Month: March 2026

Summer Golf is on the way

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

Longer days are on the way
Pic: Niall O’Shea

The slow but steady stretch in the evenings has been welcomed by golfers, as has the lower levels of rainfall.  Although summer golf and firm ground is still not here, there has definitely been a large increase in the numbers of golfers getting out for a few holes.  2025 was a good year for Cork golf, and it might be hard to top some of those successes this year.  There were national inter-club titles for Douglas, Monkstown and Lee Valley and on the individual front David Howard captured a championship win in Co Louth and John Doyle won the Irish Boys in Cork Golf Club.

There was success on the tour front also as Sara Byrne retained her LET tour card after an impressive rookie season, and James Sugrue won a Continue reading →

Over 140 years of golf in Fota Island

/ niall@corkgolfnews.com

Fota Island was where golf started in Cork over 140 years ago.
Picture: Niall O’Shea

While Fota Island can be regarded as Cork’s top championship golf location, not many people will know that the Fota was the site of the first record of organised golf in Cork.  Golf in Cork dates back to 1883, when the first course in Cork was laid out on what was then known as the Smith Barry Estate.

Owned by Lady Barrymore who lived in Fota House, the course was a short nine-hole layout and was mainly used by the Officers of the British Army stationed in Cork.  The course in Fota was the second recorded course in Ireland, after a course Continue reading →