The final weekend of AIG Inter-Club All-Ireland finals took place in Westport over the week with five competitions down for decision.  It was the third weekend of events and it saw Cork clubs still looking for their first green pennant of the 2023 campaign.  Quarter-finals had taken place already in these events, and that meant the there were just two Cork teams in action from the five competitions.  Lee Valley had qualified from Munster East in the Women’s Minor Cup, the Cork club have a good record in the ladies cups events and they saw off the challenge from Rockmount in the semi-final on Thursday.  Impressive wins for Emma O’Halloran, Dinah O’Mahony and Joesphine Martin saw them through to the final on Friday.

In the final they suffered a cruel defeat to Ardee on the 19^th.  The final had started well for Lee Valley with Emma O’Halloran and Kris Hayes winning.  Eimear Quaid lost out on the 18^th and Dinah O’Mahony lost on the 17^th to level the match.  Joesphine Martin was the Lee Valley player still playing in the last match and when they finished level after 18 holes it was on to sudden death.  Unfortunately for the Cork side it was Ardee’s Angela Hand who won the 19^th sending the title to Co Louth.

Fota Island were in action in the AIG Intermediate Cup on Friday.  They faced Portumna in the semi-final on Friday and it proved to be a very close match.  Anne O’Connell put the first point on the board for Fota when she won on the 19^th, and that levelled the match after Katalin Albert Meagher lost on the 14^th.  Carmel Reardon gave Fota the lead when she won on the 15^th but things got tougher for the Cork side after that.  Marissa O’Flynn lost out on the 18^th to level the match at 2-2, and Portumna eventually won when Theresa Roche lost out on the third additional hole.

This was the fifth time in the finals that a Cork side had lost out in a play-off, demonstrating the fine margins that decide matches when the final stages are reached.  The Golf Ireland Inter-Club competitions remain Europe’s biggest series of matches, taking in 19 national competitions.  Almost all of the 400 affiliated clubs enter the events which are initially contested in eight regions.  In Munster, the region that most Cork clubs play in, over 400 matches were played from May to August involving close to 40 clubs from Cork, Waterford and Tipperary.  AIG are the title sponsors for 12 of the Men’s and Women’s events with Revive Active sponsoring the Women’s Fourball and Flogas sponsoring the Irish Mixed Foursomes.

There were plenty of Cork winners in Munster East with titles for Clonakilty, Cork Douglas and Fota Island and Lee Valley in the Women’s events while in the Men’s events there were wins for Lee Valley, Monkstown and Fota Island.  In the Boys events it was Doulgas who came out on top in the Fred Daly while Monkstown won the Boys Foursomes.

The North of Ireland took place in Portrush last week and it marked the first time that the event was held on a new month and with a new format.  Traditionally played over the 36/64 format in mid July, Royal Portrush announced last year that the event would move to September and that it would now be a 72 hole stroke play competition.  Given the time of year it was no surprise to see just two Cork entrants.  Fota Island’s David Howard has played in all of the Bridgestone Order of Merit championships this year, and had put together a great year including two top tens.  Howard continued his positive run at the elite level.

After an opening 75 (+4) on the Valley course, Howard shot a level par 72 on the Championship Dunluce course to make the cut with two shots to spare.  Tough weather conditions hampered play on Friday when the top 45 were faced with 36 holes.  Howard ended up on a tie for 35^th place after two difficult rounds where only one golfer was under par and one other was level par.  The best score for the two rounds on Friday was +9, with over half the rounds scoring in the 80’s.  Lee Valley’s James Murray also made the trip north but he missed out on the cut for the final days play.  Charleville’s Jordan Boles also missed out on the final day, missing the cut by single shot.

The winner in Portrush was Portmarnock’s James Fox, and the Dubliner proved to be a popular winner.  The veteran of Irish championships beat Robert Moran on the 76th hole as it took four additional holes to separate the pair.  It’s twelve years since Fox played in his first North of Ireland and he is one of the most consistent entrants into the Bridgestone series events over many years.  Naturally Fox was delighted with his win: “I worked really hard at golf. I have played in nearly 80 championships because I’ve been playing for 20 years.  “That’s a long time waiting but hopefully that’s not the pinnacle, it’s the stepping stone to something better.”  David Shiel won the Bridgestone Order of Merit finishing well ahead of Robert Moran.  Peter O’Keeffe was the best placed Cork golfer for the third year in a row, O’Keeffe finished in 19^th place after a mixed season which included second place at the South of Ireland.