Pat O'Brien and Aaron O'Callaghan will get their first taste of European competition when they make their debuts on the six-strong Irish team for the European Boys Championships at Karlovy Vary GC in the Czech Republic from July 8th-12th.
O'Brien, from Fota Island, and O'Callaghan, from Douglas in Cork, are joined by Gareth Shaw (Malone), Cian McNamara (Limerick), Michael Mulryan (Athenry) and David Rawluk (The Island) in a team captained by Ciaran Burke.
Meanwhile, Scotland's Jack and Paul Doherty will make history when they line-up against the Ireland Youths in Cork tomorrow. The talented pair, who play out of Vale of Glamorgan near Cardiff, will join an elite group of brothers to represent their country in the same match and will be the first Scots to do so in over 60 years.
The only brothers to represent Scotland together as full internationals are Alistair and Walter McLeod 1937-38 and TA and WB Torrance 1922-23, 1928, 1930.
Younger Doherty brother Paul (18) lifted the Scottish Boys title earlier this year at Dunbar, while Jack (21) became the first Scot to win the Australian Amateur Championship. He followed that with a second place finish in the Brabazon Trophy and third in the St Andrews Links Trophy.
The team also includes last year's North of Scotland Open champion Wallace Booth, Stephen Buckley and Richie Ramsay. Martin Laird, who has just celebrated his second victory on the US college circuit in a matter of weeks, makes up the six-man team.
However, Michael Burns' side of Greg Bowden (Hermitage), Conor Doran (Banbridge), Robert McCarthy (The Island), David Ryan (Grange), Richard Kilpatrick (Banbridge) and Niall Turner (Muskerry) will be keen to claim the title after halving the match on the last three occasions.
Rory McIlroy (Holywood) and Simon Ward (Nuremore) have been selected by the Golfing Union of Ireland to compete in the European Young Masters at Augsburg GC, Germany, from July 24th-26th. They will join Danielle McVeigh (Royal Co Down) and Emma Gilmore (Mountbellew), selected earlier in the year by the ILGU, to compete in the 54-hole strokeplay event.
Addi Shamash, a 22-year-old from Kirkcudbright, in Scotland, scored the best open win of her career when she lifted the Irish Women's Open Intermediate championship over 54 holes at Charlesland GC last week.
Shamash had rounds of 80, 75 and 80 for a three-round total of 235, one ahead of Maria Dunne (Skerries), who had scores of 81, 74 and 81. They had been level with 18 holes to play, two strokes behind leader Maura Diamond (Portstewart), who finished with a costly 85 for 238.
Scotland were also in the news last week when they set a world record of 491 completed rounds of golf in a single day. Spearheaded by Olympic oarsman Steven Redgrave, who sank the final putt of the day, the event has raised more than £50,000.
The organisers had initially hoped to beat the mark of 605 completed rounds in a day set in 1998 at Rhodes Ranch GC, Las Vegas, but then discovered that, as competitors in America were allowed to use buggies, whatever happened in Scotland would establish a record for rounds completed on foot.
The record was set over the Torrance course at St Andrews Bay Resort. In next year's event, planned for June 20th, the organisers hope 650 golfers will complete the course.
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