Clonakilty, Douglas and Fota Island all claimed Munster East pennants over the weekend as more of the Golf Ireland Inter-Club finals took place.  Fermoy was the venue for five finals over the weekend, and the north Cork course was in great condition for the event.  Fermoy has been held in high regard as a finals venue for many years and they club delivered a great experience yet again for the travelling teams and supporters.  Occasional showers over the two days challenged the golfers and the spectators but the course held up and as usual the greens provided a tough but fair test for everyone.   Clonakilty made it two wins for Cork clubs when they defeated Slievenamon in the AIG Challenge Cup.

Fota Island made it two wins in two weekends when the Women’s Junior Foursomes team defeated Youghal.  Paula Whitley and Suzanne Hickey put the first point on the board for Fota Island and the title was secured when Marissa O’Flynn and Theresa Roche won the final match.

Hopes of a second pennant for Fota Island were dashed with a dramatic 19^th hole finish in the Flogas Irish Mixed Foursomes.  With the match balanced 2-2 the large crowd of spectators made their way to the first hole.  Their opponents, Co Tipperary were on the green in five after finding trouble off the tee.  The Fota pair had found the fairway but had some trouble in a greenside bunker and Co Tipperary ended up winning on the first tie hole.

There was disappointment for Monkstown in the Revive Active Women’s Fourball on Saturday.  Despite a spirited fight, they came out second best against Cahir Park.  There was also disappointment for Berehaven in Kenmare in the Mixed Foursomes.  Playing in the Munster West section, Berehaven had defeated Ballybunion, Doneraile, Maine Valley and Ross to reach the final.  Unfortunately they lost out to Shannon on a 3-2 scoreline in the final.

Fermoy has been a busy place over the past few months.  In addition to serving the large membership the course has also a number of large classics and weekly open days.  The current Wednesday open singles series which is sponsored by McGuirks will have it’s last qualifier on Wednesday next with the series final scheduled for early September.  The club is also planning for the annual club fundraising classic which takes place on the first weekend in September.

The South of Ireland takes place in Lahinch this week with a large number of Cork golfers entered for the prestigious provincial championship.  Last year’s beaten finalist Peter O’Keeffe will be hoping to continue his recent run of form.  The Woodbrook scratch cup winner has had a good record in Lahinch and will be hoping come home to Douglas with the famous trophy this time around.  2017 winner Sean Desmond is also in the field, along with Jason Law who won the Munster Amateur Championship in May.  Law hasn’t played much since then due to injury but he’ll be hoping to make it to the matchplay and go through the rounds like he did in Cork.

There are two pairs of brothers in action in Lahinch this week, James and Robbie Walsh and Mel and Sean Deasy will all be hoping to make it past today’s second round of the stroke play qualifier.

Sam Hogan from Fota Island will tee it up for the first time in Lahinch this week, and Karl Bornemann is among a number of members of the Irish Seniors panel hoping to do well this week.  After two rounds of golf the top 64 from the field of 150 go forward to the matchplay which starts at 7am on Friday morning.  From there six rounds of matchplay lie ahead of the finalists with the eventual winner being crowned on Sunday evening.

Next weekend Cobh will host the Muster East AIG Jimmy Bruen Shield, with a total of 15 matches taking place over Saturday and Sunday.  Eight second round matches are scheduled for Saturday morning featuring seven Cork sides.  There are two all Cork clashes, Monkstown will play Fota Island and Mallow take on Douglas.  The other three Cork clubs involved are Raffeen Creek who face Clonmel, Mahon who take on Tipperary, and Macroom who are up against Gold Coast.

Kanturk, Castlemartyr and Fota Island all hold scratch cups this weekend giving golfers plenty of options to play.  All three clubs are holding the competitions over three days starting tomorrow.  FotaIsland and Castlemartyr are holding Junior, Intermediate and Minor competitions and the entry fee is €50.  In Kanturk a senior scratch cup will take place in addition to the junior, intermediate and minor competitions.  On Saturday 12^th August Douglas will host their Junior Scratch Cup, details on all events are available from each club.