Mourne's Reeve Whitson added a 65 to his opening 69 to lead the qualifiers in the Radisson Blu-sponsored West of Ireland on eight under 134. The cut fell at six over 148 with all players on that number making the top 64 for tomorrow's first round of matchplay combat.

The 22-year old international finished two strokes clear of Portmarnock's Geoff Lenehan and is now looking for some pay back after throwing away a big lead in last year's semi-finals to eventual runner up Niall Gorey.

“I played nicely again from tee to green and made a few birdies early to set up a good round," Whitson said. "I birdied the second, and the fourth and had a gimme birdie at the ninth. 

"I missed a 10 inch putt for birdie at the 10th and tried not to let that affect me. Then I got a flyer and overshot the 12th in the munchies and thought I might let a good round slip like yesterday. 

"But I made a nice birdie with two putts on the 12th to get to four under and another one at the 15th, a four iron to four feet from an awkward lie on the bank."

A closing birdie from 10 feet gave him a 65 and a two round total of eight under 134, two shots better than Portmarnock's Geoff Lenehan.

|I am playing a whole lot better than last year, probably the best I've ever hit it," Whitson said. "Unfinished business? Yes, definitely. I was four up with five to go in the semis against Niall Gorey as year and lost on the 19th.

"I will never ever forget that. I am just looking forward to the matchplay and let’s see how it goes."

There have now been three albatross twos in this year's West — an incredible number. Stephen McCarthy of Black Bush had a two at the fifth in a 74 on Friday. Btu there were two more today.

Tom Gandy from the Mount Murray GC on the Isle of Man had a two at the par-five 12th in a second round 68 to qualify with ease on 138. But while Ulsterman Matt Wylie also had a two at the fifth, where he holed an eight iron from 188 yards, a 76 for 150 left him two shots outside the cut mark.

At County Sligo GC (Par 71),

Matchplay draw - Round 1

1 07.00 Stephen Coulter (Warrenpoint) v Eanna Griffin (Waterford)
2 07.09 Gary McDermott (Co Sligo) v John Ross Galbraith (Whitehead)
3 07.18 Mark Morrissey (Mount Wolesly) v Des Morgan (Mullingar)
4 07.27 Robert Cannon (Balbriggan) v Ian Lynch (Rosslare)
5 07.36 Daniel Holland (Castle) v Declan Reidy (Co Sligo) 
6 07.45 Richard O’Donovan (Lucan) v Kieran Lovelock (Hindhead, UK)
7 07.54 Shaun Carter (Stackstown) v Alex Gleeson (Castle)
8 08.03 Dermot McElroy (Ballymena) v Keith Crowley (Fota Island)
9 08.12 Barry Anderson (The Royal Dublin) v Barry Daly (Edmondstown)
10 08.21 Steffan O’Hara (Co Sligo) v Sean Maloney (Dunmurry Springs) 
11 08.30 Colin Fairweather (Knock) v Richard Bridges (Stackstown)
12 08.39 Rory McNamara (Headfort) v Jake Whelan (Newlands)
13 08.48 Tom Gandy (Rowmany, IoM) v Eoghan Murphy (Cork) 
14 08.57 Jeff Hopkins (The Royal Dublin) v Greg Mungovan (Headfort)
15 09.06 John Hickey (Cork) v Eddie McCormack (Galway)
16 09.15 Reeve Whitson (Mourne) v Jonathan Breen (Knock) 
17 09.24 Jack Hume (Naas) v Michael Buggy (Castlecomer) 
18 09.33 Matthew McClean (Balmoral) v Stephen Walsh (Portmarnock)
19 09.42 Sean Flanagan (Co Sligo) v Gary Collins (Rosslare)
20 09.51 Darragh Coghlan (Portmarnock) v Kevin Stack (Dungarvan)
21 10.00 Harry Diamond (Belvoir Park) v Kieran McCarthy (Castlemartyr) 
22 10.09 Caolan Rafferty (Greenore) v Sean Ryan (The Royal Dublin)
23 10.18 Stuart Grehan (Tullamore) v Shaun O’Connor (Luttrellstown Castle)
24 10.27 Colm Campbell (Warrenpoint) v Stephen Loftus (Lahinch)
25 10.36 Geoff Lenehan (Portmarnock) v Conor O’Rourke (Naas)
26 10.45 David Brady (Co Sligo) v John Greene (Portmarnock) 
27 10.54 Eugene Smith (Ardee) v Joe Lyons (Galway)
28 11.03 David Sutton (Lurgan) v Pat Murray (Limerick) 
29 11.12 Gary Hurley (West Waterford) v Conor Doran (Banbridge)
30 11.21 Gareth Bohill (Co Louth) v Mark Shanahan (Castlemartyr) 
31 11.30 Rory Leonard (Banbridge) v William Hanna (Warrenpoint) 
32 11.39 Simon Bryan (Delgany) v James Fox (Portmarnock).

