Ireland lead after round one at European Team Championships
Portmarnock's Conor Purcell. Picture: Pat Cashman
Portmarnock's Conor Purcell fired a five-under 67 to help Ireland storm into the lead as they bid to end a 10-year drought at the European Amateur Team Championship in Sweden.
Ireland's last win in the event came in 2008 when Shane Lowry backboned the side that successfully defended the title in Turin.
And the boys in green are well placed to qualify in the top-flight today as they share top spot with England on nine-under-par at Ljunghusen Golf Club.
Purcell had five birdies and an eagle two at the 17th in his 67 as Dundalk's Caolan Rafferty shot a 69 and Amateur champion James Sugrue a 70.
With Tiarnan McLarnon firing a 72 and Ronan Mullarney a 73, Mark Power's 74 was the discarded score.
Ireland is eighth behind Germany after the opening round of the European Boys' Team Championship at Golf de Chantilly in France where Holywood's Tom McKibbin was the leading contributor with a level par 71.
The women's team also has work to do at Is Molas in Sardinia as they finished the opening day ranked ninth in the race for eight quarter-finals spots despite two-under 70s from Annabel Wilson and Lauren Walsh.
The Irish Girls' team is 10th at El Saler in Spain after Sara Byrne shot 74 to lead the scoring for the Irish team.
European Amateur Team Championship, Ljunghusen GC (Par 72), Sweden
Rd 1 — 1, Ireland (C Purcell 67, C Rafferty 69, J Sugrue 70, T McLarnon 72, R Mullarney 73, M Power 74) 351; 2, England 351; 3, Scotland 353; 4, Sweden 353; 5, Spain 359; 6, Iceland 363; 7, Denmark 366; 8, Austria 368; 9, France 368; 10, Netherlands 369; 11, Germany 369; 12, Wales 370; 13, Belgium 371; 14, Finland 372; 15, Czech Republic 377; 16, Slovenia 387.
European Boys' Team Championship, Golf de Chantilly (Par 71) France
Rd 1 — 1, Germany 352; 2, Spain 358; 3, England 360; 4, Switzerland 360; 5, France 368; 6, Sweden 371; 7, Italy 372; 8, Ireland (T McKibbin 71, A Marshall 72, J McCabe 76, L O'Neill 77, J Byrne 77, M Kennedy 80) 373; 9, Portugal 377; 10, Austria 380.
European Ladies' Team Championship, Is Molas GC (Par 72), Italy
Rd 1 — 1, Italy 343; 2, Scotland 348; 3, Sweden 351; 4, Germany 353; 5, Spain 353; 6, England 355; 7, Denmark 356; 8, Czech Republic 357; 9, Ireland (A Wilson 70, L Walsh 70, J Ross 71, P Grant 74, S Burke 75, J McCarthy 76) 360; 10, Russia 360.
European Girls' Team Championship, Parador de El Saler (Par 72) Spain
Rd. 1 — 1, Germany 365; 2, Spain 370; 3, Italy 371; 4, Netherlands 374; 5, Denmark 375; 6, Sweden 377; 7, England 377; 8, Czech Republic 378; 9, Switzerland 387; 10, Ireland 390 (S Byrne 74, A Foster 75, A Donegan 78, B Coulter 80, K Lanigan 83, N Joyce-Moreno 87).
