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Past champions and future stars line up in 123rd South of Ireland at 'special' Lahinch

Past champions and future stars line up in 123rd South of Ireland at 'special' Lahinch

Irish Examiner2 days ago
Peter Sheehan tees it up in his 40th Pierse Motor Group South of Ireland Amateur Open Championship today but he's not the only former champion enamoured of the annual matchplay classic at Lahinch.
As 58-year-old Sheehan goes off with fellow veterans Karl Bornemann and Sean Barry at 2:30pm, two former champions and a former runner-up will be on the back nine at the west Clare links reliving their past glories and enjoying the unique atmosphere of what is arguably Irish golf's most popular provincial championship.
A 46-year-old Robbie Cannon, champion in 2009, joins last year's beaten semi-finalist, 54-year-old Pat Murray (winner in 2012) and the 53-year-old 2007 runner up Joe Lyons in a threeball that will be as much a trip down memory lane as another opportunity to defy the odds and frighten a few young guns by making the top 64 after 36 holes who qualify for the matchplay stages on Friday.
"The minute you drive into the car park in Lahinch, you can almost smell golf," said Lyons, a former West of Ireland champion, who has become a prolific winner on the seniors circuit with seven championship wins to his name. "There is just something special about the place.
"Lahinch has a charm to it, really. There's something magical about it and I love the design and holes such as the Dell or the Klondyke because they are unique in world golf."
The Alastair Mackenzie-designed course will host the Walker Cup next year, and not only is Lyons keen to make the trip, but he will likely bump into old rivals like Murray and Cannon, who have a special "grá" for the course, the town and the championship.
Murray finally ended his quest for South of Ireland glory in 2012 after multiple appearances in the quarter and semi-finals.
"I just love the buzz there," said Tipperary native, who made a surprise appearance in the semi-finals 12 months ago, where he was beaten by eventual champion Patrick Adler of the US.
"There's so much to be said for a golf course in the middle of the town. It's a great test when the wind blows and the atmosphere on the first tee box, right in front of the clubhouse, is second to none."
Cannon can hardly believe it's been 16 years since he beat Cork's Gary O'Flaherty in the final and while he'll be hoping to capture lightning in a bottle and pulling for all his strength and conditioning clients, he'll be making sure to smell the wildflowers along the way.
"The views on the golf course are fantastic, the people and all the members are lovely, and it's just a great place to play golf," Cannon said. "It's just one of my favourite places in golf."
Adler is not defending his title, but there is still a quality field in action, diminished only by the absence of Amateur Championship runner-up Gavin Tiernan and 2015 winner Stuart Grehan, who are hoping to boost their chances of Walker Cup selection when they play for Great Britain and Ireland in this week's St Andrews Trophy at Real Club de la Puerta de Hierro in Madrid.
Players of the calibre of former champions Caolan Rafferty and Colm Campbell, Roscommon's Thomas Higgins, Malahide's Gavin O'Neill and Galgorm's Joshua Hill, not to mention Connemara's Luke O'Neill, last year's runner up Brian Doran of Millicent, West of Ireland winner Dylan Holmes and East of Ireland champion David Howard from Fota Island will be keen to make their mark.
The 1985 champion, Sheehan, will be making his 40th appearance, and the memory of his victory remains vivid.
"I played against Michael O'Kelly (Limerick) in the final. There must have been 5,000 people there," he told Golf Ireland this week.
"The abiding memory was watching Padraig Harrington and his girlfriend, wife now, Caroline, strolling around watching us in the final, which is nice to see years later."
Like Cannon, Murray and Lyons, there's nowhere he'd rather be this week.
"They look after me every year, they make me feel so welcome as a past champion, and they make me feel as if I'm the winner coming back every year," said Sheehan, whose goal is to make the cut and take a few matchplay scalps.
"They look after me so well, treat you so well, and it's just a really, really special place."
