Irish Golf News

Captain Nigel Edwards, right, and Jack Hume, left, walk down the 18th hole during an afternoon singles match at the 2015 Walker Cup at Royal Lytham & St. Annes G.C. in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2015.  (Copyright USGA/Chris Keane)

GUI — Walker Cup player Jack Hume might have missed out at Q-School but he won't be idle over the winter as he heads an eight-strong Golfing Union of Ireland selection on a two-week trip to South Africa early next year.

Accompanied by national coach Neil Manchip and team captain Tony Goode, the 22-year old Naas player will be joined by Home International winning team mates Colm Campbell (Warrenpoint), Robin Dawson (Faithlegg/MU), John Ross Galbraith (Whitehead), Alex Gleeson (Castle/UCD), Stuart Grehan (Tullamore/MU), Rowan Lester (Hermitage) and Dermot McElroy (Ballymena) for the Gauteng North Amateur Stroke Play (21-24 January) at Irene Country Club and the South African Stroke Play (2-5 February) at Blue Valley.

Connacht Strokeplay Championship created

Athlone Golf Club will host the inaugural Connacht Strokeplay Championship from June 11-12 next year.

CONNACHT — Players calling for more strokeplay competition have had their wish granted. The Connacht Branch has decided to stage the inaugural, 72-hole Connacht Strokeplay Championship at Athlone Golf Club from June 11-12 next year.According to the Branch, the aim is to "provide more Championship golf opportunities prior to the Inter Pros, which are played in early July."  In other words, it's a great chance to impress the selectors, even if the Interprovincial Matches is a matchplay event.There will be a cut after 36 holes, followed by an additional 36 holes on Sunday, which is in line with the format for the Munster Strokeplay Championship at Cork Golf Club.According to Golfnet: "Entry shall be Online only and entry shall open on February 1, 2016. As with all Championships Entry shall be based on handicap order with the field size to be established by the Championship Committee in due course."

Paul Dunne during a practice round for the Australian PGA. Picture: Getty Images

It would be churlish to demand a win from Paul Dunne at the end of such a monumental season. But the 23-year old rookie understands better than most that if he reaches for the moon, he may attain the stars.

The Greystones man only has to look back on his incredible year to know that the higher his expectations and the greater the pressure, he better he generally performs. No wonder he’s dreaming of a maiden win in his season-ending appearance in the Australian PGA Championship in Queensland.

Having enjoyed an incredible 2015 season, during which he led The Open after three rounds as an amateur, played a vital role in Great Britain & Ireland’s Walker Cup victory over the USA and then turned pro and secured full playing rights on the European Tour by coming through all three stages (playing 14 rounds) of the Qualifying School, Dunne is more than ready to embark on his first full season in the paid ranks.

Given the whirlwind nature of his year, it is somewhat fitting that he will play his final event of 2015 some 10,000 miles from his native Greystones at the RACV Royal Pines Resort on the stunning Gold Coast.

He will have to overcome a strong field which includes American Ryder Cup star Brandt Snedeker and Sweden’s David Lingmerth, who is now an Affiliate Member of The European Tour as he seeks to make his Ryder Cup debut for Europe in 2016.

The Australian challenge will be spearheaded by the likes of PGA Tour stars John Senden and Robert Allenby, while Greg Chalmers will seek to successfully defend his title.

But Irish eyes will be on Dunne and his former amateur team mate Kevin Phelan, who has also made the trip Down Under to seek that elusive first win on Australian soil.

Good morning Europe - greetings from the #AusPGA @dunners11 practicing at Royal Pines @PGAofAustralia #GoldCoast pic.twitter.com/iafCcBjyJb

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) December 1, 2015

Having won his card at the Q-School in hugely impressive fashion, Dunne explained that he had just 20 hours at home to enjoy it before he was jetting out to play in the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek, where he missed his first cut as a professional.

He’s got four weeks off after this week before he heads back into action but while will wait until he gets home to set his 2016 goals, his form this year tells him that the higher he aims and the greater the competitive tension, the better he performs.

In truth, he’s found the transition to professional golf to be a smooth one, especially when it comes to competing. 

“It’s got a different environment but it’s the same game you’re playing,” he said in Queensland where he will tee it up with Edoardo Molinari and Marcus Fraser for the first two rounds. 

“I was quite busy with amateur golf when I was turning pro, so it was kind of a seamless transition really. I didn’t see it as any different, it was just playing golf again like any other weekend. 

“It’s been quite busy since I’ve turned pro, I’ve played a lot of events. I haven’t found it too bad. I suppose I haven’t had much of a break to kind of reflect. This will be my last one of the season and then have a nice break for Christmas.

“I’ve enjoyed it so far, it’s been brilliant. I’ve had some good finishes and had some real fun as well, so hopefully I can finish it right this week.”

He was delighted to get through Q-School at the first attempt, claiming a tied for 13th and the 16th card having dodged a bullet at the Second Stage by coming through a six-man playoff for two spots.

Paul Dunne made the bold call in his 6th class yearbook at St. Laurence's School in Greystones. See Joe.ie for the full story

At PGA Catalunya, he began slowly but hit form near the end and coasted home on the final day

“Yeah well first stage I did back in September and it was - I played quite well. I got through it without much stress and then second stage, the week before the final stage was a little different.

“I got through in a six man play off, two spots so I kind of scraped through that one and then the final stage I had a good fourth and fifth round and that kind of put me in good position to play more conservatively the last day and cruise home a bit but it’s a long week, six days.

“It’s basically a full week of playing competitive golf and it takes its toll on you mentally but it was great to get through in the end.”

While he had to head off on tour almost straight away, that’s preferable to sitting at home looking out the window and now that he’s travelled so far, he’s hoping to take advantage by putting some Race to Dubai cash on the board.

With no idea yet where he might start 2016, he’s looking to finish 2015 with a bang and with just nine of the world’s Top 200 in action, he’s got every chance of a big week.

“Yeah, I’d love to give myself a chance to win,” Dunne said. “I mean, I feel like every week I’ve played since I turned pro has been quite pressure filled. I’ve kind of had to play well every week and then once I got my card, I don't know, last week almost was a bit of a relax. Your media pressure is lifted a little bit and I think that hurt my performance in a way.

“So I’m going try to find a way to put some pressure back on myself this week, see if I can play well and have a chance come the weekend. I really don’t like taking weekends off, so last week was a bit frustrating for me, so hopefully I can play better this week.

“It’s hard to know exactly my best environment to play, but certainly recently I’ve played better on the weeks when I really had to play better and then weeks when I got a kind of a bit of a break from it is when I struggle a bit. 

“So for now I’m going to try and set some high expectations for myself and hopefully I can live up to them and just kind of put myself back in that environment that I need to do well this week.

Not sure who to cheer for at Olympia Fields? The first 2,000 fans get a player card with his bio. Very cool idea. pic.twitter.com/z43H1P8ILR

— Brian Keogh (@IrishGolfDesk) August 21, 2015

“It’s a learning thing. Last week the way I prepared and everything wasn’t quite as intense as it was in other weeks and I think that hurt me overall. Hopefully I’ll take a different approach this week and see if it works.”

Looking back at The Open, where he was tied for the lead with one round to play following rounds of 69-, 69 and 66, eventually finishing tied 30th after a closing 78, he learned how close he is to being able to compete and win at the highest level.

Had he shot three under on Sunday, an achievable goal, he would have made a playoff. With a 68, he’d have won.

“So when I simplified it like that it made me realise how easy it is to compete,” he explained. “Obviously it’s difficult to win but how easy it is that if you’re playing well and let yourself play well, you can kind of be up there with the strongest field.

“So it just gave me confidence knowing that if I kept playing well and kept improving that I’d have a chance against people that I would have looked up to growing up.”

Majors are clearly in this man’s future but for now, he’s keeping his goals simple.

“Yeah, my immediate goals are just to try and get better every day. If I keep getting better then the results will take care of themselves. It’s hard to target certain weeks and say I’m going to win this week because if you’re in that frame of mind there are certain weeks that you will take off and think you don’t have to perform so well.

“I’m just going to try to keep working on things, keep improving my game and hopefully I can play well on anything.”

While his pals and Walker Cup team mates Gary Hurley, Gavin Moynihan, Jack Hume and Cormac Sharvin are all capable of great things in the game, Dunne is the pack leader right now.

In demand @dunners11 -"Last year I was a little overwhelmed." Not this year, clearly. pic.twitter.com/4gUdwIkPY8

— Brian Keogh (@IrishGolfDesk) July 16, 2015

Born in 1992, he grew up watching Tiger Woods and then Padraig Harrington rack up the majors while Rory McIlroy was an Irish boy wonder he never met.

“When I was younger I always looked up to Tiger Woods, I think every junior did at my age, but in Ireland it was definitely Padraig Harrington when I was just starting out,” he said. “I started when I was 10, so around that time he was really playing well. Then when I got into my teens he started winning Majors.

“So it was really cool to see that, see someone from such a small country do so well and then when I went off to college I was in the same university as Graham McDowell and then you start seeing what he accomplished, his records through college.

“More recently people like Shane Lowry, I played a little bit with him before he turned, and just to see how he’s come on in the last five or six years, is incredible.

“I’ve never met Rory McIlroy, he’s just kind of in a different league to everyone else I guess right now, so he’s an inspiration as well.

“There are so many good golfers that have come from Ireland, it’s nice to know that they’ve kind of paved the way and I can follow it."

Stephanie Meadow

Stephanie Meadow is determined to put a smile back on her face by winning her LPGA Tour card at the Final Qualifying Tournament in Florida this week.

The 2015 season promised to be a stellar one for the bubbly Jordanstown native after she burst spectacularly onto the scene in 2014, finishing third behind Michelle Wie in the US Women’s Open at Pinehurst No 2 in her first start as a professional.

But after agonisingly missing out to Karlin Beck on the 11th playoff hole for the final card at the LPGA Q-School 12 months ago, her family life was dealt a massive blow when her father, Robert Meadow, was diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer.

The 23-year old took time out to help her mother care for her Dad at home and she played just one event, finishing tied 20th in the ANA Inspiration in April as a tribute to him, earning $26,632.

We are holding a Celebration of Life ceremony @BerkeleyHallSC at 3pm on Tuesday. All welcome! #amazingman ❤️

With no return date in sight, the end may be nigh for Tiger Woods. And while Rory McIlroy was one of the first players to openly suggest that the 14-time major was one of those on the back nine in the big game, he sounded distraught to hear Woods admit that he has no clue when he might return after his most recent back surgery.

Speaking in Nassau in the Bahamas in the build up to his season-ending charity event, the Hero World Challenge, Woods admitted he has nothing to look forward to right now bar getting fit enough to play with his children following a microdiscectomy operation in September, his third in all.

