Sport

All-Ireland medals on offer to club golfers

Club golfers throughout the country are to have the opportunity of becoming All-Ireland medal winners

By Dermot Gilleece
Thu Apr 18 2002 - 01:00

Club golfers throughout the country are to have the opportunity of becoming All-Ireland medal winners. It will come in a new competition for men and women, which was launched at Clontarf GC yesterday with the imprimatur of the GUI and the ILGU.

The Ulster Bank All-Ireland Medal will have a potential field of 220,000 golfers, including 46,500 women, from 392 clubs. And the inaugural winners will be decided in this year's final at Glasson GC on Friday, October 4th, when gold, silver and bronze medals for both genders, will be presented.

The qualifiers will be the monthly medal winners from all competing clubs, who will play off in provincial finals at six venues in August and September.

"Our objective is to take the monthly medal status to a higher level," said Dara McMahon of the sponsoring company.

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Though women and men are to play alongside each other in what ILGU President, Cathy Smith, described as "a helpful development in the context of the equality factor", there is a minor variation in the conditions of play.

Whereas men's monthly medal competitions produce an overall winner, women have so-called silver and bronze categories for players with handicaps up to 20 and from 21 to a maximum of 40. So, the players with the best net will qualify.

Then, each participating club will have a play-off involving its monthly medal winners from last season and up to July of this year.

"I would anticipate a tremendous response, if only for the cachet which attaches to an All-Ireland medal," said GUI honorary secretary Gerry O'Brien.

PROVINCIAL QUALIFIERS - Ulster: Edenmore GC, August 15th and Moyola Park, August 20th; Leinster: The Heath, August 30th and Hollywood Lakes, September 6th; Munster: Castleisland, September 12th; Connacht: Roscommon, TBA.

Vijay Singh has postponed his visit to India for an invitational skins event scheduled for tomorrow. Singh, who was to play with Indian stars Arjun Atwal and Harmeet Kahlon, and cricket legend Kapil Dev, withdrew due to a foot injury sustained during the recent Augusta Masters.