A roller-coaster outward nine, kicked off with back-to-back pars at the two opening holes for three pointers, set Austin Carroll (20) on his way to claiming top prize with 42 points in the weekend Cathedral Financial Autumn Series 18 holes Stableford competition.
Austin built on his impressive start with a further brace of three pointers at the par four fourth and par five seventh holes as well as giving his score a major boost with a birdie two at the fifth hole for four points to reach the turn in 23 points.
He had an up and down back nine, parring the par five 10th and par three 13th holes for three pointers, dropped a little on other holes, before finishing with a swagger by parring the par three 17th and par four 18th holes for three pointers, to come home with 19 points.
His one point better back nine just squeezed out Derek Murdock (14) who also finished on 42 points but had to settle for the runners up prize on countback. Derek set a blistering pace on his outward nine, birding the par four opening hole for four points before adding five three pointers to turn on 24 points.
He struggled to keep the momentum going on the back nine before finishing in style with a par three on the 17th hole for three points and birding the par four 18th hole for four points to come home in 18 points.
The divisional winners were Aidan Thornton (6), Martin Byrne (18) and Conor Marron (23).
In the mid-week Open Singles Stableford Competition sponsored by McKenna Man it was also the opening nine that proved decisive, with Mark Baillie (40) racking up a highly impressive 27 points that would spur him on to taking the overall winner’s prize with a final tally of 43 points.
On his outward nine scoring spree Mark parred the par four second hole for four points, added back-to-back four pointers at the par four fourth and par three fifth holes, tagged on another four points at the par five seventh, and sprinkled his score with three pointers at the par five sixth and par three ninth holes to turn on 27 points.
He struggled to maintain his high scoring momentum on the closing nine despite starting off with three points at the par five 10th hole and four points at the low index par four 11 th hole but battled on, racking up three points at the par four 14th hole and three solid two pointers to come hope in 16 points.
The divisional winners were Kenneth Cairns (13), Warrenpoint’s James McGrath (19), and Mannan Castle’s Ronan Molloy (24).
Sunday, 15 September - Cathedral Financial Autumn Series 18 holes Stableford – Overall: Austin Carroll (20) 42/19pts, Derek Murdock (14) 42/18pts. Division 1: Aidan Thornton (6) 41pts, David Carroll (4) 38pts. Division 2: Martin Byrne (18) 39pts, Barry Grennan (17) 38pts. Division 3: Conor Marron (23) 41pts, Gerry Byrne (22) 39pts. Gross Recognition: Aidan Thornton (6) 41pts.
Wednesday, 18 September - McKenna Man Open Singles Stableford – Overall: Mark Baillie (40) 43pts. Division 1: Kenneth Cairns (13) 41pts. Division 2: James McGrath (19, Warrenpoint) 39pts. Division 3: Ronan Molloy (24 Mannan Castle) 42pts. Gross Recognition: Joseph Laverty 37pts.

Home advantage once again proved crucial as Caolan Rafferty won the Dundalk Scratch Cup sponsored by One Finance for the fifth time on Saturday at Dundalk Golf Club.
The 32-year-old, who won the East of Ireland Championship in August as well as the scratch cups at Laytown & Bettystown and Ardee, was the only player below par at the end of the 36 hole tournament on a day when a strong wind coupled with lightning fast greens proved extremely difficult for the field.
Rafferty won by four shots from Warrenpoint’s Harry McArdle with last year’s winner, Dundalk’s Eoin Murphy, another two shots further back.
Rafferty, who was a member of the Great Britain & Ireland team at this year’s St Andrew’s Trophy against Continental Europe, opened with a one under par 71. He birdied the third and seventh going out but bogeyed the sixth. A birdie at 14 got him back to two under but he bogeyed the last to finish on one under.
But that was enough to leave him three shots ahead at the halfway stage from McArdle and Banbridge’s Jim Carvill on two over with Athenry’s David Kitt a shot further back.
As the challenging conditions on Dundalk’s testing championship course continued to ask serious questions in the second round, Rafferty remained steady. A birdie at the first was cancelled by a bogey at the second but he remained at one under for the tournament at the turn after seven successive pars.
He opened the back nine with a birdie at the par five 10th but handed it back at the short par four 14th before bouncing back with a birdie at the next hole. That moved him to two under for the tournament as he signed for his second 71 of the day.
Behind, nobody was able to mount a challenge. McArdle had five birdies in his second round but they were cancelled out by three bogeys and a double bogey as he could only manage a level par 72 to remain at two over.
Carvill was four over for his second round by the time he found his first birdie of the day on the par three 17th and finished on five over while a quadruple bogey eight at the second ended Kitt’s challenge early in his final round.     
Defending champion Murphy got off to the worst possible start dropping four shots over the opening four shots and was seven over after 13 before eventually signing for a six over par 78. His second round was a right roller coaster with six birdies and an eagle alongside six bogeys as he shot a 70 for the lowest round of the day. With most people going backwards during the final round he ended up taking third place.
The Carroll Cup, which had been won over the years by the likes of Padraig Harrington and JB Carr, was presented to Rafferty by Dundalk Golf Club President Gerry Campbell and Martin McDonell, Managing Director of One Finance.
 
