Grehan claims record East win and first for Baltray since 1985
Stuart Grehan with his wife Carla and their son Kai celebrate with the East of Ireland Men's Amateur Open Championship trophy. Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Ben Brady
Stuart Grehan enjoyed one of the greatest days of his golfing life when he aced the 17th and closed with a sensational 65 en route to a record aggregate and a six-shot win in the East of Ireland Men’s Amateur Open at Baltray.
The 33-year-old Offaly man became the first County Louth member to win the title since Finbarr Ronan 41 years ago, triumphing on 17-under 271 from Dundalk’s Caolan Rafferty, who set the previous championship low of 273 two years ago.
“It’s class, really cool,” said Grehan, who went into the final day a shot behind Galgorm Castle’s Joshua Hill before carding a five under 67 in the morning to lead by two strokes from the Ballymena man at lunch.
“I’m really, really happy. Chuffed having great crowds out there today and being a member here and having the support with family and friends, it feels really cool.
“I did feel a lot of pressure coming in this week. I was playing nicely but you always have that extra pressure playing at home.
“To go out and perform, I’m really proud of myself… To get it done and cap it off the way I did was pretty special.”
While he bogeyed the first in the final round and Rafferty closed with a 65 to finish on 11 under, Grehan produced a ball-striking masterclass to claim the title for the second time since he won as a Tullamore member in 2015.
Stuart Grehan with an Ace on 17 in @CountyLouthGC he’s now 17 under and takes a seven shot lead to the last in the east of Ireland amateur championship @StewyGrehanGolf pic.twitter.com/YsOyLYxTrd
— Irish Amateur golf info (@amateur_info) May 31, 2026
Birdies at the second, third, sixth, 10th, 13th and 16th left him four clear of Rafferty before he sensationally holed out with a four-iron from 216 yards at the 17th for a spectacular ace.
“I won’t forget that for a while,” Grehan said. “Just a perfect little cut dead weight into the hole.
“To be fair, I flushed it. I think Patrick [Keeling] said, Oh, it has a chance, or something like that, and I just saw everyone's hands go up on the left, so that was pretty special.
“To have obviously family and friends and members there watching, it was really cool.”
As for the long wait for a home winner, he said: “I didn't really think about that sort of stuff before I played.
“I got off to a ropey start in the afternoon there, bogeyed the first, and I was hitting all over the place.
“But I kind of knuckled down and just leaned on my experience, and played really, really good golf.
“I think it was eight under for the last 17 holes, pretty good when you're when you're leading, so I’m absolutely chuffed. I'm really, really happy”
Three County Louth players finished in the top five as Gerard Dunne closed with rounds of 69 and 66 to finish joint third with Hill on nine under.
Grehan’s 2025 Walker Cup teammate Gavin Tiernan claimed fifth on five under.
East of Ireland Men’s Amateur Open, sponsored by Arnotts, County Louth (Par 72)
Final
271 Stuart Grehan (Co. Louth) 70 69 67 65;
277 Caolan Rafferty (Dundalk) 72 71 69 65;
279 Gerard Dunne (Co. Louth) 77 67 69 66, Joshua Hill (Galgorm Castle) 67 71 70 71;
283 Gavin Tiernan (Co. Louth) 71 72 71 69;
284 TJ Ford (Co. Sligo) 75 69 72 68, Patrick Keeling (Roganstown) 74 68 73 69;
286 Luke Cunningham (Galway Bay) 76 70 70 70, Keith Egan (Carton House) 74 69 70 73, Ciaran Murphy (Grange) 73 73 72 68, Thomas Abom (Edmondstown) 72 70 72 72, Jack McDonnell (Royal Dublin) 71 72 71 72;
287 James Hewitt (Tandragee) 76 69 70 72, Jordan Boles (Carton House) 75 68 71 73;
288 Matthew McClean (Malone) 75 69 74 70, Padraig O Dochartaigh (Gweedore) 74 70 73 71;
289 Colm Campbell (Warrenpoint) 78 68 71 72, Adam Fahey (Portmarnock) 75 70 72 72, David Howard (Fota Island) 74 71 74 70, Patrick Curran (Edmondstown) 73 71 69 76, Liam Abom (Edmondstown) 73 70 71 75;
290 William O’Riordan (Greystones) 75 72 73 70, David Reddan (Castleknock) 73 74 74 69, Evan Farrell (Co. Louth) 73 71 75 71, Darcy Hogg (Belvoir Park) 72 70 76 72, Dylan Keating (Seapoint) 70 74 70 76;
291 Patrick Martin (Carrick-On-Shannon) 76 70 72 73, Darragh Flynn (Carton House) 74 72 69 76, Quentin Carew (The Heritage) 73 73 74 71;
292 Fionn Dobbin (Malone) 75 72 74 71, David Kitt (Athenry) 72 73 74 73;
293 Mark Muldoon (Royal Dublin) 77 69 71 76, Kyle McCarron (North West) 75 71 76 71, Robert Walsh (Kinsale) 73 72 75 73;
294 Aaron Ryan (Thurles) 73 71 76 74;
295 Robbie Cannon (Balbriggan) 76 71 73 75, Aaron Marshall (Lisburn) 73 73 73 76;
296 Sean Sweeney (Gweedore) 73 72 74 77;
297 Simon Ward (Belvoir Park) 75 71 73 78, Conor Hickey (Dooks) 73 73 73 78, James Fox (Portmarnock) 72 75 74 76;
298 Alex Kerins (Carton House) 74 73 74 77;
299 Knut Magnus Erlandsen (Baerum) 75 72 75 77;
300 Conor McCarthy (Headfort) 76 71 78 75;
309 Nicolai Rosli (Oslo) 70 75 85 79.
