DARA LERNIHAN WINS IRISH CLOSE CHAMPIONSHIP.

Dara Lernihan from the Castle golf club in Dublin walked off with the Irish Close Championship at Royal Dublin after beating Rory Leonard in the final.

Two years ago in the same competition Lernihan was disappointed as he lost in the final of the same competition to the Curragh's Paul o Hanlon at Belvoir Park in Belfast.

He made no mistakes this time as he birdied the first two holes to gain a 2 hole advantage that he kept against Leonard the reigning West of Ireland champion from Banbridge.Dara went 3 up with a par at the short 12th and when he lost the 14th to a birdie,he hit back straight away with a long putt for birdie three at the 15th which left him dormie three up.A half in par was good enough to win the title on the 16th green.

In the semi final Dara had an easy win over Stephan Crowe from Dunmurray on the 14th green,while Leonard beat the leading qualifier Luke Lennox from Moyola Park.

Lennox took the top qualifing spot with rounds of 76,66,beating Richard o Donovan from Lucan on a countback.

Quarter Finals:
Stephen Crowe (Dunmurry) bt Stephen Loftus (Lahinch) 4/3
Dara Lernihan (Castle) bt Eoin Arthurs (Forrest Little) 5/4
Luke Lennox (Moyola Park) bt Alan Dunbar (Rathmore) 1 hole
Rory Leonard (Banbridge) bt Gerard Kelly (Co. Louth) 4/3.

Semi Finals:
Dara Lernihan (Castle) bt Stephen Crowe (Dunmurry) 6/4
Rory Leonard (Banbridege) bt Luke Lennox (Moyola Park) 3/2.

Final:
Dara Lernihan (Castle) bt Rory Leonard (Banbridge) 3/2.

Qualifying Scores:
142: L Lennox (Moyola Park) 76 66 (Leading Qualifier), R, O'Donovan (Lucan) 70 72

143: S Ryan (The Royal Dublin) 76 67

144: S Crowe (Dunmurry) 76 68

145: J Monaghan (The Island) 72 73, J Fox (Portmarnock) 72 73, B Anderson (Co. Sligo) 71 74

146: P Dunne (Greystones) 77 69, D Lernihan (Castle) 74 72, G McDermott (Co. Sligo) 72 74, D Hallissey (Muskerry) 71 75

147: G O'Flaherty (Cork) 76 71, M McAlpin (Royal Portrush) 76 71, G Kelly (Co. Louth) 74 73

148: K Quigg (City of Derry) 76 72, S Power (West Waterford) 76 72, D Morgan (Mullingar) 76 72, C O'Sullivan (Fota Island) 75 73, R Leonard (Banbridge) 75 73, I Brennan (Greenore) 73 75, A Condren (Greystones) 73 75, A Dunbar (Rathmore) 72 76

149: D Daly (Muskerry) 76 73, M Durcan (Co. Sligo) 76 73, E Arthurs (Forrest Little) 75 74, R Burke (Castle) 75 74, G Dillon (The Heath) 75 74, J Lyons (Galway) 74 75, H Diamond (Belvoir Park) 74 75

150: R McNamara (Headfort) 77 73, S Prendergast (The Royal Dublin) 77 73, J Tobin (Carrick-on-suir) 77 73, E McCormack (Galway) 76 74, N Gorey (Lee Valley) 75 75

151: C Fairweather (Knock) 78 73, T O'Flynn (Fota Island) 78 73, R Walsh (Kilkenny) 78 73, D Reilly (Westmanstown) 76 75, C Curley (Newlands) 76 75, R McCarthy (The Island) 75 76, C Martin (Kilkenny) 75 76, G Dunne (Seapoint) 73 78, D King (Tramore) 73 78

152: S Moloney (Castletroy) 79 73, A Hogan (Newlands) 79 73, B O`Donovan (Bandon) 79 73, R Cannon (Laytown & Bettystown) 78 74, N Grant (Knock) 78 74, P McCrudden (Royal Portrush) 76 76, D Holland (Castle) 75 77, S Barry (Lee Valley) 74 78, P O'Kane (Moyola Park) 74 78

153: S Healy (Claremorris) 81 72, B Daly (Edmondstown) 81 72, D Coghlan (The Royal Dublin) 81 72, D Downie (Sutton) 78 75, M Sinclair (Knock) 77 76, S Loftus (Lahinch) 76 77, S Bryan (Delgany) 76 77

154: D Murray (Skerries) 81 73, T McGowan (Strandhill) 78 76, R Knightly (The Royal Dublin) 78 76, G Carew (Edenderry) 76 78

Non-qualifiers:
154: M Collins (Mahon) 75 79, R Bridges (Stackstown) 74 80, B Campbell (Malone) 73 81