Ireland has 14 men in the draw for the prestigious St Andrews Links Trophy and while all our Walker Cup contenders bar Paul Dunne will tee it up on the Jubilee Course over the next two days, winning the title over the Old Course on Sunday is the only way to make to convince selectors that they deserve their places.

Ireland can reasonably hope to have six players seriously contending for places in Nigel Edwards' Great Britain and Ireland side yet while Gavin Moynihan proved himself once again with victory in the Irish Amateur Open, he will be looking for wins from his men between now and the matches at Royal Lytham and St Annes in September.

Dermot McElroy won the West and Cormac Sharvin the British University Championship but the time has come for the men in green to prove they have the right stuff by picking up some silverware.

Sharvin's three consecutive top 3 finishes at in Lytham, Royal Dublin and the Scottish Strokeplay are impressive but a victory in one of the major European events would likely put his selection beyond all doubt. 

The same goes for the rest of the Irish who are on the periphery of the 10-man side. Six years have passed since Alan Dunbar became the first Irish winner of a tournament that sees the cream of European and world golf play 18 holes each day over the Jubilee Course on Friday 5 June and Saturday 6 June.  

The 40 lowest scores over these 36 holes, and any tying for 40th place, will qualify for the final 36 holes to be played over the Old Course on Sunday 7 June.

With Dunne leaving his seasonal debut until next week's British Amateur at Carnoustie and Panmure, the trio of Moynihan, Sharvin and McElroy are joined in Scotland by a resurgent Irish Close champion John Ross Galbraith, Stackstown talent Richard Bridges, last year's West of Ireland winner Jack Hume, Alexander Wilson, Alex Gleeson, Eugene Smith, Paul McBride, Robin Dawson, Colm Campbell, Gary Hurley and recently crowned East of Ireland champion, Stuart Grehan.