Moynihan leads 11-strong Irish challenge for St Andrews Links
Gavin Moynihan. Picture via Scottishgolf.org
Newly crowned Scottish Amateur Open champion Gavin Moynihan will be bidding to take up where he left off on Sunday and become just the second Irish winner of the St Andrews Links Trophy at the Home of Golf.
The man from The Island was surprised to jump as high as 10th on the latest World Amateur Golf Ranking following his impressive win at Panmure. But given his level of confidence right now, he must be fancied to following in the footsteps of Alan Dunbar, who won the title in 2009.
"I played nicely," said Moynihan, who will tee it up in the Irish Open in a fortnight alongside Robbie Cannon, Dermot McElroy and Gary Hurley. "I just had one hiccup in the third round where I had a nine on a hole but I was just delighted to came back from it. I couldn't believe I went up that far in the rankings but I was delighted to see it. This is another great event too, so I'm really looking forward to it."
Ireland has 11 players in the field and all of them are capable of a run at the title with the current West of Ireland champion, Naas' Jack Hume, clearly in good form having finished second to Moynihan.
Ardee's Eugene Smith will be keen to show that he's a player on the rise while Paul Dunne will need to dig deep to recover from his recent transatlantic performances for UAB in the US and last weekend's runner-up finish in his defence of the East of Ireland at Baltray.
Lucan's Richie O'Donovan — tied 12th on Sunday — is showing signs that he is getting back close to his best after losing his place on the Irish team last year while Reeve Whitson, McElroy and Rory McNamara will be gunning to make amends for missing the cut at Panmure.
Cormac Sharvin, 41st at Panmure, will be keen to put in a big performance as will Hurley, who did well to finish third in the "East" having just finished his exams.
As for West of Ireland runner-up Cannon, the Balbriggan man was disappointed to miss the cut at Baltray but with the Irish Open just around the corner, competition against some of the best amateurs in the world is likely to get him off and running again.
The bookies have installed England's Ryan Evans as a warm favourite ahead of Moynihan, Dunne, Hume and Lytham Trophy winner Thriston Lawrence of South Africa.
St Andrew Links Trophy
(Round 1 on the New Course on Friday 6 June; Round 2 on the Old Course on Saturday 7 June)
| Time R1 | Match | Time R2 | No. | Name | Club |
| 0700 | 1 | 1110 | 1 | Craig Ross Kirkhill | Kirkhill |
| 2 | Eugene Smith Ireland | Ireland | |||
| 3 | Ugo Coussaud France | France | |||
| 0710 | 2 | 1120 | 4 | Connor Syme Dumfries & County | Dumfries & County |
| 5 | Reeve Whitson Ireland | Ireland | |||
| 6 | Dale Brandt-Richards Australia | Australia | |||
| 0720 | 3 | 1130 | 7 | Robert MacIntyre Glencruitten | Glencruitten |
| 8 | Victor Henum Denmark | Denmark | |||
| 9 | Matthew Moseley Carmarthen | Carmarthen | |||
| 0730 | 4 | 1140 | 10 | Linus Vaisanen Finland | Finland |
| 11 | Javier Sainz Spain | Spain | |||
| 12 | Matthew Clark Kilmacolm | Kilmacolm | |||
| 0740 | 5 | 1150 | 13 | Charlie Macneal Prestwick | Prestwick |
| 14 | Joaquin Bonjour Argentina | Argentina | |||
| 15 | Jamie Bower Meltham | Meltham | |||
| 0750 | 6 | 1200 | 16 | James Bunch Prestwick | Prestwick |
| 17 | Adam Chapman Windermere | Windermere | |||
| 18 | Zach Galliford Borth & Ynyslas | Borth & Ynyslas | |||
