Golfers John Doyle and David Howard help Ireland to Victory

John Doyle and David Howard were part of the Ireland team that were crowned Women’s and Men’s Home Internationals champions for just the second time in history after a thrilling victory over England last week.

Playing at home in Woodbrook, the Irish team had a combined win over Wales on the opening day, and then tied their game with Scotland on the second day. 

Although the men’s team struggled on the first two days, they got it together on the final day, beating England 8-4. The hosts had a narrow lead after the morning foursomes in Woodbrook, and England bounced back to take four of the women’s singles matches to put themselves in the ascendency.

Nevertheless, Ireland held firm and a remarkable afternoon saw the men claim five matches as Keith Egan finished things off with a 3&2 win over Jamie Van Wyk, for a 11.5 to 9.5 win. That combined with the two wins from the Women in the earlier matches meant that Ireland took the overall prize.

Men’s team Captain Damien Coyne was delighted with the result. “Delighted, the lads put in some great performances all week. We had an awful lot of matches that went down 18. It was nice to finish a few matches a little bit earlier today,” said Coyne. “Some great performances from David Howard, some of the new lads during the week were brilliant, Fionn Dobbin brilliant again today. Keith Egan, class shot into 16 to finish his match. Some really really good performances.”

Doyle won two of his matches and tied another two, while Howard chalked up two wins in his matches. After playing together for a number of weeks, both golfers head in different directions this week.

John Doyle will tee it up in his second professional tour event today. The 18 year-old Irish International amateur is probably outside reckoning for a spot on the Walker Cup team, but a good performance this week might swing things in his favour.

He is playing in the Irish Challenge which starts today at Killeen Castle, the showpiece event in Ireland from the HotelPlanner Tour. Doyle will be joined by another Cork golfer this week. James Sugrue will be hoping to ignite his season on home soil. The Mallow professional won a full tour card last year following an impressive season on the Clutch Pro Tour. He has struggled to find form so far this year, and he will draw on memories of the Irish Challenge a few years ago when he recorded a top 15 finish.

David Howard is in action in Portumna at the AIG Irish Close Championship. The Close is the final event on the 2026 Bridgestone Order of Merit, and Howard will be looking to improve on his current fourth placed position. Howard was 2nd at the Irish Open and 17th at the East, the last two strokeplay events so he will be targeting another strong finish in the 72 hole event. The Fota Island golfer is still in contention for a place on Walker Cup team and a good result this week will be needed if he hopes to be in Lahinch in a few weeks time. Morgan Cain is also in action in Portumna, as is Berehaven’s Joe O’Neill and Kinsale’s Keith Walsh. The first two rounds take place today and tomorrow with the final 36 holes taking place on Saturday.

Details of two scratch cups were announced last week, both taking place in September. Muskerry will move to a 54 hole event this year, and the event is a WAGR counting tournament. 36 holes will be played on Saturday 12th September, with the top 30 coming back for the final round the following day. The event has a new sponsor, SolarHill Energy and the prize fund is €2500. Anyone interested in playing should contact Fionn on 087-3457857. Entries are limited to the lowest 69.

Mallow will host the Dan Butler Senior Scratch Cup on Saturday 6th September. The format is a 36 hole event with a shotgun start at 9.00am. Dave Reddan will be hoping for a third title in a row after winning in 2024 and 2025. The event has been a great success since it was relaunched by Conor Dowling a few years ago and this staging should be similarly successful. The event is again sponsored by the Butler family and entry is €60.

A number of other scratch cups take place over the coming weeks. Bandon’s scratch cup weekend starts on Friday 28th August and entries are now open. Cobh will host their four scratch cups on the same weekend.