A year after 18-year-old Dylan Holmes announced his arrival on the men’s championship scene and stormed to West of Ireland glory, two further young guns are hoping to follow his lead and be crowned King of the West.
16 players started the day with hopes of ending it with a semi-final to look forward to, and the first man to book his place was Roganstown’s Mark Cadden. Just two months after his 19th birthday, the youngster faced Rosses Point native and former West of Ireland champion Barry Anderson in the round of 16 and overcame an early deficit to hit the front on the back nine and then powered home to seal a 4&2 win, but the opponents didn’t get any easier.
Caolan Rafferty, who got his hands on the trophy in 2019, was highly fancied to add to his major championship haul, but Cadden had other ideas and took an early lead that he never relinquished and continued to put the foot down, eventually sealing a 6&5 win with a five-foot par putt on the 13th.
“It was a tough day today,” a relieved Cadden said. “Caolan is such a good player, so experienced and played in the Walker Cup and won every major championship in Ireland, so I knew it was going to be tough.”
On grueling weeks such as this, any time that you can finish a match with holes to spare can prove invaluable and Cadden, along with having youth on his side, is the freshest man left.
“Yeah, I only played a hole and a half before it was cancelled on day two, so I was like a greyhound yesterday morning, dying to get out there and play some golf, so that probably played into my advantage.”
While Cadden may have youth on his side, his semi-final opponent is even younger. Alex Kerins only celebrated his 19th birthday a fortnight ago and after a dominant win over Conor Stapleton in the morning, he squared off against number one seed and reigning South of Ireland champion Jonathan Keane in the quarter-final.
Wins on two, three and four put the Carton House man in early control, but Keane struck back to reduce the deficit to the minimum after nine. Try as he might though, the Lahinch man couldn’t get the youngster to crack and another win on 14 gave him a 2UP advantage which he held until the 16th tee.
One of the shots of his life followed, as he drilled a piercing 3-wood into six inches and when Keane failed to hole his chip from greenside, he offered his hand in congratulations.
“It was a great day, really testing conditions but still probably the best day we’ve had,” a beaming Kerins said afterwards. “But it was really enjoyable and I’m delighted with myself now.”
Kerins, like Holmes last year, is making his West of Ireland debut, but he’s intent to take it one step at a time and see where that leaves him at the end of the week.
In the other half of the draw, an all Maynooth University showdown pitched the last remaining hope for County Sligo in Aodhagan Brady against Donegal native Cian Harkin, representing The Island.
In front of impressively large crowds, a back-and-forth tussle eventually saw Harkin get his nose in front on the 10th before doubling his advantage on 11 and stretching it even further on 13. Brady struck back on 14, but a good par save on 15 restored Harkin’s 3UP lead and a half on 15 was enough to book his place in his first championship semi-final.
“It’s tough because myself and Aodhagan are good friends now – we play a lot of snooker and golf together – but I was really looking forward to it. I feel sorry for a lot of the Sligo fans because they were really rooting for him, but I’m sure he’ll get plenty of chances here again.”
That left one match on the course, and the winner would likely take over the tournament favourite tag as it was contested between 2024 winner Keith Egan and 2025 runner-up, Colm Campbell.
The pair represented Ireland as foursomes partners in 2025, and it was always likely to come down to the finest of margins. Campbell, having trailed by two with seven to play, managed to claw it back and tie the contest after 14, but again had to come from behind after losing the 15th.
With the wind at its strongest, and the closing holes playing into the teeth of it, they halved 17 and a superb 5-iron into the last set up a two-putt par that was good enough to win the hole and match for Campbell after Egan’s 12-footer for par slid past.
“I think most people know what getting this on the CV would mean to me, but there’s two players standing in my way and it’s not going to be easy,” Campbell said. “I just have to keep doing what I’m doing and hope that it’s good enough to get me through to tomorrow afternoon.”
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