West of Ireland champion Harry Diamond who received an invitation to compete in the event following his victory in the West of Ireland Championship at Co Sligo in April.
The four amateurs will warm up for the Irish Open at Royal Portrush this week as the Irish Close Championship gets under way on Friday.
The 72-hole strokeplay event will be played over the same course that the professionals will play in June, giving 144 of Ireland’s leading golfers the chance to become national champion on one of Ireland’s great links courses.
Donegal Links Classic details
THE Donegal Links Classic, supported by Taylormade, takes place from June 4th-6th over three Donegal links – the Old Links at Ballyliffin, Portsalon and Rosapenna.
The event represents great value for anyone tempted by the entry fee of only € 100 (members €80) – including three rounds of competition golf, team and individual prizes. To round off the event, a presentation dinner will be held at the Mount Errigal Hotel in Letterkenny.
Full details are available on www.ballyliffingolfclub.comor by phoning the club on 074-9376119.
