Major sporting weekend ahead at Athlone Golf Club

Athlone Golf Club will be a hub of amateur sporting activity on Friday and Saturday as it hosts the All-Ireland finals of two inter-club competitions.

The club will host players from eight golf clubs nationwide as the semi-finals and finals of the AIG Men's Pierce Purcell Shield and the Women's Intermediate Foursomes take place on the Lough Ree championship course.

Speaking to Golf Ireland in advance of the All-Ireland finals, Golf Ireland President and Athlone Golf Club trustee, Michael Evans said the competition will be a "huge weekend for the club".

“The excitement is building,” said Evans.

“We've hosted many Golf Ireland events in the past, we’ve a proud tradition of welcoming visitors and assisting volunteers to run successful events but naturally, when it’s in your own club, you’re more apprehensive. I’m trying to help where I can, but at the same time, I don't want to interfere.

“The volunteers are actively involved in all sorts of planning, car parking, scoring, score-recording, ball-spotting. We had the quarter-finals there recently and we had a 90-year-old man eager to help us out in the car park and he got a hole-in-one the week before. That’s what it’s all about.

“The catering in Athlone Golf Club is award-winning and a lot of people turn up, so I’ve encouraged visitors to book in advance. We’re operating a shuttle from the car park beside the Hodson Bay Hotel, and we’re bringing people up and down.

“A lot of teams are already here practicing and enjoying the course. All I can say is best wishes to the teams and their supporters," Evans said.