The closing date for the Munster Strokeplay is fast approaching, with entries closing on Saturday evening.  The 72 hole event takes place over two days on the May Bank Holiday weekend, with the winner picking up the famous Cork Scratch Cup.  Although the event has been a Munster Championship for over a decade, the cup dates back to 1923 making it the oldest scratch cup in the country.  Already a number of the top Irish amateurs have entered and more will follow over the coming days.  Entries are limited to the lowest 75 golfers, with the top 39 golfers qualifying for the final two rounds.  The championship is again sponsored by Liam Ryan from Ryan’s SuperValu.  There’s just a few days left to enter, and the link to the tournament page is below:

Online Entry: Munster Strokeplay

The cup and base holds the names of the all of the winners.  The trophy was presented by William Dwyer,  and the Cork stalwart won it in himself in 1924.  The trophy bears the names of the great Cork Golf Club golfers.  Crosbie, Simcox, Bruen and Higgins are all represented, with Jimmy Bruen claiming four consecutive title 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 in 2017 and in doing so joined a small elite group of multiple winners in the past 40 years.  Alan Fahy is the holder, after winning by one shot last year.

Cork Scratch Cup Winners 1923-2005, & Munster Strokeplay Championship (incorporating the Cork Scratch Cup) winners 2006-2018

1923	J F Nicholson	1955	Capt John Fitzgibbon	1987	John Morris Jnr
1924	William Dwyer	1956	G F Crosbie	1988	John G Kavanagh
1925	J D McCormack	1957	M  Power	1989	Tom Cleary
1926	J D McCormack	1958	J Murray	1990	Niall Goulding
1927	W R Ogilvie	1959	T Higgins	1991	Niall Goulding
1928	Redmond Simcox	1960	T W Egan	1992	Garry Murphy
1929	D J Collins	1961	J Bowen	1993	Pat Murray
1930	D J Collins	1962	G F Crosbie	1994	Denis O’Sullivan
1931	W R Ogilvie	1963	Edward Higgins	1995	Denis O’Sullivan
1932	J D McCormack	1964	G F Crosbie	1996	Kieran McCarthy
1933	G Crosbie Jnr	1965	G H McCormack	1997	Pat Lyons
1934	Redmond Simcox	1966	Edward Higgins	1998	Gary Murphy
1935	W M O’Sullivan	1967	Liam Higgins	1999	Padraig Dooley
1936	J D McCormack	1968	Liam Higgins	2000	Michael O’Kelly
1937	A W Briscoe	1969	T W Egan	2001	Karl Bornemann
1938	J Bruen Jnr	1970	J Bowen	2002	Tom Cleary
1939	J Bruen Jnr	1971	T Craddock	2003	Pat Lyons
1940	J Bruen Jnr	1972	F Wright	2004	Tom Cleary
1941	J Bruen Jnr	1973	L D Goulding	2005	Dermot Costelloe
1942	Redmond Simcox	1974	B G Streather	2006	Conor Doran
1943	–	1975	J Mehigan	2007	Niall Gorey
1944	–	1976	T P O’Brien	2008	Niall Gorey
1945	–	1977	A D Pierse	2009	Pat Murray
1946	–	1978	B McDaid	2010	Rory Leonard
1947	Redmond Simcox	1979	Brian Begley	2011	Niall Gorey
1948	G F Crosbie	1980	M L Guerin	2012	Brian Casey
1949	Redmond Simcox	1981	D F O’Sullivan	2013	Kieran McCarthy
1950	W M O’Sullivan	1982	D F O’Sullivan	2014	Barry Anderson
1951	M  Power	1983	J G Fitzgerald	2015	Shaun Carter
1952	W M O’Sullivan	1984	D F O’Sullivan	2016	Cathal Butler
1953	G F Crosbie	1985	Arthur Pierse	2017	Barry Anderson
1954	M  Power	1986	Tom Cleary	2018	Alan Fahy