After 36 holes

Qualifiers

134 Reeve Whitson (Mourne) 69 65

136 Geoff Lenehan (Portmarnock) 66 70

137 Steffan O'Hara (Co. Sligo) 68 69

138 Jeff Hopkins (The Royal Dublin) 72 66, Richard O'Donovan (Lucan) 70 68

139 Tom Gandy (Mount Murray) 71 68, Darragh Coghlan (Portmarnock) 70 69, David Sutton (Lurgan) 70 69, Dermot McElroy (Ballymena) 70 69, Jack Hume (Naas) 66 73

140 Rory Leonard (Banbridge) 70 70, Daniel Holland (Castle) 70 70, Stephen Coulter (Warrenpoint) 70 70, Gary McDermott (Co. Sligo) 70 70, Simon Bryan (Delgany) 69 71

141 Colm Campbell (Warrenpoint) 70 71, Barry Anderson (The Royal Dublin) 69 72

142 Sean Flanagan (Co. Sligo) 72 70, Colin Fairweather (Knock) 71 71, Caolan Rafferty (Greenore) 70 72, Harry Diamond (Belvoir Park) 70 72, Eugene Smith (Ardee) 68 74

143 Gareth Bohill (Co. Louth) 74 69, Mark Morrissey (Mount Wolseley) 71 72, Shaun Carter (Stackstown) 70 73, David Brady (Co. Sligo) 64 79

144 Gary Hurley (West Waterford) 77 67, Robert Cannon (Balbriggan) 75 69, Matthew McClean (Balmoral) 74 70, John Hickey (Cork) 74 70, Eddie McCormack (Galway) 74 70, Rory McNamara (Headfort) 73 71, Stuart Grehan (Tullamore) 72 72, Stephen Walsh (Portmarnock) 72 72, John Greene (Portmarnock) 72 72, Alex Gleeson (Castle) 71 73, Des Morgan (Mullingar) 71 73, Mark Shanahan (Castlemartyr) 69 75

145 Sean Ryan (The Royal Dublin) 74 71, Richard Bridges (Stackstown) 73 72, Barry Daly (Edmondstown) 73 72, Stephen Loftus (Lahinch) 70 75, James Fox (Portmarnock) 69 76, Eanna Griffin (Waterford) 69 76

146 Declan Reidy (Co. Sligo) 78 68, Pat Murray (Limerick) 77 69, Kevin Stack (Dungarvan) 74 72, Eoghan Murphy (Cork) 74 72, Greg Mungovan (Headfort) 74 72, Gary Collins (Rosslare) 73 73

147 Joe Lyons (Galway) 77 70, Kieran Lovelock (Hindhead) 75 72, John-ross Galbraith (Whitehead) 75 72, William Hanna (Warrenpoint) 74 73, Shaun O'Connor (Luttrellstown Castle) 74 73, Sean Maloney (Dunmurry Springs) 73 74, Jake Whelan (Newlands) 73 74, Kieran McCarthy (Castlemartyr) 72 75, Connor Doran (Banbridge) 72 75

148 Ian Lynch (Rosslare) 77 71, Keith Crowley (Fota Island) 76 72, Conor O'Rourke (Naas) 75 73, Michael Buggy (Castlecomer) 75 73, Jonathan Breen (Knock) 71 77

Non Qualifiers

149 Ruairi Kennelly (Portmarnock) 76 73, Daryll Callister (Mount Murray) 76 73, Stephen Brady (Co. Sligo) 76 73, Ronan O'Reilly (Headfort) 76 73, Chris Carroll (Shandon Park) 76 73, Ian O'Flynn (Cork) 75 74, Ronan Mullarney (Galway) 75 74, Jonathan Yates (Naas) 75 74, Serryth Heavey (Co. Sligo) 75 74, William Russell (Clandeboye) 74 75, Eoin Arthurs (Forrest Little.) 74 75, Jordan Hood (Galgorm Castle) 74 75, Paul Flynn (Tramore) 74 75, Ryan Gribben (Warrenpoint) 74 75, Gerard Dunne (Co. Louth) 74 75

150 Evan Farrell (Ardee) 76 74, Thomas O'Connor (Athlone) 75 75, Kealan Quigg (City of Derry) 75 75, Shane McGlynn (Carton House) 75 75, Matt Wylie () 74 76, Daniel Brennan (Shannon) 73 77, Stephen Healy (Claremorris) 71 79

