East set for photo finish
The scoring didn’t quite match the scorching weather but Portmarnock’s James Fox and Portstewart international Paul Cutler are bracing themselves for a charge from the chasing pack as they head the field entering the final 36 holes of the East of Ireland Amateur Open at sun-baked Co Louth.
The wooly hats and umbrellas that hailed Shane Lowry’s heart-stopping Irish Open win two weeks ago were replaced by sun hats and shades as the overnight leaders carded level par 72s on a course transformed from a target golf dartboard into a hard and fast running links.
Fox (26) and Cutler (20) lead by a stroke on three under par 141 from Moyola Park’s Luke Lennox (19) who fired a two under par 70 on a day when just nine players in the 156-man field broke par.
Defending champion Eoin Arthurs from Forrest Little equalled the best round of the championship so far when he carded one of a trio of three-under par 69s to leap in a share of third place with Dunmurry’s Stephen Crowe (70) on one-under par.
The others came from Walker Cup panelist Alan Dunbar (19) from Rathmore, who just three strokes off the pace on level par alongside The Island’s James Monaghan while Athlone’s Kelan McDonagh also shot 69 to finish in a five-man logjam for eighth place with Connor Doran, David Reilly, Cian Curley and Dessie Morgan on one-over.
“It’s so firm out there, if I was sky diving I’d be aiming for the car park here,” quipped Morgan after a 74.
No-one is more aware of the threat from the chasing pack than Fox, whose brother Noel bridged a 10-stroke gap on the leaders on the final day to win the first of his three East of Ireland titles in 1996.
“Anything can happen over the last two rounds,” said 26-year old Fox, who spent the winter honing his game alongside PGA Tour player Robert Gamez and Nationwide Tour winner Patrick Sheehan on one of the Florida mini tours over the winter. “The greens are so good someone is going to shoot in the mid 60s at some stage, so it’s wide open.”
Cutler know he will have to win big this summer to earn a Walker Cup call up and while the "East" is not looming large on the radars of the selectors, it could give him the confidence to push on when he plays in events such as the St Andrews Links Trophy and the British Amateur before he tries to help Ireland win a hat-trick of European Team Championship titles.
Championship favourite Niall Kearney is one of those believing he still has a chance of victory. But he had to produce the "drive of the day" to avoid disqualification after a second round 75 helped him make the seven-over par cut with just two shots to spare.
Winner of the Brabazon Trophy just two weeks ago, the 21 year old from Royal Dublin forgot to hand in his card and was halfway home when he got a call from this reporter asking him if he’d withdrawn.
“That could have been disastrous,” Kearney said, who found his card still in his back pocket. “We were just about to hit the M1 at Julianstown.”
The highest ranked Irishman in the World Amateur Rankings at 63rd, Kearney confessed that his golf has been “stale” since his Brabazon Trophy win but believes that bridging an eight-stroke gap on the leaders is "very doable.”
"I haven’t been able to get up for it since I won," Kearney said. "It’s tricky out there and I missed a lot of fairways - did well to shoot 74-75. But there are two rounds tomorrow so it is very doable.”
East of Ireland Amateur Open Championship, Co Louth (Par 72)
After 36 holes:
Qualifiers
141 P Cutler (Portstewart) 69 72, J Fox (Portmarnock) 69 72
142 L Lennox (Moyola Park) 72 70
143 E Arthurs (Forrest Little) 74 69, S Crowe (Dunmurry) 73 70
144 A Dunbar (Rathmore) 75 69, J Monaghan (The Island) 72 72
145 K McDonagh (Athlone) 76 69, C Doran (Banbridge) 74 71, D Reilly (Westmanstown) 73 72, C Curley (Newlands) 73 72, D Morgan (Mullingar) 71 74
146 S Power (West Waterford) 74 72, A McCormick (Scrabo) 73 73, J Hopkins (Skerries) 72 74
