Kennedy and McDonnell head Rafferty and Farrell by two heading into final round at Baltray

Max Kennedy. Picture: Niall Flynn

Max Kennedy brilliantly birdied his last three holes to shoot a five-under 67 and share the lead with his Royal Dublin clubmate Jack McDonnell heading into this afternoon’s final round of the Kingspan-sponsored East of Ireland Amateur Open at Baltray.

The former University of Louisville star claimed the clubhouse lead on 10-under-par and was joined at the top by overnight leader McDonnell, who recovered from bogeys at the 15th and 16th with a great par save at the 17th and a closing birdie four.

McDonnell, who was four clear after a birdie at he 10th, shot 69 to remain in front and while Blainroe’s David Lally opened with a double bogey six and shot 77 to fall back to one-under, the third member of the final threeball, County Louth’s Evan Farrell, also shot 69 to share third place with Caolan Rafferty (68) on eight-under.

Live scoring

Total Gross	Player	R1	R2	R3
206	Max Kennedy Royal Dublin	68	71	67
206	Jack McDonnell The Royal Dublin	66	71	69
208	Caolan Rafferty Dundalk	71	69	68
208	Evan Farrell Co. Louth	70	69	69
211	Adam Smith Mullingar	72	70	69
212	Matthew McClean Malone	70	71	71
212	Mark Gazi (U21) Tralee	73	69	70
213	Jake Whelan Grange	70	72	71
213	Sean McAufield Ardee	73	68	72
213	Simon Walker Roscommon	67	74	72
213	David Howard Fota island	73	67	73
213	Brian Doran Millicent	71	69	73
213	Dylan Keating Seapoint	69	75	69
214	Stephen Grant Birr	71	71	72
214	Aaron Marshall Lisburn	73	71	70
215	Hugh Foley Royal Dublin	71	71	73
215	Gerard Dunne Co. Louth	77	68	70
215	TJ Ford County Sligo	71	70	74
215	David Lally (U21) Blainroe	68	70	77
215	Shane Mcdermott Slieve Russell	73	72	70
217	Cian O’Connor (U21) Roscommon	71	73	73
216	Gavin O Neill (U21) Malahide	70	74	72
216	Adam Buchanan (U21) Royal Portrush	74	71	71
216	David Kitt Athenry	73	71	72
218	David Shiel Enniscrone	75	71	72
217	Thomas Abom (U21) Edmondstown	74	70	73
217	Morgan Cain (U21) Cork	72	74	71
217	Harry Gillivan Portmarnock	72	73	72
217	Eoin Murphy Dundalk	72	68	77
217	Adam Fahey (U21) Portmarnock	72	73	72
218	Marc McKinstry Cairndhu	71	73	74
219	Ian Lynch Rosslare	72	74	73
218	Rory Gallagher Galway Bay	74	72	72
218	Jordan Boles Charleville	74	72	72
218	Luke O'Neill Connemara Golf Links	72	74	72
219	David Reddan Nenagh G.C	75	70	74
219	Paul O Hanlon Carton House	72	68	79
218	Peter Okeeffe Douglas	71	75	72
220	Eoin Sullivan Portmarnock	70	74	76
220	Colm Campbell Warrenpoint	69	73	78
220	John Cleary Elm Park	72	74	74
220	Darcy Hogg (U21) Belvoir Park	74	71	75
221	David Foy Laytown & Bettystown	71	73	77
221	Seamus Cullen Slieve Russell	71	74	76
221	Jamie Butler Naas	74	71	76
222	Geoff Lenehan Portmarnock	67	75	80
222	Ross Latimer Clandeboye	75	71	76
223	Ryan McNelis Fintona	74	72	77
223	Matthew Grehan Tullamore	71	74	78
223	Jack Blake The Island	71	74	78
224	Conor Hickey Dooks	71	75	78
225	Darragh Flynn Carton House	71	75	79
225	Seán Desmond Monkstown	73	73	79
226	Stephen Walsh Baltusrol	73	72	81