MIXED RESULTS FOR ULSTER IN ALL-IRELAND FINALS.

Five Ulster golf clubs made the long journey to Castlebar to represent Ulster in the All Ireland finals of the Senior Cup, Barton Shield, Junior Cup, Jimmy Bruen Shield and the Pierce Purcell Shield.

The only team to bring home the gold medals were Dunmurry, who won the Barton Shield. Darren Crowe and Patrick McGlone finished level in their semi-final match against Bandon golf club from Cork. Stephan Crowe and Glenn McAuley held on for a one hole win to set Dunmurry up for a final game against Headfort golf club. Headfort had a very convincing win over Galway beating them by 7 holes.

In the final, Dunmurry made no mistakes, with Darren Crowe and Patrick McGlone getting off to a great start against Joe Dillan & Greg Mungovan. They went on to win by 5 holes and with Stephan Crowe and Glenn McAuley holding Rory McNamara and Brian Casey level, the All Ireland Barton Shield went to Dunmurry team captain, Tony Cassidy for the first time.

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Lurgan golf club looked very good against Kilkenny in the semi-final of the Senior Cup when they won 4-1, taking the top 3 matches with wins from Francis Tallon 3/2, Steve Kelly 2/1 and Dave Sutton. Sutton earned the winning point with a 4/3 victory over past Irish Champion, Eddie Power. In the other semi-final Bandon beat Co.Sligo 3-2.

Bandon, with the disappointment of losing the Barton Shield final to Dunmurry had to face another Ulster team, Lurgan, this time in the Senior Cup final.

It was new ground for both teams as neither had reached this stage before. The weather took a turn for the worse as the golfers had to play through continuous rain all afternoon. Bandon handled the conditions best, winning the first point with Brian O'Donavan beating Francis Tallon 4/3. Steve Kelly went down 5/4 to Kieran Hurley and when James Horan lost in the final match against Donal O'Donavan 4/2, Lurgan had to admit defeat.

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Portumna Golf club from Galway beat Banbridge in the semi-final of the Junior Cup by 3.5 - 1.5 but the match was a lot closer than the result suggests.

Four of the games went to the 17th or 18th holes. Ross McCandless got Banbridge off to a winning start with a 2/1 win in the top match over Ger Lynch. Luke Woods and Rory Madeley were beaten, giving Portumna a 2-1 lead. There was disappointment for Banbridge when Jonathan Burns went down on the final green to Shane Ryan, giving Portuma a place in the final against Naas who beat East Cork by the same 3.5-1.5 margin.

Portumna went on to collect the Junior Cup with a convincing 3-2 win over Naas.

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Tandragee Golf Club represented Ulster in the Jimmy Bruen Shield and they were up against Swinford golf club in the semi-final, while Clontarf faced Carrick-on-Suir in the other semi-final.

Tandragee got a great start, winning the top game with Gordon Haire & Johnny Quinn combining well to win 3/2. Swinford drew level with a 2/1 win in the 2nd game. After that it was all Tandragee. Ryan Harper & Warren Jardine got their win on the 18th and Ross Dutton & Stefan McNeill got the winning point with a 2/1 victory.

Tandragee had to face Leinster Champions Clontarf in the final, as they beat Carrick-on-Suir by 3.5-1.5.

In the final Stefan Greenburg & Mark Bannerman got the 1st point on the board for Tandragee with a 2/1 win. There was heartbreak for Tandragee when their top pair of Gordon Haire & Johnny Quinn went down on the 20th hole. Ryan Harpur & Warren Jardine and the final pair of Emmet Nixon & Jeff Forde were both beaten to give Clontarf the All Ireland Shield.

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Lisburn golf club went down to Nenagh Golf Club in the semi-finals of the Pierce Purcell Shield on the final green in the final match at Castlebar.

Brian Houston & Paul Smyth won 3/2 and Malcolm Stewart & Barry McQuillan 4/3 recording great wins for Lisburn but it wasn't enough as Chris Cork & Colin Hill and Alan Walker & John Kelso were both beaten on the 14th green. With the tie locked at 2 points each all attention turned to the final game.

Robert Campbell & Colin Jeffers for Lisburn worked hard for a win but had to admit defeat to Sean McLaughlin & William Harty from Nenagh on the final green.

Curragh golf club beat Co.Sligo 3.5-1.5 and went on to beat Nenagh by the same margin in the final.