147 D Lernihan (Castle) 76 71, R Cannon (Laytown & Bettystown) 75 72, R McConnell (Belvoir Park) 74 73, G Kelly (Co. Louth) 73 74, G Bohill (Co. Louth) 73 74, N Grant (Knock) 72 75, N Beirth (Co. Louth) 71 76
148 D Beattie (Whitehead) 76 72, N Goulding (Portmarnock) 75 73, K Canty (Douglas) 74 74, D Carroll (Grange) 73 75, D O'Donovan (Muskerry) 72 76, D Crowe (Dunmurry) 71 77, A Morris (Belvoir Park) 70 78
149 J McGinn (Laytown & Bettystown) 78 71, A Smith (The Island) 77 72, P Dunne (Greystones) 76 73, C Selfridge (Moyola Park) 74 75, K Egan (Curragh) 74 75, N Kearney (The Royal Dublin) 74 75, C Drumm (Rosslare) 73 76, F Rafferty (Dungannon) 73 76
150 R Weldon (Luttrellstown Castle) 80 70, G McGee (Malone) 78 72, D Leathem (Lisburn) 77 73, G O'Flaherty (Cork) 77 73, D Finn (Mallow) 76 74, J Carvill (Warrenpoint) 75 75, C Hughes (Royal Portrush) 75 75, S Morrison (City of Derry) 74 76, K Condren (Greystones) 74 76, S Loftus (Lahinch) 74 76, M McAlpin (Royal Portrush) 74 76, G McGrane (The Royal Dublin) 73 77, M Brett (Portmarnock) 72 78
151 L Brady (The Royal Dublin) 77 74,
Non-Qualifiers
151 A Hogan (Newlands) 77 74, D Coyle (Co. Louth) 76 75, J Mulready (Castle) 76 75, H Diamond (Belvoir Park) 75 76, A O'Callaghan (Douglas) 75 76, T O'Flynn (Fota Island) 75 76, K Bornemann (Douglas) 75 76, B Cashman (Belvoir Park) 74 77, S Healy (Claremorris) 73 78
152 D McCusker (Moyola Park) 80 72, C Martin (Kilkenny) 80 72, G Lawlor (Newbridge) 79 73, G Dunne (Seapoint) 78 74, S Barry (Lee Valley) 76 76, E O'Connor (Ballybunion) 75 77, G Boyd (Donaghadee) 75 77, M Poucher (Limerick) 74 78, S Prendergast (The Royal Dublin) 74 78
153 G Hamill (Ardglass) 79 74, K Crowley (Lee Valley) 78 75, G McDermott (Co. Sligo) 77 76, D Lally (Tuam) 77 76, L Costello (Hollystown) 77 76, C Carvill (Belvoir Park) 75 78, D Coyne (Tuam) 75 78, P Murray(Limerick) 75 78, S McConnell (Ballyclare) 74 79, R Leonard (Banbridge) 73 80
154 C McAleavey (Banbridge) 78 76, N Gorey (Lee Valley) 77 77, R Durnin (Laytown & Bettystown) 77 77, C O'Malley (Westport) 74 80, R McNamara (Headfort) 74 80
155 C Campbell (Warrenpoint) 81 74, J Murray (Mourne) 79 76, M Hammond (Moyola Park) 78 77, S Kelly (Lurgan) 77 78, C Brown (Royal Portrush) 77 78, B Walton (The Island) 76 79, I Brennan (Greenore) 76 79, R Whitson (Mourne) 76 79
156 E O'Sullivan (The Island) 80 76, R McCarthy (The Island) 79 77, S Smyth (Co. Louth) 78 78, B Daly (Edmondstown) 78 78, M Sinclair (Knock) 78 78, R White (Dundalk) 78 78, D Sutton (Lurgan) 78 78, S Doherty (Malone) 77 79, C O'Connor (Athlone) 77 79, C Boggan (Co. Meath) 77 79, E McAnoy (Knock) 75 81
157 J McCarthy (Forrest Little) 81 76, C Molloy (Ardee) 81 76, B Campbell (Malone) 79 78, A Dowling (Hermitage) 79 78, M Durcan (Co. Sligo) 78 79, A Duffy (Royal Tara) 78 79, J Timony (Headfort) 77 80, S Dwyer (Newlands) 77 80
158 J Hughes (Douglas) 77 81, T Fay (Rush) 77 81
159 J Stevenson (Royal Portrush) 83 76, L Reilly (Galgorm Castle) 82 77, A Harty (West Waterford) 81 78, J Owens (Bangor) 81 78, E Smith (Ardee) 80 79, D Vaughan (Ardglass) 79 80, D McInerney (Lahinch) 78 81, K Stack (Dungarvan) 76 83, D Ruddy (Thurles) 75 84
160 C Abernethy (Dun Laoghaire) 82 78, J Turner (Royal Portrush) 81 79, P Duff (Laytown & Bettystown) 80 80, T O'Connor (Athlone) 78 82, G Carew (Edenderry) 77 83, N O'Connor (Elm Park) 76 84
161 C Bowe (Tramore) 81 80
162 E Maguire (Seapoint) 81 81, J Dillon (Headfort) 80 82
163 K Connolly (Portarlington) 81 82, T McGowan (Strandhill) 80 83, D Hogan (Killeen) 79 84
164 J Gourley (Holywood) 84 80, D Simpson (Malone) 83 81, D Kelleher (Portmarnock) 82 82, R McDowell (Royal Belfast) 81 83, A McGrath (Greenore) 80 84
165 R Branigan (Co. Louth) 84 81, A Brogan (Forrest Little) 84 81
167 R Astrand (Kristianstads) 93 74, D Glynn (Galway) 87 80
168 S Barry (Laytown & Bettystown) 84 84
170 M Buggy (Castlecomer) 85 85, D Clarke (Knightsbrook) 82 88
181 A Kadic (Germany) 97 84
NR P McGrath (Dromoland) 78 NR
DQ R Walsh (Kilkenny) DQ, R Bridges (Stackstown) 78 DQ
RT M Ryan (Grange) 78 RT