Another quality field will be seeking early season form for the championships in the Bank of Ireland sponsored Castletroy Senior Scratch Cup on May 26    

First contested in 1948, it's one of the oldest and most prestigious scratch cups in the country with a list of past winners that includes such greats as JB Carr, Liam Higgins, Vincent Nevin and Des Smyth.  
 
Gary O’Flaherty, Niall Gorey, Eddie McCormack, Mark Shanahan, Alan Thomas, Eamonn Haugh, John Kavanagh, Michael O’Kelly and Peter Sheehan have also lifted this prestigious trophy.  

Mallow's James Sugrue, who would go on to win the South of Ireland title at Lahinch, shot rounds of 72 and 69 to win on three-under-par last year.

It's a major event for Munster golfers as it counts in the Munster Senior Golf “Order of Merit” which is used to select the team for the Senior Interprovincial matches.   

Currently ranked at 64th in Ireland and measuring almost 7,000 yards off the back tees, the course is a serious test of golf and last year 14 players with “plus” handicaps and 10 “scratch men” tried their luck over 36 holes.

How to enter Castletroy Senior Scratch Cup

• Call Castletroy Golf Club at (061) 335 753 or email golf@castletroygolfclub.ie.  
• Handicap limit 4 — confined to the lowest 72 entrants
• Gunshot starts on May 26 — 9 am / 2.30 pm
• Entry fee — €30 (includes lunch). 
• Closing date — 5 pm, Thursday, 24 May