Tramore's Robin Dawson and Rosslare's Paul Murphy made fast starts in the opening round of the Alps Tour Q-School in Italy.

Dawson made five birdies in his first 10 holes in a four-under 68 at Golf Nazionale in Rome to lie in a seven-man logjam for third place alongside compatriot Murphy, who shot a four-under 69 at Olgiata.

Scores

Dawson and Murphy are just a shot behind the Netherlands' Rodi Vlasveld, who shot a five-under 68 at Olgiata, and Spain's Marc Sabria, who shot 67 at Golf Nazionale.

"I've been pretty confident coming into this week, but you never know until you have a scorecard in your hand," said Dawson, who turned in 32, birdied the 10 but bogeyed the 15th coming home.

"I got off to a good start today, being four-under after nine holes, and it could have been a few shots better. I halted a little on the back nine, I got into a defence mechanism. Pretty pleased with my 68 today, all in all. Hopefully, tomorrow another 68 would be nice, but we will see. It's a great course, so I'm looking forward to it."

The Island's Paul McBride finished bogey-bogey to card a one-under 72 at Olgiata and share 26th place with clubmate Joseph Hanney.

Simon Bryan was 106th after a five-over 78 at Olgiata, with John Hickey a shot further back in 119th after a six-over 78 at Golf Nazionale.

France-based Kerryman Michael Young shot 80 at Olgiata to share 140th, while Woodbrook's Tom Dowdall was tied 153rd after an 84 at the same course.

The top 35 players and ties after 54 holes will be eligible to receive Category 6 membership for the 2023 Alps Tour Season.

The top 65 and ties after 36 holes will make the cut, and those finishing between 36th and 65th will be eligible to receive Category 8 membership.

The remaining players will be eligible for membership in Category 9 for the 2023 Alps Tour Season.

Alps Tour Qualifying School

Scores

Leaderboard (Olgiata GC Par 73/ Golf Nazionale Par 72)

T1 Rodi Vlasveld 5 (68) Olgiata GC; Marc Sabria -5 (67) Golf Nazionale

T3 Luca Galliano -4 (69) Olgiata GC

Robin Dawson -4 (68) Golf Nazionale

Giovanni Tadiotto -4 (69) Olgiata GC

Kiet Van der Weele -4 (69) Olgiata GC

Louis Bellan -4 (68) Golf Nazionale

Paul Murphy -4 (69) Olgiata GC

Adalberto Montini -4 (68) Golf Nazionale