Monkstown planning for future success

Another successful and dramatic week at the GUI Cups and Shields finals ended in style last Saturday at Carton House when Co Sligo were crowned AIG Senior Cup champions for the fifth time.

Their 19th hole victory over 2012 winners Castle GC in the final match for the blue riband of Irish men’s club golf took the Senior Cup back to Rosses Point for the first time since 2013, and made amends for the Connacht powerhouse’s defeat to Tramore in the 2014 final.

Yet for both champions and contenders alike at the week-long festival, staged for the third of a four-year run at Carton House, the national finals provided much pause for thought and a commitment to make a return journey for the 2017 deciders in 12 months.