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Lawlor helps Rest of World defeat Australia

December 15, 2019
Brendan Lawlor

Brendan Lawlor helped the Rest of the World team defeat Australia in the 2019 ISPS Handa Disabled Golf Cup. Lawlor partnered Belgium’s Adem Wahbi to a three shot win over Shane Luke and Cameron Pollard as the Rest of the World won 3-0.

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Lawlor finishes third in Australia

December 8, 2019

In the Australian All Abilities Championship, Brendan Lawlor finished just one shot off the lead and had to settle for third place as last year’s winner Johan Kammerstad of Sweden beat Canada’s Kurtis Barkley in a play-off.

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Walker Cup stars heading for Dundalk Scratch Cup

September 9, 2019

Walker Cup and Ireland stars Caolan Rafferty, James Sugrue and Conor Purcell will switch from being teammates to rivals this Sunday (September 15) when they tee it up at the One Finance sponsored Dundalk Scratch Cup at Dundalk Golf Club.
Last weekend the trio were part of the Great Britain & Ireland team in the Walker Cup at Hoylake before travelling to Lahinch to represent Ireland in the Home Internationals.
The presence of three players from the World’s top 60 is sure to attract big crowds to Dundalk for the 36 hole tournament which will have shotgun starts at 9am for Round 1 and 2pm for Round 2.
Rafferty is the defending champion and is bidding to win a third title in four years while Sugrue from Mallow is the Amateur champion and Portmarnock’s Purcell is the Australian Amateur champion.
The three Walker Cup players will start as favourites but there are plenty of players in the star studded field that will fancy their chances of lifting the famous trophy. Previous champions include the likes of three-time major winner Padraig Harrington while another former Walker Cup players, David Sheahan, was the first winner in 1963.
Warrenpoint’s Colm Campbell won the event in 2017 while Co Louth’s Gerard Dunne set a new course record in last year’s second round and both will be expected to feature strongly as will another former winner, Gary Cullen, while current Boys’ internationals Max Kennedy and Dylan Keating will see this as their opportunity to make their senior breakthrough.
Rafferty will lead a strong home challenge into this year’s competition as members of the club’s senior panel will be battling to nail their places in next week’s All-Ireland Barton Shield semi-final against Rosses Point in Westport. Over their home course, the challenge of Aaron Grant, Eoin Murphy, Josh Makin and Brendan Lawlor cannot be underestimated. 
The greenkeeping staff at Dundalk have been working hard over the last few weeks to have the course in top shape for Sunday and Dundalk Captain Pat Davis said everybody is looking forward to the event.
“We have a great field this year and are delighted that James Sugrue and Conor Purcell are able to play given their busy schedules. The course is in superb condition and we are expecting a lot of people to come out and take advantage of the opportunity to see some of our top amateur golfers in action,” he said.

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Elite golfers flying the flag across the world

August 11, 2019

 It’s a busy time for Dundalk Golf Club’s elite golfers as they continue to represent the club with distinction across the world.

Caolan Rafferty faces the biggest test of his amateur career this week when he tees it up among the world’s elite at the American Amateur Championship which is being played at the world famous Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina.

The 26-year-old will start his bid to qualify for the 64 player matchplay stage at 6.12pm (Irish time) on Monday on Pinehurst’s famed No.2 course which has hosted more single golf championships than any other course in America and will stage the US Open in 2024 having last staged it in 2014. His second round on Tuesday will be at 12.57pm on Pinehurst No.4 and he will play both rounds in the company of Americans Pierceson Coody and Ryan Burnett.

Rafferty flew out to America last Thursday in the company of British Amateur Champion James Sugure from Mallow and Australian Amateur Champion Conor Purcell from Portmarnock and admits having his Irish team-mates with him this week will be a big help.

“We’re sharing a house and hopefully all of us will be here until the final day,” said Rafferty. Rafferty, who has already won the West of Ireland Championship this year, played in Arizona last December and hopes that experience will help him.

“It probably wasn’t the best time of the year for me to go over but it was a good experience because it is different and I hope it will help me this week.”

