LIMERICK’S Pat Murray yesterday relinquished his grip on the Golfsure Irish Amateur Close Championship when failing to come through the 36 hole qualifying rounds in glorious conditions at Royal Dublin.

Former Munster prop Timmy Ryan has made the replacements bench on the Toulon squad to play Cardiff Blues in the Amlin Challenge Cup final in Marseilles tomorrow.

THE finals of the Bulmers Irish Cups and Shields got off to a successful start in ideal conditions at Tullamore yesterday when Banbridge and Kilkenny produced golf of the highest calibre to qualify for today’s final of the Bulmers Barton Shield.

MONDAY madness is nothing new in the South of Ireland and so it came to pass yesterday when four members of the Irish team in the recent European Championship were yesterday all eliminated in the third and fourth rounds at Lahinch.

ULSTER redhead Darren Crowe and Limerick’s Pat Murray will be hoping for better luck over the coming days in the South of Ireland Golf Championship at Lahinch.

Ireland scored a decisive 7 ½ - 1 ½ victory over Wales in their annual Youths International match at Royal Tara Golf Club.

GORDON D’ARCY will partner Shane Horgan in the centre for Leinster’s critical trip to Galway to play Connacht in the Celtic League tomorrow.

DARREN CROWE, a 24-year-old full-time golfer from Dunmurry, meets Pat Murray, 34, secretary/manager at Limerick Golf Club, in the first semi-final of the South of Ireland Championship at Lahinch this morning.

OLIN BROWNE fired a spectacular 59 to grab one of the final spots in the US Open - after almost withdrawing from the qualifying tournament in Maryland.

The Irish Youths Amateur Open Championship is destined to have a new name on its list of winners this year, as 75 young golfers head to Portumna Golf Club from June 23-24 for the 37th staging of the event.

The following are the Ireland Schools teams to play Ireland U19s and Ireland Youths over christmas.

MALLOW Golf Club go in search of their second Bulmers Irish Senior Cup title in three years when they travel to Lisburn for this week’s annual festival of club golf.

NEW Leinster coach Gary Ella has marked out young Barnhall player Brendan Burke as a star of the future.

WHEN it comes to choosing the young Irish golfer most likely to fill the shoes of the modern stars like Padraig Harrington and Darren Clarke, it is difficult to look beyond Graeme McDowell, the former amateur star from the Rathmore club in Portrush.

Charlie Mulqueen, Rosses Point

The Connacht squad announced for the upcoming Celtic League and Parker Pen Shield has an average age of 22.

The Connacht squad announced today (Tuesday, August 6, 2002) for the upcoming Celtic League and Parker Pen Shield contains 24 players who have represented Ireland at underage or schools levels.

WHILE there was understandable surprise that Graeme McDowell should have emerged victorious in only his fourth appearance on the European Tour on Sunday, those who have followed his progress in the amateur ranks both here in Ireland and on the collegiate circuit in the United States were confident he was destined for great things in the game of golf.