“I have no answer for that. Neither does my surgeon or my physio,” the world No 400 said when asked when he'd return to competition. “That’s the hardest part for me is there’s really nothing I can look forward to, nothing I can build towards.”

McIlroy does need to look around in vain for Woods at majors to know that after a 20-year career, we've probably seen the best of Woods. But he still sounded pained at the thought of losing his hero and took to Instagram to express his feelings.

"Wishing my idol and friend a speedy recovery," McIlroy wrote. "Golf without him doesn't bear thinking about. Hope to see you back on the course soon @tigerwoods"

Wishing my idol and friend a speedy recovery. Golf without him doesn't bear thinking about. Hope to see you back on the course soon @tigerwoods

A photo posted by Rory McIlroy (@rorymcilroy) on Dec 1, 2015 at 2:03pm PST

Woods' stark reality comes just days after LA Lakers star Kobe Bryant announced his retirement at the end of the season, citing physical fatigue as the deciding factor.

Woods does not turn 40 until the end of this month but he's unlikely to turn out to be another Vijay Singh or even a Pádraig Harrington. who won this year at the age of 43.

Like Harrington, Woods knows that anything he achieves from here on in is going to be a bonus. 

“I think pretty much everything beyond this has been ‑‑ will be gravy,” Woods said., who has 14 career majors among his 79 PGA TOUR victories.“I've passed Jack (Nicklaus) in the all‑time win list, just shy of Sam (Snead). I passed Sam basically a decade ago in major championships but I'm still shy of Jack's."So I've had a pretty good career for my 20s and 30s. For my 20 years out here I think I've achieved a lot, and if that's all it entails, then I've had a pretty good run.“But I'm hoping that's not it. I'm hoping that I can get back out here and compete against these guys. I really do miss it.”

When Harrington opened his mini museum at Stackstown a few years ago, it felt like the beginning of the end, even if he didn't agree. 

If that was it, well that's fine, was Harrington's take. He already felt he had overachieved and Woods, it appears, is happy with his lot too.

The Palm in Dubai, residence of Rory McIlroy Management Services' sole shareholder.

It's been a great few years for Rory McIlroy on and off the golf course and accounts filed with the Companies Registration Office in Dublin recently show he's now a very valuable asset indeed.

Lucrative contracts with sponsors such as Nike, Bose, EA Sports and Omega — to name just four— mean he will never have to worry about money again. They go some way towards explaining why his split with his former management company ended up in an acrimonious legal battle before eventually being settled out of course for a figure believed to be north of €25m.

That figure pales in comparison with those revealed in returns for Rory McIlroy Management Services Limited, which has Donal Casey (48), Barry Funston (50) and Gerry McIlroy (56) as directors while Rory McIlroy is the sole shareholder.

According to Gordon Deegan in the Irish Examiner the value of the McIlroy brand is... 

"...underlined by the Dublin firm placing a $422.13m (€399.55m) book value on the firm’s intangible assets connected to the golfer’s brand.McIlroy works in many countries but opted to locate everything to do with his brand and intellectual property in Ireland by setting up the firm here as part of a strategy to simplify his business affairs.

According to the Belfast Telegraph version of Deegan's story, the first set of accounts lodged by McIlroy's firm with the Companies Office show that the company made a loss of $2.14m (£1.42m) for 2014.

However, the accounts only provide an abridged balance sheet and the loss could be attributable to high write annual write-off costs of the firm's intangible assets valued at $422m at the end of 2014.In setting up the firm in the Republic, McIlroy spurned the route often taken by superstar sports personalities by creating a complex structure that would have located his management company in the US while protecting his wealth with tax havens such as the Virgin Islands or Bermuda.

When your brand is that valuable, it's hard to see where the real person ends and the brand begins.

But whatever happens off the course, McIlroy's big focus is on the numbers game on it. The 2016 season will be huge for him after a stop-start, injury-hit 2015 that left him majorless and third in the world but still very much the man they all have to beat.

Gareth Wright. Picture courtesy Tony Marshall/Getty Images

Ireland's trio of contenders finished in the Top-10 but it remains to be seen if Colm Moriarty, David Higgins or Eamonn Beady will get to play the BMW PGA at Wentworth next year.

If you are looking for a statement of play when it comes to agreements between the PGA and the PGA European Tour, the official report on Gareth Wright’s victory in the PGA Play-Offs at Antalya Golf Club in Turkey said it all.

“Wright will now secure entry to several European and Challenge Tour events next year," the report ran, "including, subject to confirmation from the European Tour, the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth. 

“There he will likely be joined by the rest of the top 10, including Cort and third-placed Greig Hutcheon [or fifth placed Colm Moriarty, David Higgins (tied sixth) or Eamonn Brady (tied eighth] 

"Subject to confirmation" and "likely" were the key phrases. 

“Hopefully we’ll get those Tour spots again and that will be something we can really look forward to next year," Wright said.

Hopefully.

The European Tour is going through changes and has a new Chief Executive at the helm in Keith Pelley. Besides all that, of perhaps because of it, there is uncertainty about how many PGA pros will play at Wentworth.

It appears there are also plans to hold a qualifier for the Irish Open at The K Club next year rather than hand out places to the top finishers in the Order of Merit — six this year compared to eight in 2014.

Whatever the future holds, Welshman Wright holed a vital 15-foot putt for birdie on the PGA Sultan Course’s 18th green for a 67 to nip in ahead of Matt Cort and secure the Play-offs title by one stroke on nine under par 275

“To win an event like this where you’ve got 24 of the top players in the country is really thrilling,” Wright explained. “There’s some guys out here that have had European Tour cards, it’s a big achievement to come out and win an event like this.

“I’m proud to be the PGA number one and it’s the perfect way to end the PGA season. I’ve had a lot of second place finishes this year and of course you always want to win, so I’m really pleased to get this on the board.”

Moriarty closed with a two over 73 to finish fifth and earn £850 as Higgins (71) was tied sixth, picking up £725, and Clontarf professional Brady (70) eighth place finish on one over worth £650.

The other players to finish in the top 10 and with it potentially secure a place at Wentworth were fourth placed James Ruth, Graham Fox (tied sixth), Guy Woodman (ninth) and James Ablett who was 10th on countback.

PGA Play-Offs, PGA Sultan Course, Antalya Golf Club (Par 71)

Final - Detailed scores

275 Gareth Wright (West Linton) 68 72 68 67

276 Matthew Cort (Beedles Lake) 68 74 65 69

279 Greig Hutcheon (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre) 68 71 70 70

280 James Ruth (China Fleet) 74 66 69 71

282 Colm Moriarty (Drive Golf Performance) 67 74 68 73

283 David Higgins (Waterville Golf Links) 68 73 71 71, Graham Fox (Clydeway Golf) 74 68 69 72

285 Eamonn Brady (Clontarf Golf Club) 72 73 70 70

286 Guy Woodman (Longball Inc) 73 73 74 66

287 James Ablett (Lee-on-The-Solent GC) 72 73 70 72, Paul Hendriksen (Ivybridge Golf Club) 72 72 70 73.

Pádraig Harrington following his win in the Honda Classic. "I know if I am contending, I can win."

Padraig Harrington will begin his 2016 campaign in Hawaii after undergoing surgery to repair the meniscus tear in his right knee just last Thursday.

The Dubliner, 44, made sure he spent three months working on “pre-habilitation” to build up the muscle mass around the knee, ensuring a faster recovery time so he will be ready to make his 2016 debut in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions at Kapalua from January 7-10.

It will be the three-time major winner’s first competitive appearance in Hawaii, where he is also expected to play the following week’s Sony Open at Waialae.

While Harrington was eligible to play in the Tournament of Champions in 2006, 2008 and 2009 following winning seasons the previous year, the Hawaii event came too early for him and he preferred to enjoy Christmas and his traditional, long winter break before cranking up again in mid to late January in Abu Dhabi or even early February, as he did in Phoenix this year.

Having failed to qualify for the European Tour’s Final Series, he is already into the fourth week of his winter break and reflecting on what he regards as a winning season following his playoff victory over Patrick Berger at the Honda Classic on March 2.

He missed 12 missed cuts from 27 starts and had another erratic year on the greens but he also led The Open at St Andrews early in the final round, only to lose a ball in the gorse to the right of the sixth hole, eventually finishing tied 20th.

Harrington still can’t believe he lost a ball when leading the Open — “We were looking in the wrong place” — and plans to leave his phone turned on in future so that friends and family can call and tell him exactly where to look.

“I’ve checked and it’s within the rules,” he said. “It might be against European Tour regulations about when you can and can’t use your phone and that might lead to a fine, but it’s not against the rules of golf, just as it’s not against the rules to use your phone to check the cut or to use the compass.”

Checking the weather app might be in breach but Harrington already has his weather eye open when it comes to the "West Coast Swing" on the PGA Tour. El Niño is due and he’s not prepared to get caught.
  
“I am probably not going to play Farmers (at Torrey Pines, Jan 28-31) because the forecast is bad for that side of the country,” he said of his decision to play Phoenix, Pebble Beach and Riviera before heading to Florida to defend his Honda Classic title.

“Pebble Beach is beautiful but it is a tough week if it is wet and windy and cold all week. LA is the same. It can be absolutely stunning, but if El Niño is there it can be tough and they are pretty sure from the warmth of the water in the Pacific that it is pretty guaranteed that it is coming next year.” 

Relive Harrington's final day at the 2015 Honda Classic (2hrs 52 mins)Padraig Harrington’s early season schedule

• JAN 7 - 10 Hyundai Tournament of Champions, Plantation Course at Kapalua, Kapalua, Maui,
  
• JAN 14 - 17 Sony Open in Hawaii, Waialae CC, Honolulu, HI (unconfirmed)
  
• FEB 4 - 7 Waste Management Phoenix Open, TPC Scottsdale, Scottsdale, AZ 
  
• FEB 11 - 14 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Pebble Beach GL, Pebble Beach, CA
  
• FEB 18 - 21 Northern Trust Open, Riviera CC, Pacific Palisades, CA 
  
• FEB 25 - 28 The Honda Classic, PGA National (Champion), Palm Beach Gardens, FL.

Matt Cort. Picture: Tony Marshall at Getty Images

David Higgins fell five shots off the pace but Colm Moriarty is just two behind England’s Mattnew Cort with a round to play in the PGA Play-Offs at Antalya Golf Club.

As Higgins had to storm home in 32 jsut to card a lvel par 71. But at one under, he’s five behind Cort, who was the stand-out performer on a sun-drenched third day at the PGA Sultan Course.

Cort’s six-under 65 was by the best of the day by three shots from a trio of 67s that included one from Moriarty, who lies in a three-way tie for third on four under, two behind.

With only two shots separating the leading five players, it’s anyone’s title.

