Shannon's Danny Brennan got off to a flying start in his marathon quest for a European Tour card at the First Stage of the Qualifying School in Bristol as the Irish men’s and women’s teams excelled on day one of the European Senior Team Championships.

The Europro Tour regular made six birdies in seven holes from the second at The Players Club and followed bogeys at the 11th and 15th with a birdie at the 17th to open with a five-under 65.

With the top 17 and ties to progress after four rounds to November's Second Stage in Spain, he's tied for fifth, just three strokes behind Scottish amateur Ryan Lumsden, who opened with an immaculate, eight-under 62.

If he goes on to win his card at the six-round Final Stage in November, Brennan will have played 252 gruelling holes.

“I played very well,” Brennan said after making birdies at the second, third, fourth, sixth, seventh and eighth in an outward 29. “I had a bit of a run on the front nine, which was nice, and the game feels good.”

Limerick's Tim Rice and UK-based Tyler Hogarty shared 18th place after two-under 68s, one stroke outside the qualifying places, but it was a more difficult day for Headfort's Joe Dillon and Royal Dublin's Brian McCormack after respective rounds of 71 and 73.

In amateur golf, Ireland got off to the perfect start in their bid for a seventh triumph in the European Senior Men's Team Championship at Rungsted Golf Klub in Denmark.

Ireland last won the title two years ago in Sweden and the side captained by Michael Coote leads by two strokes from Denmark and Scotland after the first of two qualifying rounds.

With the top eight teams to qualify for the Championship flight tomorrow, Greystones' Alan Condren shot a one-under 71 lie tied third individually, one stroke behind Scotland's Ronnie Clark and Denmark's Bjorn Norgaard.

East Sussex National's Steven Graham, Banbridge's Jim Carvill and Castlemartyr's John O'Brien shot 73s and Peter Sheehan a 74 with a 76 by Douglas' Karl Bornemann discarded.

In Bulgaria, Ireland lies second, just three strokes behind leaders England after the opening round of the European Senior Ladies' Team Championship at BlackSeaRama Golf and Villas.

Portumna's three-time Irish Women's Close champion Suzanne Corcoran carded a one-over 73 to share the first-round lead with Belgium's Anne Joris, England's Paula Carver and Spain's Maria Orueta.

Malahide's Alison Taylor and The IsSland's Gertie McMullen weighed in with 76 and US Senior Amateur quarter-finalist Laura Webb a 78 as Ballybunion's Margaret McAuliffe battled to an 80.

An 88 by Headfort's Maria O'Reilly was the discarded score for captain Valerie Hassett's team.

At Biella Golf Club, Massereene's Ewan McArthur and Roscommon's Cian O'Connor are tied for seventh, just two shots behind South Africa's Yurav Premlall, after the opening with one-over 74s in the Italian U16 Boys Championship.

Edmondstown's Liam Abom shot 75 to lie 23rd with internationals Josh Hill from Galgorm Castle and Mel Deasy from Lee Valley inside the top 40 after three-over 76s.

European Tour Qualifying School, First Stage Europe Section A, The Players Club, Bristol (Par 70)

Scores

Rd 1: 1, R Lumsden (Fin) 62; 2, B Baker (USA) 63; T3, M Choi (Kor), D Hillier (NZ) 64; T5 Danny Brennan (Shannon) 65; T18 Tim Rice (Limerick) 68, Tyler Hogarty (Ire) 68; T42 Joe Dillon (Headfort) 71; T58 Brian McCormack (Royal Dublin) 73

European Senior Men's Team Championship, Rungsted Golf Klub, Denmark (Par 72)

Scores

Qualifying, 1st rd — Team: 1, Ireland 364; 2, Denmark 366; 3, Scotland 366; 4, England 368; 5, Italy 373; 6, Belgium 375; 7, Germany 378; 8, Sweden 379; 9, Netherlands 381; 10, Spain 382;; 11, France 382; 12, Switzerland 383; 13, Finland 385; 14, Austria 388; 15, Iceland 388; 16, Norway 389; 17, Czech Republic 392; 18, Luxembourg 410; 19, Poland 418; 20, Slovakia 427; 21, Lithuania 442; 22, Slovenia 448.

Individual: 1, R Clark (Sco) 70; 2, B Norgaard (Den) 70; 3, A Condren (Ire) 71. Other Irish: 19, S Graham 73; 22, J Carvill 73; 25, J O’Brien 73; 33, P Sheehan 74; 51, K Bornemann 76.

European Senior Ladies' Team Championship, BlackSeaRama Golf & Villas, Bulgaria (Par 72)

Scores

Team: 1, England 380; 2, Ireland 383; 3, Sweden 385; 4, Belgium 390; 5, Spain 392; 6, Germany 394; 7, France 395; 8, Netherlands 396; 9, Italy 399; 10, Austria 407; 11, Finland 410; 12, Switzerland 412; 13, Norway 414; 14, Czech Republic 417; 15, Iceland 422; 16, Slovenia 464; 17, Poland 477.

Individual: 1, S Corcoran (Ire) 73; 2, A Joris (Bel) 73; 3, P Carver (Eng) 73; 4, M Orueta (Esp) 73. Other Irish: 9, A Taylor 76; 11, G McMullen 76; 29, L Webb 78; 42, M McAuliffe 80; 840, M O’Reilly 88.

Italian U16 Boys Championship, Biella (Par 73), (* denotes GUI official squad)

Scores

1, Y Premlal (RSA) 71; 2, R Lindsay (Sco), P Nilsson (Den), R Fratinelli (Ita) 72. Irish - 7, E McArthur (Massereene) 74; 8, C O'Connor (Roscommon) 74; 23, L Abom (Edmondstown) 75; 34, J Hill* (Galgorm Castle) 75; 38, M Deasy* (Lee Valley) 77; 46, A King* (Faithlegg) 77; 47 P Keeling (Roganstown) 77; 49, L Cunningham* (Galway Bay) 78; 63, B St John (Portmarnock)79; 96, J Byrne* (Baltinglass) 82; 117, P McGrath* (Cregmore Park) 84; 126, D Mulligan (Laytown & Bettystown) 86.