South of Ireland Championship: Royal Dublin's Niall Kearney defeated Paul O'Hanlon from the Curragh in today's final to claim the South of Ireland Championship at Lahinch Golf Club.

The 20-year-old defeated O'Hanlon 4 and 3 in the final to secure his first senior title.

Despite losing the opening hole after three-putting, the champion regained his composure to reach the turn three up. O'Hanlon got a hole back at the par three 11th but Kearney always seemed to be in control before closing the match out at the 15th.

"It feels great, my first senior championship," beamed Kearney after the final. "I have been waiting for a long time but I played great. There were no excuses today.

"I got off to a poor start in both matches but I came back well and showed a bit of character," he added referring to the manner of both his semi-final and final wins. "I stayed patient all day and made some putts around the turn in both matches and managed to hold on."

Kearney defeated Aaron O'Callaghan from Douglas 3 and 2 in this morning's semi-final, while O'Hanlon won by the same margin against Lee Valley's Niall Gorey in the other semi-final.

South of Ireland Championship results

Final:
Niall Kearney (Royal Dublin) defeated Paul O'Hanlon (The Curragh) 4 and 3

Semi-finals:
Paul O'Hanlon (The Curragh) defeated Niall Gorey (Lee Valley) 3 and 2
Niall Kearney (Royal Dublin) defeated Aaron O'Callaghan (Douglas) 3 and 2