Ballybunion’s young guns bring Junior Cup back to Kerry

Ballybunion claimed a first green pennant for 34 years in winning the Junior Cup for the first time at the AIG sponsored GUI All Ireland Cups and Shields at Royal Tara Golf Club this afternoon.

The Kerry club, who fielded a team of schoolboys, the eldest of whom was 18 years of age, triumphed in emphatic fashion in beating Westport. John Molyneaux Jnr again led the way by claiming a hard-fought point in the top singles against Ronan Hehir, closing out the match with a birdie on the home green.

Frank Geary Jnr and Richard Hanley also prevailed in their respective matches and the final two games on the course were called in at that point with Ballybunion leading in both.

The Barton Shield proved to be a very tense affair with Clandeboye winning on the 18th green. The Ulster champions lost the top match by five holes but remarkably won the second foursomes by seven holes – they were six holes up playing the final hole – to illustrate the nature of the contest.

Junior Cup Final: Ballybunion bt Westport 4-1 (Ballybunion names first): J Molyneaux Jnr bt R Hehir 2 holes; F Geary Jnr bt J Healy 3/1; S Carroll halved with R Mahon; R Hanley bt T Bree 3/2; J Lynch halved with S Larkin.

Barton Shield Final: Clandeboye bt Co Sligo 2 holes (Clandeboye names first): G Laird & L Crawford lost to S Flanagan & D Reidy 5 holes; C Murphy & W Russell bt G McDermott & S O'Hara 7 holes.