Colm Coburn was a popular winner of the latest series of the Autumn Series sponsored by National Tile and Flooring  on Sunday, September 27.
Playing off 24 he got off to a great start with a three point par at the first and then tow more at the sixth and eighth to turn on 22pts. Two more three point pars followed on the back nine at the 14th and 17th as he came home in 21pts.
His score of 43pts was two more than runner-up Andrew Lynch (23) while teenager Roan Norton Quigley (3) won Division 1 with 40pts and also took the gross recognition accolade with 37pts. His round featured birdies at the seventh, 11th and 12th and bogeys at the fourth and 13th.
Martin Byrne (18) won Division 2 on countback from David Cairns (13) after both had shot 37pts while Ben O’Connor (20) with 40pts was the winner of Division 3.
Sunday, September 27 - National Tile and Flooring Autumn Series – Overall: Colm Coburn (24) 43pts, Andrew Lynch (23) 41pts. Division 1: Roan Norton Quigley (3) 40pts.  Ciaran Cooney (6) 40pts Division 2: Martin Byrne (18) 37pts, David Cairns (13) 37pts. Division 3: Ben O'Connor (20) 40pts, Noel McGuinness  (24) 39pts. Gross Recognition: Roan Norton Quigley 37pts.

Congratulations to Grange and Gowran Park who were the respective winners of the Flogas Mixed Foursomes and Mixed Fourballs All-Ireland Finals which were hosted by the club over the weekend.
​A special thanks to all the volunteers who worked alongside the club staff to make both events a great success with Golf Ireland and the visiting teams, officials and supporters extremely complementary of the course, practice facilities, clubhouse and the warm welcome they received.

Club professional Cian Geraghty won the Irish Assistants Championship at Ardee Golf Club last week. He had two shots to spare at the end of the 36-hole two-day event and was the only player to break par in the final round.
Geraghty was tied for second alongside Cork’s Charlie Flavin after round one after both shot 71 which left them one shot behind overnight leader Charlie Walsh of Westport.
An opening round of 71 left Geraghty tied for second alongside Cork’s Charlie Flavin and trailing Charlie Walsh of Westport by a shot, but when Geraghty reeled off three birdies in a row on holes four through six, he turned a one-stroke deficit into a two-stroke lead.
By the time he reached the 18th tee he had stretched that lead to three shots and finished as the only player under par for the Championship.

Shane Cairns (16) won the latest edition of the McKenna Man Open Stableford Singles last Wednesday when he shot a score of 43pts. After going out in 18pts Cairns was magnificent down the back nine as he came home in 25pts. He had five successive pars from the 12th to the 16th and booked ended the journey to the clubhouse with birdies at the 10th and 18th.
Emmet McCabe- Savage (8) won Division 1 for the second week in a row with 39pts while David Cairns (14) won Division 2 with 40pts. Division 3 was won by Tom Grills (30) with 34pts while Roan Norton Quigley had the best gross score with 34pts.
Wednesday, September 24 – McKenna Man Open Stableford Singles – Overall: Shane Cairns (16) 43pts. Division 1: Emmet McCabe-Savage (8) 39pts. Division 2: David Cairns (14) 40pts Division 3: Tom Grills (30) 34pts. Gross Recognition: Roan Norton Quigley 34 pts.
ENDS

John Mulligan won the latest leg of the Autumn Series sponsored by National Tile and Flooring which was played over the weekend of September 20 and 21.
Playing off (12) he shot 41pts to win by one point from Thomas O’Connell (9) and they were the only two players in the field to break 40pts over the weekend.
Mulligan had a steady start through the first four holes with four successive bogies before delivering five successive pars to turn in 20pts. A birdie at the 10th yielded four points to give him the perfect start to the back nine which he covered in 21pts with five more pars as well his only double bogey of the round at the 18th.
O’Connell managed to keep a double bogey off his card and had birdies at the second, 10th and 14th but he came up a point short off Mulligan after only managing seven pars as he went out in 18pts and came home in 22pts.
Eoin Purton (1) took the Division 1 title and also shot the best gross while Charlie Monahan (15) was the Division 2 winner and John Keane (27) claimed Division 3.
Saturday, September 20 and Sunday, September 21 - National Tile and Flooring Autumn Series – Overall: John Mulligan (12) 41pts, Thomas O'Connell (9) 40pts. Division 1: Eoin Purton (1) 39pts, Jimmy Mooney (12) 38pts. Division 2: Charles P Monahan 38 pts (15), John Morrison (18) 38pts. Division 3: John Keane (26) 37pts, Ciaran McAteer (20) 37pts. Gross Recognition: Eoin Purton 38pts

