Provincial skills finals take place this weekend

Junior golfers from all over Ireland are honing their skills for this weekend's provincial finals in  The Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Golf Skills Challenge.

Clubs across the province competing for a place in the Grand Final and the chance to win a unique ‘meet and greet’ opportunity with a top player at this year’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Pro-Am.

Run by The European Tour and the Confederation of Golf in Ireland (CGI), and presented by the Bank of Ireland, the competition is designed to help young golfers under the age of 15, to showcase their putting, chipping, iron play and driving skills as part of a four-person team.

Split into two categories – U15 Boys and U15 Girls – each team consists of four players with each player designated to a certain skill, i.e., Player 1 completes the Putting Challenge, Player 2 completes the Chipping Challenge, Player 3 completes the Iron Challenge and Player 4 completes the Driving Challenge. The skills scores are combined to make up a team score.

Boys teams must have a minimum combined handicap of 64 while the Girls teams must have a minimum combined handicap of 80.

“This competition is a really great opportunity for our young golfers to focus on the key skills of the game in a fun team environment, and we are delighted that so many teams from across Ulster have entered,” said John Roche, Director of Golf and Business Development, Confederation of Golf in Ireland (CGI).

Final dates: 

Munster: Saturday, April 16 @ Ballykisteen Golf Club

Connacht: Saturday, April 16 @ Galway Bay Golf Club

Leinster: Sunday, April 17 @ Heritage Golf Club

FINAL: Sunday, April 24 @ the GUI National Golf Academy at Carton House, County Kildare