Monkstown Golf Club

Passage West GAA Classic 2021

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Sean Geary from Passage West GAA and Sean Sheehan from sponsors Wisetek pictured at the launch of the club’s annual golf classic. Also included are club members and supportsrs including Cork players Robbie O’Flynn and Laura Treacy. The classic takes place in Monkstown Golf Club on 22nd & 23rd July.
Picture: Niall O’Shea

Passage West GAA Club are heading to the course next week, their annual golf classic takes place in Monkstown Golf Club over two days and the course should be busy with plenty of interest in the event.  The golf classic is a regular feature in the club calendar and returns after missing last year due to Covid.  Already there has been a lot of interest in the event with members and supporters signing up to play.

The event take place on the 22nd and 23rd July.  The format is a team of three, the cost is €250 per team and the club are closing in on their target of 75 teams over the two days.  There’s also an option to sponsor a tee box for €100, or a corporate rate for a team and tee box sponsorship.  The main sponsors for the classic are Wisetek and the Cork company are delighted to support t Continue reading →

McNamara set for new season in Monkstown

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Cian McNamara, Monkstown’s Club Professional.
Picture: Niall O’Shea

Like most club professionals, Cian McNamara was busy last week getting ready for the reopening of golf.  It’s eight years since Cian landed in Monkstown, and the Limerick native has made Cork and Monkstown his home.  Like everyone interested in the sport, Cian was counting down to the reopening of golf.  He is expecting a busy restart to golf, and he’s expecting a busy summer.  “I certainly believe with the long lay-off from golf, golf tuition will be busy over the summer months” said McNamara.  “With Golf Ireland determined to play championships and inter-club events it will also add to the golf tuition demand which will be great.  Custom fitting is certainly a big area that has emerged over the last few years.  With PGA Club Professionals providing the opportunity to compare different models while using various launch monitors it gives the customer the assurance that the purchase they make is certainly suited to their technique.”

McNamara has helped drive several changes in Monkstown and one of the most exciting developments was the opening of a new Trackman studio last year.  The studio has the latest technology including an indoor driving bay and a putting area, and this gives members a real advantage when it comes to analysis and custom fitting.  “The reac Continue reading →

Irwin qualifies as PGA Professional

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Monkstown Pro Shop’s Shane Irwin who recently received graduated as a PGA Professional.
Picture: Niall O’Shea

Monkstown based Shane Irwin recently completed his PGA training and the Limerick native is now a qualified PGA Professional.  After three years of training, Shane passed his final exams to receive his degree level qualification from the University of Birmingham.  Shane joins a number of recently qualified golf professionals in Cork, including Alan Gleeson, Davey Barry and Ciaran McKenna.

Prior to working in Monkstown Shane had worked in the industry in South Africa and the US, and that experience gave him the confidence to know that a career in the industry was the way to go.  In 2017 he moved to Cork to take up a role in Monkstown Golf Club.  After spending a few months working in the pro-shop, .n September 2017 he started his PGA training.  Having worked in the US and South Africa prior to that.  It was the next step in a plan for Shane.  Traditionally the PGA apprenticeship was based around learning on the job, but now the degree level course has a Continue reading →

Maurice takes the helm at Monkstown

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Mauriec O’Meara who recenytly joined Monkstown Golf Club as General Manager.
Picture: Niall O’Shea

It’s a few months since Maurice O’Meara joined the team in Monkstown, and the experienced golf club manager is settling into his hew role.  Having previously worked as general manager in Killarney, Dooks and The Island, O’Meara has seen all aspects of the game in Ireland over the last 20 years.  And the Dublin native jumped at the opportunity to take on the GM role in Monkstown when the vacancy arose during the summer.  “During my years in golf club management and from my time in Dooks and Killarney, I would have had regular interaction with members of Monkstown as we had a lot of visiting groups from Cork and also a lot of dual members” explained Maurice.  “What I would have heard of Monkstown was very positive, and this was very important in my decision to take up the role here.  Like any club Monkstown has faced challenges over the last number of years, however the club is in a great place now, with a thriving membership.  It’s been great to see the popularity of Continue reading →

Monkstown set for Bumper Season

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Looking back down the 18th fairway from the clubhouse in Monkstown. (Niall O’Shea)

