Curran and Keenan take West of Ireland spots after torchlit playoff
Co Sligo GC
Mobile phone lights, torches and buggy headlights were the order of the day as Edmonstown’s Patrick Curran parred the 22nd in total darkness to complete the qualifiers for the 101st West of Ireland Championship at Rosses Point.
Fermoy’s Eoghan McCarthy topped the pre-qualifier on an arctic day that saw ten players contest a playoff for the last two spots in the Connolly Motor Group-sponsored event.
The action did not conclude until just before 8 pm when Curran made his par-three at the fourth to send Mikey Mina Ronayne home to Mullingar disappointed.
Wind and rain lashed the 97-man field at County Sligo in the battle for 19 places in the championship, which begins with the first of two qualifying rounds tomorrow.
Well done Patrick #EdmondstownGolfClub pic.twitter.com/RGrqJc0dCM
— Edmondstown Golf Club (@EdmondstownGC) March 27, 2024
McCarthy was the only man to break par in the 18-hole pre-qualifier, firing a one-under 70 to win by a shot from Massereene’s former Irish Amateur Close champion Tiarnan McLarnon and Connemara’s Conor Stapleton.
Strandhill’s Tommy McGowan, who made an epic run to the semi-finals in 2008 and famously took Shane Lowry to the 16th in the quarter-finals in 2009, shot 72 out of Edmondstown to make it alongside clubmate Lorcan O’Connor.
James Hewitt, Jonny Hall, Luke Flynn, Dylan O’Keeffe and David Brady shot 73 as Derek Basquill, David Kelleher, Luke Mitchell and Luke Lynch made it with 74s.
Eleven players tied with five-over 76s but with one going home, ten played off over the last two spots.
In the end, Belvoir Park’s Conal Keenan took the first spot with a birdie four at the 21st before Curran parred the difficult par-three fourth with officials using torches to light the green.
