Ireland might have slipped eight shots off the pace at the halfway stage of the World Amateur Team Championship but they still have high hopes of making a third round charge at the Eisenhower Trophy in Japan.

Tied for 10th overnight, Pádraig Hogan's charges simply couldn't make enough birdies are now tied 18th despite shooting three sub-par rounds at the Oshitate Course at Karuizawa 72 Golf East. 

Team scoring

Individual scoring

West Waterford's Gary Hurley closed with a birdie at the monster, 787-yard, par-6 18th for three under par 68 as The Island's Gavin Moynihan and Greystones' Paul Dunne both posted one under 70s.

Hurley is tied 24th in the Individual standings on six under, six shots behind Sweden's Marcus Kunhult, with Moynihan — still bogey free after 36 holes — tied 38th on four under and Dunne tied 43rd on three under.

"It was a disappointing day and we didn't play well," said Irish skipper Hogan. "However, Gavin was bogey free for the second day in a row and both Gary and Paul only dropped one shot each. The putters were cold and we were off the course after five holes with thunder and lightning.

"We need to go low tomorrow to get back on track. But we are one of only three teams — the USA and Canada are the others — that have all three players under par in both rounds.  So the boys are upbeat for tomorrow."

At the top of the team leaderboard Argentina passed Canada to take the second-round lead thanks to a five-under 66 from Jaime Lopez Rivarola and a 67 from Alejandro Tosti, posting a nine-under 133 at the Oshitate Course to hold a one-stroke lead over Sweden, Switzerland and the USA.

Their 18-under-par todal of 268 ties for the second-lowest 36-hole total in championship history. 

“We plan for the tournament, but you’ve also got to plan each round,” said Argentine captain Matias Anselmo. “What we try to do every day is stay under par. It doesn’t matter if it’s one or two or five, we just want to make sure that we’re under par because we know that at this kind of golf course the scores are going to be low. 

"If you get some momentum, you’ve got to take advantage of it. They know that as soon as they get a chance, they’ve got to go for it. The teams chasing us are really good so we know we’ve got to keep it up.”

This year’s event is hosted by the Japan Golf Association. The teams play for the Eisenhower Trophy. The IGF is the international federation for golf for the International Olympic Committee and will conduct the Olympic golf competition in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. 

In each round, the total of the two lowest scores from each team constitutes the team score for the round. The four-day (72-hole) total is the team’s score for the championship.

The teams at in the upper half of scoring, includuing Ireland, will play the Oshitate Course in the third round and the Iriyama Course in the fourth round. 

The teams in the bottom half will play Iriyama and then Oshitate.

For complete results, visit  ww.igfgolf.org

2014 World Amateur Team Championship, Karuizawa 72 Golf East, Japan

Par-71, 7,010-yard/6,406-meter Oshitate Course (OC)

Par-72, 7,008-yard/6,405-meter Iriyama Course (IC) 

1. Argentina (ARG) - 135 IC-133 OC 268 (-18) Jaime Lopez Rivarola 67-66--133 Alejandro Tosti 68-67--135 Matias Simaski 72-70--142

T2. Sweden (SWE) - 134 IC-135 OC 269 (-17) Marcus Kinhult 65-66--131 Adam Blomme 72-69--141 Hannes Ronneblad 69-74--143

T2. Switzerland (SUI) - 134 IC-135 OC 269 (-17) Benjamin Rusch 68-66--134 Mathias Eggenberger 66-69--135 Marco Iten 72-70--142

T2. United States of America (USA) - 136 IC-133 OC 269 (-17) Beau Hossler 68-66--134 Denny McCarthy 68-68--136 Bryson DeChambeau 69-67--136

5. Canada (CAN) - 134 IC-136 OC 270 (-16) Taylor Pendrith 68-67--135 Corey Conners 66-69--135 Adam Svensson 69-69--138

T6. England (ENG) - 136 IC-135 OC 271 (-15) Benjamin Stow 67-67--134 Ryan Evans 72-68--140 Ashley Chesters 69-72--141

