Dylan Holmes goes wire-to-wire to win Mullingar Scratch Cup

Holmes finished the 72-hole strokeplay championship on 15-under par, three shots clear of Carton House’s Paul O’Hanlon in second

Dylan Holmes: “It’s brilliant to put your name on a trophy with all those people, it’s not often you get to do it, so anytime is brilliant." Pic: ©INPHO/James Crombie

Dylan Holmes added his name to the illustrious list of winners of the Mullingar Men’s Scratch Trophy today in impressive fashion with a wire-to-wire victory at Mullingar Golf Club.

The Greystones golfer finished the 72-hole strokeplay championship on 15-under par, three shots clear of Carton House’s Paul O’Hanlon in second, to join the likes of Rory McIlroy (2006), Shane Lowry (2008), Pádraig Harrington (1994), Paul McGinley (1991) and Darren Clarke (1989) on the much coveted roll of honour.

“I feel brilliant yeah, it’s nice to get a win this year, haven’t had many good events so it’s nice to get a win finally,” said Holmes in the immediate aftermath.

On Sunday, Holmes carded opening rounds of 66 (-6) & 68 (-4) to to put himself on -10 and carry over a five stroke lead into this morning’s penultimate round. A three-under 69 then opened up a seven shot cushion over 2007 Champion O’Hanlon and Grange’s Jake Foley, heading into the final 18.

The 2025 Men’s West of Ireland Champion began his final round with back-to-back bogeys, whilst Foley was two-under through six, meaning the seven stroke gap between the pair had been quickly reduced to just three. A birdie on four settled the ship for Holmes, before another on the short Par-4 ninth in front of the clubhouse gallery gave him a four-stroke lead at the turn.

“I got off to a ropey start. When you’re seven shots ahead, without thinking, you are almost in the wrong headspace. I’m really proud of how I battled and how I faced adversity because I played really poorly on the front nine and made a lot of good up and downs from 50/60 yards.” 

O’Hanlon wouldn’t go away however, and pulled level with Holmes on 12-under par with both players deep into the back nine, albeit on opposite ends of the property with the two-tee start. A massive birdie on 16 for Holmes coincided with a bogey for O’Hanlon, and that two-shot swing proved to be decisive.

“I didn’t know until 16 (how close it was), I saw someone was going to probably get to 12 (under) and then I hit a terrible second shot into 16, which was probably a result of me knowing. But I managed to hole a 20-footer for birdie, which was a big momentum switch in my head, it meant I needed to just par the last two."

Holmes would finish in style with a classy birdie on the last. It was a sweet triumph for the 19-year-old after a second place finish in Mullingar in 2025.

“I’m delighted, it wouldn’t have been good if I came second twice. It was nice to get revenge I suppose,” said last year’s runner-up, who narrowly missed out on glory here 12 months ago, losing out by one stroke to Malone’s Fionn Dobbin who birdied the 72nd hole.

On etching his name in history alongside some of Ireland’s greatest ever players, the Golf Ireland Men’s High Performance Panellist was noticeably delighted.

“It’s brilliant to put your name on a trophy with all those people, it’s not often you get to do it, so anytime is brilliant."

Attention now turns to the AIG Irish Men’s Amateur Close Championship later this month in Portumna Golf Club on 13-15 August.