Welshman Bowen four clear at The Island thanks to course record 62
Tomi Bowen (Welshpool) on the 8th tee during Round 3 of the Flogas Irish Men's Amateur Open Championship 2023 at The Island Golf Club, Corballis, Donabate, Co. Dublin on Saturday 13th May 2023.
Picture: Thos Caffrey / Golffile
Wales’ Tomi Bowen will take a four-shot lead into the final round of the Flogas Irish Men’s Amateur Open Championship after carding a record-breaking 10-under 62 at The Island Golf Club on a day which saw the amateur course record broken on three occasions.
Heavy fog forced a delay to proceedings on day three but once the mist cleared the low scoring commenced, and none scored better than Bowen (20), who now holds the amateur course record at the Donabate links.
“I got off to a good start, I had three birdies in a row, and then I had three birdies around the middle of the round, and then held on really,” said Bowen, whose round featured a total of nine birdies and one solitary bogey, in addition to that eagle. “Hit a really good shot into 15, made an eagle there and just holed a lot of putts and just felt really good all with my game”
Bowen is bidding to become the first Welsh winner of the championship since 2011, and sounds determined to add his name to the roll of honour. When asked if the game plan would change in the final round he replied “Definitely not, nope”.
The Welshpool golfer finds himself four clear of England’s Dylan Shaw-Radford (Huddersfield), with a quartet of players one shot further back, including overnight leader Caolan Rafferty (Dundalk), who struggled to a 75 when those around him were moving in the right direction.
Rafferty is joined on four-under by Welshman Matt Roberts (Royal Porthcawl), England's Harley Smith (The Rayleigh), and Irish pair James Fox (Portmarnock) and Alex Maguire (Laytown & Bettystown).
“It doesn’t really matter what group I’m in, I’ve just got to stick to my game, plot away and see where that leaves me tomorrow,” said Maguire, whose 69 has put him alongside Bowen and Shaw-Radford in Sunday's final group.
The biggest mover during the penultimate round was County Sligo’s TJ Ford, who himself had set a new amateur course record, shooting a seven-under 65 soon after Englishman Jackson Garrett (Five Lakes) had carded a 66, only for both to be outdone by Bowen later in the day.
“The goal was to make the cut, shoot something around under par, and then the putts just started dropping which was great, so yeah I’m delighted” said Ford, who ends the day an astonishing 59 places higher on the leaderboard on level par, trailing the leader by nine.
The cut for the top 50 and ties fell at six-over with defending champion Colm Campbell missing out on 11-over.