The Irish Ladies’ Golf Union and the Golfing Union of Ireland will once again run a nine-hole Championship which will culminate in a Grand Final conducted by The R&A at the 2020 Open Championship at Royal St George’s in July.  Both union will run four nine-hole regional finals in the second and third weeks of June 2020 with the winning pair from each regional final qualifying for the Championship final in Royal St George’s.  The four winning pairs from Ireland will play in the final, with travel and accommodation provided by the R&A.  There’s also a gala dinner in the Royal St George’s clubhouse on the Friday night in addition to a lunch after the golf on the Saturday.

Entry is open to all GUI and ILGU clubs and participating clubs will run club qualifiers over nine holes, the winners of which will represent their club in one of the four regional finals.  Clubs can organise qualifiers in one of the following ways:  A nine-hole Mixed competition in which players pick their partners (the combined singles stableford scores of both players counting for the team’s score) or separate nine-hole Men’s and Ladies’ competitions (the winner of both going forward as a team to represent their Club at the regional final).  To run a qualifying competition clubs must have a nine-hole SSS rating (application form available from GUI Provincial Branches or ILGU HQ for courses that are not yet rated).  Competitions must take place on or before 25th May 2020 and be qualifying for handicapping purposes.  There are no individual upper or lower age limits for this competition; however, a pair may only include one player (male or female) who is under 18 years of age in the year of the event.  Any club interested in hosting a qualifying competition must complete the online entry form by 31st March and qualifiers must be run, and details of the winners must be received, on or before Monday 25th May 2020.

On Monday the GUI and ILGU launched the new Golf Ireland brand that is another step towards the fulfilment of the one governing body model.  The brand launch represents a new identity which will take over from the GUI and ILGU in early 2021.  Speaking at the launch, Golf Ireland CEO Mark Kennelly said: “The establishment of the Golf Ireland brand is just part of our journey in 2020 but an important one in terms of setting out how this new, modern and inclusive governing body will work.  Our dedicated team of volunteers on the Transition Board, combined with the staff of the ILGU, GUI and CGI will continue to deliver the timeline to ensure Golf Ireland is fully established by the end of this year”.