Leinster's Ryder prize: Two players each from six Leinster clubs will enjoy two days at the Ryder Cup at The K Club in September after their 12½ -5½ victory over Munster in the final of the AIB Christy O'Connor Jnr Challenge.
A total of 63 clubs from Munster, 89 from Leinster, 45 from Ulster and 26 from Connacht teed off in the provincial heats in May to determine which pairs would represent their province in the final.
The winners of the challenge will each receive a fantastic prize that includes tickets to the Ryder Cup and overnight accommodation.
The successful Leinster team were Royal Tara (Johnny Geraghty and Joan Neylon), Mount Temple (David Reynolds and Anne Cassidy), Coollattin (Ronan Doyle and Hilary O'Brien), Ashbourne (Justin McCarthy and Helen Donoghue), Hollywood Lakes (Mark Egan and Sharon Dolan) and Castle Barna (Stephen Egan and Kathleen Elliot).
Runners-up Munster were represented by East Cork (Paul McNamara and Margaret Quill), Fota Island (Johnny O'Connor and Marie O'Driscoll), Rathbane (Eddie Costello and Jude Byrne), Lismore (Pat Bennett and Marie Condon), Dromoland (Nicholas Duggan and Mary Arthur) and Clonmel (Toddy O'Brien and Shauna O'Brien).
They receive one-day Ryder Cup tickets for each team member and a guest.
Four for young masters
Four up-and-coming stars will represent Ireland in the European Young Masters at Styrain Golf Club, Murhof, Austria, on July 27th-29th.
Luke Lennox (Moyola Park) and Kevin Metcalfe (Mullingar) will be joined by Sarah Cunningham from Ennis and Stephanie Meadow from Portrush for the annual 54-hole event.
Lennox finished third in the Leinster Youths' Championship at Seapoint last month, while Metcalfe won last year's Leinster Boys' Under-15 Close Championship at Ashbourne Golf Club. Cunningham was a member of last year's winning Ennis team in the Senior Cup, while Meadow was last week crowned Ulster girls champion.
Spain's Sergio Garcia won the European Young Masters at Wentworth in 1995 by a record margin of 14 strokes. The best finish by an Irish player was in 2003 when Holywood's Rory McIlroy finished second at Augsburg Golf Club in Germany.
Grange hosts Boys'
The Allianz Dublin Boys' Championship will be held at the Grange Golf Club on Friday, August 11th. The 36-hole event is open to boys under 16 on August 11th, the handicap limit is 16 and closing date for entries is July 28th.
Two for Leinster finals
Newlands and Carton House have booked their places in the Leinster finals of the Holmpatrick Cup at PGA National on September 3rd. The Dublin County decider saw 16 clubs contest the final at St Anne's where Newlands came out on top.
Carton House's John Gerard Moorhead (2) and David Osborne, off four, secured the Kildare slot at the Leinster final when they outscored a six-club field with 41 points
This competition, in its 74th year, is a fund-raiser for the National Council for the Blind of Ireland. The 36-hole final will take place on the New and Old Courses at St Andrews in October.
Kerry tops in Mallow
Kerry dominated the AA Insurance Ladies Championships at Mallow last week, winning both the Junior Cup and the Intermediate Cup. Killarney Golf Club added to Ardfert's win in the Junior Foursomes on Friday when they had a convincing 3-1 win over near neighbours Tralee. The top three Killarney women, Ailish Mulcahy, Mary Geaney and Mary O'Doherty, won their matches to secure victory in this inaugural Junior Cup.
Ballybunion won the Intermediate Cup with a 3-2 win over Cahir Park, with Nuala Lynch clinching the title for Ballybunion with a 2 and 1 win over Marie Keating.
East Cork kept the Cork flag flying in a nail-biting finish with Nenagh in the Minor Cup.
Nenagh won the top two matches with Ber Kavanagh and Mary Meaney recording victories, but Phil Sheehan and Gretta Conner levelled matters.
Carmel Moloney, East Cork's fifth player was five up after 12 but had to fight for her life as Christine Dore won three holes in a row, leaving Moloney dormie after the 16th. She duly sank a four-foot putt on the 17th to win the hole and give East Cork the title on a 3-1 margin.
The All-Ireland finals are at Headfort Golf Club, on October 4th-6th.
Reed British junior ace
The 2006 Junior British Open champion is Patrick Reed of the United States. The joint leader with Ben Enoch of Wales after two rounds, he opened up a significant gap with a final round of 74 for a 54-hole total of 217. That put him three shots clear of a second place tie between Jungeun Han of the Republic of Korea and Maximilian Kraemer of Germany.
Enoch slipped back into a five-way tie for fourth with Asako Fujimoto (Japan), Bertine Strauss (South Africa), Cristiano Terragni (Italy) and Jennifer Johnson (United States). Ireland's Garth Boyd finished on 229 after rounds of 77, 76 and 76.
The silver medal, for players with handicaps between four and nine, was won by Amanjyot Singh of India with rounds of 77and 75 for a 36-hole total of 152, five shots ahead of Nobuhle Dlamini of Swaziland, with Shuai Wu of China in third place on 160.
In the bronze division for handicaps of between 10 and 21, Saber Sahli of Tunisia led the way with rounds of 85 and 78 for a total of 163. Subhy Hakim of Lebanon finished second on 169, with Jonathon Newnham of Jamaica in third on 171.
Ireland's Hannah O'Brien had two rounds of 88 for 176.
Dunhill Munster's best
Scenes of great joy were witnessed when Dunhill GAA club in Waterford were crowned Munster champions in the FBD All-Ireland GAA Golf Challenge at Thurles Golf Club.
The quartet of club vice-chairman Donal Murphy (11), intercounty footballer Derry Kiely (scr), Martin Murray (14) and juvenile mentor Brian Dunbar (14) totalled 87 points to edge out Murroe & Boher from Limerick and Shamrocks of Waterford.
Dunhill will now take on the best from Connacht, Leinster and Ulster in the All-Ireland finals at Faithlegg GC on September 9th-10th.
Competition debutants St Brigid's will represent Leinster following their one-point win over Round Towers of Clondalkin. Jason Ward and Niall Coyne shot 43 points while Martin Cahill and Martin Prior added 42.
In Ulster, Derrygonnelly Harps from Fermanagh, represented by Pat Duffy, Patsy Byrnes, Dermot Byrnes and Gerard Dundas, held off the challenge of St Michael's, Armagh, with Drumragh Sarsfields from Tyrone taking third place.
The Connacht final takes place at Claremorris GC on August 11th.
McDonough the ace
While the pros battled it out at Royal Liverpool for their Major championship, their amateur counterparts at Galway Golf Club contested their own "Major" in the shape of Captain Serge Bruzzi's prize.
The conclusion, however, was arguably a more exciting affair than Hoylake, the prize being decided by way of a nine-hole play-off with the top 27 golfers from both Saturday and Sunday qualifying for the shoot-out.
To say the finale was dramatic would be an understatement, as the eventual winner, Owen McDonough, included a hole-in-one at the second en route to his 27-hole tally of 57 points (22 on the third nine), defeating Tom Keady on a countback.
Third place went to Liam McCallion on 56 with Kieran Murphy also on the same mark. Damien Glynn won the gross with 48.
skeenan@irish-times.ie
