Short game

By SHAY KEENAN

Phelan to the fore in Florida

KEVIN Phelan from Waterford, who took part in at least one practice week at Royal Aberdeen with the players who were later chosen for the Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team earlier this summer, finished second in the Amelia Island Intercollegiate tournament at Amelia National Golf Club, Fernandina Beach, Florida earlier last week.

Kevin, who is now a student at North Florida University, got off to a perfect start and was actually the first round leader with a five under par round of 67 over a course which measures 7,136 yards, but subsequent rounds of 71 and 72 for a 54 hole total of six under par total allowed team-mate Seán Dale to catch him and win by three shots with scores of 70, 67 and 70 for 210.

A total of 83 players took part.

North Florida, no surprise after their 1-2 in the individual placings, won the team title by a comfortable ten shots from Texas A and M in a field of 15 competing teams.

North Carolina sign Cummings

NORTH Carolina coach Andrew Sapp has announced the signing of Keagan Cummings from the Elm Park GC. Cummings played golf at the IMG Pendleton School in Bradenton, Florida, and will join the Tar Heel team in the fall of 2012.

“We are thrilled to add Keagan to our Tar Heel golf family,” says Tar Heel head coach Sapp. “Being from Ireland but going to school in Florida has given Keagan wonderful golf experiences both at home as well as in the US. Keagan knows how to win, and he has competed at the highest level in junior golf. He will fit in beautifully with our team and help us reach our goals of winning ACC Championships and competing for NCAA titles.”

Cummings, currently ranked 34th in Golfweek’s Junior Ranking for the class of 2012, was a member of the 2011 Ireland team at the boys’ home internationals. He was also a member of the 2009 Irish U-16 team.

In junior competitions this year, Cummings placed sixth at the St Augustine Amateur, finished seventh at the AJGA Under Armour Championship, placed ninth at the Irish Boys championship, finished 12th at the AJGA Laredo Energy Championship and tied for 16th at British Boys Championship stroke play before advancing to the third round of the matchplay stages.

O'Hanlon claims Winter Series win 

PAUL O’Hanlon from the Curragh is the latest winner of the Winter Series at The Links, Portmarnock.

O’Hanlon fired a three-under-par 69 to win from Druids Heath’s five handicapper Eamonn Freyne on 70 with Royal Dublin’s Niall Kearney third on 71.

The gross prize went to David Reilly from Westmanstown, who edged out Brendan Walton from The Island after both finished on two-under-par 70.

Jonathan Caldwell from Clandeboye took third place with a 72.

THE Boyne Links first outing of the year is scheduled for Laytown and Bettystown golf club on Friday, November 25th.

It is pro-am format with one professional and two amateurs, and the maximum handicap is 15.

The time-sheet runs from 9.0am till 12 noon. Details are available with Bobby or Seán at LB at 041-9828793.

New Zealand's Ko wins Mark H McCormack medal

NEW Zealand’s Lydia Ko has become the first female recipient of the Mark H McCormack Medal, awarded to the top-ranked golfer on the women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).

The medal announcement marks the end of a successful first year for the women’s WAGR, launched in February. It is the first time the women’s game has been able to compare amateur player performance in elite competition and it currently includes a calendar of 1,750 counting events with around 3,500 ranked players representing 82 countries.

Ireland’s Stephanie Meadow finished in fourth place, with Leona Maguire in seventh and her sister Lisa Maguire in 35th.

Born in South Korea, Ko arrived on the game’s international stage at the age of 12 when she finished leading amateur in the 2010 Pegasus New Zealand Women’s Open. She eventually tied for seventh and then narrowly missed becoming the youngest player to win a pro event after missing a putt to make it into a play-off at the 2011 New South Wales Open.

The 14-year-old has continued to break records, becoming the first player to win both the Australian and New Zealand women’s Strokeplay Championships in the same year. Ko was also joint leading qualifier at the US Women’s Amateur Championship before being knocked out in the second round of matchplay.

Killeen breaks Solheim Cup records

DAB International Ltd, supported by the Ladies European Tour, produced a merchandising outlet bigger, better and more successful at the 2011 Solheim Cup at Killeen Castle than any other previous European Solheim Cup.

DAB delivered the largest womens’ golf retail platform ever at an event on European soil.

The presence of leading golfing brands including Abacus, Ping Collection, Antigua and Bushnell as well as a variety of other leading suppliers including Tipperary Crystal and John Deere, ensured there were people queuing outside the DAB-appointed merchandise tent each morning.

There was an unprecedented sell through of a range of high-quality products and suppliers were delighted as their presence in the merchandising facility also enabled them to expose their brand to over 80,000 visitors and potential clients.

A delighted David Woodward director of DAB International Ltd commented: “From our announcement as the official merchandiser for The 2011 Solheim Cup, DAB was passionate about delivering a retail environment that has never been matched at any previous Solheim Cup in Europe.

“Once again we managed to push the boundaries on event merchandising and prove that our unique and creative ideas are well received.”

In-form Roche shows his local knowledge

THE Leinster Alliance held its final outing of 2011 at Arklow GC on Saturday where local knowledge proved supreme when it came to scoring.

The winner of the best nett was Arklow secretary/manager Des Roche with an excellent 36 points off a handicap of five. Runner-up was won by Lucan’s Tony Goode (4) with 35. Third was another local Brian Kelly (5) with the best of the 33s. The best gross was an excellent 37 points by local member Paddy Delaney off 1, while second was Brendan McDonnell (3) from the K Club with 29.

The Alliance’s next outing is again in Arklow on Saturday February 18th, 2012.