On a windy and testing day at County Sligo Golf Club, it was one of Rosses Point’s own that carded the best score as former North of Ireland champion Sean Flanagan’s level-par round was enough to take the honours.
Despite intermittent sunshine, a stiff northerly breeze kept temperatures and scoring on the cool side, and Flanagan, representing Portmarnock Golf Club, maintained control in impressive fashion, mixing three birdies with three bogeys to fend off his nearest challengers by two strokes.
Contrary to typical conditions, the opening nine proved the toughest and Flanagan bogeyed two of his first four holes but regrouped to reach the turn without further damage and was still on two-over when he stood on the 12th tee.
A colossal drive on the par-5 set up a good two-putt birdie, and he followed up by almost holing his tee shot on the par-3 13th before casually rolling in the putt to move back to level-par.
Back-to-back birdies on 12 and 13 were key to @PGC1894 and Rosses Point’s own Sean Flanagan’s winning score of level-par on a windy and testing day @CountySligoGC in the @ConnollysMG West of Ireland Championship Qualifier pic.twitter.com/YOqZdXtN4j
— Irish Golfer (@IrishGolferMag) April 16, 2025
From here, he parred 14, 15 and 16 before dropping a shot on the index-two 17th, but finished in style with another birdie on 18 which ensured that he finished in the black – the only one of the 94-man field to do so.
“The main thing was to qualify,” Flanagan said, with 12 places in Friday’s opening round at stake. “It’s a bonus to to be leading, But yeah, just very happy with my game today and the end result is brilliant.”
Despite having Portmarnock Golf Club’s name beside his entry, he’ll carry strong support from the Rosses Point locals as he grew up playing at County Sligo.
“Since moving to Dublin I managed to join Portmarnock and get membership there, but my mates down here definitely let me know about having Portmarnock beside my name, not Sligo, but no, it’s all good, [I’ve got] a lot of support here, a lot of family.
“So it’s, it’s great to have them around and to have a nice day out today and for them to be there to see it.”
It was back in 2016 when Flanagan, then aged 20, emerged victorious at Royal Portrush, but golf has been forced to take a back seat in recent years having temporarily moved to Australia and now taken up residence in Dublin.
“Yeah, my priorities have slightly shifted in the last few years, but, I’m very much looking forward to it,” he said of the opportunity that lies ahead.
“I think the main thing would be just to get into the match play and then anything can happen really from there, So I suppose step one is done by getting into the actual event and the next step is the the qualifying on Friday and Saturday and we’ll see how it goes from there.”
Finishing tied for second were Letterkenny’s Cian Harkin, Lahinch’s Neil Kennedy and Connor Ruddy from Enniscrone, with the latter also a member at County Sligo.
Harkin led strokeplay qualifying after 36 holes in 2023 before going on to be defeated in the quarter-final.
“Coming in, I definitely knew it was going to be tough,” Harkin said. “So I knew if I could just keep it around par, keep chipping away. Typical West, typical conditions, so I’m delighted with two-over.”
Dunmore Demense’s Sean Cloonan, Ross Nelson of Belvoir Park and Carton House’s Luke Boyle each secured their places with rounds of 74 for a three-over tally, and it came down to a seven-for-five playoff to fill the remaining places.
Seven quickly became six as Tandragee’s James Hewitt, who was among the earliest starters, had not returned, leaving Sam Kelly of The Island, Danny Lyle from Lahinch, Ballinasloe’s Niall Conneely, Jenson Boyce from Royal Portrush, The Heritage’s Barry Howlin and Fota Island’s Greg O’Mahony battling it out.
An unfortunate break for O’Mahony, playing in the second threeball, proved costly as his approach to the first bounced over the boundary wall at the back of the green, meaning he would be eliminated and punching tickets to Friday’s opening round for each of the other five.
In another cruel twist for O’Mahony, by virtue of having the better back nine in regulation, Hewitt takes first alternate spot, while the Fota man will need two players to withdraw if he’s to get into the field.
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