Rafferty’s big goal this year is to make the Britain and Ireland team for the Walker Cup in Royal Liverpool next month and with the ten-man team set to be named next week he knows that a good performance in Pinehurst will be a big help to his chances.

“I’ve just got to keep doing what I have been doing and hopefully it will be good enough to get me a place. But you never know what could happen,” he said.

Rafferty’s involvement in the American Amateur meant he missed the Irish Close Championship in Ballybunion where his club-mate, and Barton Shield partner, Eoin Murphy flew the flag for Dundalk with some distinction.

Murphy recorded his best ever performance at a senior championship by reaching the quarter-finals where he lost 3&1 to Dun Laoghaire’s Alan Fahy,

After shooting rounds of 75 and 71 to qualify in 19th place on +4, Murphy beat William Small (Tandragee), Kevin Stack (Dungarvan) and Colm Campbell (Warrenpoint) in the matchplay rounds to reach the last eight.

It was a good week too for Josh Mackin as the Ulster Boys Champions played for Ireland in the Boys Home Internationals in Wales where they came within a whisker of dethroning champions England.

Mackin formed a superb foursomes partnership with Royal Dublin’s Max Faulkner and the pair won all three of their matches against Scotland, Wales and England while in the singles Mackin gained half-a-point against Scotland, won his match against Wales and was agonisingly beaten by one hole by England’s Max Hopkins as Ireland lost 8-7 to the English.

A haul of four-and-a-half points out of a possible six was an excellent return and caps what has been a fine year to date for the 18-year-old. Finally, Brendan Lawlor continues to blaze a trail for disability golf and this week he will tee it up against male and female professionals at the ISPS Handa World Invitational at Galgorm Castle. This is a tournament where men and women will compete at the same venue at the same time with the professionals sharing equal prize money.

“I believe this will be the first time a disability golfer will compete on the same stage over the same course as the professionals in a Challenge Tour event,” said Lawlor who is a member of Dundalk’s Senior Panel.     

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Dundalk retains Leinster Barton Shield pennant

July 28, 2019

Our Senior Panel have retained the Leinster Barton Shield and booked their place in the All-Ireland semi-final in Westport at the end of September.

Last Saturday at Royal Tara Golf Club, Dundalk beat Woodbrook in the provincial semi-final in the morning before defeating The Island in the final to win a second successive senior pennant.

“Last year was the first time since the Club was founded in 1905 that we won a senior pennant so to have gone out this year and retained it is very special and a great achievement by the lads,” said John Conlon who jointly manages the team with Alan McCabe.

“But it is only a step towards our ultimate goal this year which is to win the All-Ireland title. We were very disappointed to lose in last year’s final and our whole focus this year has been on getting back to the national final and bringing a green pennant back to Dundalk.”

The Barton Shield is a competition for elite players with two two-man pairings playing, off scratch, in a foursomes matchplay format and the match being decided by the aggregate number of holes won.

Dundalk got a massive boost on the eve of the Leinster finals when Caolan Rafferty announced he was available to play after being knocked out in the second round of the South of Ireland Championship on Friday evening.

“We were planning without Caolan because he was the defending champion in the South of Ireland and we were all hoping that he would be in the mix over the weekend,” said Conlon. “It is testament to the type of person he is that immediately after losing on the 20th hole of his second round match, he got into his car and phoned to say he was on his way back and would be in Navan in the morning.”

Quite how Woodbrook felt when the plus six handicapper, who has been named on the 14 man panel from which the ten players to represent Britain and Ireland in the Walker Cup will be picked, teed it up isn’t known, but after winning the first hole they must have felt they were going to benefit from a post-Lahinch hangover.

It proved to be a short-lived feeling because on the second hole Rafferty fired an approach shot to 15 feet and his partner Eoin Murphy sank the birdie putt to bring the match back to all-square.

At the next hole, the Dundalk pairing went one up after Woodbrook put their third shot in the bushes behind the green and stretched their lead to two holes on the par four sixth when Murphy drove around the dog-leg to within 10 yards of the front of the green and Rafferty chipped in for an eagle two.

