Killian McDonnell won the latest round of the National Tiles and Flooring Autumn Series which was played over last weekend in September. Heavy rain on Sunday morning saw the course closed until 12.30pm which resulted in a greatly reduced field.
However, that shouldn’t take away from McDonnell’s performance as playing off 21 he shots 41pts to take the overall victory on a last nine countback from Cathal Connolly (12) who the only other player to break the 40pts barrier.
After failing to score on the opening two holes McDonnell bogeyed the next two holes to put five points on the board and he extended that to eight with a par on the fifth. One point followed for a seven on the sixth but a three-point bogey o the index three seventh and a three-point par on the eighth took him to 15pts and he turned on 17pts after a bogey four on the ninth.
Then he turned on the turbo and parred four of the next five holes as he added 15pts to his score which left him on 32pts with four holes to go.  A two-point bogeys on 15 and 16 were followed a four-point birdie two on the 17th and a one-point double bogey on the last for another nine points as he carded an impressive back nine score of 24pts.
That gave him a six-point cushion over Connolly when the last nine countback was totted up. Connolly had burst out of the traps, collecting nine points over the first three holes which included a four-point birdie three at the third. He covered the front nine in 23 points but could only manage 18pts on the back and had to settle for the runners-up spot and rue one-point double bogeys at the 12th and 18th holes.
Bobby McCarthy (8) shot 39pts to take Division 1 by two points from Niall Henry (+1) while Division 2 was won by Michael Clarke (14) whose score of 39pts was one better that Ciaran Flanagan (17).
Countback was needed to separate John Farrell (20) and Frank Keyes (29) in Division 3 after both had shot 39pts with Farrell prevailing by virtue of a better back nine.
Saturday, September 26 and Sunday, September 27 - National Tiles and Flooring Autumn Series Singles Stableford – Overall: Killian McDonnell (21) 41pts (Last Nine) Cathal Connolly (12) 41pts. Division 1: Bobby McCarthy (8) 39pts, Niall Henry (+1) 37pts (Last Nine). Division 2: Michael Clarke (14) 39pts, Ciaran Flanagan (17) 38pts (Last Nine). Division 3: John Farrell (20) 39pts (Last Nine), Francis G Keyes (29) 39pts.

James Walsh from Kinsale became the first Munster winner of the One Finance Dundalk Scratch Cup when he pipped defending championship Caolan Rafferty by two shots to lift the prestigious Carroll Cup.
A third-year student at Maynooth University where he is a Harrington scholar, Walsh was on his first ever visit to the Dundalk course and instantly fell in love with it.
He opened with six under par 66 to lead by three strokes from Rafferty and West of Ireland runner-up Colm Campbell from Warrenpoint.
Starting at the ninth hole due to the 9am shotgun start, he opened with a par and then turned on the gas down the back nine as he birdied the 10th, 13th, 15th and 16th. Birdies at the second and third brought him six under and although he handed one shot back when he bogeyed the fourth, his 14th hole, a birdie at the par five sixth got him back to six under as he signed for a 66.
Rafferty and Campbell were paired together and began off the first tee with a birdie on the opening hole allowing Rafferty to turn in one under par. Further birdies at the 10th, 13thand 16th got him to four under par but he finished with a bogey five at the last to sign for a three under par 69, three shots behind Walsh.
Campbell, who was part of Warrenpoint’s Irish Senior Cup winning team last month, also shot a first round 69. He went out in three under thanks to birdies at the first, fifth and sixth and got to four under with a birdie on the short par four 14th but then dropped a shot the 16th.
Rafferty’s hopes of hunting down Walsh in the second round weren’t helped by dropped shots at the first and fourth and while he did birdie the sixth he was one over for his round and two under for the tournament at the turn. His playing partner Campbell also fell back to two under after eight pars and a bogey on the par three fifth.
Walsh showed great composure over the opening nine holes of his second round as he once again started on the ninth with a par. Birdies followed at the 10th and 14th to take him to eight under although he gave those shots back with bogeys at the 15th and 18th.
With six holes to go Rafferty and Campbell had moved to four under and closed the gap to two shots with birdies at the 10th and 12th, but Rafferty lost momentum when he bogeyed the short par four 14th while Walsh moved to seven under with a birdie at the sixth, his 16th hole.
Campbell couldn’t find any more birdies until the 18th and that came after a bogey four on the par three 17th as he signed for a one under par 71 to finish on four under while Rafferty birdied the final two holes for a 70 to finish on five under.
Walsh safely parred seven and eight, his final two holes, to finish on seven under and secure his first senior trophy as he joins the likes of Rafferty, Campbell, Padraig Harrington and JB Carr on an impressive roll of honour that stretches back to 1963.
Mark Cadden of Roganstown shot a four under par 68 in the second round to climb through the field and finish in fourth after an opening 73 while Athenry’s David Kitt was fifth after rounds of 70 and 71 with 2023 winner Eoin Murphy in sixth on one under after rounds of 72 and 71.
At the prize-giving ceremony there was a special presentation to the 1988 winner Peter Rogers to mark his 50th appearance in the Dundalk Scratch Cup. Rogers, who is one of the best golfers to come out of Dundalk, was also the first Dundalk winner of the competition.
Sunday, September 20 – Dundalk Scratch Cup sponsored by One Finance – Òverall: 137 – James Walsh (Kinsale) 66, 71. 139 – Caolan Rafferty (Dundalk) 69, 70. 140 – Colm Campbell (Warrenpoint) 69, 71. 141 – Mark Cadden (Roganstown) 73, 68; Daid Kitt (Athenry) 70, 71. 143 – Eoin Murphy (Dundalk) 72, 71. Round 1 Gross: Padraig Curry (Millicent) 71. Round 2 Gross: Evan Farrell (County Louth) 70. Overall Nett: Sean Ryan (+1.0, Warrenpoint) 144 (71, 73).

