Shane Lowry showed Darren Clarke that he won’t give up on his Ryder Cup dream without a fight when he followed his opening 75 with a sensational six under 65 to make the cut in the Made in Denmark.

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.

West Waterford’s Gary Hurley fired five birdies in an opening 68 to get his qualifying bid off to a positive start in the 72-hole European Tour Qualifying School Second Stage in Spain.

There was no hiding Shane Lowry’s bitter disappointment after confessing he let victory slip in the British Masters at Woburn.

Shane Lowry brushed off an elbow to the face to maintain his lofty position near the top of the British Masters leader board at Woburn.

Tiarnan McLarnon (23) from the Massereeene club in Antrim became the fifth Northern Ireland golfer in a row to capture the AIG Irish Close Championship, beating Alex Gleeson (Castle) 2&1 in Saturday’s final at Tramore.

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.

Ireland finished in style against England yesterday to capture the Men’s Home International title at Southerndown in South Wales.

European Amateur Championship

Gary Hurley’s charge towards the European Amateur title was halted as thunder and lightning forced an early finish on day three on the Dukes course at St Andrews.

Maurice Kelly will be aiming to complete a magnificent quick-fire double when he competes at the British Seniors Amateur Championship, which gets underway at Ganton, Yorkshire, this morning.

Arthur Pierse has been coming to Lahinch for more than 40 years in search of the Clare Coast Hotels South of Ireland Championship.

When you are one of the championship favourites and things are going against you, there is always a good time to produce a shot out of the ordinary.

The withdrawal of favourite Gary Hurley and Irish Close champion John Ross Galbraith has come as a major disappointment to organisers of the Clare Coast Hotels South of Ireland at Lahinch, which begins this morning.

Munster captured the Senior Interprovincial Championship for the second time in three years when they pulled off a magnificent 7-4 victory over hot favourites and holders Ulster in an epic decider at The Island links in North Dublin yesterday.

Ulster players have been the dominant force in Irish golf in recent years and the trend looks set to continue judging by developments over the opening two days of the Senior and Boys Interprovincials at the Island links in North Dublin.

Munster pulled off a considerable surprise when they hammered host province Leinster 7½ to 3½ on the opening day of the Senior Interprovincial Championship at The Island yesterday.

The draw for the West Clare hotels South of Ireland Championship beginning at Lahinch on Saturday suggests the event is again attracting some of the biggest names in amateur golf.

Never mind the Irish pros and their majors, there is plenty of homegrown talent poised to follow them on the road to stardom if the form of Ireland’s leading amateurs is anything to go by.

Paul Dunne is keeping his fingers crossed the billiard table Baltray greens can inspire a resurrection in his putting when he begins his defence of the East of Ireland Amateur Open title at County Louth today.

Dermot McElroy hopes to celebrate his call-up to the St Andrews Trophy squad by challenging for his first amateur major when the Radisson Blu-sponsored West of Ireland Amateur Open gets under way at Rosses Point today.

Ireland produced a dramatic comeback to keep alive their hopes of claiming the Home International title at Ganton, Yorkshire after fighting back to secure a scintillating 8½-6½ win over defending champions Scotland.

Ireland suffered a disappointing start to the Home International Championship at Ganton, suffering a narrow 8-7 defeat at the hands of a below strength England side.

Irish Amateur Open champion Robbie Cannon angrily headed to Lahinch last night gunning for more South of Ireland glory after being sensationally left out of the 11-man Ireland team for next month’s Home Internationals at Ganton in England.

Ulster withstood a late rally by Munster at Lee Valley yesterday to dethrone the home team as Irish Interprovincial champions and regain the title they last held in 2010.

Even though they are the defending champions and will be performing on home territory, Munster are regarded as underdogs in the Senior Men’s Interprovincial Championship beginning at Lee Valley this morning.

Brian Casey had to be content with second spot in the English Open strokeplay championship for the Brabazon Trophy at Formby after a final round hiccup.

Ireland suffered heartache in a dramatic climax to the Men’s Amateur Home Internationals at Glasgow Gailes on the Ayrshire coast last night as their title disappeared in the dying moments of the round-robin series.

Ireland returned to the Glasgow Gailes Links on the Ayrshire coast at the crack of dawn to complete their battle with Scotland in the Men’s Home Internationals after rain halted play last night.

Ireland captain Pádraig Hogan believes a strong start against hosts Scotland tomorrow will be key to success in the Home Internationals at Glasgow Gailes.

Rathmore’s Alan Dunbar leads a strong Irish contingent looking to score a home victory against a stacked international field at Carton House this week for the International European Amateur Championship.

Captain Phil Cooney and his superbly balanced Munster team were celebrating at Royal Co Down last night after they completed a clean sweep in the Interprovincial Championship by beating a hotly fancied Ulster side by 7 matches to 4.

Brilliantly led from the front by Kevin Phelan, Munster got their Interprovincial Championship campaign off to the best possible start when beating holders Connacht with two matches to spare at Royal Co Down yesterday.

Connacht, who bridged a 28 year gap when capturing the title at Rosses Point last year, begin their defence of the Interprovincial Championship this morning with a difficult match against Munster at Royal Co Down.

Recently crowned Irish Close champion Chris Selfridge hit a wonder shot on the final hole of a three-hole aggregate play-off to match the 1988 feat of Ulster great Garth McGimpsey and complete a famous double by lifting the East of Ireland title at a sun-kissed Co Louth.

Moyola Park’s Chris Selfridge took the title but not before West Waterford’s Gary Hurley hit one of the most dramatic birdies ever seen at Royal Portrush to set up a nerve-jangling finale to the Golfsure sponsored Irish Amateur Close at a sun-kissed Dunluce Links.

Muskerry’s Niall Gorey and West Waterford’s Gary Hurley are just five shots off the pace after a scorching start to the Golfsure-sponsored Irish Amateur Close.

TWELVE months ago, Kelan McDonagh from Athlone felt he was “putted off the golf course” in the final of the South of Ireland Championship by John Greene from Carlow.

HEADFORD’S Greg Mungovan was the surprise leader after the qualifying rounds of the Clare Coast hotels-sponsored South of Ireland Championship at Lahinch last night.

PAUL DUNNE and Alan Dunbar held their nerve in Barcelona yesterday to qualify for the knock-out stages of the Spanish Men’s Open Amateur Championship with a stroke to spare.

IRELAND failed to retain their European Girls’ Team Championships title in Denmark on Saturday.

IRELAND’S hopes of winning a third European Men’s Amateur team title in four years were dashed in Sweden yesterday when they failed to make the top flight for the matchplay phase.

Paul Dunne (Greystones) today became the first player to successfully defend the Irish Boys Amateur Close Championship with a two-stroke victory over Knock’s Colin Fairweather at Bangor Golf Club.