Conor Conroy won the Cochrane Cup over the May Bank Holiday weekend with an excellent score of 63 nett to beat Tony O’Connell by one shot.
Playing off 16 Conroy shot 79 gross after a round that saw him birdie the par five seventh and par the first, fifth and sixth on the front nine as he turned in 40 gross. He went one shot better down the back nine where he began with pars on the 10th, 11th and 12th before adding three more pars at the 14th, 15th and 17thin a round that was free of double bogeys.
O’Connell, playing off 17, shot 81 gross with a round that matched Conroy with one birdie and eight pars but also included a double bogey at the par four 11th.  The birdie came at the 10th with the front pars coming at the fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth as he went out in 41 gross. He came back in 40 gross helped by pars at the 12th, 13th, 15th and 18th.
O’Connell won Division 2 by two shots from Malcolm Drake (13) while Division 3 was won by David Williams (24) whose 68 nett was one better than Paul Culligan (25).
In Division 1 the evergreen Austin Shaw rolled back the years to shoot 66 nett off a handicap of nine with Dennis Cunningham (11) taking the runners-up spot after a 69 nett.
Saturday, May 2 and Sunday, May 3 – Cochrane Cup Singles Stroke – Overall: Conor Conroy (16) 63. Division 1: Austin Shaw (9) 68, Dennis Cunningham (11) 69. Division 2: Tony O'Connell (17) 64, Malcolm Drake (13) 66. Division 3: David Williams (24) 68, Paul Culligan (25) 69.

 Dara Herr led home the 233 players who took part in the Gold Medal Qualifier which took place over the Blue Course on the last weekend of April.
Playing off 17, the big hitting Herr shot a gross score of 80 for a nett total of 63 and took the leading qualifier accolade by three shots from Maciek Dobros (22) who shot an 88 gross for a nett 66.
Herr got off to a great start with three consecutive pars and then bogeyed the index one fourth and the par three fifth. Another par at the sixth was followed by a bogey at the par five seventh and he closed the back nine with two fours as he went out in 40 gross.
He stated the back nine with a six at the five 10th and then parred the index two 11th before recording his only double bogey of the day with a seven at the par five 12th and a bogey four at the par three 13th.
However, a par at the 14th and a birdie at the tricky par four 15th got his round back on track and he closed with a bogey five at the long 16th and pars at the 17th and 18th to come home in 40 gross.
Dobros took the Division 3 honours with his round featuring eight pars and second place in this category went to the in-form Sean Hoey (39) who shot a nett 68.
Division 2 was won by Patrick Clarke (15) with a 68 nett which was one shot better than Colm Garvey (17) who took the runners-up spot on countback.
Brian Gaughran (13) with an 83 gross took Division 1 on countback from Stephen Lynch (11) after both finished on 70 nett.
Ben Cahill had the best gross score with a two over par 74 that included a birdie four at the 12th, 14 pars and three bogeys as he went out in 38 and came home in 36.   
Saturday, April 25 and Sunday, April 26 -  Gold Medal Qualifier Singles Stroke – Overall: Dara Herr (17) 63. Division 1: Brian Gaughran (13) 70 (Last Six Countback), Stephen Lynch (11) 70. Division 2: Patrick Clarke (15) 68, Colm Garvey (17) 69 (Last Nine Countback). Division 3: Maciek Dobros (22) 66, Sean Hoey (39) 68. Best Gross: Ben Cahill 74.

​The inter-club season got underway over the weekend with wins for the Pierce Purcell and Irish Mixed Foursomes teams.
The Pierce Purcell team had an excellent 3-1 win over Luttrellstown with John McKeever and Martin Cairns winning 3&2 in Dundalk while Ultan Herr and Padraig Fallon won 2up away. The half point secured by Captain Michael O’Sullivan and Padraig Hassett in Dundalk secured the win with the other away pairing, Andrew Shekleton and Peter Moran, all square after 17 when called in. The team now face Portmarnock’s Jameson Links in the second round.
The Irish Mixed Foursomes team had a 3-1 over Co Louth in their opening round match. In Dundalk, Niall Henry and Laura Kilboy won 5&3 while Conall Murdock and Angie O’Hara won 6&5. In Baltray, Mark Gorham and Sinead O’Callaghan were beaten 5&4 but Paul Murphy and Amanda Reenan had a brilliant 4&3 win to secure Dundalk’s place in the next round where they will face Killeen Castle.
There was no joy for JB Carr team as they lost 4-1 to Greenore in the Louth semi-final.
This weekend sees the Boys Foursomes team away to Headfort on Saturday at 2pm while on Sunday the Jimmy Bruen team meet Greenore at 3pm.   

Conor Murphy led home the 16 qualifiers for the Carolan Cup and won the singles stableford competition sponsored by Cllr Shane and Orla McGuinness which was played over the weekend of April 18 and 19.
Playing off 23, he shot 87 gross for a nett 64 and won by two shots from Sean Hoey (38), Alan Joynt (16) and Sean Hoey (38) who all shot 66 nett.
Hoey took the Division 3 honours on countback from Reid while Joynt won Division 2 by one shot from Edward Lawrence (18).
Gerry Mulligan, playing off 10, was the Division 1 winner. He shot 77 gross for 67 nett which was one ahead of the evergreen Austin Shaw (9).
 The cut for Carolan Cup fell at 69/34.5 with the 16 qualifiers split into two groups based on handicap. Murphy will be the top seed in the high group and was drawn to face David Brennan in the first round while Joynt is top seed in the low group and will meet Senan Duffy in the opening round.
Saturday, April 18 and Sunday, April 19 - Singles Stroke and Carolan Cup Qualifier sponsored by Councillor Shane and Orla McGuinness - Overall: Conor Murphy(23) 64. Division 1: Gerry Mulligan (10) 67, Austin Shaw (9) 68.  Division 2:  Alan Joynt (16) 66, Edward Lawrence (18) 67. Division 3: Sean Hoey (38) 66 Last Nine Countback, Jack Reid (20) 66. Best Gross: Senan Duffy 73.
Carolan Cup 2026 Draw – First Round - Senan Duffy v Alan Joynt, Austin Shaw v Dara Herr, Gerry Mulligan v Peter Moran (Jnr), Malcolm Drake v Charles P Monahan, Brendan McDonnell v Sean Hoey, Edward Lawrence v Mark Thornton, Jack Reid v Kieran Lally, David Brennan v Conor Murphy.

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