Irish Golf Desk

Golf news and features

Irish Golf Desk - Irish Golf News
© Brian Keogh 2008
Site last published: 11/21/08
Golf Digest Ireland

The sorcerer's apprentice

The tale of the sorcerer’s apprentice begins as an old sorcerer departs his workshop, leaving his apprentice with chores to perform. The apprentice tires of fetching water to wash the floor and enchants a broomstick to do the work for him, using magic he does not yet fully understand. Read More...

Harrington looks to youth

Tadhg Harrington might not be a bookmaker any more, but he still couldn’t resist the opportunity to give the eight-year old in the Manchester United hat a target worth thinking about.
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Woods more dominant than ever

When asked what he thought it was that made Tiger Woods the unstoppable force he is today, Padraig Harrington didn’t even pause for thought.
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Good year for Irish on EuroPro

It was another good year for the Irish on the PGA EuroPro Tour with three men claiming four victories between them. Athlone's Colm Moriarty finished fourth on the final rankings with two wins and three top tens from just six starts.
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Q-School for Browne and Moriarty

Stephen Browne and Colm Moriarty were forced to pack their bags for the Final Stage of the European Tour Qualifying School after both men missed out on the required top two finish at the Challenge Tour’s Apulia San Domeinco Grand Final in Italy.
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Gillen salvages card

Beaverstown's Martina Gillen retained her Ladies European Tour card when she finish tied fourth at the Qualifying School Finals at La Fonti in Italy.
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Smyth grinds out good season

Des Smyth will be the first to admit that he struggled with his swing for much of his fifth full season on the Champions Tour.
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Chubby Chandler - man with the midas touch

Confidence, talent and Chubby Chandler. Add them all together and you have a walking, talking wad of cash just waiting to be spent.
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Toasty in Tulsa

Man, was it hot in Tulsa. Toasty, the Okies like to call it.
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The arrows and the indian

Is your anorak fitting snugly? Then we will begin.

In June last year, Memphis-based True Temper Sports Inc. announced its acquisition of Royal Precision Inc. So far so good. Big dog eats little dog in the golf shaft manufacturing world.
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Around the tours

Belfast’s Michael Hoey still leads the Irish contingent on the European Challenge Tour despite withdrawing after the first round of the Credit Suisse Challenge in Switzerland where former Ryder Cup star Peter Baker re-launched his career with a one-stroke win over Scotland’s Andrew McArthur.
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Irish PGA review

Golf, as Paul McGinley is fond of saying, is a numbers game. And the numbers that tell the story of the 2007 Irish Professional Championship are a testament to the difficulty of Pat Ruddy’s fiendishly designed Co Wicklow creation.
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Paddy Harrington Memorial Classic

You’ve heard it a million times. “Who’s turning pro? Who? Yer man? Sure, he’ll starve. No chance.”
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Senior service

Watching golf on the European Seniors Tour is a bit like being stuck at your school reunion dinner - you don’t really want to be there in the first place and all the people you really wanted to see again are either dead or too busy making money America.
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Senior stars head for Palmerstown House

It’s been ten years now since Tommy Horton lifted the AIB Irish Seniors Open at St Margarets.

But how golf has changed since the European Seniors Tour’s most prolific winner triumphed by two shots from Noel Ratcliffe at the testing Pat Ruddy design in north Dublin.
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Moriarty feels ready for European Tour

Colm Moriarty can’t wait to get on the European Tour. Read More...

Rafferty for Ryder Cup return?

Don’t be surprised if Nick Faldo asks Ronan Rafferty to assist him when Europe bids for a fourth consecutive Ryder Cup victory at Valhalla Golf Club in Kentucky next year.
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Irish seek to end LET drought

Legend has it that St Patrick once blessed a well on lands that were later to become the Castle Upton Estate, the future home of Hilton Templepatrick Hotel and Golf Resort.
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Citizen Kane - Master of Adare

I messed up before I even got started.

“Tom, I’m going to be a bit late,” I whine down the line, doing away with another part of the ozone layer as I screech away from the umpteenth tollbooth on the Florida Turnpike in a blue cloud.
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Sawgrass better than ever after upgrade

It was 128 yards of sheer terror. Strangling a nine-iron with a vice-like grip that would have made Hulk Hogan proud, I let fly and said a silent prayer. Read More...

Clarke not finished just yet

By Brian Keogh

"Nicklaus is gone, done. He just doesn't have the game anymore. It's rusted from lack of use."

So wrote Tom McCollister of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a piece all golf writers would do well to read before sticking their necks out in a major championship preview. Read More...

Opportunity knocks for ladies on tour

This is a good time to start a career on the Ladies European Tour - especially if you're Irish. Read More...

Majors don't make the man

Majors. They are the ultimate badge of honour in the game of professional golf, yet even if a player manages to win one, it is no guarantee that he will be more respected by his peers than a man with none. Read More...

The agony of Q-School

"I wanted to get my card. When I first came out I had no status or exemptions. I was praying not to go to Q School, just praying. Because anything can happen at Q School." Tiger Woods

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Sky's the limit for Rory McIlroy

It was long after he had ceased giving his parents an early morning wake up call by whacking them over the head with a plastic golf club and several years after he had started referring to himself as Rory 'Nick Faldo' McIlroy.
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