Cort  is one clear of PGA Cup player Gareth Wright (West Linton), with Moriarty, two-time champion Greig Hutcheon and James Ruth tied for third in the race for the £2,000 top prize and spots for the top 10, pending confirmation from the European Tour, in the BMW PGA at Wentworth.

“I felt I played well today,” Cort explained. “I had four birdies on the bounce which really got me going and then I had a few good chances on the way in and narrowly missed an eagle chance.

“It was nice to get a bit of sun after the first couple of days. This is what it’s been like the last couple of years for us.

“But I’m glad to be in contention going into the final day. There’s some very good players out there though, and no doubt there will be plenty of chances for those guys out there over the course of tomorrow.”

Second-placed Wright, meanwhile, was contemplating his own route to the title.

“I think looking out there anyone from three or four back is going to fancy their chances tomorrow,” he said.

“You saw what happened today with Matthew, he went out there, shot a good score and now he’s in the lead.

“The greens are really tricky and I think tomorrow the winner is going to have to hole their putts. That’s going to be key.”

The scene is also set for battles further down the field as a bunched up leaderboard means that several players are very much in contention for a place in the top 10, including Irish No 1 Eamonn Brady, who had five birdies in a two under 70 to get to two over.

PGA Play-Offs, PGA Sultan Course, Antalya Golf Club (Par 71)

After 54 holes — Detailed scores

207 Matt Cort (Beedles Lake) 68 74 65

208 Gareth Wright (West Linton) 68 72 68

209 Colm Moriarty (Drive Golf Performance) 67 74 68, James Ruth (China Fleet) 74 66 69, Greig Hutcheon (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre) 68 71 70

211 Graham Fox (Clydeway Golf) 74 68 69 

212 David Higgins (Waterville Golf Links) 68 73 71

213 Cameron Clark (Moor Hall Golf Club) 71 73 69

214 Paul Hendriksen (Ivybridge Golf Club) 72 72 70

215 Eamonn Brady (Clontarf Golf Club) 72 73 70, James Ablett (Lee-on-The-Solent Golf Club) 72 73 70.

Matt Jones holes the winning putt

Darren Clarke played his last 11 holes in six over par to slip to tied 30th in the Emirates Australian Open at The Australian in Sydney.

As Matt Jones (73) came back from a nightmare, four over par, front nine to win the title by one stroke from Adam Scott (65) and Jordan Spieth (71) on eight under, Clarke shot a five over 76 to end the week on four over.

The European Ryder Cup skipper, tied seventh overnight, was seeking his first Top-10 finish for more than two years. But after two birdies and a bogey in the first seven holes, he had two bogeys, a double and a triple bogey seven at the 17th before he birdied the last.

He wasn’t the only player to find the going tough on Sunday.

Title winner Jones was relieved to get the job done on his home course having almost blown his big chance with a bogey, double bogey start.

He triple-bogeyed the ninth after hitting his second shot into the pond in front of the green and even with a one-shot lead playing the 18th, he almost hit his third shot into the water.

He described his final round as “sloppy” and “terrible” but his three shot overnight lead was enough to get him over the line and give him the famous Stonehaven Cup.

Jones said: "To have my name on this trophy with like (Jack) Nicklaus, (Jack) Newton, Norman, all those guys, it’s a dream come true for me and it’s something that I can’t have taken away from me."

Jones, Rod Pampling and Nick Cullen qualified for the 145th Open at Royal Troon from 14-17 July 2016. 

Scoreboard

Pampling finished fourth on six-under-par, three ahead of Cullen who tied on three-under-par with fellow Australian Lincoln Tighe but secured the qualifying place thanks to his higher position in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Sydney-born Jones, who is a member of The Australian Golf Club, which hosted the event, endured an eventful final round, including a triple bogey seven on the par 4 ninth hole, but finished strongly with birdies on the 14th and 16th holes before calmly holing a four foot par putt on the last to seal victory. 

The 35-year old will make his third consecutive appearance in The Open after finishing tied 30th at St Andrews this year.

Pampling started the day at four-over-par and a bogey at the first did not augur well but from there the Queenslander birdied nine of the next 16 holes before holing a putt across the length of the green on the last for a dramatic eagle for a ten-under-par, course record 61 that took him into the qualifying places.

The 46-year-old will make his ninth appearance in The Open at Royal Troon, where he finished tied 27th in 2004, his joint best finish in the Championship. Pampling came through The Open Qualifying Series at the Emirates Australian Open last year to secure his place at the 144TH Open at St Andrews. 

Culllen mixed five birdies and four bogeys in his final round 68 but an eagle on the par five 14th hole helped him move to three-under-par for the championship. 

When former US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy’s challenge faded after dropping three shots on the last two holes to finish on one-under-par, the 31-year-old from Adelaide secured his second appearance in The Open after making his Major Championship debut in The Open at Royal Lytham in 2012.

Matt Jones with the Stonehaven Cup

“It’s one Major I would love to win, it’s one Major that I think suits my golf game the best,” Jones said. "I’m absolutely ecstatic to get back to The Open. I have played it the last two years and to be able to qualify this early on means I can schedule around it and get ready for it.

“I just love it over there, being in Europe playing golf is just fantastic. I can’t wait to get over there for The Open. Apart from winning this golf tournament, that was my next goal - to qualify for The Open. 

"I want to play as many Majors as I can and to qualify for The Open already this year is fantastic. I am going to go over a week early this time and prepare.”

Pampling said: “To know you’re in the event is fantastic. Peter Dawson let me start the event off last year and it was fantastic to have that honour.

“I’m delighted to get back there.  Obviously it’s where the game started.  The results haven’t shown it, but I really enjoy playing The Open.  Hopefully this year, maybe I will work it out and who knows what we can do. It’s certainly awesome to be getting back into The Open again.”

Cullen said: “It is probably one of the most memorable experiences I have had (playing at The Open in 2012). Unfortunately I missed the cut by a shot but links golf I have always loved it so playing at Troon is going to be amazing.

“It’s unbelievable. I didn’t think it would be enough coming in. I thought I needed to make a couple of putts in the last couple of holes but I’ll take it. I’m very happy.”

The Open Qualifying Series continues at the Thailand Golf Championship from 10-13 December 2015 where Clarke will tee it up alongside the likes of Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Bubba Watson. Martin Kaymer, Thongchai Jaidee, Kiradech Aphibarnra and Thomas Bjør.

Clarke will first play the Ho Tram Open at The Bluffs at Ho Tram Strip from December 3-6 with Ireland’s Niall Turner and Niall Kearney also in the field.

Darren Clarke

Darren Clarke hasn't won a tour event since he claimed The Open at Royal St George's in 2011. He's also had just two top 10 finishes since then — one in China and one in Australia. But he could make it three if he finishes the job in the Emirates Australian Open in the early hours on Sunday.

Europe's Ryder Cup captain, now ranked 603rd in the world, carded a one under 70 in Saturday's third round at The Australian Golf Club to go into the final day tied for seventh on one under par, nine shots behind the impressive leader, Matt Jones.

"I hit the ball really, really well again," said Clarke, who could not resist giving golf writer John Huggan a hard time as he wielded the TV interviewer's mic for the first time.

"I made some silly mistakes and lost my way there for the last three holes on the back nine. I made some silly bogeys, just lost my speed on the greens. But I hit an awful lot of shots straight down the flag again.

The secret to Clarke's lofty position on the leaderboard could be that he's simply enjoying himself.

"This is a proper golf course," he said. "You've got to play around here. You don't just smash it. You've got to shape shots into areas of greens. It's proper golf instead of just firing darts all the time.

"I just want to keep enjoying the golf course the way I am.. I think it is a wonderful challenge. it's in awesome condition and a bit of breeze just toughens it up. There are a lot of tough shots to be hit out there so I just want to go out there and hit some shots and go on improving my game, as I have been of late and putt the same again and maybe have a good score again."

 

Clarke isn't the hole player having a ball. Home favourite Jones (68) leads by three strokes on 10 under from defending champion and friend Jordan Spieth (67), who holed his approach for an eagle two at the 17th and then two-putted the 18 for closing birdie — a great turnaround having been three over after four.

As Golf Australia reported:

Jones, like Spieth, based in Texas, said playing with the defending champion on a regular basis would help him overcome nerves tomorrow.“Definitely. I’ve played many rounds with Jordan on the PGA Tour and in practice rounds. He’s a great guy, No.1 in the world and just very humble and very down to earth, which is fantastic,” Jones said.“I’m sure we’ll have a lot of fun out there. We can joke around out there, which is good, because you can’t do that with a lot of other golfers and that will make it more enjoyable to be out there.“(There’d) be no better person to beat on the final day and have him in the group with me.  To have the chance to win is what you want, and to go up against the number 1 in the world is even better."After his potentially calamitous opening stretch, Spieth, pumped in his title defence, went seven under – even with a bogey on the eighth – in a run inspired by caddie Michael Greller."Michael did a great of setting the goal for me there,'' the 22-year-old said."He said, 'Right, let's get to even par for the day by the time we step on 18 tee box. That way we can shoot under par and move on'.“He said, 'Enough of this crap. No bad self-talk. Let's hit some greens, you've got some easy holes coming up'.“That's all I really needed to hear to help turn it around.''

Click here for full scores.

Greig Hutcheon. Picture: Tony Marshall/Getty Imags

Overnight leader Colm Moriarty shot 74 and David Higgins a 73 as they were overhauled by new pace-setter Greig Hutcheon and England's James Ruth at the season-ending PGA Play-offs in Turkey.

Hutcheon battled wind and rain to lead at the halfway stage, the Paul Lawrie Golf Centre pro making use of all his experience, including two previous victories in the Play-Offs, to shoot a level-par round of 71 and climb to the top of an ever-increasingly congested leaderboard.

Scoring was tough on the south coast of Turkey, as wind and rain battered Antalya Golf Club for the second successive day.

Hutcheon himself recalled how he lost an umbrella to the conditions, as strong winds battered the 13th fairway and snapped it clean in half.

The loss of his shelter will be a sacrifice worth making, though, if he can become the first man in history to win the PGA Play-Offs on three separate occasions.

On offer in Antalya is multiple European Tour and Challenge Tour starts as well as the £2,000 first-place prize.

While the event avoided the long delays that beset the first 18 holes, many of the field struggled to make inroads in the conditions. Only two,  Ruth (China Fleet) and Graham Fox (Clydeway Golf), were able to shoot a round under par.

Hutcheon’s round had looked to be unravelling after three bogeys on the back nine – that was until he saved par at the 18th, landing a sensational bunker shot from 155 yards to within eight feet of the pin in the process.

After 36 holes the Scotsman sits one shot clear of the rest of the field with a three-under-par total of 139.

“I’m pleased to be leading, it was so difficult out there and you were having to punch a five-wood to cover 180 yards,” he explained.

