Turner puts in good performance at Puerto Rico Collegiate Classic

Niall Turner led home a strong Irish contingent at this week’s Puerto Rico Collegiate Classic.

The Corkman, a University of Minnesota senior, finished tied for 12th with a two-under-par 214 (71, 71, 72) on the par 72, 6,902-yard layout at Rio Mar that helped Minnesota claim seventh place.

Following Turner were fellow Irishmen Cian McNamara, Seamus Power and Gareth Shaw who helped East Tennessee State to fifth place, six strokes behind winners Georgia.

ETSU were led by Welsh Walker Cupper Rhys Davies, who tied for third place at six-under with Limerick golfer McNamara, a junior, tied for 17th at one-under 215, freshman Power from Waterford tied for 24th at one over and Walker Cup panellist Shaw, a junior from Lisburn, tied for 39th at five-over.

Carlow sisters Tara and Karen Delaney contested the Lady Puerto Rico Classic for Kent State at the nearby Cocoa Beach Golf Club with Curtis Cup player Tara tied for 21st on six-over 222 (73-77-72) while her elder sister Karen shot a 245 (84-82-79) for 78th as the Golden Flashes placed eighth of 16 teams.

Danielle McVeigh, from Kilkeel, Co. Down, helped Texas A&M to team victory at the Central District Invitational event in Florida with a tie for sixth, and at Hilton Head in South Carolina there was an Irishman in second and third place at the Wexford Plantation Intercollegiate men’s event.

Banbridge golfer Ciaran McAleavey registered a career-best second-place for Toledo with a two-over par 218 (72-76-70), five strokes behind medallist Mike Van Sickle of Marquette while Royal Dublin golfer Neil O'Briain, a sophomore at Wofford College in South Carolina, finished third in the 78-man field with a four-over 220 (72, 73, 75).

Omagh’s Fergal Rafferty helped Sam Houston State to a second victory in four days when the Bearkats won the Texas-San Antonio Intercollegiate at the 6,765-yard, par 71 Oak Hills Country Club, the Irishman claiming a tie for 21st with 224 (73, 80, 71). For the hosts, Donegal’s Thomas Kearny tied for 16th with a 223 (76, 73, 74) as the UTSA 'A' team finished third.

In Houston, Texas, Cork duo Aaron O’Callaghan and Peter O’Keeffe led Southeastern Louisiana to third place in a strong field at the All-American Intercollegiate.

The Lions finished six strokes behind winners Kansas with sophomore O'Callaghan, who had opened up at the Rice Intercollegiate with individual medallist honours, tied for 21st with a 222 (77, 71, 74) while junior O'Keefe tied for 31st with a nine-over 225 (76-75-74).