| 0800 | 7 | 1210 | 19 | Federico Zucchetti Italy | Italy |
| 20 | Julian Taylor York (Yorkshire) | York (Yorkshire) | |||
| 21 | Mitchell Venables Australia | Australia | |||
| 0810 | 8 | 1220 | 22 | Alastair Jones Radyr | Radyr |
| 23 | Mark Geddes Prenton | Prenton | |||
| 24 | Edward Richardson Rye | Rye | |||
| 0820 | 9 | 1240 | 25 | Rocco Sanjust Italy | Italy |
| 26 | Victor Veyret France | France | |||
| 27 | Joe Dean Lindrick | Lindrick | |||
| 0830 | 10 | 1250 | 28 | Ben Wheeler Purley Downs | Purley Downs |
| 29 | Thomas Detry Belgium | Belgium | |||
| 30 | Grégoire Schoeb France | France | |||
| 0840 | 11 | 1300 | 31 | Tomasz Anderson Brocket Hall | Brocket Hall |
| 32 | Gavin Moynihan Ireland | Ireland | |||
| 33 | Robbie Van West Netherlands | Netherlands | |||
| 0850 | 12 | 1310 | 34 | Ben Stow Rushmore | Rushmore |
| 35 | Paul Howard Southport & Ainsdale | Southport & Ainsdale | |||
| 36 | Thriston Lawrence South Africa | South Africa | |||
| 0900 | 13 | 1320 | 37 | Mathieu Fenasse France | France |
| 38 | Christiaan Bezuidenhout South Africa | South Africa | |||
| 39 | Grant Forrest Craigielaw | Craigielaw | |||
| 0910 | 14 | 1330 | 40 | Todd Sinnott Australia | Australia |
| 41 | Bradley Neil Blairgowrie | Blairgowrie | |||
| 42 | Jimmy Mullen Royal North Devon | Royal North Devon | |||
| 0920 | 15 | 1340 | 43 | Kenny Subregis France | France |
| 44 | Tim Gornik Slovenia | Slovenia | |||
| 45 | Alexander Culverwell Dunbar | Dunbar | |||
| 0930 | 16 | 1350 | 46 | Zander Lombard South Africa | South Africa |
| 47 | Jack Hume Ireland | Ireland | |||
| 48 | Ashley Chesters Hawkstone Park | Hawkstone Park | |||
| 0950 | 17 | 1400 | 49 | João Carlota Portugal | Portugal |
| 50 | Chris Robb Meldrum House | Meldrum House | |||
| 51 | Samuel Jacob Echikson Belgium | Belgium | |||
| 1000 | 18 | 1410 | 52 | Romain Langasque France | France |
| 53 | Jack Singh Brar Remedy Oak | Remedy Oak | |||
| 54 | Scott Gibson Southerness | Southerness | |||
| 1010 | 19 | 1420 | 55 | Mike Hearne Southerndown | Southerndown |
| 56 | Markus Maukner Austria | Austria | |||
| 57 | James Hart Du Preez South Africa | South Africa | |||
| 1020 | 20 | 1430 | 58 | Luke Johnson Kings Lynn | Kings Lynn |
| 59 | Alexander Garde Denmark | Denmark | |||
| 60 | Albert Eckhardt Finland | Finland | |||
| 1030 | 21 | 1440 | 61 | Robert Burlison Oxley Park | Oxley Park |
| 62 | D J Loypur Australia | Australia | |||
| 63 | Mathias Eggenberger Switzerland | Switzerland | |||
| 1040 | 22 | 1450 | 64 | Ryan Fricker Yelverton | Yelverton |
| 65 | Harry Casey Enfield | Enfield | |||
| 66 | Geoff Drakeford Australia | Australia | |||
| 1050 | 23 | 1500 | 67 | Paul Elissalde France | France |
| 68 | Thomas Rowland Prudhoe | Prudhoe | |||
| 69 | Andrew Schonewille Australia | Australia | |||
| 1100 | 24 | 1510 | 70 | Clément Sordet France | France |
| 71 | Ben Kinsley St Andrews | St Andrews | |||
| 72 | Greig Marchbank Thornhill | Thornhill | |||
| 1110 | 25 | 0700 | 73 | Richard O'Donovan Ireland | Ireland |
| 74 | Pierre Mazier France | France | |||
| 75 | James Newton Prestbury | Prestbury | |||
| 1120 | 26 | 0710 | 76 | Edouard Amacher Switzerland | Switzerland |
| 77 | Thomas Le Berre France | France | |||
| 78 | Axel Geers Netherlands | Netherlands | |||
| 1130 | 27 | 0720 | 79 | Ben Westgate Trevose | Trevose |
| 80 | Adam Dunton McDonald | McDonald | |||
| 81 | João Girão Portugal | Portugal | |||
| 1140 | 28 | 0730 | 82 | Matt Kippen Enmore Park | Enmore Park |
