Monkstown Golf Club

Tony McKeown wins Muskerry Junior Scratch Trophy

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Tony McKeown (Monkstown), winner of the Muskerry Junior Scratch Trophy. Pic: Niall O’Shea

Tony McKeown is the latest winner of the Muskerry Junior Scratch Trophy after he came through six rounds of golf to claim the title.  The Monkstown member was brought all the way to the 17th green before he finally got the win.  It wasn’t the first time over the weekend that McKeown finished on the 17th, and there was relief to finally get over the line as Tony came close to winning in 2021, when he was the beaten finalist as John McSweeney won.

64 golfers started out on Friday morning, and that was reduced to just 16 after the first two rounds which finished late on Friday evening.  After another two rounds on Saturday there was just four remaining.  Fota Island’s John O’Sullivan faced Doneraile’s John Hickey in the first semi-final, with Tony McKeown up against Muskerry’s Tony Keating.

Winner of the Muskerry Junior Scratch Trophy Tony McKeown pictured with Muskerry Captain Eric Cotter and semi-finalist Tony Keating. Picture: Niall O’Shea

The Muskerry man had an interesting route to the semi-final, gaining two concessions in Saturday’s matches.  He advanced from the third round without hitting a ball, and his fourth round win came on the 5th green when his opponent retired injured.

Despite the easy path to the semi-final, and the home course advantage, he came off second best to McKeown who wrapped up his win on the 17th.  The other semi-final was a close affair with John O’Sullivan winning on the 16th.

“Delighted to win this competition.  I was a beaten finalist in 2021 so I was relieved to get over the line this time,” said McKeown.  “It is quite a tough weekend, although I think matches going to the 17th or 18th help. Too much waiting around in between matches isn’t ideal.”

Two weeks previously, McKeown qualified with a 76, easily inside the cut mark for the matchplay stage.  The Monkstown man didn’t have any easy matches over the three days, but he persevered to win out over each opponent as each match neared the end.

“I got off to a fast start in most of my matches, which helped confidence.  However, I was 5 up with 5 to play in the semi-final and everything started to go wrong, so I was lucky to get over the line there on 17.  I played quite well on Friday, but as the weekend went on I was relying more and more on my putter, which thankfully saved me on plenty of occasions over the weekend.”

The scale of the win in the annual Muskerry competition is always impressive.  Well over 200 golfers entered the qualifier, which was held over two days.  The Muskerry Junior Scratch Trophy remains the only 18/64 mixed strokeplay and matchplay event at this level, and it has been running since 1970.  McKeown is the first winner to come from Monkstown, and now adds his name to the long list of winners which dates back over 50 years.

Gallery: Muskerry Junior Scratch Trophy 2026

The course in Muskerry was in great condition for the showpiece event, having benefitted greatly from the recent rise in temperatures.  There were firm fairways and fast greens on the Bruen course over the three days.  The event was again sponsored by RBC Brewin Dolphin, who are in their second year supporting the competition.

Blarney will host their Senior Scratch Cup this weekend; this is the third staging of the Christy Horgan Memorial event.  The event is a 36-hole competition with the first round getting underway at 9am.  Organisers Darren and Damien Kelleher have been busy lining everything up for Saturday, and a high-quality field will battle it out for the title.

Blarney have also confirmed the dates for their Junior, Intermediate and Minor Scratch Cups.  They will take place on Sunday 31st May and Monday 1st June.  The competitions are being sponsored by McKenna Golf Academy and O’Connell Buggies, and there is over €1,000 worth of prizes on offer.  Each of the three competitions will take place from different tees.

The Junior Scratch Cup (index 2.5 – 9.4) is being played from the blue tees.  The Intermediate Cup (index 9.5 – 17.4) is being played from the white tees and the Minor Cup (index 17.5+) is playing from the green tees.  The entry fee is €35 for visitors and €10 for members.  Bookings can be made by calling the club on 021 4281 891.

Both Douglas and Kinsale are holding their Junior Scratch Cups this weekend, while Lee Valley are holding theirs the following weekend.  East Cork were due to hold their Senior Scratch Cup this Sunday, but it has been rescheduled to July 11th.

Monkstown Celebrate PGA Success

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Monkstown Golf Club came in for lots of praise last week after their successful hosting of the Irish PGA Championship. One of the oldest professional championships in the world, the 115th staging is the showpiece event of the PGA Irish Region tour, and it returned to Cork for the first time since 1997 when Fota Island hosted the event.
With the course in great condition, Monkstown put on a show from start to finish. The action started on Monday with a sold out ProAm where Neil O’Briain, Dick Dunlea, Dan Cronin and Continue reading →

Brown & Brown to sponsor Irish PGA Championship

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Diarmuid Nolan, CEO of Brown & Brown Ireland, pictured (centre) with Cian McNamara, Head PGA Golf Professional at Monkstown Golf Club; Michael Doorley, Chairman of Monkstown Golf Club; Conor Dillon, Manager of The PGA in Ireland, and Ada O’Sullivan, Former Curtis Cup Captain, R&A Open Championship Committee Member, and Monkstown Golf Club member, at Monkstown Golf Club, Cork, as Brown & Brown (Ireland), one of the country’s leading insurance brokerages, announces that it is the new title sponsor of the 115th Irish PGA Championship, which returns to Munster for the first time since 1997. The Championship will take place from 4–7 August 2025 at Monkstown Golf Club.
Picture: Michael O’Sullivan / OSM PHOTO

With the 2025 Irish PGA Championship set to take place in August, Monkstown Golf Club is making its final preparations to host the prestigious event for the first time in its history.  The club, which has undergone a large scale bunker redevelopment and significant upgrades to its practice facilities, is ensuring that players will experience championship-level conditions when competition begins on August 5th.

