Like the spring, it arrives and lifts the hearts, though Mother Nature has often found a way to test those hearts’ limits at Rosses Point. It is, of course, the 102nd Connolly Motor Group West of Ireland Championship at County Sligo Golf Club.
The 126 strong field is now set, and it really is the cream of the crop. You’ve got to be good to get into this championship. The cut fell at +2.5 for the main field, and +0.9 for the qualifier.
Defending champion Dylan Holmes (Greystones) became the youngest winner of the storied Championship since Rory McIlroy, and he’ll be hoping to emulate his hero further by becoming the first to successfully defend the West since the 16-year-old did it in 2006.
Holmes – who will be joined by his cousin and caddie on the final day in 2025, Jamie Anderson, and another member of Greystones’ 2024 Fred Daly winning side, William O’Riordan, in the field – is one of a host of stellar Irish names looking to strike gold under the watchful eye of Ben Bulben including last year’s beaten finalist Colm Campbell who will have the bit between his teeth to try and edge closer to a Provincial Grand Slam of his own.
Campbell needs the West and the North to complete the set and join his close friend Caolan Rafferty in the history books.
“I’ve had an albatross, I’ve had a hole in one, I’ve lost semi-finals, now a final, so all I’m missing is actually winning it,” chuckled Campbell who was also a semi-finalist 10 years ago.
“That would put me one closer to Mr Rafferty in terms of reaching a grand slam. I’ve done everything at the West of Ireland bar winning it,”
Rafferty, who lifted the trophy in 2019, is also in the field, as is Matthew McClean who clinched the 2024 Irish Amateur Open at Rosses Point and the reigning East of Ireland champion, David Howard and reigning South of Ireland champion, Jonathan Keane.
There are an additional three former West of Ireland champions in Joe Lyons (2007), Barry Anderson (2017) and Keith Egan (2024), with former Irish Close winners Thomas Abom and Quentin Carew, former South of Ireland champion and Rosse Point native, TJ Ford, and former North of Ireland victor James Fox also part of a strong field that includes a blend of youth and experience as 2010 runner up Eddie McCormack joins young guns such as O’Riordan, Mark Cadden, Conor Hickey, Alex Kerins and others.
2024 Bridgestone Order of Merit champion David Shiel, who represents Enniscrone, and Millicent’s Brian Doran, and the likes of Dylan Keating, Liam Abom, Jordan Boles, David Kitt, Ryan Griffin, and Paul Coughlan complete a strong field out West.
A FESTIVAL OF GOLF
The West of Ireland Championship is the gateway to the golfing season. County Sligo Golf Club is a hive of activity with members eager to volunteer their talents in whatever way they can.
The clubhouse, practice facilities and the course is abuzz as players reacquaint themselves with a championship environment and catch up with friends they haven’t seen in a few months.
“I suppose it wouldn’t be a golf season if you didn’t start it off at Rosses Point to be fair,” added four-time major winner Campbell who lost out to Holmes last year. “I always enjoy playing County Sligo; you get used to everything it brings. I love the golf course – it’s a really tough test of golf and one I always look forward to.
“I just enjoy competing. That keeps me motivated. I have a very competitive streak in me, and I enjoy getting down there and mixing with the lads you haven’t seen for a few months, you are always very well received in Rosses Point. It’s always great to get down there.
“The West kickstarts the season, you go from playing in the West and then skip across to Lytham or down south for the Munster Strokeplay. Once you play the West that kicks off a very busy schedule. I am really looking forward to getting back and putting a few things right from last year.”
For Carton House star Egan it’s been a weird winter of practice, often affected by the weather but he hopes he can find some sharpness as the championship progresses and is excited to see where he is at as he hunts a second title here.
“I think the West is always exciting because it gives you an idea of how your practice has paid off throughout the year,” said the champion of two years ago. “It’s a weird one because you are always very excited, but you are also hopeful because you don’t really have a lot of feedback on how you have been playing.
“The West is an exciting time just to see how you have progressed. I always like that time of year because you are seeing guys that you haven’t seen for eight or nine months. Personally, I have won there and performed well there on a few different occasions. It is nice getting back there and playing a course that I enjoy, you’re just hoping the weather is decent.”
