Irish cap for Cork golfer Jack Murphy in Spain
Jack Murphy (Douglas) who is part of the Irish team in action in Spain this week.
CORK'S Jack Murphy is making his Irish Men’s debut this week, the teenager was selected on the Irish team that is taking in the Octagonal Tournament in Spain.
The tournament features eight European countries, with Ireland set to compete against England, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland and Spain.
The eight competing teams will be drawn into two groups of four, which will be decided by a lottery during the team presentation ceremony. Each match will have three foursomes matches in the morning and six singles in the afternoon.
Once the round-robin has concluded, the two groups will compete with each other according to their group position to determine their overall tournament finish.
Murphy’s selection should be no surprise given his form. Last year was another very positive year for the Douglas golfer.
Early in 2023, he committed to Washington College after getting a scholarship offer from the Division 1 college.
Once the season started won the Connacht and Munster Boys championships and he had a number of top-10 finishes in Ireland and further afield.
He was selected on the Jaques Leglise team and he also made the matchplay stages of the Amateur Championship after finishing as the top qualifier.
Murphy is a Leaving Cert student in Rochestown College and while he does have exams to prepare for, he also has an exciting year ahead on the course.
With college starting in mid-August, and state exams accounting for a few weeks in June he’ll have a shortened summer but don’t be surprised to see the Douglas golfer claiming more silverware in 2024.
Murphy is one of two young Cork golfers on the Boys U18 high-performance panel, with Fota Island’s John Doyle also named for 2024. While Murphy can selected for an Irish Men’s team this week, there is no Cork golfer on the Men’s High Performance panel for the first time in several years.
Cork however does have two golfers on the Women’s panel with Sara Byrne and Mairead Martin named.
Byrne is one of a number of Cork golfers who have returned to the US for the second half of the NCAA college year. In Byrne’s case this will be her final semester and she will be hoping to build on a very positive start to the year.
She won two titles in the fall semester and will aim to finish her four years with the Miami Hurricanes on a high.
Also back in the US are Morgan Cain and Dean Browne, Cain is in Tennessee while Browne is in Weber State University in Utah. Both will complete their freshman year in the coming months.
Glengarriff have launched two great new membership options, both aimed golfers who are new to the game. Their beginners package comes in at a very competitive €199 for 2024.
That includes membership for the year, and access to unlimited golf. It also includes three group lessons and access to social events and the weekly team scrambles.
A beginners plus option is slightly more expensive at €299 for 2024 but it does give new members some added benefits. The main difference is the inclusion of a Golf Ireland membership and access to club competitions.
The higher package also includes two individual lessons. Full details and applications are available from the club. Both options provide incredible value for anyone looking to take up the game.
The picturesque West Cork course is now 90 years old and with a large local membership and a growing country membership.
Although there are no par fives on the card, the undulating fairways provide a test on the par fours, matched by equally testing par threes. The club also has a long association with Maureen O’Hara, and have staged the Maureen O’Hara festival of golf for over 40 years.
Monkstown’s Pat O’Keeffe has a special occasion last week, he received the Golf Ireland Volunteer of the Year Award for Munster.
O’Keeffe has been a member of Monkstown for over 50 years and has been involved in many different roles in the club.
In 2015 he was the team captain when Monkstown won their first Senior Cup pennant in several decades, and last year he led the Junior Foursomes team to a Munster East title.
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