Fergal Harte wins Dundalk Golf Club IJM Senior Scratch Matchplay final

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 last, 16 players teed off in the semi-finals of each of the four categories, with the winners returning on Sunday for the finals.

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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 on the 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 holes 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 the 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 match play double by winning 4&3.

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.

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.

All eyes will be on Dundalk Golf Club this weekend as the All-Ireland semi-finals and finals in the Flogas Irish Mixed Foursomes and the Irish Mixed Fourball take place on Friday and Saturday.

Ardee, Rockmount, Grane and Dooks are the last four teams standing in the Mixed Foursomes, while Tubbercurry, Belvoir Park, Rathfarnham and Gowran Park will contest the Mixed Fourball semis.

Thank you to everybody who turned out on Friday evening to welcome home Caolan Rafferty after his magnificent win in the North of Ireland in Portstewart to become the first person to complete the Provincial Grand Slam. The victory cements his place among the legends of Irish golf.

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.

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.

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.