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Andy Farrell and Joe Schmidt both expect better for second Test
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Andy Farrell and Joe Schmidt both expect better for second Test

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Dylan Keating puts rollercoaster behind him to top South of Ireland qualifiers at Lahinch
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While Roscommon's Irish international Thomas Higgins missed the cut, all the big guns made the matchplay. Former Boys international Gazi (19), who is at Northwestern University in Chicago, made eight birdies in his 67 in just his second South of Ireland appearance. 'I've done a lot of match play, especially playing Boys Home internationals,' said Gazi, who is travelling with Tralee's Darren O'Sullivan (35), who shot a sparkling 67 to qualify in sixth place on five-under. 'Whoever you are playing, you've just goto to beat the man and make sure you do that. It doesn't matter how you do it, once you do.' Former winners Caolan Rafferty and Colm Campbell made it with ease while veterans such as Douglas' Karl Bornemann, Adare Manor's Pat Murray and Galway's Joe Lyons also came through. Hickey, who was joint second on six-under, was delighted to make it after making life tough for himself after an opening 73. 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Pierse Motor Group South of Ireland Amateur Open Championship, Lahinch (Par 72) Matchplay draw Round one 7:00 Dylan Keating v Seán Desmond; 7:09 Eoin Magill v Benjamin Oberholzer; 7:18 Caolan Rafferty v Patrick Curran; 7:27 Jamie Butler v Joe O'Neill; 7:36 Adam Buchanan v Barry O'Connell; 7:45 Conor Clarke v Jordan Hood; 7:54 David Kitt v Robert Abernethy; 8:03 Charlie Cooley v David Reddan; 8:12 Ryan Griffin v Ross Latimer; 8:21 Eoin O'Carroll v Andrew McCormack; 8:30 Keith Egan v Dylan Holmes; 8:39 Niall Hearns v Jake Foley; 8:48 Sean Downes v Luke O'Neill; 8:57 Eoin Sullivan v Fionn Dobbin; 9:06 Jake Whelan v Jason Rackard; 9:15 Adam Smith v David Lally; 9:24 Conor Hickey v Joe Lyons; 9:33 Ben Cahill v Sean Barry; 9:42 Stephen Loftus v James Maginn; 9:51 Gavin O'Neill v Jonathan Keane; 10:00 Conor Stapleton v Tony Scroope ; 10:09 Richard Sykes v Graham Donohoe; 10:18 Paul O'Hanlon v James Walsh; 10:27 Colm Campbell v Karl Bornemann; 10:36 Mark Gazi v Thomas Abom; 10:45 Jamie Sutherland v Colin Woodroofe; 10:54 Jordan Boles v Darcy Hogg; 11:03 Ross McCormack v David Howard; 11:12 Darren O'Sullivan v Liam Abom; 11:21 TJ Ford v Joshua Hill; 11:30 Quentin Carew v Barry Howlin; 11:39 Mark Cadden v Pat Murray. Qualifiers 137 Dylan Keating (Seapoint) 69 68 (leading qualifier); 138 Conor Hickey (Dooks) 73 65, Mark Gazi (Tralee) 71 67, Ryan Griffin (Ballybofey & Stranorlar) 70 68, Sean Downes (Royal Dublin) 66 72; 139 Darren O'Sullivan (Tralee) 72 67, Conor Stapleton (Westport) 67 72, Adam Buchanan (Royal Portrush) 66 73; 140 David Kitt (Athenry) 71 69, Paul O'Hanlon (Carton House) 70 70, Quentin Carew (Castleknock)) 67 73; 141 Jake Whelan (Grange) 70 71, Keith Egan (Carton House) 70 71, Jordan Boles (Charleville) 69 72, Stephen Loftus (Lahinch) 69 72, Caolan Rafferty (Dundalk) 69 72; 142 Jamie Butler (Naas) 74 68, Gavin O'Neill (Malahide) 73 69, Ross McCormack (Palmerstown House Estate )72 70, Niall Hearns (Mountrath) 71 71, Adam Smith (Mullingar) 70 72, Mark Cadden (Roganstown) 69 73; 143 Colm Campbell (Warrenpoint) 75 68, Charlie Cooley (Belvoir Park) 75 68, Conor Clark (Balmoral) 74 69, Richard Sykes (Dun Laoghaire) 73 70, TJ Ford (Co Sligo) 72 71, Eoin Sullivan (Portmarnock) 72 71, Eoin O'Carroll (St Anne's) 71 72, Jamie Sutherlan (Galgorm Castle) 71 72, Ben Cahill (Dundalk) 71 72, Eoin Magill (East Clare) 70 73, Benjamin Oberholzer (Clandeboye) 69 74; 144 Sean Barry (Fota Island) 75 69, Colin Woodroofe (Dun Laoghaire) 75 69, Andrew McCormack (Castletroy) 74 70, Fionn