Dundalk players were in action in Sotogrande and Belfast over the past few days.
Caolan Rafferty finished T25 and helped Ireland to a fifth place finish at the European Nations Championship in Sotogrande. He shot rounds of 72, 72, 74 and 75 and was second best of the Irish quartet with Baltray’s Stuart Grehan finishing T10 on four under.
At the Flogas Irish Boys Championship in Malone Boys Captain Roan Norton Quigley was the only one of the three Dundalk competitors to make the cut. He finished the 54 hole event at T30 on 15 over after rounds of 75, 77 and 73. His final round of 73 saw him climb eight places on the leaderboard after he shot 15 pars and three bogeys.
​The other Dundalk representatives were Odhran MacShane and Cameron Kilcoyne.

The Wednesday Open on April 15 was won by Ciaran Flanagan who shot an excellent 41pts off 15 in difficult conditions.
Wednesday, April 15 – Open Singles Stableford - Ciaran Flanagan (15) 41pts.

Kenneth Carins good early season form continued over the weekend of April 11 and 12 when, playing off 15, he won the singles stableford competition with a superb score of 47pts.
Cairns finished  four points clear of Aidan Gaughran (20) who took second place overall having finished one point ahead of a number of players on 42pts.
One of those was Conor Murray (10) whose 42pts earned him the honours in Division 1 ahead of another in-form player Robert O’Hanlon (6) who shot 41pts.
Paolo Cordiano (12) also shot 42pts to take Division 2 ahead of Malcolm Drake who carded 41pts while in Division 3 countback was needed to separate Adrian Corcoran (25) and Danny O’Brien (32) after both had finished on 42pts.
Saturday, April 11 and Sunday, April 12 – Singles Stablesford – Overall: Kenneth Cairns (15) 47pts, Aidan Gaughran (20) 43pts. Division 1: Conor Murray (10) 42pts, Robert O'Hanlon (6) 41pts (Last Nine Countback). Division 2: Paolo Cordiano (12) 42pts, Malcolm Drake (14) 41pts  (Last Nine Countback). Division 3: Adrian Corcoran (25) 42pts (Last Nine Countback). Danny O'Brien (32) 42pts

An open singles stableford competition was held on Easter Monday and saw Jonathon Deeny (18) take the honours with an excellent score of 42pts from Headfort’s Joseph O’Shaughnessy (21) who finished with 40pts.
The Wednesday Open saw Colm McCourt deliver a whopping 44pts off 36 to win by four points from the in-form Robert O’Hanlon (6), who picked up his second prize of the week by winning Division 1, and John McEneaney (26) who won Division 3 for the second successive week. Declan Conlon (20) shot 38pts win Division 2.
Monday, April 6 – Open Singles Stableford – Jonathon Deeny (18) 42pts, Joseph O’Shaughnessy (21, Headfort) 40pts.
Wednesday, April 8 - Open Singles Stableford – Overall: Colm Mc Court (36) 44pts. Division 1: Robert O'Hanlon (6) 40pts. Division 2: Declan Conlon (20) 38pts. Division 3: John McEneaney (26) 40pts.

Ben O’Connor led home the 16 qualifiers for the Harry Walsh Cup with a super score of 37pts off 18.
He edged out Oisin Cairns (20) by one point for the leading qualifier accolade and now enters the matchplay stage as the top seed. He has been drawn against Kieran Lally in the first round while Cairns will face Noel McGuinness.
The Harry Walsh Cup is restricted to those with a minimum handicap index of 17 and the cut mark for the 16 places in the matchplay stage fell at 31pts.
The qualifier was part of the singles stableford competition played over the Easter weekend which was won by Conor Conroy. Playing off 15 he shot 39pts on the green course and that was one point better than Dermot McKenna (16) who finished on 38pts.
McKenna’s had to settle for winning Division 2 by one point from Rbert Lynch (13) while Division 1 was won by Robert O’Hanlon (4) although he needed a last nine countback to pip Austin Shaw (8) after both had tied on 39pts.
Division 3, which catered for handicap indexes above 16.6, was effectively the qualifying competition for the Harry Walsh as O’Connor and Cairns filled the top positions.
Saturday, April 4 and Sunday, April 5 – Singles Stableford and Harry Walsh Cup Qualifier – Overall: Conor Conroy (15) 39pts. Division 1: Robert O'Hanlon (4) 37pts (Last Nine Countback), Austin Shaw (8) 37pts (Last Nine Countback). Division 2: Dermot McKenna (16) 38pts, Robert Lynch (13) 37pts. Division 3: Ben O'Connor (18) 37pts, Oisin Cairns (20) 36pts (Last Nine Countback).
Harry Walsh Cup – Matchplay Draw 2026 - Round 1: Ben O’Connor v Kieran Lally, Bill McCarthy v Oliver McGinnity, Michael Noone v Andrew Lynch, John McEneaney v Johannes Steenvoorden, Eamon Kelly v Eddie McArdle, George Rogers v John Laverty, Kevin Callan v Danny O’Brien, Oisin Cairns v Noel McGuinness.
ENDS

