Hume contending but Ireland blown off course at Sotogrande
Jack Hume. Picture: Pat Cashman
Jack Hume salvaged a 76 that leaves him with options in the individual standings but it was still a grim second day for Ireland in the European Nations Cup in windy Sotogrande.
Leading by four shots from England and by five from France after the attrition of the opening day, the Irish quartet go into the third round in fourth spot, 11 strokes off the pace after a disappointing performance
England shot a brilliant, two over par in the team competition in tough conditions at La Reserva on Thursday and now lead by five strokes from France with hosts Spain a stroke further back in third.
Hume took 42 shots to the turn and rallied with birdies on the 10th, 11th, 13th and 15th canceling out bogeys at the 12th and 16th to post a reasonable round of 76.
Tied for sixth in the individual on seven over, seven shots behind Spain's Mario Galiano, the Naas golfer will play in the penultimate group on Friday.
Ireland's quartet will go out bruised but unbowed after a warm day of treacherous, swirling winds that made club selection a conundrum at the testing Cadiz venue.
Playing during the worst of the wind, none of the four managed to break 41 on the front nine though it didn't seem to bother England or Spain, who shot two over par for the day compared to Ireland's 17 over aggregate with one score from the four discarded.
In Ireland's case it was Colm Campbell's, though he played far better than his score of 84, which included a quadruple bogey nine on the seventh and triples on the 13th and 17th.
Gary Hurley started with seven straight 5's including a double on the sixth where his tee shot rebounded off the sleepers into the water. He managed to play the second nine in 35 to record consecutive 78s, leaving him 18th in the individual standings on 156.
Gavin Moynihan was out of sorts with is driver and struggled to the turn in 41. He drove out of bounds on the 11th and limited the damage by making birdie with his second ball.
He managed to hold his total to five over playing the last but having split the fairway with his tee shot, his gap wedge approach spun off the green, 40 yards back down the fairway.
His attempted pitch came back to his feet and he posted an ugly six for a round of 79 to complete a miserable day that left him tied 14th in the individual standings on 154.
Galiano, ranked third in the latest World Amateur Golf Rankings, shot a two under 70 to lead by four shots on 144 from Robbie Van West(78-70) of The Netherlands with Sweden's Marcus Kinhult (75-73) third on 149.
