Eoghan Long won the 36-hole Douglas Senior Scratch Cup on Sunday.

Kilkenny teenager Mark Power is gunning to become the youngest winner of the West of Ireland since Rory McIlroy in 2006 after he completed two impressive wins on the opening day of matchplay combat at Rosses Point.

Robin Dawson might be the world No 98 and a recent star performer in the Bonallack Trophy but he admits he’d love to add an amateur “major” to his trophy cabinet should he eventually make the move into the professional ranks.

Some friendly advice from Paul McGinley has set up South of Ireland champion James Sugrue for an all-out assault on Irish domination in 2018.

The great Lahinch links, especially when it is swept by a seriously strong wind from the Atlantic, never fails to provide great matches over the closing stages of the Pierse Motors South of Ireland Championship. 

A spectacular chip in for eagle at the final hole for a round of one under par 71 enabled Rowan Lester of Hermitage to ensure his place at the head of affairs after the second and final qualifying round of the Pierse Motors South of Ireland Championship at a wet and windy Lahinch yesterday.

Ten years ago, Peter O’Keeffe was omitted from the Irish team for the Home International Championship.

Nine of the eleven-strong Irish team that achieved a Grand Slam in last year’s Home Internationals and in the process completed a hat-trick of successes in the championship have entered for the Pierse Motors South of Ireland, starting with the first of two qualifying rounds at Lahinch next Wednesday.

Conor O’Rourke will spearhead the Irish attack as 16 stars travel to Scotland for the start of St Andrews Links Trophy today.

There was a time when Douglas’ Peter O’Keeffe got so angry with himself during his five-year stint in the professional ranks that he would rip a golf glove off his hand in frustration.

Challenge Tour duo Kevin Phelan and Gavin Moynihan are hoping to take advantage of their precision and short game prowess when they enjoy “home” advantage in the €180,000 Volopa Irish Challenge hosted by Mount Wolseley Hotel Spa and Golf Resort next month.

Tramore’s Robin Dawson hopes to wield his putter like a “hoover” rather than a deadly weapon as he seeks some AIG Irish Close Championship revenge in the last 16 today.

Gavin Moynihan was inches away from leaving the K Club in a €145,000 BMW but while he narrowly missed out on the required ace, the Irish rookie was happy just to have made his first Irish Open cut.

Warrenpoint’s Colm Campbell survived a spectacular back nine charge from Jack Hume to clinch a heart-stopping, wire-to-wire win in the Flogas Irish Amateur Open.

The Island’s Kevin LeBlanc is determined to prove the doubters wrong and become the youngest West of Ireland champion since Rory McIlroy.

In more than 30 years as a caddie to pros such as Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, Colin Byrne has seen more than his fair share of the world’s top courses but now the Irishman is lending his expertise to help guide golfers around them from a new vantage point.

Headfort’s Brian Casey is the only Irishman inside the qualifying places after a disastrous third day for the green army at the Second Stage of the Qualifying School in Spain.

PAUL DUNNE

Three weeks out from the Walker Cup and Irish top amateurs are already claiming the headlines.

Irish team captain Tony Goode has backed late call-ups Robin Dawson and Rowan Lester to make the most of the opportunities handed to them by the withdrawals of Paul Dunne and Gary Hurley from next week’s Home International defence at Royal Portrush.

The wheels of progress turn very slowly at Portmarnock but if the sticky issue of women members is ever resolved, Shane Lowry will join Rory McIlroy at the top of the queue for the return of the Irish Open to what many consider to be Ireland’s blue riband links.

Tullamore’s Stuart Grehan was declared the winner after torrential rain and southerly winds forecast to gust over 100kph saw the CityNorth Hotel sponsored East of Ireland Amateur Open reduced to 54 holes for the first time in its 75-year history.

Naas amateur Jack Hume might have missed the cut in his first professional event but he’s gained confidence for a crucial summer run that could earn him a Walker Cup call up.

Old reliables John Kelly and Gary Hurley took up where they left off at Fota Island last year to lead the PGA-GUI challenge in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at windswept Royal County Down.

Being Ryder Cup captain means showing faith in your big gun and both 2014 skipper Paul McGinley and 2016 European boss Darren Clarke had sympathy for a struggling Rory McIlroy.

European Ryder Cup heroes Victor Dubuisson, Jamie Donaldson and Miguel Angel Jimenez have become the latest stars to confirm their plans to play Royal Co Down in two weeks as the entry deadline closed for this year’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open.

Gavin Moynihan survived a war of attrition with his teenage clubmate Kevin LeBlanc to win his second Irish Amateur Open in the space of four years and seal his return to the Walker Cup team.

Jack Hume defied end of the world conditions to card what he described as the round of his life to take a two-stroke after two rounds of the Irish Amateur Open at a weather-lashed Royal Dublin.

Gavin Moynihan might be considered a shoo-in for a second Walker Cup cap but the Dubliner knows he needs to start showing some form to make sure of his place at Royal Lytham and St Annes in September.

The Walker Cup captain will not be there but Cormac Sharvin reckons the R&A selectors that come to Royal Dublin this week will be looking for fireworks from the home brigade when the Irish Amateur Open tees off today.

Cormac Sharvin will go into this week’s Irish Amateur Open Championship full of confidence after claiming a top-five finish at the prestigious Lytham Trophy over the weekend.

Scotland’s Marc Warren was one of four players to claim a share of the lead heading into today’s final day of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.

Lahinch Golf Club has taken what it believes will be a giant step towards restoring the prestige of the South of Ireland Amateur Championship by staging a 36-hole stroke play qualifier next year.

Hoylake is a course with a fond record for Irish golf but only those who stay out of the deep rough at a lush, green Royal Liverpool will have any chance of winning The Open next week.

Munster interprovincial Geoff Lenehan has no qualms about lifting what could cynically be termed an asterisk AIG Irish Amateur Close Championship at Seapoint Golf Links.