Murphy wins club championship

Eoin Murphy won the Club Championship which was played over 36 holes on June 25.
The Maynooth University Scholarship student beat Caolan Rafferty by four shots thanks to a second round 69 after both had shot a one over par 73 in the opening round.
Rafferty returned the same score over the second 18 for a two over par total of 146 while six birdies in that final round helped Murphy to a two under par total of 142. Boys captain Ben Cahill, playing off four, won the gross prize.
June was a busy few weeks for Rafferty who went agonisingly close to winning the East of Ireland Championship over the June Bank Holiday weekend in Baltray. He shot a four under par 68 in the final round to set the clubhouse lead on nine under where he was subsequently joined by Alex Maguire (Laytown & Nettystown) and Sam Murphy (Portumna). A birdie on the last hole of the three-hold play-off saw defending champion Maguire edge out Rafferty for the title. Eoin Murphy had his best ever performance in a major amateur championship finishing T11, six shots behind the leaders.
The following week Rafferty found himself battling with Maguire again at the St Andrews Links Trophy and produced an excellent performance in finishing seventh on 12 under as Maguire won for the second consecutive week.
The pair teed it up a week later at the Amateur Open in England with Rafferty qualifying tied sixth on eight under, just three shots behind the leading qualified after two rounds over the Hillside and Southport & Ainsdale links.
That saw Rafferty comfortably qualify for the matchplay stages and gained him a bye into the second round where he beat Thom Linssen from the Netherlands 4&3 but he lost out in the last 32 the following morning to Thailland’s TK Chantananuwat who won a tight match 2&1.
​Saturday, June 24 – Club Championship - Overall: 142 - Eoin Murphy 73/69, 146 - Caolan Rafferty 73/73. Nett: 144 Ben Cahill 70/74.