Strength in depth and team bonding will be bigger factors than ever this year as Carton House go in search a first All Ireland title in the 2020 AIG Cups & Shields.

The insurance giants AIG launched the massive inter-club event at GUI headquarters this week where Carton House’s Irish International standout Keith Egan revealed that the Kildare club is gunning for its first coveted green pennant this season.

The Leinster champions were devastated to lose by one hole to Senior Cup specialists Galway Golf Club in last year’s AIG Senior Cup final at Westport. But they have high hopes of going all the way this year in the blue riband inter-club event.

“We have an unbelievably good panel with lads back from college in the US such as Marc Boucher and Jack Doherty,” said Egan, who earned his first Irish cap last year. “We are just keeping our fingers crossed that the coronavirus allows us to finish out the season and we can contend for an All Ireland title.”

After losing in the final of the South of Ireland Championship, Egan (27) is determined to win an individual title this term with the AIG Irish Amateur Close at Rosapenna (Oct. 9-11) one of his goals.

But as far as club golf goes, he’s determined to help Carton House make up for the disappointment of last year by helping the team go all the way to the AIG Cups & Shields Finals at Donegal Golf Club from October 15-18.

“We have 10 guys who have championship experience so it is a very strong squad,” said Egan, who will be looking to the likes of former East of Ireland winner Paul O’Hanlon and the vastly experienced Gary McDermott and Desmond Morgan and the talented Eoin Sullivan, Colm Cunningham and Darragh Flynn for inspiration.

“We lost by one hole in the All Ireland final to Galway at Westport last year but to have Marc Boucher back from college in the US gives us an even stronger team and the whole panel is taking it very seriously again this year.

“Losing to Galway really stung last year and the club is determined to go one better this year because we are still waiting to win our first green pennant at senior level.

“We beat Enniscorthy to win the Leinster title last year and we were delighted to do that. If you can get out of Leinster, where there are so many good teams, you have a phenomenal chance of winning an All Ireland title.

“With the way it’s set up this year, it’s much more of a panel effort than ever before. We have a very competitive panel and we really want to win for each other, there’s great team bonding and it means a lot to us.”

Westport (AIG Junior Cup), Tandragee (AIG Jimmy Bruen Shield), Charleville (AIG Pierce Purcell Shield) and Limerick (AIG Barton Shield) collected the silverware in last year’s GUI finals.

The AIG Ladies Cups and Shields were cancelled in May, however, which means that Limerick (AIG Junior Cup), Mullingar (AIG Intermediate Cup), New Forest (AIG Minor Cup), East Cork (AIG Challenge Cup), Portumna (AIG Junior Foursomes), and Limerick (AIG Senior Foursomes) will reign until next year.

Aidan Connaughton, Head of Personal Insurance at AIG Ireland said: “We're delighted with the relationships we have built with both the GUI and ILGU over the years and we hope that both the unions and their members have benefited from our commitment to them.

“In spite of the challenges faced in recent times, we're looking forward to the golf action and want to wish everyone involved the very best of luck in their respective competitions."

To celebrate the start of the campaign, AIG Insurance revealed that GUI and ILGU members who take out car or home insurance with AIG will not only be able to avail of discounted rates but will also be able to claim further savings on car and home insurance including free golf club equipment cover up to €2,000 if stolen from a locked car boot. For a quote, go to www.aig.ie/golfer