Gary Hurley is off to an ideal start at the Black Desert NI Open at Galgorm after the Waterford man carded a three-under 67 to sit tied for third and just two off the lead after the early wave on day one.
Starting on the back nine, Hurley, who currently lies in 28th place in the Road to Mallorca rankings, eased into the round with eight consecutive pars before opening his birdie account on the par-5 18th.
Two more followed on the front nine, completing the set with a ‘three’ on the par-4 second and a ‘two’ on the par-3 seventh and he worked his way round bogey free for a very satisfactory opening round on a course that is among the more difficult challenges on the DP World Tour’s official feeder tour.
“Yeah, pleased with that, it’s a good start,” he said after his round. “That’s all it is though, it’s just the first round. But yeah, it’s nice to get off to a good start and I’m happy with how I applied myself so that’s the main thing. The score’s a by product of that.”
There won’t be many bogey-free rounds by the end of day one, so to have no blemishes on the card was particularly pleasing.
“I only had a couple of shots that weren’t online,” he said. “I played really, really nice today. I was in position on most holes, even if I was just in the rough, sometimes that’s in a good position. I hit most screens, I think I had to get up and down a couple of times. I didn’t hit 16 greens but I was putting 16 times, you know, and yeah, I just played really solid.
“I wasn’t in trouble in any way, which is, which is key around here. Yeah, it’s unusual around here.
“Getting the ball in position is very key around here. You don’t have any let up. Actually, every hole, there’s something going on in your head. But there’s not that many drivers with the way the wind is, a lot of 3-woods and hybrids off the tee, a few irons, but like you’re having to hit 3-woods and hybrids and then having maybe 200 yards in, you know, so, yeah, I hit my irons lovely.”
Playing on home soil meant he had the benefit of having his coaches come up and help reaffirm some of the technical and mental aspects, but as he explains, it’s a long-term plan, not just a plan designed to put in a good performance this week.
“It was nice to get to see them and get a good bit of work done,” he explained. “Yeah, I did a really good bit of work and sometimes if you do really good work, you can put some pressure on yourself.
“And I was really focused on just that it’s not about this week. The work isn’t about this week, it’s about progress in general. You know, we’re not doing it to do really well this week, and if we do well, it’s brilliant.”
Also playing in the early wave, Daniel Mulligan and Jonathan Caldwell made solid starts and went round in level-par, while Simon Thornton (+2), Alex Maguire (+3), Ronan Mullarney and John Murphy (+5), and Mark Power (+7) all have varying levels of work to do if they’re to see weekend action.
Local favourite Dermot McElroy, who grew up four miles away and knows Galgorm like the back of his hand, is among the late starters, as are Conor Purcell and Conor O’Rourke.
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