Although they lost the seventh they turned for home three up after winning the eighth and ninth with birdies. They lost the tenth but restored their three shot advantage on the 12th.

It was clear at this stage that this match was going to decide who would advance to the final because up ahead Josh Mackin and Brendan Lawlor were heading for defeat after a frustrating morning on the greens.

After losing the first hole, they got back to all square by winning the third in par. However, they lost the fourth, sixth and seventh to fall three holes behind by the turn. The Dundalk pairing did rally on the back nine by winning the tenth and 13th to reduce the deficit to one hole but then lost the 14th to birdie and the 15th to par to find themselves three behind again with just three holes to go.

By this point it was a case of limit the damage and hope Rafferty and Murphy in the match behind could win by more than they lost. The youngsters dug deep to win the par five 18th where Mackin found the fairway, Lawlor drilled a two iron 260 yards to off the back of the green, Mackin chipped on to three feet and Lawlor sank the birdie putt.

As that putt dropped, Murphy was pitching in to 10 feet on the 17th and when Woodbrook missed their birdie putt from 30 feet, Rafferty lagged his putt to the edge of the hole and Dundalk’s place in the afternoon final was secured.

The other semi-final between The Island and Palmerstown House went to 19th Hole, giving the Dundalk players some extra time to recover before the final. The managers made one change for the afternoon with the experienced Aaron Grant coming in for debutant Brendan Lawlor as Josh Mackin’s partner in the top match.

“It was great to give Brendan his Barton Shield debut and let him get some very valuable playing time. His approach shot and putt on 18 were crucial to the win in the morning and being able to bring in a fresh and experienced Aaron Grant in the afternoon was a big boost,” said Conlon.

After halving the first three holes of their match against Jonathon Quinn and Rhys Clarke, Grant and Mackin got their noses in front by winning the fourth with a birdie. They extended their lead to two holes by winning the ninth with a birdie but then bogeyed the par three 13th to go back to one up.

Behind them, things didn’t start so well as Rafferty and Murphy lost the first two holes to birdies from Fergal Kennedy and Jack Blake, but they won the third and brought the match back to all square on the seventh when Murphy holed a testy left to right breaking putt following a sublime chip from Rafferty from the back of the green.

A superb tee shot from Rafferty on the par three 11th to six feet set up Murphy for a birdie that put the Dundalk pairing in front for the first time and they followed that up with birdies on the next two holes as Murphy drained putts from 20 and 15 feet respectively to go three up with five to play.

The next three holes were halved and as the two Dundalk pairings went down the 17th they were lying four up overall with four to play. It all ended when Aaron Grant cooly sank a six foot putt to win the 17th in his match and seal a five hole victory for the defending champions.

“The Club is extremely proud of our Senior Panel who have worked very hard over the last number of years to become Leinster champions,” said Dundalk Club Captain Pat Davis.

“It was a massive breakthough last year to win our first senior pennant and reach the All-Ireland Final and to retain it is a tremendous achievement. I would like to congratulate the managers, the players, the caddies and our club professional Leslie Walker for a job well done and we are all looking forward to going to Westport in September and having another shot at winning the national title.”

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Lawlor comes from behind to win EDGA Scottish Open

July 14, 2019

Brendan Lawlor came out on top when the inaugural EDGA Scottish Open was held alongside the European Tour’s Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club over the weekend.

The 36 hole event featured ten players from the World Rankings for Golfers with Disability taking each other on over the same layout the European Tour field were tackling in the third Rolex Series event of the season.

Lawlor carded a 77 in round one on Saturday to lie third overnight and produced the lowest round of the event when he shot a level par 71 to finish on six over, one shot clear of World Number One George Groves.

“It feels great,” said Lawlor after his victory. “Today everything clicked, I smoothed it off the tee, I didn’t miss many fairways and the putts dropped when I needed them to drop. I had a few bogeys coming in but we’ll put that down to a wee bit of nerves.