Fota Island’s Howard is something of a late bloomer, having not played in the West until 2023. However, the East of Ireland champion arrives in Rosses as one of the top dogs and with a renewed belief and confidence that only winning can bring.
“It’s good to get going. Preparation didn’t go exactly to plan with the weather in Spain. I got West weather in Spain, which might technically be good prep I suppose! I’m looking forward to getting going and getting started on the season. It feels like a long time since I played championship golf,” said the Cork man.
Howard broke through to win the East last year and it led to a Home Internationals cap for Ireland. Entering 2026 as a major winner he comes to Sligo with his chest out.
“Winning the East was great because now I know I can do it, whereas up to then, I was thinking it was possible. When you get it over the line you know it can be done. It’s nice to have that feeling and bring it into the year ahead knowing I can win and trying to build on that and keep pushing forward.”
WHATEVER THE WEATHER
They say in golf that no two rounds are the same. Well, at the West of Ireland, no two nines are the same. For a couple of hours, the Rosses Point links could be heaven on Earth as the sun reflects majestically off Ben Bulben or off the Atlantic Ocean, depending on the time of day. Then, it could be the end of the world as biblical wind and rain batters the golf course and the unfortunate golfers who have to hang on for dear life.
Last year’s West of Ireland will live long in the memory. A championship that began with one of the worst days in the West of Ireland’s now 103-year history, ended with arguably the most torrential 90 minutes of the entire week.
Oh, the clubhouse is a fine place for a hot cuppa, a chicken curry or even a pint! As you look out into the abyss and let out a little chuckle to yourself. But it wouldn’t be the West of Ireland without some adverse conditions.
“Last year was one of the historical West of Ireland’s with bad weather,” said Egan. “The first round was some of the worst conditions that I have ever played in. It was as close to unplayable as you can get. The final probably was unplayable from what I saw!
“At this stage, and the number of times I’ve played it, you just expect bad weather, and everyone goes there expecting it, so you are more than prepared for it. This is what you come for, it’s part of the obstacles of the golf course. You have to control your ball flight – you have as close to carnage as possible.
“People enjoy it. When you go to the West and play a practice round people talk about the weather that they have played in previously. Hitting driver to the par-3 4th or driver wedge to the par-5 3rd so that’s the fun part of it.
“My mam is from Sligo, so I’ve been going up there since I was a kid. I’ve always enjoyed going to Rosses Point. The West was the first championship I played in when I was 17, so I love going to it. The fact that it is the first of the year – it gets the season started. The members are so involved and that makes it extra special.”
Reigning East of Ireland champion Howard hasn’t had too much experience of the West, but the conditions in the opening round of the strokeplay qualifying will live long in his memory.
“Last year the weather was absolutely brutal. I think I shot 10-over in round one and didn’t feel like I played that bad,” he laughed. “Thankfully, I backed it up with level-par to make the cut.
“It’s definitely part of the championship at this stage with it being that early in the year. Last few years the weather has been really bad, my first championship was up there in 2023. I got good weather for the pre-qualifier and got through that, but it’s a proper test up there. The weather could be anything.”
Campbell had a double dose of the biblical conditions, having survived one of the worst days on record of the championship he had to grin and bear it in the final in conditions that were pushing unplayable to the extreme.
But the brutal weather is part of the West of Ireland’s charm. It wouldn’t be a West without it.
“They think it’s great. That weather is their bread and butter. It’s part of the championship,” said the Warrenpoint star. “The weather plays a huge part in the championship. It rules out a lot of lads because some lads just don’t enjoy playing in those types of conditions. I seem to do OK – the harder the conditions, the better I do, I don’t know why that is because I don’t enjoy them! You just have to knuckle down. I have enough experience in those conditions, and you just accept it – it’s a tradition.”
MAKING AMENDS
Campbell suffered heartbreak in the wind and rain last year as he lost out to a rampant Holmes in a thrilling final. It wasn’t quite a ‘David vs Goliath’ giant killing, but Holmes was unheralded and relatively unheard of at the start of the week. Everyone knows him now.
