Shane Lowry showed Darren Clarke that he won’t give up on his Ryder Cup dream without a fight when he followed his opening 75 with a sensational six under 65 to make the cut in the Made in Denmark.

Challenge Tour duo Kevin Phelan and Gavin Moynihan are hoping to take advantage of their precision and short game prowess when they enjoy “home” advantage in the €180,000 Volopa Irish Challenge hosted by Mount Wolseley Hotel Spa and Golf Resort next month.

Greystones’ Paul Dunne fired an eagle and six birdies in a sensational second round 65 to top the final qualifying for The Open at Woburn and clinch his place at St Andrews later this month.

Like the 46A bus to Dun Laoghaire, which would take an age to come and then arrive with another stuck to its exhaust pipe, there are signs that things are about to start moving apace in Irish golf.

The resurgent economy and continuing weakness of the euro have helped Dublin’s hotel sector to the top of the pile in terms of activity and room revenues.

Operating losses at the five-star hotel and golf resort, Mount Juliet more than halved in 2013 to €1.65m as revenues increased.

Brehon Capital Partners and Midwest Holding have agreed a deal to buy the four-star Killashee House Hotel in Kildare for €13m. 

The new owners of the luxury Mount Juliet resort, in Co Kilkenny, are set to spend an estimated €4m on expanding its facilities over the next 18 months.

Mount Juliet in Co Kilkenny has been sold.

Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern earned an income from three different countries last year including Switzerland, the United States and Britain, it has emerged today.

PORTMARNOCK has been voted Ireland’s premier golf course by Irish Golf Digest magazine.

FÁS has defended its spending record after it emerged the agency held a two-day board meeting in a luxury €300 per night hotel last week.

ALMOST 100 jobs are to be lost at Couristan carpets in east Cork after the company announced it was bringing carpet manufacturing in Youghal to an end for the first time since 1954.

Courtown will look to build on their success in the inaugural AA Insurance Ladies Championship, as the club looks to sweep the board in the all-important quarter-final stage of all four singles competitions.

LOVE it or loathe it, the game and business of golf exerts a moneyed influence on the places it lands.

SAN ROQUE, a superb 36-hole golfing complex on the Costa del Sol, will next week play host to the young and not so young hopefuls for the annual European Tour School.

ERNIE ELS is not the kind of golfer who scorns a chance and, when the putts rattled in from at yesterday's second round in the American Express World Championship at Mount Juliet, he kept up the pressure relentlessly.

KILLARNEY Golf Club is hoping that a €2 million overhaul of its esteemed Killeen course will propel it back onto the “must play” roster for visitors to Ireland — and ease the financial burden on the club.

By Tommy Barker

HE may not have a sponsor or a venue but Ken Schofield, executive director of the PGA European Tour, is adamant there will be an Irish Open in 2003.

Padraig Harrington has agreed an extension to his position as touring professional with Mount Juliet golf club.