Home advantage proved decisive in the second leg of the Barton Cup final as Portarlington won the second leg against Dundalk 3-2 to level the aggregate score at 5-5 and then won the three-hole play-off by two holes to lift the trophy for the first time since 1950.
After a close battle in the first leg where three of the five foursomes matches were decided by play-off and one finished on the 18th it was obvious that there was little between these two teams.
But, by minimising their deficit to one point with the home leg to come, the feeling was that it was now advantage Portarlington and that’s precisely how it turned out but only just, as the Dundalk lads put up a heroic fight against the odds with three of the matches being decided on the final hole.
Nineteen of the 20 players who played in the first leg started the second leg in Portarlington last Saturday with the only change being the introduction of Dundalk’s Emmet McCabe Savage to partner Gary Lennon as Conor Murphy was abroad on holiday.
Manager Derek Murdock and his assistant Mickey Coburn juggled the order of their pairings, as did their Portlaoise counterparts, but there were no rematches from that epic contest two weeks previously.
Conal Murdock and Adrian Keny were given the job of leading Dundalk out in the top match against Bernard Scully and Craig Kennan but after winning the second hole they were unable stretch their lead. They turned all square after nine but then lost the 10th to go one down. They couldn’tto draw level and the Portarlington duo won 15 and 16 to close out a 3&2 win
In the bottom match Tony McGuinness and Conor Murray were all square after eight with Niall Cooke and David Cosgrove but lost nine and 10 to go two down with wins at 13 and 15 allowing the Portarlington pair to record a 4&3 win.
That left Portarlington 4-3 ahead on aggregate but Dundalk rallied and won both the second and third matches on the 18th green to go 5-4 ahead.
Dennis Cunningham and John Paul Casey were two up with four to play against Jack Corr and Dermot Keenan but the home pair won 16 and 17 to leave the match level standing on the 18thtee. The Dundalk duo had been forced into a play-off in the first leg after being four up with four to play but they held their nerve for a second successive time and won the final hole to put Dundalk’s first point on the board.   
Having been two up with seven to play, Aidan Thornton and John McKeever came from one down with two holes left to win one up against Iain MacDonald and Aidan Moore and nudge Dundalk into the overall lead.
That left all eyes on the final match out on the course with Emmet McCabe Savage and Gary Lennon engaged in a tight battle with Dylan Dunne and Colin Murphy.  The match had turned into the back nine all square with Dundalk winning the 10th hole to go one up and a win on 12 put them two up with six holes to go. But the Portlaoise pair rallied impressively winning four of the final five holes to win two up.
That point secured a 3-2 second leg win for Portarlington and left the overall match tied at 5-5. A three-hole play-off saw Dennis Cunningham and John Paul Casey facing Dylan Dunne and Colin Murphy and, after missing a chance to win the first tie hole with a par the Dundalk duo lost the other two as Portarlington ended their 66 year wait to lift the Barton Cup again.  
Saturday, September 19 - Barton Cup Final Second Leg – Portarlington 3 Dundalk 2 (Aggregate 5-5, Portarlington win after play-off) – (Portarlington names first) Bernard Scully & Craig Kennan beat Conal Murdock & Adrian Keny 3&2; Iain MacDonald & Aidan Moore lost to Aidan Thornton & John McKeever 1up; Jack Corr & Dermot Keenan lost to Dennis Cunningham & John Paul Casey 1up;  Dylan Dunne & Colin Murphy beat Emmet McCabe Savage & Gary Lennon 2up; Niall Cooke & David Cosgrove beat Tony McGuinness & Conor Murray 4&3. Play-off: Dylan Dunne & Colin Murphy beat Dennis Cunningham & John Paul Casey 2up.

