'I’m really proud of myself' - Stuart Grehan makes history with East of Ireland triumph
CHAMPION: Stuart Grehan with the East of Ireland Men's Amateur Open Championship trophy after winning. Pic: ©INPHO/Ben Brady.
Stuart Grehan secured a memorable victory on home soil, creating history as the first County Louth member to claim the East of Ireland Men’s Amateur Open Championship in 41 years.
The County Louth golfer secured his second East of Ireland crown, having first lifted the trophy as a member of his native Tullamore in 2015. Rounds of 70, 69, 67 and a final round 65 that included a spectacular hole-in-one saw him seal a six-shot victory at 17 under par, also setting a new championship scoring record in the process.
Having returned to elite amateur golf in 2025, Grehan secured both the Flogas Irish Men’s Amateur Open Championship and the AIG Irish Men’s Amateur Close Championship during a remarkable season. Victory at his home club, however, goes down as one of the sweetest achievements.
“It’s class, really cool. I’m really, really happy,” said Grehan.
“Chuffed having great crowds out there today and being a member here and having the support with family and friends, it feels really cool. I did feel a lot of pressure coming in this week. I was playing nicely but you always have that extra pressure playing at home. To go out and perform, I’m really proud of myself.”
Joshua Hill (Galgorm Castle) began Sunday morning with the narrowest of leads over Grehan, with the pair sitting at six under and five under respectively. However, an opening two-shot swing immediately saw that lead change hands as a bogey for Hill and a birdie for Grehan on the first put the 2025 Walker Cup star into the driving seat.
Once he had taken the lead, Grehan showed little sign of letting it go, making six more birdies on his way to a third round five under par 67.
Hill remained his closest challenger, battling back with four birdies on the back nine in round three to finish at eight under par and keep the pressure on the leader.
As the final round got underway, Grehan looked to build on his morning momentum. He started strongly with birdies on 2, 3 and 6 to extend his lead to three shots over Caolan Rafferty (Dundalk) who carded six birdies in the opening stretch to fire himself into contention early on.
The back nine would continue in a similar vein as Grehan tightened his grip on the title. Birdies at 10 and 13 sent him further clear of Rafferty, while Hill and a charging Gerard Dunne (Co. Louth) began to run out of holes in their attempts to chase down Grehan.
The highlight of the round though would come on 17, with a huge local crowd watching on, Grehan would make a hole in one on the 207-yard par three, a four-iron struck sweetly taking a couple of bounces before nestling into the hole, sparking massive celebrations from the Baltray crowd.
“I won’t forget that for a while,” said Grehan.
“Just a perfect little cut dead weight into the hole. Seeing everyone’s hands go up in the air. I didn’t see it go in but it’s really cool.”
From there the walk up 18 became a procession. With Rafferty already in the clubhouse at eleven under par, Grehan safely negotiated the par five 18th to seal victory and become the first County Louth member since Finbarr Ronan in 1985 to win the East of Ireland Men’s Amateur Open Championship.
“That’s what you play for,” said Grehan.
“You try and win as many titles as you can so to do it this week with everything going on, it’s really cool and I’m very, very happy.” There was also double joy for County Louth as Gavin Tiernan secured the Under 21 crown, carding a final round 69 to finish three shots clear of Ciaran Murphy (Grange).
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