T6. Scotland (SCO) - 138 IC-133 OC 271 (-15) Grant Forrest 68-68--136 Bradley Neil 72-65--137 Chris Robb 70-74--144

T6. Spain (ESP) - 138 IC-133 OC 271 (-15) Jon Rahm 70-64--134 Mario Galiano 68-69--137 Daniel Berna 75-69--144

T9. Australia (AUS) - 137 OC-136 IC 273 (-13) Lucas Herbert 69-64--133 Ryan Ruffels 68-73--141 Geoff Drakeford 71-72--143

T9. Denmark (DEN) - 133 OC-140 IC 273 (-13) Nicolai Kristensen 66-70--136 Martin Leth Simonsen 67-70--137 Niklas Noergaard Moeller 72-70--142

T11. Chinese Taipei (TPE) - 137 OC-137 IC 274 (-12) Chun-An Yu 67-67--134 Cheng-Tsung Pan 70-70--140 Wei-Lun Wang 75-73--148

T11. France (FRA) - 140 IC-134 OC 274 (-12) Victor Perez 69-65--134 Clement Sordet 71-69--140 Robin Sciot Siegrist 72-78--150

T11. Germany (GER) - 137 OC-137 IC 274 (-12) Hurly Long 67-69--136 Maximilian Mehles 70-68--138 Maximilian Rottluff 71-71--142

T11. Italy (ITA) - 140 IC-134 OC 274 (-12) Renato Paratore 69-67--136 Enrico Di Nitto 71-70--141 Guido Migliozzi 75-67--142

T11. Mexico (MEX) - 138 IC-136 OC 274 (-12) Gerardo Ruiz De La Concha 68-67--135 Alvaro Ortiz Becerra 71-69--140 Aaron Terrazas Morales 70-71--141

T16. Austria (AUT) - 140 IC-135 OC 275 (-11) Lukas Lipold 72-66--138 Robin Goger 69-69--138 Markus Maukner 71-72--143

T16. Chile (CHI) - 136 OC-139 IC 275 (-11) Matias Dominguez 67-68--135 Guillermo Pereira 69-71--140 Martin Cancino 69-77--146

T18. Belgium (BEL) - 138 OC-138 IC 276 (-10) Thomas Detry 68-70--138 Kevin Hesbois 70-68--138 Samuel Echikson 75-75--150

T18. Czech Republic (CZE) - 135 OC-141 IC 276 (-10) Simon Zach 67-67--134 Vitek Novak 68-74--142 Michal Pospisil 76-78--154

T18. Ireland (IRL) - 138 IC-138 OC 276 (-10) Gary Hurley 69-68--137 Gavin Moynihan 69-70--139 Paul Dunne 70-70--140

21. Japan (JPN) - 138 IC-140 OC 278 (-8) Kazuya Koura 69-71--140 Takashi Ogiso 71-69--140 Kenta Konishi 69-74--143

22. Puerto Rico (PUR) - 137 IC-142 OC 279 (-7) Jeronimo Esteve 67-73--140 Robi Calvesbert 72-69--141 Edward Figueroa 70-74--144

T23. Norway (NOR) - 141 IC-139 OC 280 (-6) Kristian Johannessen 71-68--139 Kristoffer Ventura 70-71--141 Andreas Halvorsen 74-78--152

T23. People's Republic of China (CHN) - 142 IC-138 OC 280 (-6) Zecheng Dou 68-72--140 Jin Zhang 74-69--143 Zhengkai Bai 75-69--144

T23. Republic of Korea (KOR) - 142 OC-138 IC 280 (-6) Eun-Ho Youm 71-67--138 Nam-Hun Kim 71-71--142 Tae-Hyun Kong 73-74--147

T23. Singapore (SIN) - 142 IC-138 OC 280 (-6) Jonathan Woo 70-67--137 Johnson Poh 72-73--145 Marc Ong 81-71--152