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​Danny O’Brien won the first round of the Autumn Series which was played over the weekend of September 12 and 13 as he shot 43pts to win by four from runner-up Noel Prendergast.
Playing off 28, O’Brien raced out of the traps and scored 11pts over the first four holes for an impressive start that included three point hauls at the opening three holes. After a one-point double bogey a the par three fifth he had a three point par at the sixth followed by a four point par at the index three seventh and three point par at the eighth. That took him to 22pts and he turned in 24pts after a two-point bogey at the ninth.
After a one-point double bogey on the 10th, O’Brien had back to back three-pointers at 11 and 12 followed by bak to back two pointers at 13 and 14. Back to back one pointers came next at 15 and 16 before a two point bogey at the 17pth was followed by a four point par at the last hole.
Those four points turned out to be his winning margin over Prendergast (22) who came home in 39pts to secure second overall while Josh Mackin shot the best gross of the opening round with a level par 36pts that featured one bogey at the par four 16th, 16 pars and a lone birdie at the par five sixth.
Eddie Rogers (80 shot 38pts to take Division 1 by one point from Kevin Redmond (11) whilePeter Moran needed a last nine countback to pip Sean Hession (11) for Division 2 honours after both had tied on 39pts. Countback was also required in Division 3 to separate Kieran McCann (33) and Ollie English (20) after they both shot 38pts with McCann’s back nine just edging it for him.
Saturday, September 12 and Sunday, September 13, 2026 - National Tiles and Flooring Autumn Series Singles Stableford -  Overall: Danny O'Brien (28) 43pts, Noel Prendergast (22) 39pts. Division 1: Edward Rogers (8) 38pts, Kevin Redmond (11) 37pts (Last Six). Division 2: Peter Moran Jnr (15) 39pts (Last Nine), Sean Hession (11) 39pts. Division 3: Kieran McCann (33) 38pts (Last Nine), Oliver English (20) 38pts (Last Nine). Gross Recognition: Josh Mackin 36pts.

Dennis Cunningham is the 2026 IJM Golfer of the Year with a score of 492 over his seven counting events from the 10 Golfer of the Year competitions throughout the season.
His average nett score was an excellent 70.29 and he also won the Junior category by seven shots from Clem Walshe whose score of 499 saw him also finish joint runner-up to Cunningham in the Golfer of the Year standings along with Intermediate category winner Gareth Halpin.
It was a lot tighter in the other three categories with just one point and countback separating the winners from the runners-up.
The evergreen Peter Rogers, who has been one of the top players in the Club for many decades won the Senior category with a score of 509, one better than Eoghan McKenna while Halpin took the Intermediate honours by a single shot from Malcolm Drake. Oisin Cairns won Minor category on countback from Noel McGuinness after both had tied on 517.
The four category winners will be the top seeds for the IJM scratch matchplay semi-finals which will take place on Saturday, September 26 with the finals on Sunday, September 27.
The top four players in each category qualify for the matchplay stages and will be contacted to confirm availability in due course. If any of the qualifiers are unavailable for both the Saturday semi-final or Sunday final their place will be automatically offered to the next placed player.
IJM Golfer of the Year - Overall: 492 - Dennis Cunningham; 499 - Clem Walshe, Gareth Halpin; 501 – Patrick Donaghy, 503 – Ciaran Daly, 507 – Alan Joynt, Turlough King; 508 – Edward Lawrence, 509 – Peter Rogers, John Paul Casey, Anthony Tuite; 510 – Eoghan McKenna; 511 – Conor Curran, Emmet McCabe Savage, David Smyth; 512 – Austin Shaw, Neil Mulooly. Senior (to 4.4): Peter Rogers 509, Eoghan McKenna 510, Conor Curran 511, Robert White 518, Brian Óg Renaghan 519; Neal MacKell 519. Junior (4.5 to 9.4): Dennis Cunningham 492, Clem Walshe 499, John Paul Casey 509, Emmet McCabe Savage 511, Austin Shaw 512, Neil Mulooly 512.  Intermediate (9.5 to 18.4): Gareth Halpin 499, Malcolm Drake 500, Patrick Donaghy 501, Ciaran Daly 503, Alan Joynt 507, Minor (18.5+): Oisin Cairns 517, Noel McGuinness 517, Brian Whately 520, Johannes Steenvoorden 523, Conor McDonnell 525, Micheál Byrne 525.

