Holmes aiming for back to back West wins

Dylan Holmes (Greystones) after his victory at the West of Ireland last year. Picture: Inpho | Ben Brady

Dylan Holmes returns to County Sligo Golf Club on Friday aiming to capture the Connolly Motor Group West of Ireland Men’s Amateur Open Championship for a second time.

Regarded as the traditional curtain raiser to the Golf Ireland Championships season, the West once again brings together leading amateur talent from across Ireland and beyond, with 126 competitors set to take to the renowned links at Rosses Point from April 3-7.

WEST OF IRELAND MEN'S AMATEUR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP (CO. SLIGO)

Two rounds of stroke play qualifying on Friday and Saturday will reduce the field to the top 64 players, before one-on-one match play action takes over until a champion is crowned on Tuesday afternoon.

Now 19, Holmes secured his breakthrough victory on what was his debut in men’s championships, battling through testing conditions to defeat seasoned veteran of the West, Warrenpoint’s Colm Campbell, in an enthralling final.

The Greystones golfer produced a composed performance to secure a 2&1 victory that sparked emotional scenes among friends, family and clubmates who had made the trip from Wicklow to cheer him on.

“It was such a good week. It kickstarted my men's golf career,” said Holmes.

“My dad was up there for the whole week but my mum, my sister and a few of my cousins came out. I had a lot of family up there.”

“A good few Greystones members came too which was brilliant. They got to watch all the golf, and I could see how much it meant to them as well as how much as it meant to me.”

Following his victory, comparisons were quickly drawn between Holmes and a young Rory McIlroy, who claimed the second of his two West titles in 2006 at just 17 years of age. It is a comparison the Wicklow native is quick to keep in perspective.

“You can compare me to Rory in this, but he won it the year after and he won every other thing and then a few years later he won The Masters,” said Holmes.

“There's no real comparison really, but it's cool anytime you get to be compared to Rory, it's very cool.”

While Holmes returns hoping to defend his crown, the field is packed with a host of top contenders all vying to add their names to an illustrious list of past champions.

One of the standout groupings will lead out the field on Friday morning, as recently crowned regional slam winner Caolan Rafferty (Dundalk), 2024 Flogas Irish Men’s Amateur Open Champion, Matthew McClean (Malone) and former South, East and Irish Amateur champion Colm Campbell tee off at 7.30am.

“I've never played with Matt or Caolan, and I've only played with Colm in the final last year, but you just have to admire their consistency,” said Holmes.

“It's something to aspire to. Rafferty has won all four of the championships now. There are very few golfers in the amateur circuit who get to keep at that very high level for such a long period of time, it is brilliant.”

“When I look at their games, I'm often comparing myself to them and seeing how I can try and get to that next level of consistency.”

Holmes will begin the defence of his title at 7.41am alongside two other rising talents, local hopeful Aodhagan Brady (Co. Sligo) and reigning Irish Intervarsity Champion Patrick Curran (Edmondstown).

This year newly remodelled greens at the Par 5 third and 12th holes, refined fairways and a number of new tee boxes will present a fresh challenge, on the 102nd edition of the tournament.

For Holmes however, the approach remains simple as he looks to replicate the mindset that served him well 12 months ago.

“I try not to get carried away with goals or anything, because I try to stay as present as possible, because I tend to start imagining things, which usually isn't a great thing,” said Holmes.

“For me, I'm going to try and take one shot at a time and hopefully get into the match play and take it from there. That's what I did last year, and it worked out nicely, so hopefully we can try and do something similar.”

“I'm just going to try and enjoy it as much as possible. It's a brilliant event and there's such a buzz around the place.”