Mallow’s James Sugrue can upstage greats by retaining crown

Charlie Mulqueen

Many great golfers have won the South of Ireland Championship over the past 55 years but none has managed to retain the title in that time.

The distinction was last achieved by Killarney’s Michael Guerin in 1963 when he was actually completing a hat-trick of wins to confirm his status as one of the finest amateurs in the Irish game.

The country’s oldest provincial championship, now sponsored by Pierse Motors, Tipperary, gets under way for the 117th time at its traditional Lahinch home on Wednesday morning when Mallow’s James Sugrue bids to match Guerin and retain his hold on the coveted old trophy.

In spite of his considerable talent, it won’t be an easy task for the 21-year-old Mallow player, even though Robin Dawson (Tramore), arguably the finest amateur in Europe at present given all his achievements this year; Kinsale’s John Murphy, recent winner of the highly prestigious St Andrews Links Trophy and 2016 champion Conor Purcell (Portmarnock) will not be in this week’s field.

Instead, they are members of the British & Irish team up against the Continent of Europe in Finland, meaning that all three are within touching distance of a place in next year’s B & I Walker Cup team to take on the might of the USA.

However, this year’s six-man Irish European Championship team of Alex Gleeson (Castle), Mark Power (Kilkenny) , Rowan Lester (Hermitage), the 2016 South runner-up to Purcell; Jonathan Yates (Naas), Tiarnan McLarnan (Massereene), and Caolan Rafferty (Dundalk) will all be in Lahinch along with many others notables, both young and not so young, who are well capable of claiming the title.

All of which means James Sugrue in no doubt as to the extent of the challenge awaiting him over the coming week.

To win the South at the age of 20 was obviously a massive thrill because it is such a prestigious championship,” he says.

“It opened many doors for me and I have been playing all over the place, South Africa, Spain, England, Scotland and so on in the meantime. That was quite a perk because you don’t get the chance to play too much golf in an Irish winter. I was picked on the Irish senior men’s panel at the end of 2017 and played a lot of consistent golf this year, notably in South Africa and finished in the top ten in the Irish Amateur Open.

“A highlight was shooting an eight-under par 64 at Baltray in the regional qualifier for the British Open but unfortunately my luck ran out after that.

My flight was delayed in getting me to the final qualifier at St Annes Old Links in Lancashire. I shot three over in the first round and even a five under in the afternoon wasn’t enough to atone. But it was a great experience that I am sure will stand to me.

Retaining his crown at Lahinch is Sugrue’s immediate ambition. He is quietly confident of coping with a links certain to be running fast due to the dry weather of the recent weeks.