Death of golfer in lake in Co Cork a ‘tragic accident’

Gardaí in Cork say they are treating as a tragic accident the death of a man in his 60s whose body was found floating in a lake on a golf course near Cork city on Thursday.

He had been playing golf on his own at Lee Valley Golf Club at Clashanure, Ovens and there are no witnesses to the circumstances of his death. He has been named locally as Maurice Hennigan from Ballincollig.

His body was was found by golf club staff at about 11.30am. The emergency services and gardaí were notified. Mr Hennigan was pronounced dead at the scene and his body was removed to Cork University Hospital for a postmortem. Gardaí are hoping this will establish the exact cause of death.

One line of inquiry is whether he may have suffered a heart attack and fallen into the lake. The possibility he may have slipped into the lake and drowned while trying to retrieve a golf ball is also being examined.

The golf course was closed as mark of respect to Mr Hennigan, a single man who played golf several days a week at Lee Valley.