Jonathan Caldwell, Robin Dawson, Niall Kearney and Michael Hoey have booked their place at Final Stage European Tour Q-School after coming through an almighty slog at Second Stage across four venues in Spain.
There was double joy for Ireland at Club de Bonmont as Jonathan Caldwell and Robin Dawson progressed to Final Stage at Lumine.
Clandeboye’s Caldwell put the disappointment of coming up just short of a Challenge Tour card at the EuroPro Tour’s Grand Final behind him to coast into Friday’s starting six-round decider.
The 35-year old passed with flying colours in third place at nine-under par after firing successive three-under par rounds of 69 over the final two days.
Caldwell was joined spectacularly by Tramore’s Dawson who found a clutch eagle at the penultimate hole to book his ticket to Final Stage also.
Dawson was teetering on the mark dangerously when a 16th hole bogey put him over par for the round but he bounced back brilliantly, eagling the 17th before parring the last for a round of 71 and a four-under par total, good enough for a tie for 12th and safe passage into Final Stage.
Rosapenna’s Ruaidhri McGee withdrew after two rounds at Bonmont while Tyler Hogarty tied 58th at 12-over par.
Las Colinas proved a happy hunting ground for five-time European Tour winner, Michael Hoey who safely advanced to Final Stage despite a fourth round struggle.
The Ballymoney professional closed with a four-over par round of 75 on a difficult final day but his fine work of the opening 54-holes was good enough for an even par tally and a share of 14th place.
It was a sad end for Naas professional, Conor O’Rourke who bogeyed three of his closing five holes to miss out on a playoff for the last spots by just two strokes.
O’Rourke had opened his qualifying quest with a blistering 64 on day one but ended his campaign in a share of 28th spot at three-over.
Whitehead’s John Ross Galbraith tumbled down the leaderboard with a closing round of 79 for a distant 64th place finish at 15-over par.
Meanwhile at Alenda Golf, Royal Dublin’s Niall Kearney was the sole Irish survivor from a quarter of hopefuls battered by the wind all week in Alicante.
The experienced Dubliner had to endure an uncomfortable run to the clubhouse, dropping three shots in four holes from the 13th before grinding out two crucial pars for a three-over par round of 75.
That was good enough for a share of 15th place at one-under par and a ticket to Final Stage with Kearney one of 20 players to progress to Lumine on Friday from the venue.
Kilkenny’s Luke Donnelly (+12) and Galway amateur Ronan Mullarney (+13) finished well down the field after a brutal test of golf while Shannon’s Daniel Brennan retired early.
Castleknock’s David Carey was flying the flag for Ireland alone at Desert Springs and the Dubliner largely struggled unfortunately, posting an 11-over par 72-hole tally for a tie for 55th, nine shots outside the qualifying mark.
From Friday, November 15-20, 156 players, including the likes of Gavin Moynihan and Paul Dunne will compete over six rounds at Lumine Golf Club in a bid to secure one of 25 precious European Tour cards.
Full Scoring:
Alenda Golf HERE
Bonmont HERE
Desert Springs HERE
Los Colinas HERE
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