Sean Desmond made the most of home advantage in Monkstown on Saturday, he shot one under in testing conditions to win the second senior cup alliance event. Desmond produced a great display of golf to finish one under and one shot ahead of the field of over 30 golfers.
Desmond eagled the par four fourth hole and followed that with a birdie on the fifth which was playing really hard in the cold wet conditions. He did give tow shots back to the course on 6th and 8th, but he played very steady golf on the way back to finish as the only player under par.
Muskerry’s Stephen Riordan finished in second place on level par, he’s just back from the Faldo Series Grand Final in Dubai and the warm weather practice is still paying dividends for him. Jack Murphy from Douglas took third place with a two over par 60 and Conor McDowell and Robbie Walsh were next best on 61.
This was the second event in the series, James Walsh was the winner on Muskerry last month. The competition for members of Cork, Douglas, Monkstown and Muskerry was created to keep a competitive aspect for inter-club players through the winter months. The next event is scheduled for Cork Golf Club on Saturday 3rd December.
Cork Senior Cup Alliance (Monkstown)
1 Sean Desmond (Monkstown) 57
2 Stephen Riordan (Muskerry) 58
3 Jack Murphy (Douglas) 60
4 Conor McDowell (Monkstown) 61
5 Robbie Walsh (Douglas) 61
Kinsale’s Eoghan Cassidy broke 70 in Ballybunion today as he took advantage of better weather conditions. The youngster shot a 69 which included five birdies after a double bogey on the fifth. Cassidy came home in 32 strokes thanks to three birdies in is last five holes. The impressive round, the second lowest of the day, saw him jump from 36th place up to 12th place. The teenager also found a sum of money on the course which he handed in to the tournament committee at the end of his round.
Fionn Hickey (Muskerry) holds a share of the lead in Ballybunion after the opening day of the Munster Boys. Testing conditions were in play all day as 68 golfers – including 11 from Cork battled with wind and rain, and there was little in the way of respite as the rain continued into the late afternoon. Hickey had a tough start, he had a double bogey seven on the opening hole. He was four over after four holes but two birdies on the fifth and sixth got him back on track. He turned on +3 and a very steady back nine (+1) saw him card a leading four over par 76. Hickey is tied for the lead with Knock’s Lee Mitchell.
Muskerry have booked their place in the Munster finals of the Fred Daly Trophy. The Cork side will be hoping to repeat the win of 2017 and remove the memory of the final loss of 2018 when they head to Clonmel in just over two weeks time. To reach the finals three years in a row is a sizeable achievement, they faced Douglas in the area final last Sunday which was held in Cork Golf Club. With a large crowd watching Muskerry took the lead and held on to claim the win and book their place in the Munster finals with a positive performance from the team. Fionn Hickey put the first point on the board for Muskerry with a win over Kevin Collins, and Jack Egan added a second point when he beat Ross Higgins. Mark Hill won a point for Douglas when he beat Eoghan O’Shaughnessy but the match was over when Stephen 
Cork Golf News 