Monkstown’s Ferghal Collins tees it up in the K Club this week, he’s the only Cork golfer to make it through to the inaugural finals of the All Ireland Gold medal.  Collins is among the top 36 golfers, the finalists made it through to play on the famous Palmer Course in the K Club, the host course for the 2006 Ryder Cup.  There were three stages to the event, which is a unique to the GUI calendar.  It’s the only event that club golfers can participate at individual level in an all-Ireland GUI event. Spread across three different handicap categories, the competition was open to all club members with free entry for all affiliated golf clubs.  To qualify for the new competition each club who entered nominated one of their singles competitions as a club qualifier.  Entrants on the day competed in one of three handicap categories – 9 and below, 10-17 or 18 and over.  The best nett score in each category qualified for the regional final.  From there the three golfers progressed to the regional finals hosted by Cahir Park in August.  Collins was one of the top three in his category (10-17) and qualified for the All Ireland final this week.

Sharon Smurfit, Director of Golf at The K Club said: “I, along with my team are honoured that The K Club is hosting the inaugural 2019 All Ireland Gold Medal Final on our Ryder Cup Course. We look forward to welcoming the all-Ireland finalists to what will be a thrilling end to this new competition. The Ryder Cup course has hosted many special events including the Ryder Cup in 2006 and more recently the Irish Open in 2016, so the finalists will have a challenging day.”  The winners of each of the three handicap categories will be awarded the Gold Medal.