Pitch & Putt Ireland2025 NON mixed Scotch Foursomes Preview by John Manning
2025 NON mixed Scotch Foursomes Preview by John Manning
Holders Brian Cahill (Riverdale) & Mark Cahill (Lakeside) will defend their title in a strong field of 72 pairs in the National Non-Mixed Scotch Foursomes final at Collinstown on Saturday.
The Cahills will play in the second of two shotgun sessions, commencing at 1.30pm alongside Gowran pair Mark Comerford & John McDonald. The defending champions good form has continued into 2025 and the Nenagh/Templemore combination were first session winners at Cunnigar in this season’s Munster Scotch Foursomes.
Leading off the morning session (start time 9.30am) will be Castletown’s Evan Carry, fresh from his valiant attempt to retain the Catalan International Pairs trophy in Spain last weekend. This weekend, Evan lines-up with his clubmate and Meath Inter-County partner Eamon Gibney and this duo will be joined by Rochfortbridge men Colm Yeates & James Gill.
2019 provincial runner-up Stephen Behan has a new partner in fellow Laytown player Mark Fay.
Jack Donoghue swept to victory in this year’s Westmeath Junior Strokeplay championship, chased home by his brother Jordan and the Rochfortbridge siblings now link up to contest the National Non-Mixed opposite Portmarnock partnership John Brady & Thomas Ryan.
2022 Leinster Best Gross winner at Colinstown, Dessie Baker (Lough Owel) will bid for a repeat here with his 2025 partner Mark Kelly (Rochfortbridge). The Westmeath players will be opposite 2024 Leinster 1st session winner Martin Flynn, this time playing with McDonagh club colleague Colin English.
2023 Leinster runners-up Dean Dinnegan & Sean Dinnegan (Lough Owel) are a formidable force and will swing into action with Portmarnock pair Manish Herpersad & Sean Mangan.
Likely to be jousting with the Dinnegans for Best Gross laurels will be Kildare Inter-County teammates Frank Ryan & Ian Dillon (St. Bridget’s) who captured the 2025 Leinster Best Gross award. Frank and Ian will be accompanied by powerful home club combo Raymond Fay & Benny Fay, who were winners at Collinstown in the 2022 Leinster Foursomes before collecting 2nd 18 honours a year later.
2019 Leinster champion (and 2023 National session winner) Jonathan McCabe plays this time with Rathfeigh clubmate Chris Matthews while Stephen Lynch & Paul Lynch (Rathfeigh) were Leinster 2nd 18 winners at Poulaphouca back in April.
Peter Kearney & Derek O’Driscoll (McDonagh) shot “the lights out” to be leading Kildare qualifiers while Riverdale’s Stephen Shoer & Joseph Danagher represent another very strong Best Gross contender.
Athgarvan’s Cathal O’Toole & Sam Murphy are fresh from victory in the Kildare Inter-Club at St. Bridget’s last Sunday.
Looking at the afternoon session, home club representatives Jack Buckey & Liam Buckley were narrowly foiled (on a countback) of 2023 provincial Best Gross at Kilbeggan.
Nobody has yet managed to win both the National Mixed Scotch Foursomes and the National Mixed Scotch Foursomes. Trying here will be 2024 Mixed winners Eileen McCarthy (who is partnered by fellow Deerpark member Ciara Lowe) and Tralee’s Darren Goodall (who links up with clubmate Gavin Carroll).
Davy Hallinan & Alan Sutcliffe (Hillview) were 2nd session winners at Lakeside twelve months ago. They will go into battle opposite 2024 National Intermediate Strokeplay runner-up Ruairi Fortune & his St. Patrick’s clubmate Dan Power, who was pipped (on the countback) for a Leinster session prize (alongside Daniel Kehoe) two years ago.
Two more Best Gross fancies will be in direct opposition. Tadgh Harrington (Rathfeigh) renews his Meath Inter-County partnership with Dunshaughlin’s Paul O’Rourke and they will be joined on the tee by Leinster team manager and Ireland Master Damian Creevey with his Lucan colleague Michael Aherne. Aherne can boast a championship win at Collinstown – the Leinster Intermediate Strokeplay of 2016.
2023 provincial champions James Kirwan & Mark Kirwan (St. Patrick’s) will have Killineer duo Jude Garvey & Kieran McDonnell for company.
Reigning Munster kingpins Paul Boreham & Ciarán White (Bishopstown) will travel with confidence as will their playing partners John Smith & Chris Cunningham (Cloghogue) following their impressive performance in winning the Gents Nett at the Short Grass Classic Scramble.
2019 Leinster Gross winner Mark Donnelly will now partner MacBride colleague Barry Dyas while Lucan father and son combo Darren O’Reilly & Christian O’Reilly claimed Leinster 1st 18 honours in 2023
2019 runner-up Ian Leech (St. Anne’s) is back with a different partner, clubmate Charlie O’Sullivan and the Cork pair will partner 2024 Leinster champions Alan Kierans & Derek Reynolds (Killineer).
Two other potential Best Gross candidates will be Louth Inter-County pair Darren Fagan (Seapoint) & Jim Judge (MacBride) plus Lucan’s Gareth Walsh (who played so impressively for the second straight year in Spain with Evan Carry) alongside Barry Gorey.
The likely winning score? The average top aggregate to date in the short history of the event has been just shy of 99 points. 94 points did the trick in the 2022 Leinster Foursomes.
Latest National News
Latest Regional News
| 2025 Cyder Cup |
| Cill Na Móna Scratch Cup |
| MELLOWS SCRATCH CUP 28th September |
| Loughlinstown Scratch Cup 10th August |
| Bellewstown Scratch cup - Sat 26th July |