“I did well over the front nine – but then I reached the 13th and the heavens opened. I managed to hold it together, thankfully, and I’m glad that I’ve now got the lead.

“There’s a long way to go, I’m well aware of that – there’s 36 more holes so I need to keep playing well and try to minimise mistakes.”

Ruth’s excellent five-under-par round of 66, meanwhile, set an early benchmark that would not be beaten – and looked better the longer the day went on.

He made the most of the slightly calmer early conditions to card six birdies over his first 13 holes.

He now sits second on the leaderboard alongside PGA Cup player Gareth Wright, of West Linton.

Behind them on one-under-par are the Irish duo of Higgins and Moriarty, who had mixed days on the course.

Moriarty birdied the second and eagled the third to surge to seven under par but made four bogeys and a double from there to slip back to one under after a 74 alongside Higgins, who double bogeyed the last for a 73.

Clontarf's Eamonn Brady is tied 10th on three over after a 73.

PGA Play-Offs, PGA Sultan Course, Antalya Golf Club, 28 November 2015

139 (-3) Greig Hutcheon (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre)

140 (-2) James Ruth (China Fleet), Gareth Wright (West Linton)

141 (-1)  David Higgins (Waterville), Colm Moriarty (Drive Golf Performance).

Win for @CA_Schwartzel would make him the 8th player to win the same European Tour event 4 times (1st South African) pic.twitter.com/n8Qqjp0yjY

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) November 27, 2015

Peter Lawrie withdrew before the second round as Paul Dunne and Kevin Phelan missed the cut in the weather-delayed Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa at Leopard Creek.

Lawrie began the first event of the 2016 season hoping for a change in his fortunes but after opening with a triple bogey seven and a 79 on Thursday, he didn’t tee it up in round two, bringing a disappointing season to an end.

Lawrie failed to win back his full card at Q-School and while he’ll still get around 20 starts next season as he's got the same category as Phelan (and Ruaidhri McGee) for 2016 despite missing out at PGA Catalunya where Dunne picked up the 16th card.

Now the touring professional for Mount Juliet, Phelan opened with a 70 but slipped to a disappointing 77 on Friday and will miss the cut when it is eventually made on Saturday morning.

He’ll make an early start for next week’s Australian PGA Championship, where he will be joined by former Ireland team mate Dunne, who missed the cut in his first event as a full European Tour card holder.

The Greystones man opened with a one over 73 but his tournament ended around the turn when he bogeyed the 17th, his eighth, and ran up a double bogey seven at Leopard Creek’s tricky par-five 18th, eventually carding a 75 to finish on four over.

At the top of the leaderboard, Charl Schwartzel continued his love affair with Leopard Creek Country Club as he moved into a commanding lead at the halfway stage.

The European Tour writes:

On a day when the wind made scoring more difficult than in the first round, the South African followed up his opening 66 with a 67 to get to 11 under and lead Benjamin Hebert, Joost Luiten, Pablo Martin and Richard Sterne by five shots.Schwartzel is a three-time winner in Malelane with four second-placed finishes in ten appearances, and spoke coming into the week of his confidence at the stunning layout on the edge of the Kruger National Park.The 31 year old has slipped to 50 in the Official World Golf Rankings but finished the 2015 season with a tie for fourth at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai and has carried that momentum into his favourite event of the year.He said: “Every year I’ve come back here, as soon as I arrive I get that real comfort feeling, a peaceful feeling and it is to do with the surroundings, the nature. It's a place I normally go to to relax so I'm playing in a very relaxed environment."On top of that the golf course also suits my eye really well. The last ten years I've aimed at the same trees on every hole at the end of the fairway."Overnight leader Christiaan Basson had set the first-round target at eight under and Schwartzel was three behind him as he stood on the 18th when play was suspended on Thursday due to dangerous weather conditions.The 2011 Masters Tournament winner returned on Friday morning to birdie the last and, after a swift turnaround, gains on the tenth and 12th meant it was six birdies in eight holes and he was tied for the lead.Another birdie followed on the 18th and when Schwartzel put his tee shot on the first inside a foot, he was the first man of the week to get into double figures.He saw putts agonisingly stay up on the fourth and fifth but holed a 25-footer on the sixth after being in trouble off the tee before giving the shot straight back at the next.A closing birdie on the ninth then ensured he walked off with a three-shot advantage and that was extended as the afternoon groups failed to match his pace."The last few weeks I've been playing well and it's nice that a few things are falling into place a little better this week," he added."Since Turkey I've felt like my long game has been really good and I've given myself a lot of chances. That's one part of the game and if I make some putts I can score better."While Schwartzel made the most of home comforts, countrymen Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace found themselves in a battle to make the cut with the 2010 Open Championship winner failing to make the weekend - something he managed at every event last season.An eight on the par three seventh contributed to a two over total which saw Oosthuizen miss his seventh cut in 12 appearances at this event where he has also finished second twice.Defending champion Grace was in danger when he turned in 37 but an eagle on the 13th and a birdie on the 15th meant he could afford to bogey the 16th and 17th to finish level par.Luiten was playing alongside the South African duo and an eagle on the last got him to six under with a 70 that also contained three birdies, a bogey and a double-bogey.Martin, winner here in the 2010 and 2011 campaigns, finished bogey-bogey-bogey in round one but showed no signs of a hangover with birdies at the second, fourth, ninth, 11th and 13th. A scrappy finish then saw him claim a single birdie to three bogeys but he signed for a second consecutive 69.Sterne was champion here in the 2009 season and he, like Schwartzel, was left stranded overnight before returning to birdie the last and get to four under.Second-round gains followed on the 12th, 13th, 14th and 18th but bogeys on the third and ninth stalled his momentum as he returns to The European Tour after an injury lay-off.Hebert opened with a bogey and dropped another shot on the sixth but birdies on the seventh, tenth, 13th and 14th saw him sign for a 70 and a share of second.Eddie Pepperell was then a further shot back after posting the low round of the day with a 65.The Englishman parred his opening two holes but a birdie on the 12th was followed by an eagle at the 13th and eight shots were gained in nine holes as he shot up the leaderboard. A double-bogey on the gettable sixth then stalled his momentum but a closing birdie got him alongside Mark Williams and Qualifying School graduate Jason Scrivener.Ben Evans, who finished in the vital 110th spot in last season's Race to Dubai, was then at four under alongside Thomas Aiken, Basson, Shaun Norris and David Drysdale.

Colm Moriarty. Picture: Tony Marshall/Getty Images

Colm Moriarty made the most of a lightning quick start to take a first round lead in the PGA Play-Offs over a weather-beaten PGA Sultan Course.

The championship, which contains a £15,000 prize fund, was subject to a delay lasting more than two hours as thunder and heavy rain pummelled the Mediterranean coast.

But by then Moriarty had already made serious inroads on the scoring, shooting five birdies over the front nine on the way to an end-of-day four-under-par score of 67.

His cool and collected first round could prove pivotal as he bids to return to Wentworth for the BMW PGA Championship.

The top 10 at Antalya Golf Club will secure places to play in the prestigious European Tour event, as well as several other European Tour and Challenge Tour starts.

Not that he will have things easy for the rest of the week.

Ominously perched one shot behind him is a foursome containing fellow Irishman David Higgins, two-time Play-Offs winner Greig Hutcheon, PGA Cup player Gareth Wright and Beedles Lake pro Matt Cort.

“My front nine was vital, I hit a few good shots and that gave me the chance to make some putts,” he explained.

“The thing about this course is that if you keep the ball in play and hit your irons well then you’re always going to stand a chance.

“When the weather turned it made things a lot more difficult but I’m happy enough, four-under is a good score.”

Moriarty relished his return to Antalya Golf Club having finished fourth in this event last year.

“It’s a great venue and a great place to come and play golf,” he said. “I’ve been raving about Turkey for years.

“Everyone’s come here hoping to win the tournament and of course there’s some sub-plots going on as well but you’ve just got to go out there and play as well as you can.”

Eamonn Brady (Clontarf), who topped the PGA in Ireland Order of Merit, stayed in touch wth a one over par 72 that left him tied for ninth.

Leicester man Cort, meanwhile, was in good spirits during a good end to the season.

He hit three birdies over the back nine as much of the field struggled with the soggy conditions.

“I’ve had a good few weeks, having won in Bulgaria with the PGAs of Europe and then qualified to come here,” he said.

“It’s an event that’s always on your radar, and of course there is also the fact that there are those spots at Wentworth to be won.

“I’d love to go back there having played it in May. I missed the cut this year, so I’d like to get the opportunity to go back and put it right.”

PGA Play-Offs, PGA Sultan Course, Antalya Golf Club

Detailed scores

67  Colm Moriarty  Drive Golf Performance

68 Greig Hutcheon  (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre), David Higgins (Waterville), Gareth Wright (West Linton), Matt Cort (Beedles Lake).

72 Eamonn Brady (Clontarf)

Ryder Cup Captain Darren Clarke giving a clinic at the Darren Clarke Foundation Champions of Champions Weekend at Portmarnock Golf Club. (25/10/2015). Picture by Pat Cashman

Darren Clarke outscored Jordan Spieth by one as he shot his lowest round for six months to make the cut with ease in the Emirates Australian Open 

Europe’s Ryder Cup captain hasn’t made a halfway cut since August — he’s missed 13 in 23 events this year. But he was close to his old self at The Australian Golf Club, firing birdies at the first, second, 10th, 14th and 18th against a lone bogey at the ninth in in a four under 67 

At level par, the 47-year old found himself tied for 14th place, seven shots behind Matthew Jones, who added a 68 to his opening 67 to lead by three from his Australian compatriot Todd Sinnott.

It was Clarke’s lowest round since he closed with a 66 in the BMW PGA at Wentworth in May. Scores

Spieth shot 68 and share third lace on three under par with Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts (66) and Australians Geoff Ogilvy (71), Aron Price (68) and Lincoln Tighe (73).

KEVIN PHELAN. PICTURE ©INPHO/MORGAN TREACY

Rookie Paul Dunne shot a 73 but Kevin Phelan got the new season off to an excellent start with a two under 70 in the weather-delayed Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek.

The Mount Juliet professional had five birdies and three bogeys in his opening round and was inside the top 30, six shots behind clubhouse leader Christiaan Basson, who shot an eight under 64.

Dunne was two over after five but doubled the sixth and bogeyed the eighth and ninth to turn in two over before slipping to three over with another bogey at the 14th.

However, he birdied the par-five 15th and 18th and undo some of the damage and at least give himself a fighting chance of making the cut in his first start since winning his card at Q-School last week.

Peter Lawrie, who disqualified himself at Q-School, was playign alongside Basson and as the South African racked up eight birdies, the Dubliner started with a triple bogey seven and neeed a birdie at the 18th to post a seven over 79.