Caolan Rafferty's bid to win a second West of Ireland championship ended at the quarter-final stage on Eastern Monday when he was beaten by the eventual winner Mark Cadden from Roganstown.
Rafferty qualified for the matchplay stage after being tied third following a one over par 72 in the first qualifying round. Bad weather forced the postponement of the second and final qualifying round so the 64 qualifiers were decided on their first round scores with Rafferty being joined by Ben Cahill after shooting a 77 while Eoin Murphy bowed out after a nine over par 80.
In the first round of matchplay Rafferty beat Slieve Russell’s Seamus Cullen 2&1 while Cahill went down by 2&1 to The Island’s Cian Harkin. Harkin went on to reach the semi-finals where he was beaten 1up by the tournament’s runner-up Colm Campbell from Warrenpoint.
Rafferty booked his place in the last 16 with a 3&1 victory over James Hewitt from Tandragee and then made the last eight with a 3&2 win over Portmarnock’s Eoin Sullivan.
However, his hopes of winning the first major championship of the season ended at the quarter-final stage when he lost 6&5 to Cadden who never looked back after opening up an early lead.
There was good news for Rafferty afterwards as he was selected on the Ireland team for the European Nations Championship which takes place in Spain at Real Club de Golf in Sotogrande.
The Championship will be played over 72 holes as individual strokeplay over four consecutive days. After each round, the three best individual scores from each men’s team and the two best individual scores from each women’s team will count. The individual winner will be the player with the lowest aggregate scratch score.
​The other members of the Ireland team are John Doyle (Fota Island), Stuart Grehan (County Louth), Matthew McClean (Malone), Olivia Costello (Roscommon), Anna Dawson (Tramore) and Emma Fleming (Elm Park).

DGC’s Social Committee is delighted to invite members and friends to a Fashion Show in the clubhouse this Thursday, 9 April at 12.00pm, in association with Modern Fashions and Ruby Nu.

This promises to be a relaxed and enjoyable lunchtime event, showcasing the latest styles and offering a great opportunity to socialise and support the club’s social calendar.

It would be fantastic to see as many members as possible in attendance, and non‑members are very welcome too — so please feel free to bring along friends or guests.
​
We hope you can join us.

The Ladies Interclub season kicks off next Saturday 11 April with the Carlton Cup team taking on Ashfield GC at 4.10pm in Dundalk.

On Sunday 12 April, the Revive Active Fourball take on Balbriggan in a first rounds clash. There will be two pairings at home and two pairings away. The home pairings tee off at 3.20pm. 

​All support is greatly appreciated as always!

Entries for this year's Gents Foursomes and Mixed Foursomes Match Play Competitions are now being taken.
​To enter please write the names of the two players on an envelope, enclose the entry fee of €10 (per pair) and post in the box provided in the Bar. The closing date for entries is Monday, April 27.

The Wednesday Opens returned on April 1 with visitor Shane Donohue from Mannan Castle winning after shooting an impressive 42pts off 12.
​Home players took the three divisional prizes with Dean King (7) carding 39pts to take Division 1 on a last nine countback. Division 2 was won by Michael Browne (21) with 37pts while John McEneaney (26) shot 40pts to take Division 3.  
Wednesday, April 1 – Wednesday Open Singles Stableford – Overall: Shane Donohue (12, Mannan Castle) 42pts. Division 1 Dean King (7) 39pts (Last Nine Countback). Division 2: Michael Browne (21) 37pts. Division 3: John McEneaney (26) 40pts.