GUI release 2017 fixtures

THE Golfing Union of Ireland have released their 2017 fixture list with Ballybunion pencilled in for the only major event that will come to Kerry as the famous Old course plays host to the Jacques Leglise Trophy on September 1 and 2.

The event is played for annually between two teams of under-18 boys representing Great Britain & Ireland and the Continent of Europe with nine players on each team.

Organised by the R&A the event was inaugurated in 1958 and was dominated in the early years by Great Britain & Ireland to such an extent that it was discontinued in 1966 but revived again in 1977 when Europe won it for the first time.

From the beginning, it was always played in Great Britain or Ireland but in later years several matches have been played on the continent and many of today’s leading professionals have participated in it including the likes of Nick Dougherty, Zane Scotland, Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño, Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia and Ireland’s Paul Dunne who captained the winning Great Britain & Ireland team in 2009.

Made up of nine-strong teams, the event is played over two days, with four foursomes in the morning and nine singles matches in the afternoon. The Great Britain & Ireland team is selected by the R&A and the Continent of Europe side by the European Golf Association.

Lahinch (2003) and Portmarnock (2009) are the only other Irish courses to host this event since its inception.

Elsewhere on the GUI calendar, the Irish Amateur Open Championship goes to Royal Co Down after a ten-year stint at Royal Dublin, while the Irish Close goes to Galway for the first time since 1957.

The Irish Seniors Open Amateur Championship will be played at county Tipperary (Ballykisteen) and the Irish Seniors Close Championship goes to Malone in Belfast.

In Boy’s golf, the Irish Boys Amateur Open Championship, will be played at Castletroy while the Munster Boys Amateur Open Championship will be hosted by Faithlegg.