There’s plain cheating — and then there’s handicap massaging. And the Golfing Union of Ireland doesn’t differentiate — both are forms of cheating.

The jury is still out on whether golf club membership numbers for Irish men have bottomed out but the powers that be at the Golfing Union of Ireland are confident that does not necessarily mean those people have turned their backs on the game.

More affiliate members of the Olympic Council of Ireland have called for a review of structures within the OCI, as one member organisation insisted a constitutional review was “long overdue”.

Confidence is key. Just ask Pádraig Harrington, who shot four sub-par rounds in Italy last week and still finished a modest 33rd in the Italian Open.

Three weeks out from the Walker Cup and Irish top amateurs are already claiming the headlines.

Golfing Union of Ireland general secretary Pat Finn has labelled forthcoming merger talks with the the Irish Ladies Golf Union as a logical step forward for the game’s governance on the island of Ireland.

Cormac Sharvin will go into this week’s Irish Amateur Open Championship full of confidence after claiming a top-five finish at the prestigious Lytham Trophy over the weekend.

The Open Championship deal between the R&A and Sky Sports has been welcomed by the Golfing Union of Ireland. 

Imagine Croke Park packed to the rafters for a big game — close to 80,000 souls with a love of sport and time to invest in its enjoyment.

A golf club in north Cork has been thinking outside the box to try and help the red squirrel thrive — and has a video to show how popular the initiative has been with the under-threat animals.

The Golfing Union of Ireland confirmed it is to break with tradition and stage its annual All-Ireland Cups & Shields national finals at one venue, Carton House, for the next four years.

WHEN Rory McIlroy created global headlines by winning the 2010 Quail Hollow Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina, few could have imagined he would be without a tournament success 12 months later.

SOUTH Roscommon man Eugene Fayne was elected president of the Golfing Union of Ireland at yesterday’s Annual General Meeting at Carton House, Co Kildare.

PÁDRAIG Harrington’s self-belief and confidence are two of the strongest weapons in his golfing armoury but both must be severely dented after a dreadful finish to the AT&T Pro-Am at Pebble Beach.

THE Munster GUI branch last night agreed to run the preliminary rounds of the Pierce Purcell Shield, Jimmy Bruen Shield, Irish Mixed Foursomes and Junior Cup on a strokeplay qualifying basis next year.

Cork 4-12