By James O'Connor
Rory Milne (Faithlegg) has made history as he retained the Munster Boys U17 title shooting a 68 (-3) to win by one shot at Roscrea Golf Club in Co. Tipperary.
After winning the event in Kinsale last year, the Waterford native became the first golfer to win the age-grade event twice, doing so in dramatic fashion on the testing parkland course.
Milne made a steady start to the tournament, reaching the turn at level par, but the 16-year-old caught fire in the back nine and took the lead with birdies on the 10th, 12th and 13th.
Tied for the lead with Muskerry’s Fionn Hickey after 17 holes, Milne held his nerve to par his way home to claim his second consecutive Munster title by a single shot.
Hickey had one hand on the trophy standing on the 17th tee after an eagle and two birdies in his back nine, he just needed to par his final two holes to claim victory.
However, a costly bogey on the par three 17th meant the Munster Interpro missed out by one, finishing on two under (69), Robbie Walsh of Kinsale taking third prize with a 71 (+1).
Bantry Bay’s Mel Deasy lifted his first Munster title when he won the U15 class of the event, shooting a 72 (+1) to win by a convincing four shots.
Three early birdies gave the Corkman a commanding lead after 10 holes, and despite bogeying two of his last three holes, Deasy eased to victory with Cork’s Alex Dineen and Jack Murphy of Douglas in second and third place.
