Kinsale teenager John Murphy led a quintet of Irishmen safely through to the matchplay stages of the 123rd Amateur Championship at Royal Aberdeen and Murcar Links.

Rowan Lester is just five shots off the lead at the 123rd Amateur Championship after a superb opening round at Murcar Links.

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

There’s nothing like some shiny silverware to reinforce the feeling that you’re doing things right.

Robin Dawson is determined not get ahead of himself as he takes a two-stroke lead into the third round of the Flogas Irish Amateur Open at Royal County Down.

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.

Tramore’s Robin Dawson stamped his authority on the Radisson Blu sponsored West of Ireland Amateur Open when he fired a championship record equalling 64 to take a three-stroke lead after the first qualifying round at Rosses Point yesterday.

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.

So near and yet so far. It was very disappointing coming so close to making it through to the next round of the European Tour Q-School, but the upshot is my professional ambitions are on hold for a year and I have an opportunity to dedicate a year to elite amateur golf.

A pre-finals pep talk from All-Ireland hurling hero Joe Canning has helped Galway Golf Club return to today’s AIG Barton Shield decider at Carton House, where they will bid to avenge last year’s defeat to Warrenpoint.

The GUI’s annual AIG Cups and Shields All-Ireland finals look primed to get off to a blistering start this morning when Munster champions Tralee meet Connacht kingpins Galway in the first Barton Shield semi-final.

Tramore’s Robin Dawson remains on course for his maiden championship success after he battled winds gusting up to 40km/h to reach the last 16 of the AIG Irish Amateur Close at Galway.

Chemistry student Peter Kerr is hoping he can come up with the magic formula and win his maiden championship after leading the qualifiers for the matchplay stages of the AIG Amateur Close at Galway.

Golf

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.

The latest phase in the 125th-anniversary celebrations at Lahinch Golf Club gets underway this morning with the first qualifying round in the Pierse Motors South of Ireland Championship and continues until Monday when many past champions will be honoured in a special competition followed by a gala dinner.

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.

Six PGA in Ireland professionals will compete at next week’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, hosted by the Rory Foundation at Portstewart.

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

Scott Jamieson recovered from a nightmare start to his second round to claim a share of the halfway lead in the BMW PGA Championship, an event he labelled the “pinnacle” of his season.

A missed four-footer means nothing when you’ve been out for a year battling lymphatic cancer.

Royal County Down has a habit of punishing aggression but big hitting Douglas man Peter O’Keeffe kept his love of attack in check to open with a fine 70 in the Flogas Irish Amateur Open in idyllic conditions at the firm and fast Newcastle links.

Conor O’Rourke, Naas, put a stuttering start to the season behind him by scorching to a stunning five under par 66 to grab a two-stroke lead after the first qualifying round of the Radisson Blu sponsored West of Ireland Amateur Open Championship at Co Sligo.

It was great to go home to Waterford for a couple of days before heading to Spain for this week’s Nations Cup. I came home for my Grandad’s year Mass and to see my family before a busy couple of weeks on the golf course.

AIG Irish Close Champion Alex Gleeson will head into the European Nations Cup in Spain next week in confident mood, his early season form kick-started by warm-weather winter competition and a positive vibe from a close-knit Ireland squad.

It could easily have been two wins in South Africa but I’ll take it on the chin and move on, writes Robin Dawson.

The AIG Senior Cup returned to Rosses Point on Saturday night as Co Sligo reclaimed Irish club golf’s blue riband title with a dramatic final victory over Leinster’s Castle at Carton House.

Castle’s Alex Gleeson shrugged off some late resistance from Whitehead’s John-Ross Galbraith to win the AIG Irish Amateur Close title 3 and 1 on the majestic Glashedy Links at Ballyliffin.

Castle’s Alex Gleeson is dreaming of landing his maiden “major” after breaking the heart of Tramore’s Robin Dawson for the second year running in the AIG Irish Amateur Close Championship.

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.

Whitehead’s John-Ross Galbraith claimed the leading qualifier’s silver medal at Ballyliffin and insisted he’s aiming to maintain his 100% record in the AIG Irish Amateur Close by winning it for the second time.

Stuart Grehan fired in a flawless three-under-par opening round of 69 in tough conditions to lead the Irish assault on the European Amateur Championship in Estonia.

Family dynasties claiming the limelight in the South of Ireland Championship at Lahinch are nothing new.

Ireland bounced back from their European Amateur Team Championship quarter-final defeat to Italy with an impressive 3½-1½ win against Spain over France’s challenging Chantilly course.

Three-under par rounds of 68 over the challenging Chantilly course by Walker Cup star Jack Hume and Stuart Grehan helped Ireland cruise into the quarter-finals of the European Amateur Team Championship.