There’s a very strong home challenge in the quarter finals of the Ford Junior Scratch Trophy, with five Muskerry members competing in the final eight.
With seven of the eight quarter-finalists confirmed, it looks like the home club will have at least two golfers in tomorrow’s semi-finals.
The quarter final draw is:
Liam Harte Jnr (Muskerry) v Diarmuid Linehan (Muskerry)
Mark Dennehy (Muskerry) v Damien Ryan (Muskerry)
Joe O’Keeffe (Muskerry) v Zak Collins (Douglas)
Gary Morris (Macroom) v Colm O’Donoghue (Castletroy)/Kieran O’Brien(East Cork)
All matches to be completed this afternoon.
Cork’s most demanding golf event is all set to start next week when 64 golfers will aim to make it through six rounds of matchplay golf. The eventual winner will become the Ford Muskerry Junior Scratch Trophy champion. While many golfers will be looking forward to morning off on Easter Sunday, the four semi-finalists will be facing into their fifth game of golf in three days, and all four will be hoping to reach a sixth game in the afternoon final. Almost two weeks ago, over 250 competitors took part in the two-day qualifier in Muskerry, all hoping to finish in the top 64 and get through to the matchplay stage. With a new handicap limit of 4, the event provides a mix between the established Junior Cup and Bruen golfers, and younger golfers heading for Barton or Senior Cup appearances. Fota Island’s Anthony O’Connell led the qualifiers with a very impressive nett 57 for his 16 hole qualifier. John McSweeney (Muskerry) led four golfers to finished with 58 in the first day of the qualifier. Monkstown’s Billy Egan finished on top of the leaderboard on the second day. He shot the best of the 58’s around the 16 hole course while Seamus Spencer (Berehaven) and David O’Brien (Cahir Park) also finished on 58. Main sponsors Ford have been involved in the competition since 1992, continuing a long tradition of supporting amateur golf in Cork. The trophy holds the names of many popular Cork golfers, including two previous 
2018 promises to be another big year for fundraising golf classics and one of the first will be in Mahon in early April. The Cork Stroke Support Group will be the beneficiaries from the event which takes place on Friday 6th April. The format is a threeball scramble and the event is sponsored by Carbon Group. The classic is being organised by Dan and John Cronin whose father benefited from the services of Cork Stroke Support Group. The cost per team is just €120 and the sponsors have ensured that there are some great prizes on offer. Tee and green sponsorships are available for anyone who can’t play but would like to contribute to the classic.
Stephen Hayes has just opened a new performance centre in Douglas Golf Club, the Club Professional in Douglas has invested in a brand new facility for members and clients to learn and hone their golfing skills. Previously Stephen had worked from a teaching bay in the driving range, but that bay was a victim of the storm in October so an alternative was 
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