14 year old Sean Reddy picked up his first major golf win, the Douglas Golf Club member won the Connacht Boys U14 Championship.  The long trip to Co Mayo was worth it for the young golfer as he played some hugely impressive golf to pick up the provincial win.

Reddy shot a very impressive one under par 72 on the par 73 course in Claremorris Golf Club.  Sean went out with eight pars and one birdie, and he had just one bogey on the back nine.  Crucially he birdied the par five closing hole to finish on one under.  It was a tight enough win, both Reddy and Fota Island’s John Doyle were tied for the lead, with Sean taking the title on the countback thanks to a better back nine.

Doyle had the lead after nine holes thanks to three birdies.  He added a two more birdies on the back nine but a seven at the last hole meant he signed for a 72 and took second place as a result of Reddy’s better back nine.  The two Cork golfers were the only competitors to break par in the championship.  Monkstown’s Cian McDonnell and Donal McDonnell were the only other Cork golfers to make the trip to Claremorris and both finished down the field.

While this is the first national win for Sean, he’s been busy competing and winning at several levels in junior golf over the past four years.  He caught the eye of Rory McIlroy when he was just 8 years old, Sean met Rory at a Nike promotion in London and hit the ball an impressive 140 yards in the simulator.  Two years later he won the World Golf Kids Under 10 title in Portugal and several other UK Kids and Wee Wonders titles followed.  In 2018 he joined Douglas and his official handicap began to tumble as he competed in club events as well as GUI championships.  Prior to his win in Claremorris Sean played off a handicap index of 1, and he’s hoping that the win will have got him to scratch.

There’s no rest for Sean as he’s back in competitive action again this week.  He’s looking forward to another good performance at the Munster Under 16 Championship which takes place on his home course in Douglas.  The 36 hole event will be played from the new Black tees in Douglas which has a par of 70.  In August he’ll be competing in the Munster Under 15 Close in Newcastle West.  If travel restrictions are lifted he has plans to head to the Reid Trophy in England and the Scottish U14 Championship in August.

Sean has worked through the winter with the Douglas Golf Club underage programme led by Douglas Club Professional Stephen Hayes.  He’s also part of the newly formed Golf Ireland Under 15 panel coached by Ian Stafford and Fred Twomey, and he also works with Peter O’Keeffe on his strength and conditioning.  As well as the individual events, Sean will also be hoping that this performance may have turned the heads of the Munster Interprovincial selectors as well as the Irish Selectors as the season progresses.