Castle postpones All Ireland Father and Son Foursomes until 2022

Joe O'Hare (Captain, Castle Golf Club) with Ken McDonagh (Dawson Jewellers) presenting Matthew and Kevin Commins (Ardee / Cloverhill) with the 2019 Dawson Jewellers sponsored Father & Son Competition at the Castle Golf Club (14/07/2019). Also in the picture is Lee Healion (Tournament Chairman). Picture by Pat Cashman

Castle Golf Club has announced that the All-Ireland Father & Son Foursomes Competition, sponsored by Dawson Jewellers, will not take place in 2021.

Competition Committee Chairman, Lee Healion, said that “it has been decided that the All-Ireland Father & Son Foursomes competition will now not take place at the club in 2021.

“However, we are already making plans for the 60th edition of this great event to take place in July 2022 and we look forward to greeting all participants with our special Castle welcome at that time.”

In 2019, almost 400 golfers representing close to 100 different golf clubs participated in the qualifying rounds of an event renowned for its friendly atmosphere.

Kevin and Matthew Commins, playing out of Cloverhill and Ardee, overcame Stackstown’s Jonathan and Robert Rutledge in a competitive matchplay final, winning 5&4.

The Father and Son started in 1961 when some juveniles proposed the idea of a competition in which they could participate on a Saturday.

The Captain of the day, Gerry Garland, suggested a Father and Son Foursomes which was confined to Castle members in its first year.

The inaugural winners were Dick and Tom Lenehan and it was played over 18 holes stroke play. The following year it opened to other clubs and it continued as a stroke play event until 1964 when it became a matchplay tournament.

The first matchplay winners were Davy and Brian Knott and the rules of the competition have remained the same ever since.