“I felt I played a lot better than six over on Saturday. The course was really, really hard and was playing 7,200 yards with no run on the ball because it was quite wet. However, I felt I had a chance being three behind with only two players ahead of me and I got off to the start I wanted to on Sunday.”

Lawlor started the day three shots behind Groves but was brilliant on the front nine, birdieing the fourth, fifth and seventh to lead by one at turn despite dropping a shot on the ninth.

Groves – who has a paralysis of the left arm called Erb’s Palsy – made gains of his own on the first and seventh but dropped shots on the second, third, sixth and eighth, and further bogeys on the tenth and 11th left the Englishman two behind, with Lawlor also bogeying the 11th. Lawlor dropped a shot on the 13th but moved back two ahead as he picked it straight back up on the next. A bogey on the 17th then set up a tense finish but Groves parred his final seven holes to leave Lawlor signing for a 71 to claim the title and add another memorable week to his CV.

“Everyone out here are unbelievable payers and it’s great to showcase it. To be out here this week competing with all the pros and having the chance to play off the same tees, it’s a privilege for all of us,” said Lawlor.

“To play in such a fantastic event, it’s an amazing achievement for EDGA to get us in and for the European Tour to accept that disability golfers are talented is fantastic as well. Inclusion is everything in the world and it’s fantastic to be accepted.

“For so many professional golfers to accept what we’re doing and accept that we can play with them, it’s fantastic. They can see our talent and that’s helping too.”

Lawlor will be back mixing it with the pros in August when he takes part in the European Challenge Tour’s KPMG Trophy in Belgium in August which was his prize for winning G-Golf Knockout against Adem Wahbi at the Belgian Knockout a few weeks ago.

The World Number Three, who is a member of Dundalk’s Senior Panel, plays off scratch and has Ellis-Van Creveld syndrome, a disability characterised by a shorter stature and shorter limbs.

The EDGA Scottish Open is the first of two disability championships scheduled alongside Rolex Series events on the 2019 Race to Dubai, with the 36 hole EDGA Dubai Finale due to feature as part of the season ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai at Jumeirah Golf Estates in November. 

“I felt I played a lot better than six over on Saturday. The course was really, really hard and was playing 7,200 yards with no run on the ball because it was quite wet. However, I felt I had a chance being three behind with only two players ahead of me and I got off to the start I wanted to on Sunday.”

Lawlor started the day three shots behind Groves but was brilliant on the front nine, birdieing the fourth, fifth and seventh to lead by one at turn despite dropping a shot on the ninth.

Groves – who has a paralysis of the left arm called Erb’s Palsy – made gains of his own on the first and seventh but dropped shots on the second, third, sixth and eighth, and further bogeys on the tenth and 11th left the Englishman two behind, with Lawlor also bogeying the 11th. Lawlor dropped a shot on the 13th but moved back two ahead as he picked it straight back up on the next. A bogey on the 17th then set up a tense finish but Groves parred his final seven holes to leave Lawlor signing for a 71 to claim the title and add another memorable week to his CV.

“Everyone out here are unbelievable payers and it’s great to showcase it. To be out here this week competing with all the pros and having the chance to play off the same tees, it’s a privilege for all of us,” said Lawlor.

“To play in such a fantastic event, it’s an amazing achievement for EDGA to get us in and for the European Tour to accept that disability golfers are talented is fantastic as well. Inclusion is everything in the world and it’s fantastic to be accepted.

“For so many professional golfers to accept what we’re doing and accept that we can play with them, it’s fantastic. They can see our talent and that’s helping too.”

Lawlor will be back mixing it with the pros in August when he takes part in the European Challenge Tour’s KPMG Trophy in Belgium in August which was his prize for winning G-Golf Knockout against Adem Wahbi at the Belgian Knockout a few weeks ago.

The World Number Three, who is a member of Dundalk’s Senior Panel, plays off scratch and has Ellis-Van Creveld syndrome, a disability characterised by a shorter stature and shorter limbs.

The EDGA Scottish Open is the first of two disability championships scheduled alongside Rolex Series events on the 2019 Race to Dubai, with the 36 hole EDGA Dubai Finale due to feature as part of the season ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai at Jumeirah Golf Estates in November. 