It isn’t the year that any captain or committee would have wanted, but that doesn’t just apply to golf this year.  Despite the lockdown and the phased schedule of re-opening, golf courses and clubs are now fully open following the introduction of phase three earlier this week.  While it’s still far from normal, Monkstown is getting back to business, has added over 50 new members and has a large membership looking forward to the second half of the year.  Monkstown Captain Shane Horgan is delighted that the summer season is finally underway.  It was a very different first half of the year for the Captain as he explained.  “Strange is a pretty good word for it, though in some of my weaker moments over the last few months I might have been tempted to describe it differently from time to time” said Shane.  “I fully expected to face some challenges during my year of office, but I anticipated that those challenges would be broadly Continue reading →

Monkstown in Great Condition

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Monkstown’s Shane Horgan returning to play after the lockdown, pictured with Club Professional Cian McNamara.

Greenkeepers across the county have been busy.  They spent two months preparing courses during the lockdown and since the reopening they have been working hard as golfers have filled every available timeslot.  Monkstown has been in high demand and Captain Shane Horgan has been delighted with the results from the hard work put in by the greenkeeping team.  “The course has been in amazing condition since re-opening and it has been getting really positive reviews from members” said Horgan.  “It’s in as good a condition as I have ever seen it.  We’re really lucky to have an exceptional course staff, led by Martin Travers, who has been with the Club for over 30 years, and they have done an amazing job to keep the course in magnificent shape both Continue reading →

Cope Classic 2021

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Pictured at the launch of the annual Cope Foundation Golf Classic, sponsored by O’Flynn Exhams Solicitors, at Monkstown Golf Club are Micheal O’Mullain, Partner at O’Flynn Exhams Solicitors, Shane Irwin, Monkstown Golf Club, Sean Abbott, Chief Executive at Cope Foundation and Brian Hurley from Monkstown Golf Club.
PIC Darragh Kane

The Cope Foundation Golf Classic will take place in 2020, and it promises to be another great event for the Cork charity.  After successful events in Douglas Golf Club and Cork Golf Club, the popular classic now returns to Monkstown for the 2020 staging on Thursday 17th and Friday 18th September.  Rescheduled from the regular August date due to Covid-19, the event will be run under the guidelines that apply at th time and the organising committee are now working on building the timesheet to ensure another successful event.

The event has been running for 24 years and has raised over €1.65 million.  It started in Rathsallagh in Co Wicklow and regularly had the sold out signs up for the two day event.  After Rathsallagh closed in 2015 the event moved to Cork, rotating between Monkstown, Douglas and Cork.  Last year’s event in Douglas was another great success with close to €50,000 raised over the two days.  As well as prizes for each shotgun start, the overall winner Continue reading →

Remembering T W Egan

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Tom Egan, Monkstown Golf Club

Monkstown’s Tom Egan who won the Irish Senior Cup in 1963 pictured members of the 2016 winning team; Manager Martin Walsh, Donal McDonnell, Eoghan Long and Monkstown Captain Carl Toal.

One of Monkstown’s most famous golfers Tom Egan passed away on Friday aged 89.  The Irish International dominated the amateur game for two decades in the 50’s and 60’s.  TW, as he was known, was Monkstown born and bred, his home was bordering the course and regularly jumped the wall to practice around the old fourth hole as a boy.

Egan’s practice played dividends and it showed when he played in his very first competition.  Just short of his 18th birthday he was given a handicap by the club, this normally didn’t happen until juniors turned 18.  TW was given a handicap of 12 and went on to shoot a 78 (66 nett) to win the 1947 President’s Prize.  His handicap was swiftly cut to six and he was down to scratch soon after.

Outside of Monkstown, Tom went on to win two major amateur titles in addition to a large number of local wins.  Having reached the final of the South of Ireland in 1951 he went on to win the Irish Close Continue reading →

Monkstown’s Golfing History

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Monkstown is another Cork golf club that can trace it’s history back over 110 years, and remains one of the most popular golfing destinations in the county.  Cork GC Professional David Brown was involved in the original layout of the course and that opened for play in April 1908.  Famed course architect Alister MacKenzie also had a hand in the development of Monkstown, in 1925 his plans for the course were approved.  MacKenzie removed much of the rough on the course and retained the challenge by designing a “well bunkered course”.

MacKenzie was instrumental in Continue reading →