Saturday, August 14 - Dundalk Senior Scratch Cup sponsored by One Finance – Overall: 142 - Caolan Rafferty (Dundalk) 71, 71. 146 - Harry Mc Ardle (Warrenpoint) 74, 72. 148 - Eoin Murphy (Dundalk) 78, 70. 149 - Jim Carvill (Banbridge) 74, 75. 151- Charlie Mc Donnell (Concra Wood) 78, 73. 152 - David Joyce (Powerscourt) 78, 74. Round 1 Gross: David Kitt (Athenry) 75. Round 1 Gross: Conor O’Hare (Greenore) 73. Overall Nett: Paul Murphy (Dundalk) 150 (75, 75).

A scorching display of high-quality scoring on the outward nine set Chris Connolly (15) well on his way to winning, by three shots with a nett 62, the weekend Knights of Malta Cup 18 hole stroke play competition.
His front nine laid the foundations for his victory with five pars, a birdie on the one of the toughest holes, the water protected par five seventh hole, and three one overs to reach the turn on nett 30. He held his nerve on the back nine, carding a string of back-to-back pars from the 10th to 12th holes, pars at the par four 15th and par three 17th holes, and boosted his score further with a birdie at the par four 16th hole to come home in nett 32.
The divisional winners were John Neary (8), Frank P Byrne (12) and Alan Uzell (21). The gross winner was Conall Murdock, playing off two, with a nett 69 (71 gross).
The competition proved to be the crowning glory for Frank P Byrne (12) whose tremendous score of 66 nett took him over the finishing line to capture the 2024 Golfer of the Year prize by three shots. With the best seven scores over ten competitions counting,
Frank shot a total nett score of 485 which equates to an average of slightly over 69, reflecting a great consistency of solid scoring over the full year.
Gerry Farrell (30) with 41 points emerged as the winner of the mid-week 18 hole Open Singles Stableford competition sponsored by McKenna Man. He produced a round of consistent scoring, kicking off with a three pointer at the opening par four hole and built on that with back-to-back three pointers at the par four eighth and par three ninth holes to reach the turn in 20 points. His closing nine included three pointers at the par five 10th, par four 14th and 18th holes as well as a birdie two at the 17th to come home with 21 points.
The divisional winners were Eugene J Hanratty, Declan Conlon and Ronan Dennedy.
Saturday, 7 September and Sunday 8 September - Knights of Malta Cup Stroke Play - Overall: Chris Connolly (15) 62. Gross: Conall Murdock (2) 69. Division 1: John Neary (8) 69, Malcolm Drake (12) 69. Division 2: Frank P Byrne (12) 66, Dennis Cunningham (13) 66. Division 3: Alan Uzell (21) 65, Paul Culligan (25) 66.
Wednesday, 11 September - McKenna Man Open Singles Stableford – Overall: Gerry Farrell (30) 41 pts. Division 1: Eugene J Hanratty (10) 39pts. Division 2: Declan Conlon (22) 3 pts. Division 3: Ronan Dennedy (28) 38pts. Gross Recognition: Ben Cahill 38pts.

