Monkstown win AIG Women's Junior Cup in Muskerry

Monkstown Ladies pulled off an impressive comeback to win the AIG Women’s Junior Cup in Muskerry. 

They won their first and second round matches in East Cork a few weeks ago, and the Monkstown panel headed for Muskerry where they faced Fota Island in the semi-final.

Aisling McDonald and Susan O’Sullivan put points on the board early for Monkstown with wins on the 16th. 

Vanessa Fitzgerald was headed for the 19th after finishing all square but Hilary Harte won her match on the 17th green to settle the result. 

Una Hegarty was called in as Monkstown prepared for their final against All-Ireland champions Tipperary.

Team Manager Ralph Hosford made a few changes to the order of his players for the final. Una Hegarty went out first, and despite giving up six shots to her opponent, the former Munster Junior champion was leading at the turn.

Aisling McDonald was out second and after losing on the back nine, Monkstown were one down. 

Hegarty kept her match going and sent a rallying call to the rest of the team. In spite of plenty of pressure on the back nine, she battled to keep the match alive before losing out on 17.

That left Monkstown needing to win all the remaining matches headed down towards the closing holes. 

Hilary Harte and Niamh Clohessey were all square in matches 3 and 4, while Susan O’Sullivan was two up in the back match with three holes remaining. 

Hilary Harte halved the 17th and when her opponent put two balls in the water approaching the 18th green, Monkstown claimed their first point.

Behind that match, Clonmel put a ball in the water on the 17th and Niamh Clohessey went one up with one to play. 

While that match proceeded up the 18th fairway, Susan O’Sullivan won the 16th, giving her a 3&2 win and levelled the match at 2-2.

All the focus returned to the 18th fairway, and a stream of yellow jumpers surrounded the final hole. 

Clonmel’s Renagh Murphy put her pitch on the green to be there in three. Clohessey followed her with another excellent pitch to 18 feet. 

When Clonmel missed the putt, the match was effectively over, Clohessey winning 1 up and Monkstown winning 3-2.

There were huge celebrations on the 18th green with the Cork club claiming another Munster pennant. 

Team Manager Ralph Hosford graciously accepted the pennant from Dave Prendergast, Chairman of the Golf Ireland Munster Region.

It was a busy weekend in Muskerry with 90 matches taking place over both days. The course was in great condition over the weekend, and the members were out in large numbers to assist the successful running of the event. 

Play got underway at 7am on Saturday morning when 16 men’s teams played the round of 16. It finished at 8.45 that evening when the last of the 60 matches was completed. That left 4 teams still in contention. 

Bantry Bay had the tightest of wins over Cork on Saturday evening when Neil Crowley won it for Bantry. They were up against Tramore on Sunday morning, but the Waterford club got the better of them.

Monkstown had been impressive in their two matches on Saturday but had a battle on their hands against Clonmel in the semi-final. 

The 2025 All-Ireland winners came off second best with Clonmel booking a spot in the final. Tramore won the pennant after the final match went to the 21st.

The inter-club action continues this weekend with the AIG Barton Shield and Senior Foursomes taking centre stage in Tipperary. 

Ten of the 16 Barton Shield teams involved will travel from Cork and there are three all Cork clashes.

There are four teams left in the Senior Foursomes as Muskerry hosted the earlier rounds last month. 

Douglas play Kinsale in an all Cork clash while Fota Island take on Tipperary in the other semi-final.

The start list for the South of Ireland has been released and there are nine Cork golfers currently set to tee it up in Lahinch in late July. 

The Fota Island trio of John Doyle, Morgan Cain and David Howard all made the entry list by exemption and they will be joined by Greg O’Mahony who made it via the handicap ballot.

Sean Desmond from Monkstown, the winner in 2019 also made the start list. Brothers Robert and James Walsh have also made the field as did Jack Murphy. 

Berehaven’s Joe O’Neill also claimed a place on the start list. The cut for the championship was +2.9, influenced by a large number of international entries.