Last week the PGA announced Brown & Brown, one of the country’s leading insurance brokerages, has announced that it is the new title sponsor of the 115th Irish PGA Championship.  The tournament, now named The Brown & Brown Irish PGA Championship, marks the event’s return to Munster for the first time since 1997, bringing together Ireland’s top PGA club professionals in a battle for a large prize fund.

The tournament returns to Munster for the first time since 1997, when Paul McGinley claimed victory at Fota Island, and the former Ryder Cup Captain was delighted to see Brown & Brown getting involved.  “I’m thrilled to see Brown & Brown backing Irish golf. It’s a proud and exciting moment for the sport. Having met Diarmuid and the Brown & Brown team through Continue reading →

Exciting 2025 ahead for Cork Golf

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Cork Golf Club which wil host a number of national events in 2025. Pic: Niall O’Shea

2025 promises to be a busy and exciting year for Cork golfers and Cork golf clubs.  Golf Ireland launched the 2025 calendar recently and four Cork courses will host important events in the months ahead.

Cork Golf Club will host four major events in a busy year for the club.  In addition to the Munster Stroke Play which has been held on the May Bank Holiday weekend for over a decade, the Little Island club will also host the Flogas Irish Boys Amateur Open and the Boys Home Internationals.  The club will also host the Women’s Cork Scratch Cup in early April.

Cork has a habit of being a winning venue for golfers who went on to greatness and with Irish Boys Captain watching over the field, he will be hoping for another winner with star potential when it comes to the Irish Boys.  The last big winner in Cork was Shane Lowry, he  won the Irish Close Championship when it was last held in Cork in 2007.  Lowry beat local favourite Niall Turner in the final to claim his first Irish title.  He went on to win the West and North, and the Mullingar Scratch Cup the following year, before winning the Continue reading →

Cope Alliance rase over €40,000

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The Cope Golf Alliance had another successful year in 2023, and recently held their AGM where the cheque was presented to the Cork charity.  Since the late 1970’s the Alliance has raised over €1.7million, and last year they added another €43,500 to that amount.

The Alliance is in its 47th year, and each year the members raise a huge amount of money.

There are close to 500 members of the Alliance and membership is highly valued by each of the members.  It is limited to 60 men and 60 ladies from each of the four Cork clubs, Cork, Douglas, Monkstown and Muskerry, a rule which dates back to the founding of the alliance in 1977.

The four clubs provide Continue reading →

Monkstown’s Pat O’Keeffe Honoured

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Pat O Keeffe Club Volunteer of the Year Award 2023
Picture: Golffile | Denis O’Flynn
All photo usage must carry mandatory copyright credit (© Golffile | Denis O’Flynn)

Monkstown’s Pat O’Keeffe was recently honoured by Golf Ireland, he won the Munster Club Volunteer of the Year Award.  The well-known personality has been a member in Monkstown for over 50 years and after being honoured by the club at the AGM, he won the provincial award a few weeks ago.

Interestingly Pat, who led the club to two Munster pennants in the past ten years was the first in his family to play golf.  He ended up in Monkstown by happenstance.  He had only hit a few balls in the Douglas driving range and after playing nine holes in Monkstown with a member for the first time, John O’Reilly spotted him and encouraged him to join.  O’Reilly, who would later become the GUI President, was the Junior Officer and signed up Pat for an annual sub of four pounds.  O’Keeffe describes that encounter in 1972 as incredibly lucky.

O’Keeffe took to the sport quickly, going from a starting handicap of 18 to 2 within 14 months.  “I played here in the 70’s, we had a brilliant team.  We won the Aer Lingus (u22’s) in ‘76 and ’78 and Continue reading →

Monkstown Improvements Continue

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Monkstown Golf Club.  Pic: Niall O’Shea

Monkstown is continuing the set the pace when it comes to course improvements, the club have nearly completed phase one of their bunker redevelopment programme.  Monkstown Manager Maurice O’Meara explained what has been involved in the six month plan.  “Phase one of our bunker programme commenced in October 2023 which covered the entire back nine.  We plan to open the new bunkers and have them back in play in early April.  Phase two is planned to commence in October 2024 and will follow a similar timeline and will hopefully be completed and re-opened in April 2025.”

“The programme is a complete redesign of the existing bunkers, and modernisation with new and Continue reading →

Monkstown Houour Long & Barrett

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Jim Long, President Golf Ireland and Greg Barrett, President IRFU pictured with Monkstown Officers Jane O’Hagan, Martin Walsh and Anthony O’Sullivan after they received a presentation from the club.
Picture: Niall O’Shea

Monkstown had a special celebration last week when they honoured two longstanding members.  Jim Long and Greg Barrett are members who are both serving as president of national sporting bodies.  Long is Golf Ireland President while Barrett was recently appointed as President of the IRFU.

Both Long and Barrett have distinguished records when it comes to supporting their sports from the administrative side.  Long was involved at a provincial level for over two decades, holding delegate and officer positions on the Munster Branch of the Golfing Union of Ireland.  He was elected Chairman of the Munster Branch in 2016 and became the Chair of the Munster Regional Executive in 2021 after Golf Ireland was Continue reading →