Double win for Douglas Golf Club in Senior Cup

Douglas won on the double in Macroom on Sunday, winning the Men’s and Ladies AIG Senior Cup Muster East titles. 

Originally scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, the AIG Senior Cup semi-finals and finals were all played on Saturday to avoid a clash with the All Ireland hurling final.

The Douglas Men got to the semi-final after three impressive wins over Mahon, Mallow and Tramore, and they accounted for a strong Fota Island side in the semi-final on Saturday morning.

Kinsale have been playing well in inter-club events this year, they reached the final of the Barton Shield and started well in the Senior Cup. 

In the opening round they overcame an experienced Lee Valley side and then went on to beat Macroom and West Waterford. 

They beat Thurles on Saturday morning to set up the final against Douglas, but it was the city club who would prevail and take the Munster pennant home.

Peter O’Keeffe led the Douglas charge, taking on Kinsale’s Cathal Butler. 

The match went O’Keeffe’s way, winning 6&5 with some impressive golf. Douglas doubled their lead, again on the 13th green when Jack Murphy had a good win over Keith Walsh.

Kinsale’s Kieran McCarthy and Louis Galvin were both leading against James Walsh and Kyle McCarron respectively, but both were called in and recorded as halves when Douglas secured their third match point. Yet again it was a big win for Douglas, Robbie Walsh got the better of Adam Barr.

As well as the five golfers who played against Kinsale, Douglas also played Barry O’Connell, Sean Reddy and Eoghan Power and look to have a strong competitive panel. They now have five weeks to prepare for the national finals, and that will mean a home quarter final for Douglas

The Douglas ladies were also in impressive form on Saturday. Featuring four of the five golfers who won the national title last year were led by recent Ulster Senior Championship winner Clodagh Coughlan.

They took on Fota Island in the semi-final which was the first match in their campaign to retain the title they won last year. It was a comfortable start for Douglas, and they led in all five matches by the time the third point was won. Led off by Shannon Burke who has been a great addition to the club, Douglas won the first three matches to advance to the final where they would face Cork.

Teenager Claudia O’Donoghue has joined the Douglas team this year and she impressed on her debut, winning her two matches with an aggregate total of seven holes. Although Burke was held to a tie after 18 holes, Coughlan, O’Donoghue and Aoife Ni Thuama all won to secure three points. Once again Karen O’Neill was in the anchor spot, and although she was one up through 13 holes, the result was decided.

This is the fourth year in a row that Douglas have reached the All-Ireland stage of the AIG Senior Cup. They lost in 2022 and 2023 but went one better last year in Carlow to claim their first title in 14 years. The team now have an opportunity to win back to back titles, a feat last achieved in the 80’s when Douglas won three titles.

Like the Men’s team, they will have home advantage at the end of August, and given the quality and consistency of the team hopes will be high for a home win. Muskerry and Cork will also welcome the local venue for their finals. Muskerry won the AIG Barton Shield in Co Tipperary earlier this month and Cork won the Senior Foursomes. Play in Douglas starts on Thursday 28th and will finish up on Sunday 31st.

The Pierse Motors South of Ireland takes place at Lahinch this week and there’s a strong Cork challenge with over a dozen Cork golfers involved. Barry O’Connell is one of the golfers making his debut, the Douglas teenager has been in fine form over the past two months. Fota Island’s Sean Barry and Greg O’Mahony are back in the field after not entering for a few years, and East of Ireland champion David Howard is the third Fota golfer to hold a line on the start sheet.

2019 champion Sean Desmond will be hoping to continue his run of making the final 64. Darren Kelleher from Blarney was one of the last to get into the field, getting a call up on Monday. After today’s second round, the top 64 will convert to match play tomorrow and the championship will run until Sunday.