Monkstown closed the book on 12 months of heartbreak as they claimed their provincial pennant with victory in the AIG Munster Senior Cup final at Cork Golf Club.

Galway and Royal Dublin’s Barton Shield sides will provide the high quality golf in today’s AlG Cups and Shields National finals but all the excitement may well come from the minnows in the Pierce Purcell Shield semi-finals at Carton House.

AIG All-Ireland champions Muskerry have made a spectacular start to their Barton Shield title defence.

Munster champions Tramore needed all their fighting spirit after six years of campaigning together to reach today’s AIG Senior Cup final at Carton House.

Tramore Golf Club go into today’s AIG Senior Cup semi-finals at Carton House hoping third time will be the charm for their team after national finals disappointments in 2011 and 2012.

Muskerry Golf Club have the chance to bury their demons of three years ago when their quartet bids for an All-Ireland title in the AIG Barton Shield at Carton House today.

Weekend wins for Rosslare in Irish Senior Cup Leinster section and Warrenpoint in the Barton Shield in Ulster have confirmed the field for the national finals of the AIG Cups and Shields at Carton House, Kildare next month.

Given there is invariably little between the teams at this stage of the various AIG Irish Cups and Shields competitions, it is not surprising the bookmakers have struggled to separate the qualifiers for this weekend’s Munster semi-finals and finals of the Senior and Junior Cups and Barton Shield at Shannon Golf Club.

We would describe ourselves as being a hidden gem," smiles Castlegregory Golf club chairman of management, Noel Earlie, as he looks out over the pristine Kerry course, "but I think we would now like to be less hidden."

As parting shots go, Gary McDermott’s pitch onto the 18th green at Royal Tara was pretty special as the 2013 AIG All-Ireland Cups & Shields National Finals reached their climax in Meath on Saturday.

Ballybunion ended a 34-year national title drought yesterday when its all-teenage team lifted the Junior Cup on day two of the AIG All-Ireland Cups & Shields National Finals at Royal Tara Golf Club.

County Sligo remain on target for the first part of a potential title double at the AIG All-Ireland Cups & Shields National Finals after booking a place in today’s Barton Shield decider at Royal Tara Golf Club.

Mayo club Claremorris are hoping to keep Connacht’s strong start to the AIG All-Ireland Cups and Shields National Finals week going at Royal Tara Golf Club when they get their Pierce Purcell Shield title bid under way today in Meath.

There are dreams of a notable double in Cork and Co. Sligo at this week’s AIG All-Ireland Cups & Shields National finals but both clubs are determined to focus solely on the task at hand as the Barton Shield semi-finals get under way at Royal Tara Golf Club in Meath today.

The many hundreds who turn up to support Waterford Castle, Limerick, Tralee, Cork, Adare Manor, Tramore, Muskerry, Ballybunion, Doneraile and Nenagh in next weekend’s Munster finals of the Irish Senior and Junior Cups and Barton Shield have a treat in store.

Today’s Barton Shield final at Kinsale Golf Club promises to be a classic battle between youth and experience as the young guns of NUI Maynooth vie with Banbridge for an All-Ireland title at the Chartis-sponsored Cups & Shields National Finals.

The 2012 cups and shields get off to flying start at Kinsale Golf Club today with the Barton Shield semi-finals.

Tramore were disappointed at losing to Lee Valley in the semi-final of the Barton Shield on Saturday but turned on the style yesterday in winning the senior title.

Pat Murray, recent winner of the South of Ireland Championship, returns this weekend to a golf course he knows better than most when leading Limerick Golf Club’s challenge for the Munster section of the Chartis Insurance sponsored Irish Senior Cup.

FALLING golf club membership is set to continue in Munster, the GUI Branch’s annual delegates meeting has been told.

THE tail-end of Hurricane Katia has made the practice rounds for the Chartis Irish Cups and Shields finals at Castlerock, Co Derry over the past few days more a test of stamina than skill, although it is confidently expected calm will have been restored when the festival gets under way today with the semi-finals of both the Barton Shield and Irish Junior Cup.

ROLLO McCLURE remembers the first time he saw Rory McIlroy swing a club.

PAT QUINLAN has suffered many disappointments in his 14 years representing Portumna in various inter-club competitions, so it was all the sweeter for the man from Ballinderry in North Tipperary that he should clinch their first Bulmers Irish Junior Cup triumph at Castlebar yesterday.

BANDON’S dreams of a famous double have been shattered by yesterday’s narrow loss to Dunmurry in the semi-final of the Bulmers Barton Shield at Castlebar. So now, they switch their attentions to the Irish Senior Cup, in which they meet Co Sligo in tomorrow’s semi-finals.

DONIE O’DONOVAN from Bandon and Kevin Byrne of East Cork intend to make little of the oft-expressed modern contention that golf is a young man’s game when they line out for their clubs in the semi-finals of the Bulmers Barton Shield and Irish Junior Cup at Castlebar today.

BANDON and Doneraile bid for notable doubles when the Munster finals of the Bulmers Irish Senior and Junior Cups and Barton Shield take place at Castletroy this weekend.

WEST WATERFORD’S chances of a first Bulmers Irish Senior Cup pennant at Tullamore over the weekend have taken a big blow because of the absence of key man Seamus Power.

TULLAMORE, a splendid midlands course originally designed by James Braid and subsequently upgraded by Patrick Merrigan, is the venue for the finals of the Bulmers Irish Cups and Shields from September 16-19.

TODAY’S Bulmers Irish Cups and Shields programme at Rosslare sees the big guns go into action in the Irish Senior Cup.

GALWAY’S dream of an unprecedented hat-trick at the Bulmers inter-club festival of golf was shattered at Rosslare yesterday when they lost in agonising fashion in the finals of both the Barton Shield and Irish Junior Cup.

GALWAY’S golfers are all set to atone for the defeat of their hurlers by Cork in Sunday’s All-Ireland final following a fruitful opening day in the Bulmers inter-club festival at Rosslare.

GALWAY GOLF CLUB go in search of a rare treble at Rosslare this week when they contest the finals of the Bulmers Irish Senior and Junior Cups and Barton Shield.

THIS is a huge week for golf in Ireland and Britain with at least four major tournaments down for decision.

Charlie Mulqueen

TWO great old warriors waged a titanic struggle in yesterday's Munster final of the Bulmers Irish Senior Cup at Muskerry before Dermot Morris carried the day for Limerick Golf Club by getting home at the third extra hole against Tom Cleary of Cork Golf Club.

CASTLETROY and Bandon qualified for the national semi-finals of the Bulmers Barton Shield and Irish Junior Cup at Shannon GC on September 16-18.

IT'S a family affair for Tramore GC as they go in search of a rare treble at this weekend's Bulmers Munster finals of the Irish Senior and Junior Cups and Barton Shield at Dungarvan GC.

MALLOW Golf Club go in search of their second Bulmers Irish Senior Cup title in three years when they travel to Lisburn for this week’s annual festival of club golf.

THE sun shone brightly on the picturesque Galway Golf Club course throughout yesterday during the final practice rounds for the Bulmers Irish Cups and Shields finals beginning at the Salthill venue this morning.

The quarter-finals have taken place in the Barton Shield qualifiers.

Round 2 Results from Ballina Golf Club for 2002 GUI Barton Shield (Connacht):