One of the highlights of the year at Dundalk Golf is the IJM Scratch Matchplay Semi-Finals and Finals which players qualify for through their positions in the respective categories in the IJM Golfer of the Year competition.
On Saturday, 16 players teed it up in the semi-finals of each of the four categories with the winners returning on Sunday for the finals.
The Senior competition semis saw Aidan Thornton beat Golfer of the Year runner-up Conall Murdock 3&1 while Fergal Harte beat Peter Rogers 2&1. The final was a closely fought affair and was all square after four holes. Harte won the par three fifth to go one up and a par at the seventh saw him extend that lead to two holes. He lost the eight to a par but a birdie at the 10th restored his two hole advantage. However, Thornton hung in and reduced the deficit to one hole by winning the 15th in par. That set up a nail-biting finish but Harte managed to keep his opponent at bay and halved the remaining three hoes to win one up. In the Junior category Terry Conlon beat Niall Martin 5&4 while Shaun Ward defeated Gregory McCaughey 6&4 in the Saturday semi-finals. In the final, the lead fluctuated over first nine and the match was level at the turn. Ward then won the next two holes to open up a two hole lead but Conlon struck back and won the 12th and 13th to level the match once again. He almost went ahead on the 14th when going very close with a birdie putt and Ward took full advantage of that let-off by birdieing the 15th to go one up with three to play.  A mistake by Conlon on the 16th opened the door for Ward to go two up with two to play and he closed out the match with a par for a half on the 17th and a 2&1 win.
Cormac Malone and John Paul Casey had to fight hard on the Saturday to earn their places in the Intermediate final.  Malone came from behind to force a sudden death play-off against Brendan Rogers and eventually prevailed on the 19th while Casey won the 18th to beat last year’s Golfer of the Year, Frank Byrne, by two holes.  The final saw Casey burst out of the traps to win the first seven holes and take firm control of the match. He won the ninth to turn eight up and a half on the 10th left him dormie with eight holes to go. However, he struggled to get across the line as Malone won the next three holes to reduce the deficit to five holes with five to play. Casey finally got the half he needed on the 14th to record a 5&4 victory.
The semi-final draw in the Minor category paired Golfer of the Year Brian Crombie and Gold Medal winner Adrian Kenny together and their battle went all the way to the final green where Kenny got the half he needed to win one up. The other semi-final pitted the evergreen Sean Ward against Oisin Cairns and the wily veteran prevailed winning 2&1 after Cairns tee-shot on the 17th got plugged under the lip of a greenside bunker. Kenny took control early in the final by winning the second, third and fourth to go three up. Ward pulled a hole back by winning the fifth but Kenny restored his three hole lead by winning the seventh and went four up on the eighth. They swapped the next four holes to leave Kenny four up after 12 before halving the next three as Kenny completed a matchplay double by winning 4&3.        
Saturday, September 20 and Sunday, September 21 - IJM Scratch Matchplay Semi-Finals and Finals - Senior: Aidan Thornton bt Conall Murodck 3&1, Fergal Harte bt Peter Rogers 2&1; Harte bt Thornton 1up. Junior: Terry Conlon bt Niall Martin 5&4, Shaun Ward bt Gregory McCaughey 6&4; Ward bt Conlon 2&1. Intermediate: Cormac Malone bt Brendan Rogers 19th, John Paul Casey bt Frank Byrne 2up. Minor: Adrian Kenny bt Brian Crombie 18th; Sean Ward bt Oisin Cairns 2&1; Kenny bt Ward 4&3.   

 Leinster champions Dundalk came within one shot of winning the Golf Sixes All-Ireland title at The Grange on Sunday as they finished third behind winners Carton House and runners-up Clonmel.
Playing in the first group of the day alongside Munster champions Ennis, Dundalk set the clubhouse target at 42 for the six hole course.
Jack Sharkey and Patrick Murphy led the way with a super score of 19 and were backed up by Cian McKinnon and Dearbhaile Lyons who shot 23 while Ben Kavanagh and Mia O’Connor finished with a 27 after a brilliant up and down for a three on the last hole.
Ennis, Baltinglass, Enniscrone, Donaghadee and Donegal all failed to better Dundalk’s score and they were only passed at the very end by Carton House and Clonmel who both shot 41 with the Kildare club winning on countb.
It was a superb performance from the Dundalk youngsters, many of whom are still eligible for the U13 competition next year, and great credit must go to junior golf convenors Vincent Conlon and Miriam O’Mahony and their team of volunteers for their work with this group and the other junior golfers within the club.
The team were presented with their Leinster pennant and medals by the President-Elect of Golf Ireland Fiona Delargy.