Bad weather prevented the first round being completed on Thursday but three time winner Charl Schwartzel returned on Friday morning to make it four birdies in his closing five holes for a 66 that left him as Basson’s closest rival at the end of the opening round.

Basson's previous best European Tour finish in 30 events was a tie for tenth at The South African Open Championship Hosted by the City of Ekurhuleni in the 2014 season but he made an excellent start in his attempts to better that on Thursday.

The 33 year old made birdies on the second, fifth, sixth and eighth to turn in 31 and four more followed on the 11th, 13th, 14th and 16th to move him to the summit.

"I played very well today, I was pleasantly surprised," he said after completing his first round. "I was coming into this week with good form but you can't expect that good a round first off

"Hopefully I can keep playing the way I'm playing, golf is a funny game, you never know what is going to happen.

"We've just found something that I was doing wrong coming into Cape Town and that's just one swing thought that has kind of got me on track.

“It's not a big thing, it's a basic thing but it's made all the difference the last two weeks and I'm quite happy."

Defending champion Branden Grace and Louis Oosthuizen were among the headliners in the field but they got their weeks off to a quiet start in Malelane.

Oosthuizen has enjoyed a mixed bag at this event down the years, with two runners-up finishes and six missed cuts in 11 appearances, and he continued that theme with an opening 70.

The 2010 Open Championship winner started on the tenth and turned in 33 with birdies on the 12th, 13th, 15th and 18th. Another birdie followed on the first but a bogey on the second and a double-bogey on the third saw him drop back.

A shot was gained on the sixth but then given straight back on the seventh to leave Oosthuizen at two under, one shot clear of playing partner Grace.

Grace, who finished third in The Race to Dubai last week, turned in 37 after a double-bogey on the 14th before gains on the first and fourth but he gave a shot back after finding the water off the seventh tee.

SHANE LOWRY RIGHT WITH SIMPLY GOLF CEO COLM DALY (RIGHT) AND PGA PROFESSIONAL BERNARD QUIGLEY (LEFT) AT THE LAUNCH of the Simply Golf app

Desperation is a terrible thing but with just a few hours to go before my tee time in the annual Irish Golf Writers’ Association Championship — a gymkana for the afflicated who watch great golfers and then fail utterly to replicate anythng they have seen — I’m searching for my swing.

The clubs are in the boot, where they’ve been cowering in disgrace since I left a trail of destruction across Northern Ireland at Kilkeel, Royal Belfast and Belvoir Park, more than a month ago.

It’s been eight months since I tried Shane Lowry’s “Simply Golf” app, booked the second lesson of my life and spent an hour with the excellent Zak Rouiller working on the stuff Watttie Sullivan told me when in Grange back in 1980, when they Inter Cert was looming.

“There are 18 questions on the exam and you can’t skip any,” Wattie said as I opened and closed “the door” with my little persimmon-headed Clery’s three-wood, sweeping autumn leaves in the rough right of the 18th.

The club may still be around but the swing is definitely a lot less supple. It’s T minus two hours to my tee time for the Mark McKenna Trophy at Woodrbook so I check the Simply Golf app for those swing keys I’d promised Zac — an excellent maestro, by the way — I’d practice faithfully.

It had been easy to book the lesson. I’d simply downloaded the app from the Apple Store, loaded it with credit via my credit card and searched for pro in my area. A few names popped up and I opted for the man who worked nearest, recalling his name from the PGA Irish circuit.

We met up in Newcastle Driving Range between Newcastle and Lucan and I walked away from it knowing exactly what to do with my game. If only I’d gone practicing or followed up with that short game lesson. 

Zac gave me what amounted to a pre-NCT lesson for my game and I’ll go back for the full service now that the golf season is quiet.

Grip, posture and set up will be my early focus when I get to Woobrook later. (After a coffee, of course). 

I can check the app for the lesson keys I got that day: “Swing width in backswing (starting with takeaway).”

Ah yes, I remember it now. I also remember being told to keep my chin up and to stick my backside out. It certainly made me feel more capable of delivering a reasonably athletic move and a clean hit. My ball flight, usually quail high, suddenly attained a Rory McIlroy-esque quality of getting airborne.

“Left hip turn through impact as opposed to slide.”

This, as I recall, was a little trickiet but it resulted in straighter shots, which might prove handy later today.

My “Work Ons” included a one-piece takeaway to promote width. For lack of time, that will have to do. 

Call me One Piece Keogh today. Wish me luck. I’ll need it.

Jude O'Reilly and Henrik Stenson during the first round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National in 2012

The Lake Isle of Innisfree is one of W. B. Yeats’  most lyrically beautiful poems and anyone who reads it will almost certainly be struck by an overwhelming feeling of peace and tranquility, not to mention a desire to escape to that island on Lough Gill, less than 10 miles from Rosses Point.

It was in that Sligo village, the spiritual home of the West of Ireland Amateur Championship, that Jude O’Reilly was born 46 years ago. And while his career as a caddie began on the local links and took him all over the world from Japan to the United States and beyond, he has never lost that natural west of Ireland charm.

Some people emanate a serenity that is wholly reassuring and it’s little wonder that O’Reilly was a hugely successful bagman for a whole menagarie of players from Christy O’Connor Jnr and Darren Clarke to Masahiro "Massy" Kuramoto, Shigeki Maruyama and more recently, though only part-time, the Swede Henrik Stenson.

In truth, O’Reilly’s core caddying years were spent in the land of the rising sun with Kuramoto and then with Maruyama, who rose to fame when he captured the Greater Milwaukee Open at Brown Deer Park Golf Club in 2001.

Maruyama had made a little history with O’Reilly in US soil the previous year, carding a firs round 58 at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Maryland while qualifying for the 2000 U.S. Open, possibly the crowning moment of a caddying career that began at Rosses Point when he was nine, toting ht bag for the likes of Oliver Gough, Val Smyth or Bernard Gibbons in the West and rubbing shoulders with the likes of the young, Paul McGinley when he was competing in Youths Internationals back in the 1980s.

He caddied for his mother, Greta Soden, a talented player, who sadly to pass away suddenly at the age of 64, increasing Jude’s lifelong interest in health and well being. 

His holistic approach to golf is an integral part of his journey from commerce student at UCD to tour caddie to his current role as what could loosely be described as a performance coach to some of Ireland’s most talented young golfers, including internationals Kevin Le Blanc and Gavin Moynihan.

Having started with O’Connor Jnr, who he had met at the annual leukaemia fundraiser held in Rosses Point, O’Reilly went on to work briefly with the rookie Darren Clarke before eventually progressing to Massy Kuramoto, with whom he remained for eight years before going not to caddie for the Smiling Assassin, Maruyama.

When they split up in 2002, it caused a media furore that made Padraig Harrington’s subsequent decision to let Dave McNeilly go look like small beer. But such was the media impact of Maruyama’s US breakthrough, it was a huge surprise to the Japanese golf world and the player himself, that O’Reilly decided to head home again with his Japanese wife and child

Jude O'Reilly working with Henrik Stenson at Disney

“It is not something you can do too easily,” he explains. “He had won in US, shot 58 in US Open qualifying, it was a big deal.”

While Woods US Open win in 2000 will go down as one of the great performances, O;Reilly’s feat in helping Maruyama shoot a virtually blind, 13 under par 58 at Woodmount Country Club on  5 June 2000 is one of the legendary performances. 

The amiable Japanese reduced the 6,539-yard par-71 Maryland stretch to six pars, 11 birdies and an eagle two with halves of 29 and a birdie, birdie, birdie finish.

A feather in his cap, surely, I ask O’Reilly, who smiles. 

“He might take the feather out and say it should have been 57,” he says. "He has blamed me since, in a joking manner. He says, he had known that the putt from 20 feet at the last had been for a 57, he would have holed it. But he ended up still making birdie. 

“Walking off the tee, he said, ‘How many birdies have I made. I said, don’t worry, lets make another one here.’ 

“It was a par five and he was nicely on in two but his 20 foot putt  came up on the low side. I get the blame but it was pretty special. After he hit the drive, you knew the 59 was on.”

Of course, it was all down to preparation, which is something O’Reilly stresses with he young players he takes under his wing. Or at least, the players look at his vast experience and decided to listen to his advice before making it their own decisions and incorporate his advice into their own routines and lifestyles.

“On one tee there was a delay on a par three over water with two groups in front of us,” he says of the 58. "We just had nice momentum going after and eagle on nine and suddenly, bang, we have to stop. 

“But the day before I had insisted he get on the cart with me and go and play four tee shots. The par threes were mostly over water but while I knew the distance, with the elevation changes, I wanted him to see how they were going to play. 

“Then there was a par for that was a severe dogleg left. He had to hit it onc and turn it, but he still didn’t turn it enough. But it was important that he see that shot.”

Asking O’Reilly to describe his role is one thing but getting him to come up with a neat label is another. 

“Performance coach could describe because I am trying to improve performance,” he admits. “Life coach doesn’t go into golf, though I will look at character and characteristics. People have different strengths and character from their parents and it is a case of finding what they have got and building on those and seeing if there are others that can be brought on. 

With Shigeki Maruyama

“A person’s perspective can be pretty big — looks at Jordan Spieth, seeing his sister’s autism and setting up a charity to raise funds. It makes playing golf a little easier. 

“Take Rory McIlroy. Where was he the week before he won his first major? He was in Haiti after the disaster.  Did that affect his perspective? It can’t not affect it. 

“We lose perspective quite easily. I was speaking to one of the caddies a couple of years ago and we were talking about a couple of business slowing down and he said, ‘Oh yeah, there is a recession thing happening, isn’t there’.”

O’Reilly has spent the last few years working with many of Europe’s top young amateurs and his Irish clients have started to excel.

Now it appears that his magic is working wonders for Junior Open champion LeBlanc and Walker Cup star Moynihan, who both play out of The Island.

“I have a small number of players now and I want to get inside them and know what makes them tick and make them work,” explains the man that Maruyama called ‘Judo’. “I had a great relationship with Shigeki. I knew when he needed a drink of water and had the cap off the bottle and was passing it. 

“That was one of the hardest parts of leaving somebody who was at that level and capable of winning every year in the US. He promised to buy me a house in LA when he retired but I love where I am at now and to be able to bring some of what I know to people who are interested in young people is hugely rewarding.

“Most people don’t understand what an emotional rollercoaster it can be out there and how tough it an be to make it on tour. 

“I wrote a blog entitled - Are all the PGA Tour players losers? After all, how many will win in St Andrews in the Open, or the US PGA? Just one, right. 

“So it all comes down to how you define winning or success. You have got to get joy and fun a the top of the list. What you describe as fun may be part of the pressure for those who are going to be successful, that has got to give them some joy. They may not see it all the time or any of the time for some. But they have to get a thrill about being in the mix and they have got to enjoy that and realise that is part of what it is about. For those who don’t get that, it can be a very tough life.”

