Stuart Grehan was among three Irish players to qualify for Monday’s Amateur Championship at Royal St George’s and Royal Cinque Ports.
Irish Amateur champion Grehan, East of Ireland champion David Howard and County Louth’s Gavin Tiernan came through the pre-qualifier at Royal Cinque Ports on Friday.
Grehan, fresh off a third place finish at the European Mid-Amateur Championship, carded a one-under 71 to share 22nd place with Howard.
19-year-old Tiernan led the Irish charge as he qualified in fourth place on five-under courtesy of a round of 67.
For Grehan, it’s a crucial entry into a huge event which will have huge Walker Cup ramifications as it is a major counting event.
“There’s no point backing down from that question,” Grehan declares ahead of his first appearance in the Amateur Championship since 2017 after seven years as a professional.
“Yeah, of course. Yeah, it’s something I definitely want to do. I represented Europe in the Palmer Cup, obviously Ireland and GB&I, St. Andrews Trophy just the year the Walker Cup wasn’t on. So yeah, it’s definitely a thing I want to do. There’s no point in shying away from it. So yeah, 100%.”
Grehan, Howard and Tiernan will bring the Irish contingent to eighteen at the Amateur Championship in which there were record entries for this year.
Beginning on Monday 16 June, the Championship is set to be tightly contested again this year with a record 612 entries received – 27 more than the previous record in 2022.
The reward for the Champion is a start in The 153rd Open at Royal Portrush, the US Open in 2026 and, by tradition, an invitation to the Masters Tournament.
With 288 golfers making it into the final field, and 23 of those determined at Pre-Qualifying today at Royal Cinque Ports, there are three particular individuals with scores to settle at The Amateur Championship.
Christiaan Maas of South Africa, the fourth ranked player on the World Amateur Golf Ranking® (WAGR®), world number five Tommy Morrison from the United States of America, and last year’s runner-up Dominic Clemons from England will need to get through 36 holes of stroke play qualifying to make it to the match play stages in pursuit of the prestigious trophy presented after the Final on Saturday 21 June.
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