Caolan Rafferty cemented his name among the legends of Irish golf when he won the North of Ireland Amateur Championship at Portstewart to become the first player to win the North, South, East and West titles.
The 32-year-old Dundalk player held his nerve over the final nine on a tough Portstewart course to complete a post to post victory having led the tournament from start to finish.
“I’m delighted to be the first to do it. I couldn’t believe nobody had done it before so it’s a great feeling to have all four of them,” said Rafferty who returned to a hero’s welcome in Dundalk Golf Club on Friday evening hours after he had cliched his place in history.
Rafferty’s grand slam began in 2018 when he won the South of Ireland in Lahinch and he followed that up in 2019 by winning the West in Rosses Point to seal his place on the 2019 Walker Cup team.
Covid wrecked his plans to turn professional in 2020 and, after graduating from Maynooth University where he was on a Harrington scholarship, he became a part-time golfer but still retained his place as one of the top amateurs in Ireland.
In June 2024 he finally managed to win the East of Ireland in Baltray after several near misses and he completed the provincial slam with last week’s win in the North.
Rafferty had gone into the North as one of nine players who had won three of the four provincial titles.  Baltray’s Barry Reddan and Mark Gannon and the legendary Joe Carr from Sutton had failed to win the North while the West eluded Major winner and former Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke. David Long and Hugh Foley missed out on the East while the great Garth McGimpsey and Arthur Pierce failed to win the South.
Rafferty’s road to the slam saw him open the tournament with a three under par 68 that featured six birdies and he followed that up with a one-over par 72 in the second round to share the lead at the halfway stage alongside Cathal MacCanna of Carton House.
The final two rounds were played on Friday and in the morning Rafferty, who started on the 10th, got off to a flying start with three birdies in his first six holes. However, he signed for a level par 71 after three bogeys at the 17th, 18th and 6th but was still one clear of Lahinch’s Jonathon Keane who had pipped him on the final hole of the South of Ireland in August and had carded a third round 66.   
In the final round Rafferty started well with a birdie on the fourth taking him to three under and three shots clear of the field but, as history beckoned, the tension began to ramp up.
“I don’t think I was ever as nervous on a golf course as I was down the back nine,” he admitted afterwards as he saw England’s Ben Willis and Castlerock’s Andrew Mulholland draw level with him on two under after he failed to get up and down from a bunker on the par three 15th.  
Willis and Mulholland were playing ahead of Rafferty so he knew he needed a birdie over the final three holes to clinch the title and, after a great drive on 17, he took the advice of his caddy and cousin, Kyle, to hit a six rather than the seven iron he was thinking of. It proved to be a shrewd call and a fabulous approach shot set up the birdie he was looking for with a par at the last sealing his one shot win.
“It was stressful, it wasn’t easy, it was never going to be easy. But I made it a little bit tricky on myself with a couple of silly shots at the wrong time. I was just delighted to get over the line,” said Rafferty.
Dundalk Golf Club Captain Gerry McDermott paid tribute to Rafferty and said his victory and place in history was fully deserved. “Caolan is a fabulous ambassador for Dundalk Golf Club and we are very proud of this and all his other achievements. Becoming the first player to win the four provincial titles cements his place among the greats of Irish golf. His family deserve a lot of credit for the tremendous support they have given him over the years while Greenore Golf Club, where he learned the game and had his raw talent nurtured, also played an important part in making this happen.”
Rafferty’s next major assignment will be a first appearance for Ireland in the Eisenhower Trophy in Singapore next month. The Eisenhower is the World Amateur Team Championship and Rafferty’s selection means he has completed another slam as he has made every team he is eligible play on for club, province, country, and continent.    

On Wednesday, a birdie at the last helped Patrick Gray (23) to victory in McKenna Man Open Singles Stableford with a score of 38pts that also included three three-point pars. Emmet McCabe-Savage (8) marked his recent return to home shores with a win in Division 1while Stephen Fitzpatrick (17) took Division 2 and John Englishby (23) was the Division 3 winner.  Conor Murphy, with 30pts, earned the Gross Recognition.
Wednesday, September 17 - McKenna Man Open Singles Stableford - Overall: Patrick Gray (23) 38pts. Division 1: Emmet McCabe-Savage (8) 36pts. Division 2: Stephen Fitzpatrick (17) 37pts. Division 3: John Englishby (23) 37pts. Gross Recognition: Conor Murphy 30pts.  
 

President Eddie Rogers captured the latest edition of the National Tile and Flooring sponsored Autumn Series over the weekend of September 13 and 14 with his best score in quite a while as he took both the overall victory and recorded the best gross.
Playing off seven he shot 40pts which included three birdies and nine pars as he went out in 18pts and came home in 22pts to pip David Cairns (15) and Jack Duffy (21) on countback. Cairns took second overall while Duffy was the Division 3 winner. Darren O’Brien (8) shot 38pts to win Division 1 while John Mulligan (13) took Division 2 with a score of 39pts.
Saturday, September 13 and Sunday, September 14 - National Tile and Flooring Autumn Series – Singles Stableford – Overall: Edward Rogers (7) 40 pts, David Cairns (15) 40pts. Division 1: Darren O'Brien (8) 38pts, Connor McCaughey (6) 37pts. Division 2: John Mulligan (13) 39pts, Brian Mernagh (14) 37pts. Division 3: Jack Duffy (21) 40pts, Eamonn Arthur (21) 39pts. Gross Recognition: Edward Rogers 33pts.