151 Damien McCusker (Moyola Park) 78 73, Alan Thomas (Dungarvan) 77 74, Enda Cradock (Gort) 76 75, James McVicker (Knock) 76 75, Kelan McDonagh (The Royal Dublin) 75 76, Tiarnan McLarnon (Massereene) 73 78, Sean Barry (Fota Island) 72 79

152 Noel Crawford (Mourne) 79 73, Jamie Sutherland (Galgorm Castle) 78 74, Niall Foley (Island) 76 76, Declan O'Neill (Carton House) 76 76, David Barry (Castlemartyr) 75 77, Ian Kettyle (Rathmore) 75 77, Matthew Kane (Whitehead) 75 77, Cian Geraghty (Laytown & Bettystown) 74 78, Stephen McCarthy (Black Bush) 74 78

153 Aidan Kelly (The Heritage) 81 72, Devin Morley (Oughterard) 79 74, Paul Coughlan (Moate) 79 74, Jonathan Doherty (Ballina) 78 75, Edward O'Keeffe (Corrstown) 76 77, Richard Knightly (The Royal Dublin) 75 78

154 Tony Cleary (Dromoland) 80 74, Seamus Cullen (Slieve Russell) 78 76

155 Ben Best (Rathmore) 80 75, Jason Rackard (Bunclody) 78 77, Edward Ryan (Lucan) 78 77, Eoghan O'Donovan (Craddockstown) 78 77, Gerard Lawlor (Newbridge) 77 78, Brian O'Reilly (Athenry) 75 80

156 Theo Coffey (Slieve Russell) 81 75, Gavin McKenna (Fortwilliam) 78 78, Jonathan Gourley (Shandon Park) 75 81

157 Timmy Jordan (Dungannon) 79 78, James McLaughlin (Portumna) 79 78, Robbie Pierse (Grange) 77 80

158 Shane Hogan (Nenagh) 77 81

159 Ciaran McKenna (Mallow) 79 80

160 Alan Duffy (Royal Tara) 81 79, Chris Drumm (The Royal Dublin) 81 79

162 Daniel O'Connor (Athlone) 83 79, Patrick Neville (Bearna) 80 82

165 Sean Moran (Carton House) 87 78

WD/NR John O'Neill (Fota Island) NR 77, Michael Sinclair (Knock) 74 WD, Chris Watt (Silverwood) 82 WD

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County Sligo's Declan Reidy fired a three under 68 and Limerick's Pat Murray a fine 69 to finish on the projected cut mark of 146 in the second round of the radisson Blu-sponsored West of Ireland Amateur Open.

Portmarnock's Geoff Lenehan added a one under 70 to his opening 66 to take the clubhouse lead on six-under 136 and with well over half the field now finished the cut looks set to fall at 146

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County Sligo's David Brady came back down to earth with a bump when he added a 79 to his course record, opening 64 in the Radisson Blu-sponsored West of Ireland Championship.

The 17-year old led by two strokes after the first round but at 143 he will qualify easily for the first round of matchplay on Sunday.

Portmarnock's Geoff Lenehan added a one under 70 to his opening 66 to take the clubhouse lead and with well over half the field now finished the cut looks set to fall at 146.  

LIVE SCORING

The Dubliner leads by two shots on six under 134 from Royal Dublin's Jeff Hopkins with the Isle of Man's Tom Gandy (68), Portmarnock's Darragh Coghlan (69) and Lurgan's David Sutton (69) tied for third on three under. 

"I birdied the second, third and fifth, bogeyed the eighth to turn in two under and then birdied the 10th but bogeyed the 15th and 17th," Lenehan said. "There wasn't too much to write home about. It's all about the matchplay."

Check out Golffile.ie's West of Ireland photo gallery from Saturday's play at Rosses Point

Hopkins shot a five under 66 earlier in the morning to post a four under total of 138.

The 22-year old reached the quarter-finals in 2010 when playing out of Skerries but lost to eventual champion Rory Leonard.

"I kept it in play and holed a few nice putts," said Hopkins, who had an eagle at the fifth and holed several crucial par putts coming home. "I'm with John Kelly now. He's a very good coach and keeps it simple, which is what I need."

*****

Knock's Michael Sinclair was forced to withdraw when it became apparent he would miss his 7.44am tee time when he locked his car keys into his BMW at the Radisson Blu Hotel and Spa just down the road in Ballincar.

Faced with the difficult choice between breaking a window on a Bank Holiday weekend in Sligo when you live in Belfast or missing his tee-time, he chose the latter. The Knock man, a former North and East champion, had opened with a 74.

There was no fog and play  got underway at 7.00am.

Click here for Live Scoring

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