Putting habits in place that will help players cope, not just when it comes to course management and strategy, but elements such as hydration, nutrition and even sleep, are massively important.

This attention to detail is a trait he almost certainly picked up in Japan, where 120 million people work together in harmony because they have to. 

“When Richard Branson went to Japan to do business first and produced his 5-year plan, the company he was dealing with presented him with a 200 year business plan. That set him back a little bit and he put his five-year plan away. They don’t try and do things in a rush. They build things up over time. Quality is very important to them.”

It’s the same with O;Reilly, whose bosses were masters of the game from Kuramoto to women’s star and Hall of Fame golfer Ayako Okamoto. 

It was watching Kuramoto win his tour card at the US Q-School and seeing how the Aussie Michael Allen sweated to make the grade that got him interested in performance and psychology.

“He was comfortably getting his card, then shit shot 39 or 40 on the front side in the last round, putting himself under huge pressure. So it was watching that and watching people and how they react and deal with themselves on the course promoted some interest in this.”

When he stepped out of retirement to stand in occasionally for Fanny sunset on Henrik Stenson’s bag from 2008, O[‘Reily was required to work more closer with teams of people, including the physio.

Consultancy work followed with the Sligo man visting companies lie Deloitte in Dublin in “bringing Augusta to the boardroom”  when it comes to business decision making.

In Johor with Henrik

“I’ve seen where executives will look at all the figures of business but they don’t look at all the figures of themselves. Sometimes they don’t even want to.”

Health is wealth in more ways that one and for a sportsman, good habits will make a massive difference to performance.

He will use a variety of devices to see how a person is living, working and sleeping, calculating the amount of stress they might suffer during the day. 

“Sleep hygiene is a massive topic,” he says to this writer, whose long hours of exposure to the light of a computer monitor cannot beg good. 

“I try to gently introduce this things to young golfers so they can put good habits in place and they are better able to deal with things, if and when they go out on tour.”

Years working on the Japan Golf Tour exposed O;Reilly to more top players than might not have otherwise been the case had he remained in Europe.

The big names - Seve, Greg Norman and Nick Faldo, all came to Japan to play every year and were paired with his employers. 

In a world of interpreters, they enjoyed the ease of a casual chat with an English speaker on these jaunts and as a result, O’reilly has a store of knowledge that is invaluable.

“I had a chat with Mac O’Grady about the top players once and what makes them different and we agreed there is an extra element they have — a  je ne c'est quoi.

“There has to be be drive and will and determination. But there is some tiny little bit in with these guys that make them more special.

“Sometimes can see and you can tell that people have a slightly different feel about them. Seve had a huge presence, Norman… It was something special when Seve came into the room.”

No doubt O’Reilly can sense something special in LeBlanc and Moynihan, whose results are outstanding.

Jude O'Reilly

“I want to work with these kids and bring one or more onto the tour,” he says. “I want to get them set up so it is not so much of a shock, when they do get there, as it can be for some. Getting them prepared for what will hopefully be a long career is important so that they have enough to ride through an emotional roller coaster as well. 

“It is tough times out there even for top player.  You hear stories of them breaking down and being in bits and losing tempers and breaking lockers. That’s one side, but what it can do to a person inside is another. It is full of ups and downs. 

“People talk about the mental side of the game but a lot come down to the heart, the gut, in every sense of the word. The gut and gut bacteria is something thats’s going to be spoken about over the next couple of years. The Japanese diet, especially the old traditional Japanese diet, was very good on that.”

Ireland is no longer a sporting backwater but a big player in a host of sports. 

“Gone are the days of saying, ‘ah sure we put up a great fight, we gave it a good go.’ The Irish team don’t accept that now. they want more than that. Expectations are another thing. 

“The likes of Padraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell and Darren Clarke and Rory McIlroy, they have opened the door and others can now walk through just as Shigeki opened the door for others and we now have Matsuyama and Ishikawa coming thought though, though I am surpassed Japan doesn’t have more. 

“Back in the 1990s if a Japanese player was to say he was talking to a psychologist, the question what, what’s wrong? It was not seen as things you spoke about doing and I don’t know if it has fully changed there yet.”

Over enthusiastic parents can often have a negative effect on talented children, which makes O’Reilly an ideal person to transmit ideas. 

View image | gettyimages.com

With his experience, youngster tend to listen, make something their own and grow with it.

“I don’t touch the swing, that’s between them and their coach. I do do some putting coaching, because a lot of coaches don’t address that — it was their downfall and they don’t want to go there. 

“I will talk about course management but the next step is self-management. Paul McGinley talked about player management at the Ryder Cup and it’s not too dissimilar in terms of what i am looking at doing - looking at the best way to manage a player and to help them manage themselves, increase awareness of what is happening. 

“The check with themselves on where their attitude is, what their perspective is and each of those topics is massive on their own. 

“Ask a  young golfer if focus and concentration are important and they will say ‘Yes, of course.’ And yet they practice distraction half the day, where it is their mobile phone or something else.  

“There’s the importance of sleep, sleep hygiene, which is often ignored. or there’s the time spent on social media, the artificial light coming in that affects things. Then you have the position they will be in reading that or doing that. You have got focus on a small object that creates tension on the eyes and back and that goes into the whole system. Anything that affects your nervous system is relevant. That affects your motor control and that affects how you feel, how you think and how you operate.”

The delicate parent-child relationship is a tricky area in elite sport and O’Reilly has seen some horror stories.

“With some elite golfers, there is a risk of too much friction between parent and child - the parent is doing too much and it can be scary what some of the parents are trying to do,” he says. “A lot of players who learn in that way - intensively with parents - they will find it hard to last over a long period of time. There will be some sort of implosion or explosion in their life in general more so than on the golf course. 

View image | gettyimages.com

“The key is to start putting things in place so you don’t have an Andre Agassi experience where you a young golfer is playing golf for reasons other than their own enjoyment of it and what they are going to get out of it. 

“Tennis is famous for a few of this incidences and in golf we have had Sean O’Hair who would have been put under huge pressure. It is great that those people can come through that but many other don’t and they don’t even get to the starting line because of that. and we never even hear those stories. I am  trying to help in that situation and make sure than does’t happen and make sure it is fun.

“We are trying to create a situation for the player to develop and I only want to give a nudge in the right direction. If I have too much to do, it is not going to work. It has to come from there.”

Small gains add up to big leaps in the end.

“It’s about finding a player’s ideal performance state so they can repeatedly get to that and then improve on that,” he says. 

Almost two hours have passed since we sat down to chat and yet the time has flown by — stress free. 

As Yeats might say, “I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree, And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made….”

This article was first published in the September 2015 issue of Golfing Magazine

Sinead Heraty and Martha Jones (Castle) celebrate on the 15th green victory in the Senior Foursomes Final at the 2015 AIG Ladies Cups and Shields Finals at Knightsbrook Golf Club. (25/09/2015) Picture by Pat Cashman

A new organisation will soon govern both men’s and women’s golf in Ireland and the ILGU’s CEO Sinead Heraty believes its formation is an ideal opportunity to do something special for the game on the island of Ireland.

James Thurber is best known for his short story, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” He’s also written some wise and amusing things about men, women and even dogs. 

Leaving aside our canine friends, he might have found the proposed formation of a golfing body for both Irish men and women to be a fascinating project.

“Somebody has said that Woman's place is in the wrong,” Thurber wrote. “That's fine. What the wrong needs is a woman's presence and a woman's touch. She is far better equipped than men to set it right.”

The Golfing Union of Ireland (GUI) was established in 1891 and was the first national golfing union to be established anywhere in the world. Similarly the Irish Ladies’ Golf Union was founded in 1893 and is recognised as the oldest Ladies Golf Union in the world.

Little wonder then that a great deal of thought is going into the inevitable formation of one governing body for male and female golfers on the island of Ireland.

And given the great character of the women’s organisation, its vibrant districts and strong volunteer base, it can only be a good thing for the men that they will have a major say in the running of the game for all.

For now, the ILGU and the GUI have only agreed to talk about having talks as the men still have to tidy up some governance issues and appoint their first CEO to replace the current role of General Secretary.

There’s no huge rush to get this done though ideally, it will be in place when the World Amateur Team Championship come to Ireland in 2018.

The respective men’s and women’s governing bodies became one in Wales in 2007 with England following suit in 2012.  Scotland will follow suit on October 1st next by giving birth to the slightly unromantic sounding Scottish Golf Limited by merging the Scottish Golf Union with the Scottish Ladies Golf Association. 

Whatever about what’s gone before, Ireland’s new body will not be a merger as far as the ILGU’s dynamic chief executive, Sinead Heraty is concerned.

“It is not a merger,” says the woman who has overseen the transformation of the ILGU over the past decade. “We will be doing something quite different than was done in England and Wales, or Scotland later this year.

“We have concerns about some of the things that have happened and being the last of the four Home countries to look at this, we have been observing what has gone before. Hopefully we will avoid some of the pitfalls.”

In an age when women’s sport still struggles for recognition, there are fears that the women will lose their voice and their identity in the male dominated world of sports governance.

But given that Irish golf introduced equality in golf clubs in 2000, a decade before its English, Welsh and Scottish counterparts, the road should be smoother here.

“The issues have been more or less thrashed through here over a long period of time,” Mrs Heraty says, adding that her concerns relate to the formation of the board of the new organisation and the recruitment of top women. 

“The biggest concern is the voice of women’s golf and the profile of women’s golf and the coverage of it,” she says. “We have to promote women into the organisation, put women into senior management and senior decision making positions within the new organisation. 

“It is no different than any other board of any voluntary organisation. What is the gender divide within boards of any company and it is very hard to recruit or encourage women to go into a male dominated society. 

“It is not that there are not capable women out there. There are lots of them. But when they see the culture of an organisation as being very male dominated, they decide they don’t want to put themselves through that.

‘So when we and the GUI talk about it, we talk about a new organisation. If you were doing this from scratch in a modern Ireland, how would you approach it. The great thing for both organisations is that their ethos is— ‘What is best for the sport? What is best for golf on the island of Ireland?’ 

“Then you start to break it into chunks. But if your objective is what is best for golf on the island of Ireland, you will make the right decisions.”

Boosting the number of girls playing the game is a major goal and over the past decade, the ILGU has managed to double the number of girls actively playing the game.

Yes, total participation numbers plummeted during the financial crisis, but as the ILGU’s leader points out, the majority of those who gave up the game were women who joined with their husbands during the boom and had no handicap or a handicap of 36.

