Fermoy Golf Club won its first-ever juvenile pennant this week, beating Dungarvan in a hard-fought Munster East Final of the Fred Daly Trophy in Tramore.
The Fermoy team had already beaten Cobh, Douglas, Lee Valley, and Kinsale on their way to the final, and they clinched the pennant against a talented Dungarvan team on the southeast coast.
The panel of Conor Ronan, Henry Bagnall, Zack Morrissey, James O’Mahony, Robbie O’Leary, Donagh McHugh, and David Aherne celebrated the club’s historic first-ever Munster win with a strong showing of club supporters, who made the trip to Tramore.
The Fermoy team will now head for Moate Golf Club in two weeks for the All-Ireland Finals of the Fred Daly, where they will take on Galgorm Castle from Northern Ireland.
The Fermoy panel of Conor Ronan, James O’Mahony, Robbie O’Leary, Donagh McHugh, Henry Bagnall, David Aherne, and Zack Morrissey receiving their Munster East pennant from Golf Ireland
The performance of the young Fermoy team, made up of six 15-year-olds and a 14-year-old, in an under-18 competition, reflects the thriving juvenile section at the club.
Men’s inter-club competitions
Meanwhile, Cobh won the men’s Munster East Pierce Purcell title, also in Tramore, beating West Waterford in the final to claim the pennant.
In the Jimmy Bruen Shield, Clonakilty, East Cork, and Douglas are three of the last four teams left in the Munster East section.
Clonakilty had wins over Cobh and Gold Coast in Youghal last weekend, while East Cork won on the 19th against Clonmel and on the 20th against Cork.
Douglas were taken to the 19th before beating West Waterford, and they then beat Faithlegg in the quarter final. The semi-finals take place in Clonmel on Sunday.
In Munster West, Kanturk had wins over Waterville and Ballykisteen. They were at home and now travel to Roscrea for the semi-final on Saturday.
Intervprovincials
Munster were crowned Under 16 Interprovincial Champions last week after an exciting win in Hollywood Golf Club in Northern Ireland.
Munster beat Leinster on the opening day and had an impressive 4.5 – 0.5 win over Connacht on day two.
Despite the wins, Ulster were ahead by one match going into the final day decider, but those in Munster red came out of the traps early.
First, the pair of Nazar Buhera (Kinsale) and Odhran Scully Jnr (Clonakilty) took the foursomes point in the top match, before Tom Browne doubled their advantage in Match 2.
Match 3 saw Fionn McCormick put Ulster on the scoreboard, while an emphatic 5&4 win for Jack Conroy levelled the affair.
Everything came down to the penultimate singles match, and it was Oscar O’Shea (Kanturk) who delivered the all-important point for Munster with a 2&1 success over Rory Brown.
The final standings saw Munster 1st and Ulster 2nd, with Leinster taking 3rd after a closing 4-1 win against Connacht.
The Munster Under 18 teams were named last week, and the boys’ team features three golfers from Kinsale.
Adam Barr, Ruairi Sherwood, and Nazar Buhera were all named on the team, as was Cian McDonnell from Monkstown.
Buhera was on the winning Under 16 team last week and now has the chance to do the double in Skerries this week.
The Under 18 Girls team was also named, and Hailey Martinez (Douglas), Sophie Neville-Mulcahy (Lee Valley), and Niamh O’Sullivan (Mallow) were all named on the team.
Home Internationals
Fota Island duo David Howard and John Doyle are in action for Ireland at the Home Internationals.
Doyle has retained his place on the team following Ireland’s win at the Europeans last month.
This is likely to be his last event in Ireland before he heads to the US to Louisiana State for his first semester in college.
Howard earned a call-up on the back of his performances at the Open and the South of Ireland.
Howard had a well-deserved week off last week. He is still in with a chance of claiming a spot on the Walker Cup team, and a good performance at the Home Internationals could help his selection chances.
Fota Island’s Morgan Cain continued his good run of form with a 6th place finish at the Mullingar Scratch Trophy.
Cain had rounds of 71 and 70 on Sunday to place in the top ten. A third round 73 saw him drop a few places, but a final round 69 (-3) put him back into the top ten.
Robbie Walsh (T18) and Barry O’Connell (T24) also closed with 69’s. James Walsh, Jack Murphy, and Ryan Lyons missed the cut.
The final Bridgestone Tour Order of Merit event is the AIG Irish Men’s Close, which takes place in Enniscorthy next week.
PIF Championship
Sara Byrne is back in action in London this week at the PIF Championship at the Centurion Club.
It will be her seventh event of the season after a pre-season injury delayed her start to the 2026 campaign.
Byrne is currently just outside the top 50 on the order of merit, but comfortably inside the top 70 mark, which she needs to retain her tour card. Byrne played at the Centurion Club last year and came second in the team event.
She’ll be hoping for another strong performance as she aims to rise up the ranks as the tour enters the second half of the season.