T23. Venezuela (VEN) - 139 IC-141 OC 280 (-6) Jorge Garcia 66-68--134 Alejandro Perazzo 73-73--146 Gustavo Morantes 78-75--153

T28. New Zealand (NZL) - 144 IC-137 OC 281 (-5) Joshua Munn 72-69--141 Tae Koh 72-69--141 Vaughan McCall 74-68--142

T28. Slovenia (SLO) - 140 OC-141 IC 281 (-5) Tim Gornik 67-73--140 Zan Luka Stirn 73-68--141 Enej Sarkanj 74-75--149

30. Colombia (COL) - 141 OC-141 IC 282 (-4) Nicolas Echavarria 70-69--139 Santiago Gomez 71-72--143 Ricardo Celia 71-77--148

T31. India (IND) - 141 IC-142 OC 283 (-3) Udayan Mane 68-70--138 Feroz Garewal 73-72--145 Manu Gandas 76-76--152

T31. Wales (WAL) - 138 OC-145 IC 283 (-3) Michael Hearne 68-72--140 David Boote 70-73--143 Rhys Pugh 70-73--143

33. Bermuda (BER) - 142 IC-142 OC 284 (-2) Jarryd Dillas 71-70--141 Will Haddrell 73-72--145 Mark Phillips 71-80--151

T34. Portugal (POR) - 143 IC-142 OC 285 (-1) Joao Carlota 69-69--138 Goncalo Costa 74-73--147 Tomas Silva 80-76--156

T34. Thailand (THA) - 140 OC-145 IC 285 (-1) Suradit Yongcharoenchai 68-71--139 Nattawat Suvajanakorn 72-75--147 Chanachok Dejpiratanamongkol 74-74--148

T36. Costa Rica (CRC) - 146 IC-140 OC 286 (Even) Jose Mendez 71-70--141 Alvaro Ortiz 75-70--145 Manuel Jimenez 84-84--168

T36. Hong Kong, China (HKG) - 141 OC-145 IC 286 (Even) Matthew Cheung 70-74--144 Shinichi Mizuno 73-71--144 Martin Liu 71-82--153

T36. Malaysia (MAS) - 143 IC-143 OC 286 (Even) Kyle Green Gavin 68-72--140 Low Khai Jei 75-71--146 Abdul Manaf Muhammad Wafiyuddin 75-76--151

T36. Poland (POL) - 142 IC-144 OC 286 (Even) Mateusz Gradecki 70-71--141 Adrian Meronk 72-73--145 Jan Szmidt 79-73--152

T36. South Africa (RSA) - 144 IC-142 OC 286 (Even) Zander Lombard 68-71--139 Jason Smith 78-71--149 Gerlou Roux 76-73--149

T41. Brazil (BRA) - 140 OC-147 IC 287 (+1) Andre Tourinho 68-75--143 Thomaz Pimenta 72-72--144 Herik Machado 74-82--156

T41. Finland (FIN) - 144 IC-143 OC 287 (+1) Linus Vaisanen 72-70--142 Kristian Kulokorpi 72-73--145 Albert Eckhardt 73-73--146

T41. Guatemala (GUA) - 148 IC-139 OC 287 (+1) Jose Pablo Rolz 74-69--143 Sebastian Barnoya 74-70--144 Daniel Gurtner 79-71--150

44. Slovakia (SVK) - 144 IC-144 OC 288 (+2) Jan Friesz 72-72--144 Peter Valasek 75-72--147 Oliver Gabor 72-78--150

45. Netherlands (NED) - 142 OC-147 IC 289 (+3) Michael Kraaij 71-73--144 Lars Van Meijel 72-74--146 Robbie Van West 71-76--147

46. Guam (GUM) - 144 OC-146 IC 290 (+4) Devin Hua 72-68--140 Louie Sunga 72-78--150 Daryl Poe 76-83--159

T47. Malta (MLT) - 146 OC-150 IC 296 (+10) Andrew Borg 72-76--148 John Verlest Micallef 74-76--150 Daniel Holland 77-74--151

