Dundalk Golf Club’s bid to win a second national title came up short over the weekend when they were beaten in the All-Ireland Junior Cup semi-final by the eventual winners Athenry.
 
Athlone Golf Club on the banks of Lough Ree was the venue for the All-Ireland finals with the eigh men’s and women’s regional qualifiers from across Ireland arriving in search of this year’s green pennant.
 
Dundalk faced Monaghan’s Rossmore in the quarter-final on Friday and the Ulster South champions showed that their regional final win over Royal County Down was no fluke as the match was only decided on the 18th hole of the final match.
 
At that stage the teams were level at 2-2. Teenager Odhran MacShane secured Dundalk’s first point with an emphatic 5&4 win over Dermot McCrystal having led from the opening hole.
 
Behind him, player-manager Brian Og Renaghan also got his nose in front at the first and never looked back, eventually winning 6&4 against Ashley White.
 
The loss of five consecutive holes from the ninth proved to be Conor Murphy’s undoing as he lost 5&4 to Eoin McGinnity while Gerard Carroll lost 2&1 after being two up at the turn against Darren McQuaid.
 
It all came down to the final match between Clem Walshe and Daniel McCrossan. There was never more than one hole between them and they were all square when they stood on the 18th tee.
 
Both found the fairway with McCrossan enjoying a slice of luck when his drive ricocheted off the trees on the left into the middle of the fairway. Walshe pulled his approach left of the green while McCrossan went right into the trees and could only chip out. He then failed to find the green with his next two attempts and when his sixth shot failed to get close to the pin he conceded the hole and the match.  
 
The win earned Dundalk a Saturday morning semi-final against Athenry who had beaten Masserene 3.5 to 1.5 in their quarter-final.
                                                          
There was one personnel change to Friday’s team with Ciaran Traynor coming in for Carroll while Renaghan took over the number one spot with Murphy moving to three.
 
After eight holes it was looking good for Dundalk. Renaghan was two up against Fergal Coyle, MacShane was  six up against Jamie Holland, Murphy was one up against Ciaran Coughlan, and Walshe was one up against Brendan Dunne while Traynor, in match four, was three down against Nathan Mullins.
 
However, by the time MacShane closed out his match on the 13th hole for a superb 6&5 win, Traynor was heading for a 6&4 defeat while the other three matches were now all square.
 
In the top match Renaghan lost three successive holes from the 15th to lose 3&1 while Walshe lost 16 and 17 to lose 2&1. Murphy and Coughlan were all square going down the 20th when they were called in.
 
It was a narrow defeat for Dundalk but there was some consolation later in the day when Athenry brushed aside Abbeyleix in the final winning 4-1 with two of the matches called in.   
 
Friday, September 6 and Saturday, September 7 - All-Ireland Junior Cup Finals – Quarter-Finals: Athenry 3.5 Monkstown 1.5, Dundalk 3 Rossmore 2, Castletroy 2 Monkstown 3, Castle 1 Abbeyleix 4. Semi-Finals: Athenry 3.5 Dundalk 1.5, Monkstown 2 Abbeyleix 3. Final: Athenry 4 Abbeyleix 1.
  

​Our Junior Cup team have reached the All-Ireland semi-final after a 3-2 win over Rossmore in today’s quarter-final in Athlone Golf Club.
There were wins for Odhran MacShane, Brian Og Renaghan and Clem Walsh.
The team will now face Athenry in the semi-final tomorrow morning at 8.45pm.
Monkstown and Abbeyleix will meet the other semi-final with the final taking place at 2.15pm.
Congratulations to the team managers, players, and caddies on a great win today and good luck tomorrow.

With a round that included three birdies and eleven pars Maurice Soraghan (10), with 45 points, emerged the winner of the weekend 18 holes Single Stableford competition.
 
He put together a solid outward nine, parring the opening par four first hole for three points, tagged on three pointers with a par at the par four fourth hole and a birdie two at the fifth to add to a string of two pointers at the other holes as he reached the turn with 21 points.
 
Maurice surged on the closing nine, birding the par five 12th and par four 15th for four pointers. He boosted his score further with three pointers at the par four 12th and 18th holes and delivered two points at each of the remaining holes to come home in 24 points.
 
Runner up Gordon Corry (19), on 44 points, produced a memorable front nine of 26 points that included two four pointers and four three pointers. His back nine proved more of a struggle but was highlighted with four three pointers.
 
