Douglas golfer Jack Murphy created a little bit of history last week, he became the first person to retain the Munster Boys title in 50 years.  The defending champion picked up his first win of the season in Tipperary Golf Club thanks to some impressive play in the 54 hole event.

After an uneventful opening round, Murphy shot the low round of the event with a five under par 67 to take him two shots clear of the field going into the final round.  But he didn’t have it all his own way and found himself two behind the local Donnacha Cleary halfway through the front nine.  Four birdies took the holder clear of the challenger and Murphy won the title by a shot.

Murphy has had a busy start to the year with several international appearances, and he was delighted with his first victory of the season.  “I’ve been playing well recently but struggling to put all the rounds together in tournaments” said the 17 year old.

Gallery: Munster Boys 2023

“I had a few bad rounds out of nowhere but thankfully got rid of that this week.  I didn’t play overly aggressively the second round but I took my chances well.  I birdied the first two holes which gave me confidence and took advantage of the par fives there.”

“I had a rough start the last day doubling the fourth to go to +2 for the day and after 6 holes I was 2 shots off the lead.  Luckily I started playing better as the round went on moving two clear on 15.”

That two shot buffer allowed Murphy the luxury of a bogey on the final hole, meaning the Rochestown College student retained the title he won in Fermoy last year.

Sean Deasy from Doulgas finished in a share of 4^th place after a closing round of 71 saw him finish on one under.  A double bogey on the last was costly for Deasy as a par would have meant a third place finish.

John Doyle from Fota Island also picked up a top ten place, a final round 70 with two birdies on the back nine saw him jump ten places on the leaderboard to finish in a tie for 6^th.  Cork’s Paddy Quill was just outside the top ten with James Walsh (T25), Barry Keane (T35) and Sean Reddy (T35) all surviving the 36 hole cut to finish in the top 40.

There was no rest for Murphy after his win on Friday.  The 17 year old was back in action for Douglas on Saturday when they beat Cork in the Fred Daly semi-final, and he’s in Monkstown this week for the Irish Boys Close.  With plenty more tournaments to play Murphy is happy with his current form.  “It’s been good so far, I’m working on it with my mental game as I’ve kind of struggled a bit with finishing off tournaments when I’m in contention, kind of just gifted away shots,” said Murphy.  “But I’m happy with a lot of the season.  I’ve played in more Men’s events and more Men’s international events so this year I’m throwing myself in there to see what I can do and a lot of it was just experience.  I’m quite happy with how it’s going so far.”

The international travel will continue for Murphy.  Already in 2023 he has been in Portugal, France, England, Philippines and Germany, and he’ll be heading off again next week.  Late last week Murphy was confirmed as a member of the Irish Boys team that will travel to Switzerland for the European Team Championships, and he was delighted with the call up.  “Yeah I can’t wait to go to Switzerland for Europeans. Really enjoyable tournament to play and compete in. Hopefully we can play well over there as a team and be in contention.”

Murphy is going into leaving cert in Rochestown and he already has a verbal commitment to join University of Washington in August 2024.  Having attracted attention from a large number of US colleges, Murphy made a decision on Washington in January and that allows him to put his full attention on his golf for the summer.

As well as continuing to play in individual events, Murphy has the Fred Daly Munster East final to look forward.  His Douglas team had a 5-0 win over Cork on Saturday with James Walsh, Sean Reddy, Sean Deasy and Barry O’Connell all winning alongside Murphy.  They will face Faithlegg in the Munder East Final in August with their opponents having home advantage.