Munster are the 2026 U16 Boys’ Interprovincial Matches Champions whilst it was Ulster who went back-to-back in the U14 Boys’ event on home soil today at Holywood Golf Club.
Munster’s U16 team began their tournament with a hard fought 3-2 success over Leinster yesterday morning, before a dominant 4.5-0.5 win against Connacht in the afternoon set up today’s winner takes all clash with Ulster.
The home favourites led the standings by 0.5 Points heading into today’s decider, but those in red came out of the traps early. First, the pair of Nazar Buhera (Kinsale) & Odhran Scully Jnr (Clonakilty) took the solitary foursomes point in the top match, before Tom Browne doubled their advantage in Match 2. Match 3 saw Fionn McCormick (Moyola Park) put Ulster on the scoreboard whilst an emphatic 5&4 win for Jack Conroy (Belvoir Park) levelled the affair. Everything came down to the penultimate singles match, and it was Oscar O’Shea (Kanturk) who delivered the all-important point for Munster with a 2&1 success over Rory Brown (Galgorm Castle).
The final standings saw Munster 1st and Ulster 2nd, with Leinster taking 3rd after a closing 4-1 win against Connacht.
Meanwhile, in the U14 Boys’ Interprovincial Championship, drama was guaranteed as going into Round 3 the full quartet of teams had the opportunity to win silverware after each recording a win on the opening day.
Yesterday morning, Ulster claimed each of the top three matches to rush to a 3-2 win over Connacht, whilst Leinster narrowly overcame Munster 3-2. Those wins were to be cancelled out in the afternoon, with Munster defeating Ulster 3-2, before Connacht bounced back with an impressive performance that resulted in a 4-1 triumph over Leinster.
The slate of fixtures for today saw Ulster go out first against Leinster, with Connacht taking on Munster behind them, and all four teams gunning for glory. Leinster took two of the first three points available to put them in pole position, only for Ulster’s James Reynolds (Royal Belfast) and Ewen Finlayson (Portadown) to turn the tie on its head with wins over Ronan Carroll (Esker Hills) and Ronan Merrigan (Wicklow) respectively. This gave Ulster a 3-2 win, who then had to watch their fate unfold in the other match.
With Connacht and Munster equally exchanging the first four points on offer, incredibly the entire championship hinged on the final hole of the final singles match, with three provinces in contention. Conor Mannion (Galway Bay) and Harry O’Neill (Douglas) arrived at the 18th all square, knowing a win on the last would secure glory for their province, whilst Ulster prayed for a halved match.
A tough Par 3 to finish in Holywood saw both players miss the green and hence were left with challenging up and downs. A testament to the quality of golf on show, both youngsters hit their chips to four feet and sank their putts, earning a half point for Connacht and Munster, and in doing so delivering the U14 Boys’ Interprovincials championship to Ulster, at the home of Rory McIlroy.
The standings after that tense finish saw Ulster in 1st, Connacht 2nd, Munster 3rd and Leinster 4th.
