In an epic battle that went all the way to the 17th hole of the penultimate match, Greystones avenged their 2023 final defeat to claim the Fred Daly Trophy on a rain-sodden day in Warrenpoint.
The County Down course played host to two enthralling days of underage action with the stars of the future showing off their golfing talent. Greystones, Ballybunion, Belvoir Park and defending champions Royal Portrush all vying to lift the Fred Daly Trophy in the marquee event on the final day.
Greystones booked their place in the decider thanks to a comprehensive 4-1 victory over Ballybunion in the semi-finals. Milo Doyle (7&6), William O’Riordan (6&5) and Jamie Anderson (5&3) all won their matches.
It was a tighter match in the all-Ulster semi-final where wins for Luca Rogers (4&3), Ollie McEvoy (2&1) and Samuel Lee McNamara (4&3) helped set up a 3.5-1.5 victory for Royal Portrush over Belvoir Park.
And that teed up an intriguing final, a repeat of last year’s match in which Royal Portrush came out on top. Greystones though landed the first point this time around, with Dylan Holmes claiming a 6&4 win over Jenson Boyce, before Royal Portrush bounced back straight away through Rogers, when he beat O’Riordan 3&2.
Greystones hit back when Anderson grabbed a narrow 2&1 win over McEvoy. McEvoy had kept himself alive in the match with a brilliant putt from the edge of the 16th green, however Anderson sealed it on the following hole.
It came down to the last two matches with both set to head up 17, match five was finely balanced while match four saw Toby Murphy walk to the tee with the advantage.
Murphy though seemed to play himself into trouble, his drive fading to the left slightly leaving a blind shot over the hill. The Greystones man produced a fine approach shot however, a fantastic shot left his ball on the green just inside Noah Beggs.
Beggs was up to putt first, his shot rolling just a hair short and with Murphy putting his ball well within tap in range the players shook hands, and with a 2&1 victory, the Fred Daly title was confirmed to be heading back down the motorway to Wicklow.
Greystones captain Peter Anderson could not have wished for a better birthday present.
“Incredible, what a team, what a panel of players, what talent, hard work and character. We got beaten in the final by a really great Portrush team last year. To come back, it’s a long journey back and everyone of them knuckled down and here we are. I couldn’t say I can’t believe it but having known them for a long time I should have probably known and predicted that they would. They were brilliant,” said Anderson.
“It’s a long way back if you have got to the top of the mountain and not quite made it. The level of junior golf in the country at the moment, any team can beat you at any time you have got to be good, you have probably got to get a bit of luck along the way too and to do it, they are incredible.”
With his son and nephew in the squad the moment the title was lifted was even more special for Anderson.
“I am lucky, you get involved in junior golf because of that maybe and then I am lucky to get to be associated with that panel. I put the names on the team sheet, and they go out and play, it’s glory by association. It’s just a pleasure to be involved with them.”
In the Boys’ Foursomes, Castlebar got the better of Belvoir Park while Tramore defeated Blainroe to advance to the decider.
Castlebar duo of Ryan Kilkelly and Aaron Quigley picked up a narrow win over Tramore’s Tom Scully and Patrick Doyle claiming a 1up victory but Michael Elliot and Darren O’Reilly put together a standout performance in their match, winning 6up against Tommy Heneghan and Connor Stapleton to give the Waterford men the championship.
The Girls’ Interclub was another tight affair with Carton House and County Louth both scoring 71 points. A countback was needed, and it was the Carton House team who came out on top with the best card on the day.
Royal Tara claimed the Boy’s Inter-Club title with an impressive performance that saw the team win out by 16 points.
Captain, Gary Clynch, said it was a club-wide effort that helped his team make history by claiming the title on a stableford score of 112. They finished ahead of Blainroe and Clonakilty in the standings.
“It’s huge, it’s our first national title in boys’, we’ve managed to win one in girls’ but this is a culmination of years of development and effort by lots of other people in the club, not just me,” said Clynch.
“We have close to 250 in our junior section, it’s huge. We have big numbers especially between the ages of ten and twelve. We have about 40 percent girls as well, so our future is bright.”
View the final scoring here