Douglas and Cork both made it as far as the semi-finals of the Ladies Irish Senior Cup which took place in Thurles over the weekend. Douglas faced Kinsale in the first round and it was the city side who won. Sara Byrne, Karen O’Neill, Clodagh Coughlan and Jemma Barry all recorded wins while Kate McCann halved her match. While it was a good win for Douglas it should be noted that Kinsale gave up over 40 shots in total in the five matches. In the second round Douglas were up against local opposition again, this time it was East Cork. Douglas led from the start with Byrne, O’Neill and Coughlan winning their matches. That was as good as it would get for Douglas as they lost out to Lahinch in the semi-final. The handicaps were going against Douglas in this match, with 16 shots between the two sides. Chloe Ryan and Sinead Sexton (both playing off +3) won the first two matches, and the contest was over when Lahinch’s Sarah Cunningham won on the 16th. Lahinch would go on to have an impressive win over Killarney in the final on Sunday aftermoon.
Cork had a good start on Saturday with an opening win over Ballybunion in the first round. There were wins for Rachel Thompson, Claire Coughlan Ryan and recently returned Paula Walsh while Miriam Abernethy and Ailish Thompson were Continue reading
A birdie three on the last hole was the perfect finish to Cathal Butler’s round in Co Sligo today, as he signed for a 65 after a great second round. Butler, who had a four over par 75 in his opening round, got to work early today and was three under through five holes. He added another two birdies before the turn to go out in 31 (-5). Although he had a few good birdie chances on the back nine he ended up with eight consecutive pars. He did close out on the 18th with a birdie, leaving him on -2 and tied for 20th at the halfway stage. Needless to say the Kinsale golfer was in a positive frame of mind after his round. “It was a relief as much as anything – it feels like a long time since I shot a low one” said Butler after the round. “I was hitting it lovely, I only missed one green and hit a lot of the shots close. The putter was steady throughout and it was nice to hole a long one on 18 to finish.” Butler has been struggling with a back injury for the past while and that has contributed to his lack of recent appearances near the top of the leaderboard. “I’m off around 2pm tomorrow so I’ll get a chance to go to the gym before hand. My back has been troublesome for the past few weeks so I’ll do some exercises before I go out to play.” As for the strategy for tomorrow, it more of the same for Cathal. “I’ll just keep trying to make good decisions and smooth swings. If I can stay as relaxed as I was today it should be another good day.”
Mahon and Bandon were the two big winners over the weekend as they came through the first serious weekend of cups and shields action. Monkstown and Blarney were the host venues for the AIG Jimmy Bruen Shield qualifiers, with fine weather and great conditions adding to the spectacle of matchplay golf. All Ireland winners Kinsale were not in the shake up this time, they lost out to Skibbereen in a first round match the previous weekend. Mahon had also come through a preliminary match the previous week, they had a comprehensive win over Mallow in the first round to set up a meeting with Douglas on Saturday morning. Similar to their previous form, Mahon had a good win over Douglas but they faced a stiff challenge again Cork in the third round and two matches would need additional holes for Mahon to advance. Tim O’Mahoney needed to chip out of the water on 18 in order for himself and Gavin Carroll to half the hole. They went on to win on the 
Castletroy Golf Club has announced details of this year’s Senior Scratch Cup, which is, once again kindly and generously sponsored by Bank of Ireland. The competition takes place on Saturday, May 25th. First competed for in 1948, the Castletroy trophy is one of the oldest and most prestigious scratch cups in the country and attracts the cream of Munster golf and some of Ireland’s best amateur golfers each year. As a Munster Golf OOM tournament, results in the Castletroy Senior Scratch Cup are included in the selection criteria for the Munster Interprovincial team. The course, currently ranked in the top 100 in Ireland and measuring almost 7,000 yards off the back tees, consistently offers a stiff challenge to any player on the senior scratch cup circuit. Last year’s edition was no different with a very impressive fourteen plus handicapped golfers and ten scratch golfers in 