Campbell earned almost equal praise in the aftermath for his gracious demeanour following defeat and he hopes he can go one better this year.
“When you get to a final nobody wants to lose it, it’s not a nice feeling. To be fair to Dylan he was absolutely phenomenal in really tough conditions. For a young person he showed a lot of maturity. I made a comeback at him and, to be fair to him, he stood tall and matched it – he holed some really key putts around the turn. That’s what you have to do to win championships. He was giving me a taste of my own medicine! I lost to the better player on the day. He hit some phenomenal golf shots in horrendous conditions. He was the rightful winner.”
WALKER CUP AMBITIONS
It’s another special year for Irish golf as the Walker Cup docks at Lahinch Golf Club as Great Britain and Ireland play host to the USA, aiming to arrest their recent dominance in the team event.
The South of Ireland Amateur Championship will be a box office event as many players will view it was a trial run around Lahinch before September’s contest, but the West represents an early chance to pique the interest of GB&I captain Dean Robertson and his selectors.
Egan acknowledges that he needs to have a special season to get himself in the frame for a call-up, but he isn’t shying away from that prospect.
“Ideally, of course. I think whoever says it isn’t an ambition is lying,” he admitted. “It’s all just how you play. It’s one of those things that you don’t want to think about it. It is an ideal scenario if it happens, but you are relying on so much golf. For me to make the Walker Cup, I would have to play unbelievable throughout the year and get a couple of big wins. But it is doable, and someone probably will do it.
“I feel like my golf is good and much more consistent over the last few years. I’m not a million miles away. A lot of Irish guys aren’t a million miles away, and as Irish players we need to take responsibility and get a few on the team for Lahinch. If we get a few Irish lads close, I think the selectors would be favourable because that place and that town is so special, especially with Irish players playing.
“That is the goal, but first of all, my main goal is to win this year.”
Campbell missed out on a call up in 2017 before injury plagued his bid two years later. The former South of Ireland champion will miss this year’s championship but hopes to be able to do enough in some of the bigger events to put some weight behind his bid.
“Yeah, I would be lying if I said it wasn’t on my mind. I’ve been close before in 2017 and it didn’t go according to plan. Then, I didn’t get a good crack at it in 2019 with injury. It is on my mind with it being in Lahinch. There would be nothing better than playing a Walker Cup, but to do it on home soil would just be the icing on the cake. If I could be on the team in Lahinch, it would be a dream come true for me.
“I know what it takes to get to that point and it’s very easy to get distracted by that if you let it. It’s a long way away. I know what I need to do to give myself a chance. If I play well, especially in the UK, hopefully my clubs do the talking and I put myself in the frame.”
As for Howard, a Walker Cup call would complete a meteoric rise over the last 12 months.
“The South will have a seriously strong field. I am looking forward to that. I’ll focus on the events I am playing and try to do as well as I can and see what happens from there,” he said.
THE GOLF COURSE (Mark McGowan)
For those who’d been playing in the West of Ireland Championship for many years, they were presented with a markedly different golf course for the 2025 edition as a restoration project, under the guidance of Martin Ebert, saw changes to many of the holes – some minor, but several major.
Along with considerable changes in both the shape and positioning of bunkers – and the complete removal of some – the most significant changes came to the fifth and 10th holes, with the former being lengthened and an entirely new green constructed, and the latter being shortened with the back half of the green become a run-off area.
Now, this year, they’ll be presented with more changes after phase two of Ebert’s masterplan was completed during the autumn and winter months.
The first change they’ll be presented with is on the par-5 third hole, where a new green has been constructed, complete with shape and contouring changes.
The bunker which guarded the left side of the 11th green has been repositioned to afford the average golfer a chance to run the ball in off the slope if they are accurate enough, but it’s on the par-5 12th that the most significant change has occurred.
It, too, has had a new green constructed, but whereas the third green is built on the original site, the 12th green has been moved back and to the left, lengthening the hole by some 10 yards and providing a much more dramatic backdrop with the distant Black Rock Lighthouse and the broad Atlantic directly behind.
Leave a comment