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Top ten finishes in Europe for Rafferty and Lawlor

June 30, 2019

Caolan Rafferty and Brendan Lawlor both missed the weekend Senior Cup action as they were in Austria and Czech Republic respectively and posted top ten finished in their respective events.

Rafferty was in action last week at the European Amateur Championship in Austria where he finished tied sixth and was the leading Irish player. He shot rounds of 67, 74, 70 and 69 for an eight under par total of 280 which was seven shots behind the winner Matthias Schmid of Germany.

Rafferty’s next international outing will be the European Amateur Team Championships from July 9 to 13 in Sweden where he will be part of a six-man Irish team and he is also due to head to North Carolina in August for the American Amateur Championship which is being staged at the legendary Pinehurst course.

Brendan Lawlor finished third at the Czech Disabled Golf Masters 2019 at Golf Club Mstětice over the weekend. He led after the first round of the 36 hole event following a two under par 70 but went round in 75 in the final round for an overall score of 145 which was two shots behind winner Mike Browne of England.

Lawlor’s next outing will be the Scottish Open which is being run in conjunction with the European Tour’s Scottish Open where the pros will be fine-tuning their links game ahead of the British Open in Royal Portrush the following week.

Rafferty’s next international outing will be the European Amateur Team Championships from July 9 to 13 in Sweden where he will be part of a six-man Irish team and he is also due to head to North Carolina in August for the American Amateur Championship which is being staged at the legendary Pinehurst course.

Brendan Lawlor finished third at the Czech Disabled Golf Masters 2019 at Golf Club Mstětice over the weekend. He led after the first round of the 36 hole event following a two under par 70 but went round in 75 in the final round for an overall score of 145 which was two shots behind winner Mike Browne of England.

Lawlor’s next outing will be the Scottish Open which is being run in conjunction with the European Tour’s Scottish Open where the pros will be fine-tuning their links game ahead of the British Open in Royal Portrush the following week.

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Dundalk beaten in Senior Cup Regional Final

June 30, 2019

Despite hosting the event in Dundalk, the Senior Panel were beaten in the Regional Final of the AIG Senior Cup on Sunday by an excellent Laytown & Bettytown team who now progress to the Leinster quarter-final.

The Meathmen laid down a very impressive marker in the strokeplay qualifying on Saturday when they lead home the field by six shots with a combined score of 292 from the four counting scorecards. Greenore came next on 298 with Dundalk on 301 and Skerries on 302 as the top four advanced to Sunday’s matchplay semi-finals.

Laytown booked their place in the final with a comfortable 4-1 win over Skerries but the other semi-final went right to wire. Eoin Murphy and Josh Mackin were both winners for Dundalk while Aaron Grant and Conor Curran both lost to leave it at 2-2 with Dundalk’s Neal MacKell one down with two to play. However, last year’s Junior Cup winner showed nerved of steel to win the two final holes in a dramatic finish and seal Dundalk’s place in the regional final.

Any hopes that home advantage would favour Dundalk in the final proved unfounded as the well prepared Laytown team took the first three matches to seal victory with Eoin Murphy losing 2&1while Conor Curran and Neal MacKell were both beaten by two holes having taken their matches to the 18th. Aaron Grant and Josh Mackin were both called in once the Layotwn secured their third point.

Caolan Rafferty and Brendan Lawlor both missed the weekend Senior Cup action as they were in Austria and Czech Republic respectively and posted top ten finished in their respective events.

Saturday, June 29 and Sunday, June 30 – AIG Senior Cup Regional Qualifier – Qualifying: 292 Laytown & Bettystown; 298 Greenore; 301 Dundalk; 302 Skerries; 304 Co Louth; 308 Ardee; 313 Balcarrick; 315 Balbriggan; 320 Rush; 322 Hollywood Lakes. CSS: 73. Semi-finals: Laytown & Bettystown bt Skerries 4/1; Dundalk bt Greenore 3/2. Final: Laytown & Bettystown bt Dundalk 4/1.

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