“I look at golf club membership and predominately the city clubs are doing very well,” she says. “Most of them have recovered. But ‘country’ clubs reflect the economy as a whole. Where Dublin is starting to boom again, the rest of the economy is not recovering as quickly. Plus there’s the fact that the population has also moved towards the eastern seaboard.”

The huge number of clubs offer low cost membership is also a sign of oversupply but there is low demand in an era when lifestyles are changing rapidly. 

“It is not just the time element,” she says. “This is is the technology age and the way we do things is very different now. Golf has changed too. 

Sinead Heraty

“You can see how life has changed just by looking at the Dublin Horse Show recently. People are not going in the same numbers. The days when the entire nation seemed to watch the Nations Cup on a Friday are gone. The whole area of sport has changed.”

The scheduling of events has also changed and while many struggle to understand why you would merge the Ladies and Girls Interpros and have them clash with the European Ladies Team Championship, it actually helps bring more players into the game.

“We took the top 12 players out of the Interpros and the review of it is that it has been successful for a number of reasons. 

“First of all it strengthens Connacht. But it also gives the next fleet of players an opportunity to shine. They get the opportunity to go out and play against some of the older players and represent their province and play at that level.

“The younger girls see the older girls playing and the standard they are playing to. So it has actually worked very well. You always have the argument that you are not getting the top players into the Interpros. But then you are back to the argument, should the top players be playing interpros at all.

“The view is that we are broadening the base. We are trying to get more girls playing and that’s been reasonably successful for us. There are more girls playing golf than before.

“The number has risen from 1,000 to 2,000 girls actively played the game. It’s a very broad figures but it’s a good one.”

European Golf Association statistics claim that Ireland had 60,000 women golfers in 2007 and now has 37,000. But the figures are deceptive, Heraty says.

“We never had 60,000 playing members. There were 52,000 handicaps and the dominant portion were 36 handicap or no handicap - in others words, women who joined clubs with husbands or partners during the boom. 

“Around 85 percent were 36 handicap or no handicap. And if a person is a member of a club and not active, you are going to lose them when times are tough.”

Role models help the promotion of the game and get the general public interested and just as Padraig Harrington, Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy,  Darren Clarke and Shane Lowry are role models for the boys and men, Ireland now has top women golfers to admire, such as LPGA player Stephanie Meadow, world amateur No 1 Leona Maguire or top junior star Olivia Mehaffey.

“It’s huge to have someone like Leona as world amateur No 1. And it would be huge to have her play in the Olympics with Stephanie. We underestimate the impact that something like that can have. 

“Girls look at a Leona or an Olivia or a Stephanie Meadow and think, if they can achieve that, I can too. It is about creating those opportunities for girls. The good thing about the likes of Leona and Lisa and Stephanie is that they are very accessible to us. They will do anything we ask them to do.”

Media coverage of women’s golf and women’s sport in general is way below where it deserves to be and Heraty is determined to work to redress the balance. 

“They are getting a reasonable amount of coverage but females sport in general needs more coverage,” she says. “When Leona finished second in the British Masters on the Ladies European Tour, the headline was about the New Rory. Even when Stephanie was third in the US Open, it was the new Rory again. 

“Females sport in general is not respected and you heard the chicken and egg with people telling you that the public don’t want to read it. Well if you don’t print it, they can’t read it. Even Katie Taylor hasn’t had the level of coverage she should have received.”

Heraty is certainly excited about the future and the chance to draw on the best of both world’s to create an even stronger Irish game.

“I think all the research shows that mixed gender organisations are better because they bring a better mix of skills and better diversity,” she says. 

“So while he have to be cognisant of the fact that both the GUI and the ILGU have existed for the best part of 120 years, we reflect the traditions and the times of the 1890s when we were set up.

“The environment we are operating in now very different and you have women and men on both sides that have very good skills and competencies.”

This article was first published in the September 2015 issue of Golfing Magazine

Mr John Moloughney, Chairman Munster Branch GUI presenting Gary Hurley (West Waterford) with the Munster Senior Golfer of the Year Award.  24th Nov 2015, Munster Branch GUI Annual Delegates Meeting. Picture: Niall O'Shea

Mallow, 24th November 2015 – The Annual Delegates meeting of the Munster Branch of the Golfing Union of Ireland took place at Hibernian Hotel Mallow with all 88 affiliated golf clubs attending.

GUI Munster Branch Awards 2015Munster Golf Club of the Year 2015 — Tramore Golf Club (Waterford), sponsored by Crystal Na Rinne, An Rinn, Dúgarbhán

Tramore Golf Club won the Munster Club of the year award, and this topped off a great year for the club who played host to the Irish Close Championship.  The Club and the course came in for a large amount of praise for their hosting of the showpiece national event in August.  Tramore is one of the longest established clubs in the country.  In 2014 they secured the Irish Senior Cup for the second time, and the club has always been an enthusiastic competitor in the inter-club tournaments.  The club has contributed many players and officials to representative and International Irish teams over the years and Tramore’s Michael Burns was a selector on the victorious Walker Cup team in September.  The club has also been a great contributor to the administration of the game with many club members serving on the Munster Provincial Council and as Officers of the Munster Branch.

Mr John Moloughney, Chairman Munster Branch GUI presenting David Jackman, Captain Tramore Golf Club with the Munster Club of the Year Award. Picture: Niall O'Shea

Munster Team of the Year 2015 — Dooks Mixed Foursomes Team (Kerry), sponsored by Keane's Jewellers

Dooks won the Team of Year award for their Mixed Foursomes team who finished the year as national winners.  Despite the fact that golf has been played at the West Kerry course for close to 130 years, the club had a long wait to secure their first GUI Pennant.  Not only did the mixed foursomes team secure a Munster pennant in August, they added a national pennant soon after when they won the All-Ireland final in early September.  In addition to the excitement of having a winning team, Dooks also had the challenge of hosting both the provincial finals in August and the national finals.  It may be a surprising fact that Dooks are the first club to win when hosting the provincial and national finals. 

Not alone did Dooks wait for well over 125 years to acquire their first National GUI Pennant, but they overcame plenty of high quality teams along the way.  In West Munster Dooks beat four clubs to advance to the Munster semi-final.  When they hosted the provincial finals, they recorded wins over Skibbereen and Castletroy on their way to securing the blue pennant.  Marshalled by team managers Mary Keane and Barry Harmon they advanced to the national finals where they beat Castlerea in the semi-final, and followed that with a final win over a strong Malahide team.

Dooks Golf Club Captain Willie Murphy accepting the Munster Team of the Year award from Mr John Moloughney, Chairman Munster Branch GUI.  The Mixed Foursomes team from Dooks won the award after winning the All-Ireland title for the first time. Picture: Niall O'Shea

Munster Junior Golfer of the Year 2015 — John Murphy (Kinsale), sponsored by Keane's Jewellers

Kinsale’s John Murphy won the Junior Golf of the Year Award, following in the footsteps of the 2014 winner, his friend and club mate Cathal Butler.  John had a very busy year, with the key highlights including a Munster final appearance in the Fred Daly Trophy Munster final, a win in the Kerry Boys, and a cap for Munster at the Boys Interprovincials.  John was travelling almost every week during the summer, competing in all four Provincial Boys championships as well as several of the Youth championships.  In the Boys events, he was runner-up in Ulster, 5th in Connacht and 7th in Leinster.  He also took 4th place in Irish Boys Championship.

Mr John Moloughney, Chairman Munster Branch GUI presenting John Murphy (Kinsale) with the Munster Junior Golfer of the Year Award.  24th Nov 2015, Munster Branch GUI Annual Delegates Meeting. Picture: Niall O'Shea

He took on the unique challenge that is the Kerry Boys in Ballybunion and came through the strokeplay and matchplay tests to add his name to the now famous trophy.  John was part of the Kinsale Fred Daly team, he also played a big role for Kinsale Community School when they won the Munster Senior Schools Championship in Muskerry.  

His strong individual and team performances earned him a place in the Munster team at the Boys Inter-Provincials in Athlone in July where he recorded a number of notable performances.  Murphy finished 4th in the Boys Order of Merit and he was the leading Under 17 golfer, and he was recently named in the Irish Boys national panel.

Munster Golfer of the Year 2015 —  Gary Hurley (West Waterford), sponsored by Keane's Jewellers

Gary Hurley picked up his second successive Munster Golfer of the Year award on the back of another year of very impressive performances.  The highlight of course was his performance in the winning GB&I Walker Cup team, but his competitive year started back in January when he travelled to South Africa and was runner-up on the SA Amateur Open.  A top twenty finish in the Lytham Trophy was followed by several notable team competitions.  He secured a second appearance for the European Team at the Palmer Cup and represented Ireland at the European Team Championships.  Partnered by Paul Dunne, the pair were unbeaten as Ireland made it through to the top eight.  In September Gary was a member of the victorious GB&I Walker Cup team, winning both of his matches on Sunday and helping GB&I to regain the title.

Gary was runner-up in the European Individual Championship in Slovakia, and claimed his second silver medal having finished in the runner up spot again in 2014.  He was one of four Golfing Union of Ireland representatives at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open in Royal County Down.  In spite of his golfing commitments, Hurley also managed to complete his studies at Maynooth University.  In September he made the decision to turn professional having achieved all of the personal goals he had set for himself for 2015.

Michael John Roche and JJ Sheehan from East Cork Golf Club presenting John Moloughney, Munster Branch GUI with the Michael Cashman Trophy which will be played for in the Munster Club Fourball competition next season.  The trophy was presented in honour of former Munster Branch Chairman and East Cork member. Picture: Niall O'Shea

Meeting Report

Chairman of the Munster Branch John Moloughney opened the meeting and thanked everyone involved with the Branch over the year for all of their help and assistance. He started his report to the meeting by paying a warm tribute to Munster Branch Treasurer Michael J Murphy (Tramore) who passed away in February.  Michael was Treasurer of the Munster Branch since 2012. The Chairman acknowledged Michael’s hard work at club, provincial and national level which spanned over 40 years.  He also paid tribute to former GUI President, Jack Lynch.  Like Michael, Jack too served his province and country in several roles, and was a very proud member of Limerick and Ballybunion golf clubs.

He reported that unlike previous years the weather had little impact on the golfing programme, and he thanked all the clubs that hosted provincial events.  He congratulated all of the provincial winners and especially Thurles, Ballybunion and Dooks on their national success.  He was delighted with the new format for the South of Ireland Championship.  He congratulated Stuart Grehan (Tullamore) on his win and congratulated everyone involved with the prestigious event.  He thanked all those involved with the four inter-provincial teams, along with Fred Twomey (Provincial Coach).  He thanked the Championship Committee under the direction of Liam Harkin, and the support of Karen Walsh and Margaret Sugrue.  

He acknowledged the issues related to the GOLFnet website and hoped that the issues were now resolved and that upcoming workshops would assist clubs.  He wished Pat Finn well in his role as the new CEO of the Golfing Union of Ireland, this is a strategic role that will shape the way that the game is governed in the coming years.  