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.

The annual Adult & Child competition sponsored by Club Professional Leslie Walker was held at the end of August and attracted a large entry in all five categories.

Category winners were Fergal McKenna & Sean McKenna, Michael O’Sullivan & Grace Cosgrove, John Sharkey & Jack Sharkey, Marcella Ui Conluain & Dearbhaile Lyons and Stephen Durnin & Dylan Durnin.
 
Saturday, August 31 – Adult & Child Competition sponsored by Leslie Walker - Category 1: 1st - Fergal McKenna & Sean McKenna, 2nd - Michael Coburn & Reuben Woods, 3rd - Clem Walsh & Tiernan Cunningham. Category 2: 1st - Michael O’Sullivan & Grace Cosgrove, 2nd - Grace Zhang & Isla Smith. Category 3: 1st - John Sharkey & Jack Sharkey, 2nd - Stuart Wilson & Alex Wilson. Category 4: 1st - Marcella Ui Conluain & Dearbhaile Lyons, Category 5: 1st - Stephen Durnin & Dylan Durnin.
 

 A strong finish with straight pars on the final three closing holes saw Conor Murray
(13) with a nett 68 just edge out close competition to win President Gerry Campbell’s
prize in the weekend 18 holes stroke play competition.
 
Conor set out his intentions early with birdies at the par four first and par five seventh holes while sprinkling his outward nine with pars at the third, fifth and ninth holes to reach the turn in nett 35.
 
On the back nine, after parring the par five 10th and 12th holes he added another par at the 14th  before finishing in style with straight pars at the par four 16th and 18th holes and par three 17th hole to come home in nett 33.
 
His strong finish just edged out Seanan Duffy (10) who had to settle for the runner-up
position after carding nett 34’s on both nines to also finish on nett 68. His round was
highlighted with birdies at the par five sixth and 10th holes and par three 13th.
 
A clear indication of the intensity of competition over the two days was evident from
the fact that the three divisional winners, Edward Rogers (5), Neil Smyth (15) and
Alan Uzell (22), as well as Veterans prize winner Austin Shaw (7), all finished on nett
69.
 
A memorable back nine surge of a birdie and eight pars propelled Shane McMahon
(7) from Warrenpoint Golf Club to victory in the mid-week Open Singles Stableford
Competition sponsored by McKenna Man with 43 points.
 
Shane started his outward nine in impressive style with three straight pars before
adding a birdie four at the sixth hole and tagged on straight pars from the seventh to the ninth holes to reach the turn on 21 points.
 
He maintained his solid, consistent scoring on the closing nine, birding the par five 10th hole for three points and adding a combination of three pointers and two pointers with pars on the remaining eight holes to come home in 22 points.
 
Runner up Christy Ward (9), with 42 points, parred the first hole for three points and
added a run of three pointers from the sixth to the eighth holes to turn on 21 points. His 21 points on the back nine included three pointers at the 11th, 12th, 15th and 16th  holes.
 
The divisional winners were Gerard Brennan (5) 40pts, Patrick Gray (21) 42pts and
Derek Williams (23) 39pts.
 
Saturday, 24 August and Sunday, 25 August - President’s Prize 18 Hole Stroke
Play – Overall: Conor Murray (13) 68/32.5, Senan Duffy (10) 68/34.  Gross: Mark Gorham 70. Veteran: Austin Shaw (7) 69/32.5. Division 1: Edward Rogers (5) 69/35.5, Cameron Kilcoyne (6) 70, Vincent Conlon (10) 71. Division 2: Neil Smyth (15) 69/33.5, Kenneth Lynch (16) 69/34, Kieran Arthurs (14) 69/36. Division 3: Alan Uzell (22) 69/34, Derek Williams (23) 69/34.5, Sean Ward (28) 70.
 
Wednesday, 28 August - McKenna Man Open Singles Stableford – Overall: Shane McMahon (7) 43pts, Christy Ward (9) 42pts. Division 1: Gerard Brennan (5) 40 pts. Division 2: Patrick Gray (21) 42pts. Division 3: Derek Williams (23) 39pts. Gross Recognition: Joseph Laverty (1) 35pts.