Visitor Jason McCourt (28) from Blessington Lakes was the winner of the Wednesday Open sponsored by ePower with a score of 42pts. Stephen English (6), Michael Brown (20) and Cian Sheridan (30) won the various division with Jospeh Lavety shooting 38pts for the best gross score. 
Wednesday, September 9 – Open Singles Stableford sponsored by ePower – Overall: Jason McCourt (28, Blessington Lakes) 42pts. Division 1: Stephen English (6) 38pts. Division 2: Michael Browne (20) 38pts. Division 3: Cian Sheridan (30) 40pts. Gross Recognition: Joseph Laverty 38pts.

Ben Cahill produced a fantastic seven under par round of 65 gross to win the Knights of Malta Cup which was the tenth and final Golfer of the Year competition.
Playing off plus one meant his nett score was 66 but it was still enough to secure overall victory from Dara Herr (11) by one shot.
 Cahill, who is a student in Maynooth University and a member of the Club’s senior panel, was one over after the first six holes having bogeyed the par four fourth but back-to-back birdies at the seventh and eighth holes saw him turn on one-under.
An eagle three at the par five 12th took him to three under before he finished strongly with four birdies over the final five holes to come home in 30 gross, six under par. He had back-to-back birdies at the 14th and 15th and a par at the 16th was following by two more back-to-back birdies at the 17th and 18th.
Dara Herr shot 67 nett to take Division 1 by two shots from Bobby McCarthy (9) while Vincent Jackson (15) needed a back six countback to pip recent Carolan Cup winner Peter Moran (15) for the Division 2 honours after both tied on 69 nett. Noel McGuinness (20) had a 68nett to take Division 3 by two shots from Jimmy O’Connor while Caolan Rafferty took the Gross Prize with a three under par 69. 
Ciaran Cooney (6) had a round to remember as he aced the par three ninth for a memorable hole in one.
Saturday, September 5 and Sunday, September 6 - Knights of Malta GOY Singles Stroke - Overall: Ben Cahill (+1) 66. Division 1: Dara Herr (11) 67, Bobby McCarthy (9) 69 (Last Nine).  Division 2: Vincent Jackson (15) 69 (Last Six), Peter Moran (15) 69. Division 3: Noel McGuinness (20) 68, Jimmy O'Connor (20) 70. Gross: Caolan Rafferty 69.

​Dundalk will carry a slender one point lead into the second leg of the Barton Cup final against Portlarington after winning the home leg  3-2.
They survived a late comeback from the visitors with three of the five matches requiring tie-holes while another was decided on the 18th.
The top match was the only one that was clear-cut as Conor Murphy and Gary Lennon recovered from losing the opening against Iain MacDonald and Aidan Moore. They took control around the turn winning the eight and ninth to go two up and then won the 11th and 12th to extend their lead to four holes before wrapping up a 5&4 victory on the 14th.
Elsewhere things were much tighter although Denis Cunningham and John Paul Casey looked to be coasting to victory over Bernard Scully and Craig Keenan when they won the 14th to go four up with four to play.
But the Portarlington duo suddenly burst into life and won the final four holes to force the match down the 19th.  The Dundalk pairing were rocking at this stage but they dug deep, found the green in regulation, and two-putted for par and the win.
There was never more than one hole between Conall Murdock & Adrian Kenny and Dylan Dunne & Colm Murphy in the second match and the Dundalk pair were never behind until they missed a short par putt on the 17th to go one down with one to play.
However, they got up and down from the edge of the 18th green to win the hole and force the match into sudden death with the Portarlington pairing parring the 20th to take match.
The match between Dundalk’s Tony McGuinness & Conor Murray and  Portarlington’s Jack Cole and Dermot Keenan was also close with never more than a hole between the teams. The home pair needed a win on the 18th to force sudden death but the visitors took the 19th and a valuable point for their side.
With the first four matches decided and the sore at 2-2 all eyes turned to the final match out on the course between Aidan Thornton & John McKeever and Niall Cooke & David Cosgrove. The Dundalk pairing were never behind but kept getting pegged back every time they got their noses in front. However, when they won the 16th hole they went ahead for the third and final time and closed the match out by winning the 18th for a two-hole victory,
 Dundalk now head to Portarlington on Saturday, September 19 for the second leg with a slender lead and will need to dig even deeper if they are to lift the Barton Cup for the fourth time.
 Saturday, September 5 – Barton Cup Final First Leg – Dundalk 3 Portarlington 2 – Conor Murphy & Gary Lennon beat Iain MacDonald & Aidan Moore 5&4; Conall Murdock & Adrian Kenny lost to Dylan Dunne & Colm Murphy 20th hole; Tony McGuinness & Conor Murray lost to Jack Cole & Dermot Keenan 19th hole; Dennis Cunningham & John Paul Casey beat Bernard Scully & Craig  Keenan 19th hole; Aidan Thornton & John McKeever beat Niall Cooke & David Cosgrove 2up.