Monkstown Golf Club came in for lots of praise last week after their successful hosting of the Irish PGA Championship.
One of the oldest professional championships in the world, the 115th staging is the showpiece event of the PGA Irish Region tour, and it returned to Cork for the first time since 1997 when Fota Island hosted the event.
With the course in great condition, Monkstown put on a show from start to finish. The action started on Monday with a sold-out Pro-Am where Neil O’Briain, Dick Dunlea, Dan Cronin and Brian Kenny were the winners.
After three days of championship play, the winner was former European Tour player and winner, Simon Thornton.
The Down man held court for the three days, shooting rounds of 66, 69 and 66 to claim a wire-to-wire victory.
Thornton was a three time winner of the Irish PGA Championship and was delighted to add his name to the famous trophy for a fourth time.
“I’m absolutely delighted. Yesterday I was a little disappointed coming off the golf course but I played lovely today.
“Bogeyed the first, fair enough, I knew there was a long way to go and from there I hit some good shots.
“My putting really came to life on the back nine when I needed it. Clutch putts on 16 and 17, couple of bad tee shots and in the moment I didn’t know where I was but to win I am just delighted.”
He could afford to coast down the last and drop a shot but it was enough to seal an emotional victory with his son Ryan caddying for him.
“I knew only being a couple under par around that stage I was probably one clear, or level or even one behind!
“To have those three birdies in quick succession, played a lovely shot on 14, to get those quickly gave me some daylight between the rest of the field.”
Having his 13 year old son on the bag was a bonus for Thornton.
“It’s great to have Ryan, he’s just starting out on his golfing journey so for him to experience that and to understand the game a little bit more when it’s coming down the stretch to keep breathing, stay in the moment.
“He’s 13 he wants to hit driver and go for the green and all that stuff but it’s been a great week for me.
“That’s what golf is all about, he was very excited this morning and if we take it too seriously the good golf isn’t going to come from that, it was a nice distraction but we worked well together in the end I was asking him a few wind questions and he seems to be learning.
Hopefully it’s a job as a golfer and not a caddie he gets!”
Naturally the winner was likely to say that he liked the course, but there was an important line in his press conference on Tuesday after shooting -4 in his opening round.
“You’re hitting most of the clubs in the bag, which I always find if you do that, then you’re playing a good golf course.”
Nine Cork golfers made the cut for the final day, including both Monkstown professionals – Cian McManara and Shane Irwin. Wayne O’Callaghan finished as the best Cork golfer after rounds of 73, 70 and 74, he was one ahead of David Barry from Douglas.
PGA Captain David Scott was generous in his praise of Monkstown.
He commented on the huge number of volunteers that supported the event over the four days, and the large number of members who followed the golf on the final day and in particular the final two groups.
The GM of Fife Golf Club in Scotland was impressed with the warm welcome and smiling faces from everyone he met during the week.
It was also a busy weekend in Monkstown, as the club saw 400 members play in Martin Stewart’s President’s Prize.
The competition ran over Friday and Saturday and the greenkeeping team had a quick turnaround to prepare the course after the play finished on Thursday evening.
The winner was Derek O’Connor with a score of 43 points.
