Hilary Madden pictured with Martin Travers and Cian McNamara
Monkstown’s Hilary Madden will retire this week after 16 years as general manager in the golf club. It’s been a very eventful time for golf clubs in Ireland, with big changes happening in those two decades. In 2002, when Hilary took on the role in Monkstown golf in Ireland was very different. There were waiting lists and large entry fees for anyone wanting to join, that period also marked a big increase in the number of courses. Like many other courses, Monkstown had impressive development plans at the time which included an impressive new clubhouse, a new maintenance and greenkeeper compound. Work on the course which drainage and bunker redevelopment, and it fell to the manager to oversee the plans which was set to reposition Monkstown back to the top table. Luckily for Monkstown the work was completed by time the downturn came, but they still had to finance the projects which was a challenge for the club. “As common with most clubs in Ireland the economic depression from 2008 to 2014 resulted Continue reading
It may have taken Kinsale over 100 years to win their first Munster pennant, but it was a much shorter wait for their second. Just four weeks after winning the Jimmy Bruen Shield, Kinsale doubled their haul when they won the Munster Final of the AIG Barton Shield in Thurles last Sunday. On paper Kinsale were up against it, in the semi-final they faced Dungarvan who had won the AIG Senior Cup title the day before. In the semi-final they were up against it when Dungarvan stretched their lead the three holes early in the back nine. The four Kinsale golfers battled back, and two birdies on the 17th turned the match to send Kinsale into the final. After a quick break it was back to the first tee in Thurles to face off against a fancied 
The Amateurs reclaimed the bragging rights in the Pro Shop Challenge last week, as Cathal Butler and John Murphy beat Ger Broderick and Ian Stafford in Kinsale. It was the third staging of the unique event and while the amateurs won on the course the real winner was the charity partners. Over €4,000 was raised for Marymount and the RNLI. Organiser Ian Stafford was delighted with the results of their fundraising event. “We’re absolutely delighted with the amount of money that we have raised to date which is in the region of €4,500” said Stafford. “To surpass our target of €3,600 by nearly €1,000 is phenomenal and much of this is down to the hard work of our captain Brian Doran who has been a huge help in securing sponsorship to the event. This year we had local businesses sponsoring each hole as well of a number of sponsored challenges throughout the round. To think when we first discussed this event three years ago that we would have raised nearly €11,000 from the first 3 events is hard to believe and we are absolutely delighted with the support we have got.”
Cathal Butler was delighted to win back the title they lost last year, although they may have had some assistance from 
