The Barnhill Club have waited ten years to claim their second victory in the Donegal Youth Under 18 Matchplay with an exciting encounter with Buncrana G.C. played in a Ballybofey and Stranorlar G.C.
The course was in excellent condition and in turn the young boys played great golf where birdies and pars the order of the day.
Letterkenny’s James Mc Cabe and Matthew Curran set the scene with 4 and 3 win over Danny Mc Colgan and Dan Mc Gee. So Letterkenny need one more match and with two holes to go the Buncrana pair William Doherty (Captain) and Ethan Sole were one up.
Pars halved the 17th so Charlie Patton (Captain) and Lewis Mulligan needed to win the 18th. All four drives set up a grand stand finish and Lewis Mulligan got the birdie from 10 feet to secure victory for Letterkenny.
In the third match the Letterkenny boys made sure of their victory with a great performance from Kayden Mc Kenna and Conal Herron winning 2/1 over Buncrana’s Oran Doherty and Denis Hegarty.
Dunfanaghy Donegal Plate Youth Champions
Dunfanaghy G.C. Donegal Plate winners 2024 Back: Cormac Gill, Jack Robinson and Fergal Callan (Team Manager) and Niall Moore, Front: Danny Mc Colgan, Ultan Mc Groarty, Ryan Quinn, and Billy Callan.
This proved to be another great encounter. Letterkenny GC. got off to a great start with Bradley Boyle and Michael Sweeney edging out Niall Moore and Cormac Gill.
In the second match Jack Robinson and Ultan Mc Groarty had a win over Luke Sweeney and Eamonn Sampson to set the scene for a finale. However, the young pairing of Myles Mc Cabe and Charlie Carr put in a huge effort in the second nine to try and pull back a deficit of four holes. The Dunfanaghy lads Danny Mc Colgan and Ryan Quinn held firm so Dunfanaghy G.C. are the winners of the Plate championship.
Edward Harvey co-coordinator of the Donegal Youth Matchplays thanked the Ballybofey and Stranorlar Golf for their hospitality on the day and the great condition of the course. Tony Carr put in a huge effort and made the day most enjoyable.
Edward also had great praise for all the Junior conveners for their time and effort in coaching the young boys throughout the year. All clubs were fitted out to the best with their club colours on display.
The managers; Seamus Patton who had two Letterkenny teams in the final was delighted with his players and the sportsmanship shown by all teams. Eoghain Mc Colgan (Buncrana) acknowledged it was a close encounter and delighted with his players.
Fergal Callan and Carlos O’Reilly have both put in huge effort to put Dunfanaghy back on the map again and the young players answered their call with an exciting win.
A special word of thanks to all the Clubs who entered teams this year: Ballyliffin, Ballybofey and Stranorlar, Buncrana, Nairn and Portnoo, Portsalon, Greencastle, Letterkenny and Donegal Golf Club, and we look forward to more clubs entering next year.
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