On the day that Paul Dunne was selected for the 2015 Walker Cup team, Glen Reid put together some more Open memories – thanks Glen
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Record for Irish Players as 5 are picked for Walker Cup including Greystones’ Paul Dunne
Paul Dunne, Gavin Moynihan, Cormac Sharvin, Gary Hurley and Jack Hume picked – Irish Times 24th August 2105
Paul Dunne is one of a record five Irish golfers selected for the 2015 Walker Cup team. Photograph: Getty
Five Irish golfers have been named in the Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team to face the USA at Royal Lytham & St Annes next month.
Captain Nigel Edwards has picked Gavin Moynihan, who’s earning his second cap, along with Paul Dunne, Cormac Sharvin, Gary Hurley and Jack Hume who will make their debuts on September 12th and 13th.
Having five representatives in the Walker Cup team is a record for Ireland, and caps off a successful year for the nation’s top amateurs golfers.
Moynihan secured his second Irish Amateur Open title in May while Sharvin was victorious in the Brabazon Trophy, and 22-year-old Greystones golfer Dunne grabbed the attention of the world when he threatened the elite in the British Open at St Andrews.
Great Britain and Ireland are looking to win the Walker Cup for the first time since 2011 after they were beaten in the States two years ago, and Edwards will be captaining the side for the third time.
He said: “We have selected a talented group of players who compete at the highest levels of amateur golf and, in some cases, have played in Major Championships and Tour events. The Walker Cup offers these players a tremendous opportunity to display their abilities and gain invaluable experience of playing in international team competition.
“I know there will be players who are disappointed not to have made the team and it has been a difficult decision to make with such strength in depth in the British and Irish game at the moment but we believe we have selected the best players for the team and are very much looking forward to the match.”
The previous record for irish representatives in the Walker Cup team came in 1949 and 1951 when the quartet of Joe Carr, Jimmy Bruen, Cecil Ewing and Max McCready were selected.
But 2015 will see the Irish contingent surpass that figure and GUI National Coach Neil Manchip believes this is a reflection of the rude health of Irish golf, he said: “What an outstanding achievement for these 5 players to make the Walker Cup team. Each one has played their way on to the team through brilliant performances this season.
“With Irish players making up half of the team the strength of Irish Amateur golf is well reflected. The GUI can be very proud to have such a strong representation. I am really looking forward to watching the lads play at Royal Lytham next month.”
Making up the other half of the Walker Cup team are England’s Ashley Chesters, Sam Horsfield and Jimmy Mullen, and Scottich duo Grant Forrest and Jack McDonald.
2015 Walker Cup team to play USA:
Ashley Chesters, 26, Hawkstone Park, England
Paul Dunne, 22, Greystones, Ireland
Grant Forrest, 22, Craigielaw, Scotland
Sam Horsfield, 18, Davenport, Florida, USA
Jack Hume, 21, Naas, Ireland
Gary Hurley, 22, West Waterford, Ireland
Jack McDonald, 22, Kilmarnock (Barassie), Scotland
Gavin Moynihan, 20, The Island, Ireland
Jimmy Mullen, 21, Royal North Devon, England
Cormac Sharvin, 22, Ardglass, Ireland
Teams update 24th August
Monday 24th August
Barry O’Leary’s Brennan Cup headed to Coolattin yesterday 23rd August to play the semi final of this competition. On a day when Greystones G.C. was enduring rain and more rain the team got to play in good conditions for the most part. Unfortunately our team came up against some very strong high handicap players in Coolattin and iving shots away from home is never easy!! A defeat by our strong first pair of Diarmaid MacGabhann & Liam Moulten ( who were level par ) 4&3 set the scene. Next to finish were our third pairing of Tom Byrne & Derek O’Regan who also went down 4&3 despite playing good golf. . Our second pair of Martin Nolan & Michael Smullen stuck at it playing excellent golf to win on the 18th to bring the tie to 2-1 to Coolattin. At all square through 9 Fergal Duffy & Mark Byrne were doing well but found themselves 3 down after 13. Winning 14 & 15 they were back in the game at 1 down but unfortunately losses at 16 & 17 ended the match 2&1 and the tie. Our last pair of Shane O’Connor & Greg Pollard were called in from the course from the 13th where they were 1 down in what was a very tough match. Many thanks on behalf of the club to Barry O’Leary and all his players who put so much effort in over the course of this competition. We’ll remember the great wins over Arklow and Woodenbridge !!
Wednesday 15th July
Wednesday 15th July
Singles
1st Niall Stokes (13) 42Pts
2nd Philip Martin (12) 40Pts
3rd Simon Phillips (13) 39Pts
4th Ray Houlden (11) 37Pts B9
5th Julian Keown (4) 37Pts B9
Gross Eddie Lonergan (1) 34Pts
Two’s Results €5
1st Stephen Aherne, Sam Lewis
5th Derek O Regan, Dave Mangan, Colm Mulcahy, Eddie Lonergan, Pat Raftery, Niall Stokes , Pat Ryan, Barry McNamara, Julian Pollard, Ronnie Cotter, John Hynes, Finbarr Fay, Sean O Gorman, Conor Keown
11th Fergal Duffy , Philip Martin, David Kirk, Ben Hynes, Tom Reid, Sam Lewis
12th Julian Keown
14th Danny Hatton, Michael Hoffman
16th Dave MacMullan, David Fry, Conor Keown
9 Hole
1st John Shiel (12) 22Pts
Fourball 24th June
Greens Update 08 July 2015
STRI Visit. Last week we had our annual visit from our course agronomist. We have been taking various measurements on 3 sample greens for the past 4 years so that we can collect and analyse the data to ensure that our maintenance regime is correct and highlight any areas which could be improved. The results have been encouraging with improved figures year on year and the initial results from this year again showing an improvement on green smoothness and trueness.
I will post some more details once we receive his full report.
Rainfall. We have had 48mm of rain over the last week. While this rain was needed, it would have been better for the course if it had fallen as persistent light rain rather than very heavy showers, as it tends to run off before it has a chance to soak down to the roots. Control of the moisture content in the greens has largely been taken out of our control which means that they are a little softer and running a bit slower than I would like but the putting surface is still in excellent condition.
Maintenance. Bunkers are included in this weeks maintenance program. All bunkers will be edged, smoothed, stones removed, sand pushed back onto the faces and sand levels checked and adjusted. This is a very labor intensive job which takes three men two days to complete.
Greens Update Greens were tined on Tuesday 16th June to soften the putting surface as it can get a bit too firm during weather conditions that we are currently “enjoying”. Simply increasing water applications can lead to soft lush growth which encourages disease, increased thatch, and spongy slow greens when the weather returns to normal. Currently our greens moisture content is between 25%-30% . Our target range is 15%-20%