| 83 | Tae Koh New Zealand | New Zealand | |||
| 84 | Daniel Kay Dunbar | Dunbar | |||
| 1150 | 29 | 0740 | 85 | Victor Lange South Africa | South Africa |
| 86 | Teremoana Beaucousin France | France | |||
| 87 | Jamie Savage Cawder | Cawder | |||
| 1200 | 30 | 0750 | 88 | Ewen Ferguson Bearsden | Bearsden |
| 89 | Gustaf Burenstam Linder Sweden | Sweden | |||
| 90 | Louis Tomlinson West Lancashire | West Lancashire | |||
| 1210 | 31 | 0800 | 91 | Mark Young Longridge | Longridge |
| 92 | Dylan Boshart Netherlands | Netherlands | |||
| 93 | Ben Amor Marlborough | Marlborough | |||
| 1220 | 32 | 0810 | 94 | Alejandro Tosti Argentina | Argentina |
| 95 | Daniel Brown Bedale | Bedale | |||
| 96 | Rory McNamara Ireland | Ireland | |||
| 1240 | 33 | 0820 | 97 | Joshua Munn New Zealand | New Zealand |
| 98 | Jack Bush Morlais Castle | Morlais Castle | |||
| 99 | Sam Edwards Bigbury | Bigbury | |||
| 1250 | 34 | 0830 | 100 | Ryan Evans Wellingborough | Wellingborough |
| 101 | Mario Galiano Spain | Spain | |||
| 102 | Cameron Davis Australia | Australia | |||
| 1300 | 35 | 0840 | 103 | Adrian Meronk Poland | Poland |
| 104 | Nick Marsh Huddersfield | Huddersfield | |||
| 105 | Graeme Robertson Glenbervie | Glenbervie | |||
| 1310 | 36 | 0850 | 106 | Paul Dunne Ireland | Ireland |
| 107 | Antonio Murdaca Australia | Australia | |||
| 108 | Jack McDonald Kilmarnock (Barassie) | Kilmarnock (Barassie) | |||
| 1320 | 37 | 0900 | 109 | Rhys Pugh Vale of Glamorgan | Vale of Glamorgan |
| 110 | Dermot McElroy Ireland | Ireland | |||
| 111 | Andrew Wilson Darlington | Darlington | |||
| 1330 | 38 | 0910 | 112 | Iván Cantero Spain | Spain |
| 113 | Ewan Scott St Andrews | St Andrews | |||
| 114 | Cormac Sharvin Ireland | Ireland | |||
| 1340 | 39 | 0920 | 115 | Gary Hurley Ireland | Ireland |
| 116 | Toby Tree Golf at Goodwood | Golf at Goodwood | |||
| 117 | James Ross Royal Burgess GS Edinburgh | Royal Burgess GS Edinburgh | |||
| 1350 | 40 | 0930 | 118 | Paul Kinnear Formby | Formby |
| 119 | Léonard Bem France | France | |||
| 120 | Lars van Meijel Netherlands | Netherlands | |||
| 1400 | 41 | 0950 | 121 | Jason Smith South Africa | South Africa |
| 122 | David Morago Spain | Spain | |||
| 123 | James Allan Chelmsford | Chelmsford | |||
| 1410 | 42 | 1000 | 124 | Scott Borrowman Dollar | Dollar |
| 125 | James Bolton Formby | Formby | |||
| 126 | Ben Eccles Australia | Australia | |||
| 1420 | 43 | 1010 | 127 | Daniel Wasteney Lindrick | Lindrick |
| 128 | Charlie Bull USA | USA | |||
| 129 | Nicolaas Johannes Arnoldi South Africa | South Africa | |||
| 1430 | 44 | 1020 | 130 | Gordon Stevenson Whitecraigs | Whitecraigs |
| 131 | A.J. McInerney USA | USA | |||
| 132 | Haydn McCullen Delamere Forest | Delamere Forest | |||
| 1440 | 45 | 1030 | 133 | Mathieu Decottignies-Lafon France | France |
| 134 | Louis Taylor South Africa | South Africa | |||
| 135 | Alfie Plant Sundridge Park | Sundridge Park | |||
| 1450 | 46 | 1040 | 136 | Daniel Young Craigie Hill | Craigie Hill |
| 137 | Robert Cannon Ireland | Ireland | |||
| 138 | Maximilian Walz Germany | Germany | |||
| 1500 | 47 | 1050 | 139 | Calum Hill Tantallon | Tantallon |
| 140 | Liam Johnston Dumfries & County | Dumfries & County | |||
| 141 | Michael Saunders Dartford | Dartford | |||
| 1510 | 48 | 1100 | 142 | Seb Crookall-Nixon Silloth on Solway | Silloth on Solway |
| 143 | Ciaran Doherty Bury | Bury | |||
| 144 | Lawrence Allan Alva | Alva |