He acknowledged the role of the CGI in promoting recruitment and retention strategies for golf clubs and he encouraged club to participate in the seminars.  He thanked all of the clubs that he visited during the year for the courtesy they displayed, and he looked forward to working with clubs over the coming year.

The Officers and Provincial Council of the Munster Branch, Golfing Union of Ireland pictured after the Annual Delegates Meeting.  24th November 2015, Hibernian Hotel Mallow. Picture: Niall O'Shea

Hon Sececretary’s Report

Honorary Secretary Jim Long gave a very comprehensive report of the year’s golfing activities and gave details of several high points including the success of clubs and individuals at national level.  

He congratulated all of the winners and he congratulated Dooks on their successful staging of the Mixed Foursomes national finals.  

He noted the fact that six Munster golfers were selected for the Irish Representative teams during the year:  Robin Dawson (Faithlegg) and Gary Hurley (West Waterford) at Mens, Cathal Butler (Kinsale) at Boys and Tom Cleary (Cork), John Mitchell (Tramore) and Arthur Pierse (Tipperary) at Seniors.  

He gave delegates some information on the strategic review being undertaken by the GUI, the review will consider governance structures, the future direction of the Union and the means to do it.  

This work should be completed in time for the GUI Annual General Meeting in February 2016.  He too paid a warm tribute to Michael J Murphy, highlighting the impact of the tireless work he had put in to junior golf, both in the province and nationally.  He thanked his fellow Officers: John Moloughney, Peter English and Liam Harkin, the Provincial Council Members, the Branch staff, and also the many clubs who provided their courses to run provincial competitions during the year.

Honorary Treasurer Peter English reported that golf clubs continue to have difficulty in recruiting and retaining members.  He commented that clubs in the province suffered from a 21% drop in membership over the past five years, a net loss of 7,400 members.  Nationally the loss was over 45,000 (26%) members over the same period.  Junior membership remains constant at 5,000.  

The accounts for the year showed a loss of €22,212 for the year, this was attributed to a number of areas, including an increase in coaching costs of €18,000, with some of this relating to accruals from previous years.  Additional costs were incurred due to the fact that there are now four representative Munster teams, and coaching for these teams now extends to 160 golfers.    

Savings were achieved in the running of Cups & Shields, and also from a root and branch review of non-essential costs.  As a result of a forecasted deficit of €10,000 for the year ahead, the Council proposed a motion to increase the provincial subscription by €2 to €8, effective from 2017.  The Treasurer reminded club that grants for junior coaching are still available and encouraged all clubs to participate in the scheme.

Hon Match Secretary’s Report

Liam Harkin (Honorary Match Secretary) presented his report, starting with the AIG Cups and Shields.  He outlined some changes to the scheduling of competition weekends stating that in many cases the host club had the use of their course for a half day on Saturday or Sunday, and that this proved to be a positive development.  

He informed the meeting that a number of late withdrawals again disrupted the schedules and asked clubs to be reasoned with their entries for the year ahead.  

He congratulated all of the provincial winners, and Ballybunion, Dooks and Thurles on their national success.  

He advised the meeting that a new national competition, the All Ireland Club Fourball would take place in 2016.  He was happy with the changes that took place in South of Ireland Championship, and this saw the status of the competition rise in the WAGR rankings.  

He advised of further changes to the CONGU system and reported that a world handicapping system was in the offing, likely to be introduced in two years.  He thanked his fellow officers, the handicap committee and Karen and Margaret for their hard work and co-operation during the year, and he also thanked all of the clubs who hosted events during the year.

A copy of the full text from all reports is available here 

• Jennifer Hickey representing the Confederation of Golf in Ireland gave a comprehensive report on the activities of the CGI on a national and local basis over the past 12 months.  She also gave an outline of the plans for 2016. 
• Brian Punch gave an outline of the GUI strategic plan developments, and Pat Dunne gave an update on the changes that have taken place on handicapping system including important changes to the Annual Handicap Reviews.  Reports were also presented from each of the inter-provincial teams and the Junior Convenor.  East Cork Golf Club presented the Munster Branch with a trophy to honour the memory of former member and former Munster Branch Chairman Michael Cashman.  The trophy will be awarded to the Munster winners of the new All-Ireland Club fourball competition.

Election of Officers

• John Moloughney (Templemore) was re-elected Chairman.  
• Jim Long (Monkstown) was re-elected Honorary Secretary.  
• Peter English (Limerick) was re-elected Honorary Treasurer.  
• Liam Harkin (Muskerry) was re-elected as Honorary Match Secretary.  

(All elected unopposed)

Election of Delegates to the Provincial Council (17)

Gordon Adair (Douglas), John Carroll (Bandon), Phil Cooney (Lee Valley), Michael Coote (Tralee), Tom Donnelly (Youghal), Pat Dunne (Roscrea), John Fennessy (Clonmel), Tom Keane (Ballybunion)*, Kevin Glynn (Lahinch), Barry Lynch (Raffeen Creek), Jim Lyne (Glengarriff), Kevin Murray (Tramore)*, Michael P Murphy (Newcastle West), Sean O’Leary (Mahon), Dave Prendergast (Cork)*, Brian Punch (Castletroy), Joe Rouine (Adare Manor)
*Indicates new nomination

Unsuccessful Nominees

Pat Nagle (Dooks)*, Patrick Turner (Muskerry)*, Michael Lawlor (Castleisland)*

Appointment of delegate to Central Council

John Carroll (Bandon)

Notices of MotionMUNSTER1 Munster Provincial Council GUI

“It is proposed to increase the Munster Branch Levy from €6 to €8, to be invoiced November 2016 and payable 1st January 2017.”

Explanatory Note: This is separate to the GUI Subscription, which will be €16 (subject to ratification by Central Council), bringing the total Subscription and Provincial Levy to €24. 

Honorary Treasurer Peter English gave a brief summary of the current and forecasted financial position of the Munster Branch.  Revenue will decrease by c €22,000 due in part to the removal of the additional payment of 50c per golfer which the Union provided for the past five years.  After a brief discussion and some contributions from delegates, the proposal was carried by a large majority.

LEINSTER 1.  Leinster Provincial Council GUI

To amend Tournament condition 3 (a) of the Fred Daly Trophy as follows:-
Each team shall consist of five members in both the Provincial and National sections.

Rationale: In order to encourage greater participation and to assist clubs in fielding teams. It is evident that there has been a decline in the numbers of clubs competing in recent years as they are unable to field a team of seven with the required standard.    In addition, comparisons could be drawn with the Barton Shield and Senior Cup which  are played off scratch but have smaller numbers on each team (four and five respectively) and which encourages greater participation.

A number of contributions were made from the floor, the majority of which were in favour of retaining the current number of participants (7).  The Chairman stated that it was the opinion of the Council that the current conditions should remain, and that the Fred Daly Plate was available to clubs who struggled with numbers.  The motion was put to the floor and it was rejected by a large majority.

2. Leinster Provincial Council GUI

To amend Tournament condition 3 (a) of the Fred Daly Trophy as follows:-
Each team shall consist of five members in the Provincial section and seven members in the National section.

Rationale: In order to maintain and encourage participation at Provincial level and to provide experience to boys from the clubs who are developing their junior sections.

Following the discussion on the previous motion, the second motion was put to the floor and it was rejected by a large majority.

ULSTER Edenmore Golf Club propose

That the following sub-clause be added to clause 14 of the Union Constitution: “A minimum of 12 months’ notice of the amount of any increase in the GUI Subscription and/or Provincial Levy as provided in sub Clauses 14.1 & 14.2 shall be given to Affiliated Golf Clubs, University Club, College Clubs and Associate Members.” 
Rationale 

Edenmore Golf Club considers that most if not all clubs set and then subsequently collect from their members the GUI Subscription and Provincial Levy in readiness to make payment to the GUI in January of the following year. This follows the production of an invoice for each club which is issued in November and is based upon on the number of home club members on Golfnet, as at 31 October in that year. In these difficult times when cash flow has to be closely managed, most, if not all clubs require sufficient notice of any change to either the GUI Subscription or the Provincial Levy to be able to invoice and then collect the appropriate fee from their members.

The motion was put to the floor and it was passed by a majority.

Any Other Business

Pat Dunne gave some further clarity and examples on the forthcoming changes in the CONGU handicapping system.

A question was raised from the floor on the validity of a college team winning the Irish Senior Cup.  The Chairman accepted that colleges were becoming more competitive and told delegates that the clubs had the power to propose a motion to the Branch and Union to amend the current rules.

All clubs were requested to return an updated list of Club Officers to the Branch as soon as possible. 

Eamonn Brady. Picture/Getty

A rejuvenated Eamonn Brady hopes months of gym work and practice will reap dividends at the PGA Play-Offs in Turkey this week, writes the PGA.

The Clontarf head PGA pro takes on the cream of UK PGA pros in the 72-hole event at Antalya Golf Club’s PGA Sultan course from November 27-30.

A number of European and Challenge Tour spots up for grabs for the leading finishers in the £15,000 including ten spots at next year’s BMW PGA Championship.

Brady, 41, heads to the Turkish resort on the back of a return to form over the summer which saw him capture the PGA in Ireland Order of Merit. 

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But his upturn in fortunes on the fairways, which saw him pip David Higgins (Waterville Links) and Colm Moriarty (Drive Golf Performance) to the Order of Merit, was no flash in the pan, carved out instead on the back of intense winter practice and regular gym sessions.

“I turned 40 last year and I decided to do something with my life and get stuck in so I started training in the gym, practised hard over the winter and did a lot of work with my swing coach (Bryan Omelia) and a sports psychologist and did everything properly for a change,” he said.

Brady, a three-time PGA Europro Tour winner and winner on the Canadian Tour, blamed a mid-life crisis for his leap into action but is delighted with the fruits of his hard labours.

“I just figured I was playing less and less golf and when I was playing it was half hearted so decided to do something about it,” he added

“Working hard feeds on itself, the harder you work the more you get out of it. I never thought at my age I would be putting this much work in to my golf.

“I had five years when I was playing full time and never made it on tour. I worked hard then but not the right work, now it’s quality practice and preparation which is paying off.”

His exploits are keenly followed by members of his club while his uncle, the ex-Arsenal legend Liam, is another who will be wishing him well.

“Balancing the shop and lessons with playing more events was hard but the response from the club has been great,” he added.

It will be Brady’s first time in Turkey after previously playing in the Play-Offs at Royal Liverpool in 2008,

The Play-Offs features a 25 man field comprising the top three from each of the PGA’s seven regions plus the Titleist & FootJoy PGA Professional Champion and runners up plus the Galvin Green PGA Assistants’ Champion.