T47. Turkey (TUR) - 152 IC-144 OC 296 (+10) Serkan Akarsu 77-71--148 Ediz Kemaloglu 76-73--149 Ali Altuntas 76-77--153

49. Philippines (PHI) - 148 OC-149 IC 297 (+11) Rupert Zaragosa 74-74--148 Kristoffer Arevalo 75-75--150 Raymart Tolentino 74-80--154

T50. Fiji (FIJ) - 143 OC-155 IC 298 (+12) Sam Lee 71-77--148 Olaf Frank Grant Allen 72-78--150 Abid Hussain 81-80--161

T50. Russian Federation (RUS) - 144 OC-154 IC 298 (+12) Mikhail Morozov 70-78--148 Nikita Ponomarev 74-77--151 Pavel Goryainov 77-77--154

52. Dominican Republic (DOM) - 152 IC-147 OC 299 (+13) Francisco Pichardo 81-71--152 Juan Jose Guerra 77-76--153 Ernesto Vitienes 75-79--154

53. Uruguay (URU) - 150 OC-151 IC 301 (+15) Juan Alvarez 71-74--145 Facundo Alvarez 79-77--156 Agustin Acosta 81-81--162

T54. Estonia (EST) - 156 IC-146 OC 302 (+16) Marten Palm 80-71--151 Martin Jarve 76-78--154 Sander Aadusaar 81-75--156

T54. Serbia (SRB) - 154 IC-148 OC 302 (+16) Cedomir Ilic 77-70--147 Ilija Djurdjevic 77-79--156 Ranko Helc 81-78--159

T56. Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) - 144 OC-161 IC 305 (+19) Hassan Karimian Noshahr 70-83--153 Behrod Keshtavar 74-81--155 Ali Khazanbeik 78-80--158

T56. Jamaica (JAM) - 149 OC-156 IC 305 (+19) Sean Morris 72-79--151 Jonathan Newnham 77-77--154 Keith Stein 77-85--162

58. Greece (GRE) - 149 OC-159 IC 308 (+22) Vasileios Koumpakis 70-76--146 Stamatios Kavadas 79-83--162 Nikolaos Efthymiadis 79-86--165

59. Bahrain (BRN) - 154 OC-156 IC 310 (+24) Hamad Mubarak 76-76--152 Abdulla Sultan 78-80--158 Nasser Yacoob 79-81--160

60. United Arab Emirates (UAE) - 156 IC-157 OC 313 (+27) Khalid Al Jasmi 74-77--151 Rashid Hamood 82-80--162 Sohail Al Marzouqi 82-82--164

T61. Mauritius (MRI) - 155 OC-159 IC 314 (+28) Ian Espitalier Noel 77-77--154 Ludovic Bax 78-82--160 Brent Sussens 87-85--172

T61. Qatar (QAT) - 153 IC-161 OC 314 (+28) Ali Al Shahrani 77-79--156 Saleh Al Kaabi 76-82--158 Abdul Rahman Al Shahrani 90-82--172

63. Ghana (GHA) - 164 OC-162 IC 326 (+40) Maxwell Owusu-Bonsu 81-78--159 Peter Amenyo 83-84--167

T64. El Salvador (ESA) - 179 OC-169 IC 348 (+62) Gerardo Alvarez 90-84--174 Sebastian Bettaglio 89-85--174 Ricardo Reyes 100-97--197

T64. Ukraine (UKR) - 170 OC-178 IC 348 (+62) Artur Badiuk 82-89--171 Emir Priadko 89-89--178 Fedir Karhapolov 88-92--180

66. Gabon (GAB) - 174 OC-176 IC 350 (+64) Kevin Aboumi Mouba 88-85--173 Leon-Paul Lobo 88-91--179 Thomas Mba Agostino 86-99--185

67. Kyrgyzstan (KGZ) - 189 OC-186 IC 375 (+89) Andrey Sazanov 97-90--187 Sergey Kim 92-100--192 Konstantin Surikov 97-96--193