Dobbin (Malone) 74 70, Joshua Hill (Galgorm Castle) 73 71, Graham Donohoe (Enniscorthy) 73 71, Jordan Hood (Galgorm Castle) 72 72, David Reddan (Castle(Knock)) 72 72, Karl Bornemann (Douglas) 72 72, Pat Murray (Adare Manor) 71 73, David Lally (Blainroe) 70 74; 145 Jake Foley (Elm Park) 76 69, David Howard (Fota Island) 75 70, Jonathan Keane (Lahinch) 75 70, Joe O'Neill Berehaven 74 71, Patrick Curran (Edmondstown) 73 72, James Maginn (Mourne) 73 72, Darcy Hogg (Belvoir Park) 73 72, Dylan Holmes (Greystones) 73 72, Jason Rackard (Bunclody) 72 73, Barry Howlin (The Heritage) 72 73, James Walsh (Douglas) 71 74, Robert Abernethy (Dun Laoghaire) 70 75, Barry O'Connell (Douglas) 70 75; 146 Tony Scroope (Nenagh) 75 71, Liam Abom (Edmondstown) 75 71, Luke O'Neill (Connemara) 74 72, Ross Latimer (Knock) 74 72, Thomas Abom (Edmondstown) 73 73, Joe Lyons (Galway) 73 73, Seán Desmond (Monkstown) 73 73. Non qualifiers 146 Darragh Flynn (Carton House) 72 74, Luke Cunningham (Galway Bay) 72 74, Ian O'Connell (Castleknock)) 72 74, Cathal MacCanna (Carton House) 72 74, Thomas Higgins (Roscommon) 72 74, John McCarthy (Grange) 71 75, Luke Kelly (Dunfanaghy) 69 77; 147 Andrew Gavin (Black Bush) 77 70, Morgan Cain (Cork) 76 71, Steven Gormley (Blainroe) 75 72, Thomas O'Connor (Athlone) 74 73, Ciaran Murphy (Grange) 73 74, Morgan Crowe (Elm Park) 73 74, Harry Gillivan (Portmarnock) 72 75, Charlie McDonnell (Concra Wood) 71 76; 148 Morgan O'Sullivan (Ballyneety) 75 73, Adam Challoner (Galway Bay) 75 73, Alan Fahy (Dun Laoghaire) 75 73, Rían Carvill (Warrenpoint) 73 75, James Marriott (West Surrey) 72 76; 149 Rory McConnell (Belvoir Park) 77 72, Aaron Naughton (Hermitage) 77 72, David Kelly (Millicent) 76 73, Padraig O Dochartaigh (Gweedore) 75 74, Paul Coughlan (Castleknock)) 75 74, Cian Poland (Elm Park) 75 74, Senan Carroll (Ballybunion) 74 75, David Shiel (Enniscrone) 74 75, Adam Allahbachani (Powerscourt) 73 76, Gary Collins (Rosslare) 73 76, Darren McCormack (Corrstown) 71 78, John Dillon (Lahinch) 71 78, Robbie Cannon (Balbriggan) 70 79; 150 Niall Conneely (Ballinasloe) 79 71, Sean Flanagan (Portmarnock) 78 72, Jonathan Kelly (Athy) 77 73, Jack McDonnell (Royal Dublin) 77 73, Shea Dorman (Bangor) 76 74, Jack Murphy (Douglas 76 74, Evan Monaghan (Tullamore) 75 75, Kevin Robinson (Castlewarden) 74 76, Colum Kenny (Portmarnock) 73 77; 151 Dan Byrne (The Els Club Dubai) 80 71, Cian O'Connor (Roscommon) 77 74, Danny Lyne (Lahinch) 74 77, Matthew Giles (Greenore) 73 78; 152 Jamie Larkin (Palmerstown) 79 73, William Josh Nicholl (Galgorm Castle) 78 74, Jamal Sabir (Moate) 77 75; 153 Adrian Hiney (Moate) 80 73, Samuel Gammell (Naas) 77 76, Andrew Barker (Corrstown) 76 77; 154 Eoin Murphy (Dundalk) 81 73, Conor McCarthy (Headfort) 80 74, Niels Knudsen (Lyngbygaard, Den) 80 74, Ryan Lyons (Blarney) 80 74, Mikie Grealy (Galway Bay) 78 76, Aodhagan Brady (Co Sligo) 75 79; 155 Cathal Penney (Athenry) 80 75, Seán McLoughlin (Co Sligo) 80 75, Peter Sheehan (Ballybunion) 78 77, Calum Ward (Carton House) 78 77, Julius Sommer (Zurich, SUI) 77 78, Sean Gallagher (Castleknock)) 77 78, Lucas Lyons (Limerick) 77 78; 156 Neil Patterson (Baltinglass) 81 75, Jack Doherty (Carton House) 80 76, Brian Thompson (Olympic Club, US) 80 76, Ciaran Gregan (Forrest Little) 79 77, Brian Doran (Millicent) 79 77, Lorcan O'Connor (Edmondstown) 78 78, Luke Furlong (Wexford) 78 78, Sean Murphy (Grange) 77 79; 157 David O'Malley (Black Bush) 85 72, Darren Kelleher (Blarney) 80 77, Robert Walsh (Douglas) 80 77, Greg O'Mahony (Fota Island) 77 80; 158 Luke O'Dwyer (Forrest Little) 83 75, Aaron McNulty (Lahinch) 80 78 159 Conor Dean (Dun Laoghaire) 80 79; 160 Sam Kelly (The Island) 79 81; 162 Cole Haygood (Heathrow) 83 79, Ryan Murray (Balmoral) 80 82 163 Dylan Harbourne (Grange) 81 82, Robert Galligan (Elm Park) 80 83, Eoin Rogers Killeen Castle 77 86.

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