The divisional winners were Fergal Harte (5), Peter O’Brien (18) and Michael Noone (23).
 
A display of solid, consistent scoring on both nines saw Paul O’Hare (36) with a final tally of 46 points emerge as the clear winner of the midweek Open Singles Stableford sponsored by McKenna Man.
 
Paul opened on the par four first and second holes with three pointers, tagged on another three points at the index one fourth hole before adding a brace of four pointers with pars at the par three fifth and ninth holes to turn in 23 points.
 
He maintained his consistent run of scoring on the closing nine, with five three pointers and a run of two pointers to come home with another 23 points.
The Divisional 1 winner and gross recognition honours went to Joseph Laverty (1)
with 40 points. The other divisional winners were R McKeag (16) and Declan Conlon
(23).

It was a particularly memorable day for Frank P Byrne (12) who had a hole in one on
the par three ninth hole.
 
Saturday, 31 August and Sunday, 1 September - 18 holes Singles Stableford – Overall: Maurice Soraghan (10) 45pts, Gordon Corry (19) 44pts. Division 1: Fergal Harte (5) 41 pts, Colin Roche (2) 39pts. Division 2: Peter O’Brien (18) 43pts, Ollie Reilly (15) 40pts. Division 3: Michael Noone (23) 42 pts, Conor Murphy (25) 39pts. Gross: Colin Roche (2) 37pts.

Wednesday, 4 September - McKenna Man Open Singles Stableford – Overall: Paul O’Hare (36) 46pts. Runner-up: Padraig Hassett (14) 42pts. Division 1: Joseph Laverty (1) 40 pts. Division 2: R McKeag (16, Portadown) 40pts. Division 3: Declan Conlon (23) 40pts. Gross Recognition: Joseph Laverty 39pts.

Twenty years after winning our first and only national title, Dundalk Golf Club will be bidding to land a second green pennant when we head to Athlone for the All-Ireland Junior Cup Finals on September 6 and 7.
Dundalk beat holders The Island to land the Leinster North Junior Cup title at the beginning of August in Greenore and will now face Ulster South champions Rossmore in the quarter-finals on Friday, September 6.
The Monaghan men caused a huge upset when they beat Royal County Down in the Ulster South final so the Dundalk lads will face a formidable test in their bid to earn a semi-final showdown with either Athenry or Masserene on Saturday morning.
Should they get through that they will face either Abbeyleix, Castle, Monkstown or Castletroy in the decider on Saturday afternoon.
After a bye in the first round, Dundalk opened their campaign with a 3.5 to 1.5 victory over Ardee and then beat Kilcock 3-2 in the next round.
That earned them a quarter-final tie against Beaverstown which they also won 3-2 before beating Corballis 4-1 in the semi-final.
The Leinster North final against The Island pitted the 2002 winners against the 2003 winners and in a nail-biting encounter Dundalk prevailed by the narrowest of margins, winning 3-2 with two of their wins coming on the 19th hole.
Player manager Brian Óg Renaghan feels that the manner of that victory will definitely stand to his team when they head to Athlone.
“It was a fantastic performance. There was nothing between the two teams and we showed great character to hang in when things weren’t going our way and eventually managed to get the three wins we needed,” said Renaghan.
Dundalk have an 11 strong panel from which eight will be selected for the finals series with five playing in each match. Assistant manager Des McKeown admits that the prospect of three matches in two days means the strength in depth of the squad will be severely tested.
“If we are going to win it, we will probably need all eight players at some stage. Obviously our focus is on Rossmore because we know what a difficult match that is going to be. Athlone is an undulating course which will be physically sapping so we will probably need to freshen things up on the Saturday if we make it that far,” said McKeown.
Dundalk’s only green pennant, which hangs proudly in the Clubhouse in Blackrock, was captured in September 2004 when they beat Kilkeel in Shannon to lift the Jimmy Bruen Shield with the experienced Fergal Harte the only link between then and now.
Captain Ultan Herr is hoping that the 20 year wait for a second national title will end this year. “We’ve come close over the past 20 years to winning a second green pennant so hopefully we can go the whole way this year. The Junior Cup team has done the Club proud all year and I know they will give it their very best in Athlone this weekend.” 
Schedule: Friday, September 6 - Quarter-final: Dundalk v Rossmore, 12:30pm. Saturday, September 7 – Semi-final: Dundalk or Rossmore v Athenry or Masserene, 8.45pm. Final: 2.15pm.  All matches in Athlone Golf Club.