Many people will know that this weekend’s competition is called the Munster Strokeplay, but not everyone will know that when the event was given Championship status it had the additional designation of “incorporating the Cork Scratch Cup”.  The Cork Scratch Cup is one of the oldest trophies in Irish golf and according to Cork’s GM Matt Sands, it the original cup that was awarded over 90 years ago.  The cup dates from 1923 and it holds the names of the all of the winners.

The trophy was presented by William Dwyer, a man and a family that are synonymous with Cork Golf Club, and the same person who started the inter-society competition which still runs today.  Dwyer presented the trophy in 1923 and won it in himself in 1924.  The trophy bears the names of the great Cork Golf Club stalwarts, Crosbie, Simcox, Bruen and Higgins are all represented, with Jimmy Bruen claiming four consecutive titles from 1938-1941.  There was a gap of four years during the war and Redmond Simcox won his fourth title in 1947 when the competition resumed.  Simcox was one of three golfers to win the title five times, GF Crosbie and Denis O’Sullivan being the other two.  Jimmy Bruen won it four times, as did Tom Cleary and JD McCormack.

The competition was played as a matchplay event for many years, and when it was subsumed into the Munster Strokeplay in 2006 it became a 72 hole strokeplay competition.  Conor Doran (Banbridge) won the initial staging, and Niall Gorey (Muskerry) went on to win three of the next five titles.  Barry Anderson (The Royal Dublin) added to his 2014 title last year and in doing so joined a small elite group of multiple winners in the past 40 years.

No less than four previous winners are in the Munster Strokeplay field this weekend as they aim to add their name again on the famous trophy.

Cork Scratch Cup Winners

1923 – 2017

1923	J F Nicholson
1924	William Dwyer
1925	J D McCormack
1926	J D McCormack
1927	W R Ogilvie
1928	Redmond Simcox
1929	D J Collins
1930	D J Collins
1931	W R Ogilvie
1932	J D McCormack
1933	G Crosbie Jnr
1934	Redmond Simcox
1935	W M O’Sullivan
1936	J D McCormack
1937	A W Briscoe
1938	J Bruen Jnr
1939	J Bruen Jnr
1940	J Bruen Jnr
1941	J Bruen Jnr
1942	Redmond Simcox
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947	Redmond Simcox
1948	G F Crosbie
1949	Redmond Simcox
1950	W M O’Sullivan
1951	M  Power
1952	W M O’Sullivan
1953	G F Crosbie
1954	M  Power
1955	Capt John Fitzgibbon
1956	G F Crosbie
1957	M  Power
1958	J Murray
1959	T Higgins
1960	T W Egan
1961	J Bowen
1962	G F Crosbie
1963	Edward Higgins
1964	G F Crosbie
1965	G H McCormack
1966	Edward Higgins
1967	Liam Higgins
1968	Liam Higgins
1969	T W Egan
1970	J Bowen
1971	T Craddock
1972	F Wright
1973	L D Goulding
1974	B G Streather
1975	J Mehigan
1976	T P O’Brien
1977	A D Pierse
1978	B McDaid
1979	Brian Begley
1980	M L Guerin
1981	D F O’Sullivan
1982	D F O’Sullivan
1983	J G Fitzgerald
1984	D F O’Sullivan
1985	Arthur Pierse
1986	Tom Cleary
1987	John Morris Jnr
1988	John G Kavanagh
1989	Tom Cleary
1990	Niall Goulding
1991	Niall Goulding
1992	Garry Murphy
1993	Pat Murray
1994	Denis O’Sullivan
1995	Denis O’Sullivan
1996	Kieran McCarthy
1997	Pat Lyons
1998	Gary Murphy
1999	Padraig Dooley
2000	Michael O’Kelly
2001	Karl Bornemann
2002	Tom Cleary
2003	Pat Lyons
2004	Tom Cleary
2005	Dermot Costelloe
2006	Conor Doran
2007	Niall Gorey
2008	Niall Gorey
2009	Pat Murray
2010	Rory Leonard
2011	Niall Gorey
2012	Brian Casey
2013	Kieran McCarthy
2014	Barry Anderson
2015	Shaun Carter
2016	Cathal Butler
2017	Barry Anderson