Fortwilliam’s Jack Moffett, playing County Sligo Golf Club for the very first time, was the only man to finish level with the golf course in the Connolly Motors West of Ireland Championship pre-Qualifier and he is awarded with the Hanley Cup and a place in Friday’s opening round for his efforts.
On a typically windy day in Rosses Point, the 19-year-old from Belfast made two early birdies and then hung on tight on the back nine as driving rain arrived to accompany the stiff breeze, dropping shots on 11 and 13 but parred his way to the finish for a level-par 71 that just edged out County Sligo’s own Ruairi O’Connor at the top of the leaderboard.
“Yeah, very happy with it,” a beaming Moffett said afterwards. “The conditions got very tough round the back nine so I just kept it simple, kept my ball in play, and I’m very happy with the score.
“It’s my first time playing the course and I was happy enough with how I played. The golf course is obviously beautiful, it was a pleasure to play it, and I was just solid – confident off the tee, I was solid on the greens and yeah, it worked out for me.
“I’m really looking forward to playing at the weekend now.”
O’Connor, who was a beaten in the round of 16 in 2023, was coming into the week in the unfamiliar position of having to pre-qualify but with momentum on his side after finishing runner-up in arguably more testing conditions at the Rosapenna Scratch Cup last week.
He bogeyed the first but played the remaining 17 in level-par to post a 72 that saw him finish in solo second.
“Yeah, definitely,” he said when asked if he was satisfied with his performance. “It was brutal out there.
“I was getting visions of last year when we were standing on the ninth tee and that weather was coming in again, but yeah, very, very happy. It was steady golf – fairways, greens.”
With more testing conditions forecast for Friday and Saturday, O’Connor is relishing the challenge.
“Yeah, I tend to do well in the wind, so I suppose it suits me when it’s like that,” he said. “You know there’s going to be no real six-, seven-, eight-unders so when it’s like that, it’s just about keeping it steady and making a few putts.”
Dun Laoghaire’s Mark McKenna and John Dillon of Lahinch finished tied for third at +2, with another Lahinch man in Bob Casey completing the top five at three-over.
Six players – Cormac O’Muirithe (Belmullet), Patrick Greene (Holywood), Evan Hogg (Belvoir Park), Greg O’Mahony (Fota Island), Ryan O’Doherty (Enniscrone) and Tommy McGowan (Woodbrook) – all finished with a shot to spare at +4, and that left a further six players playing off for the final four places.
David Brady, a local man playing out of Straffan Golf Club, and Milltown’s Harry Fanagan were the unfortunate two to fall at the first hurdle as Edward Farr of Monkstown, Ballykisteen’s Gordon Sillett, Shane McDermott from Slieve Russell and Roy O’Riordan of Fermoy all secured pars on the first playoff hole and earned the final berths in Friday’s 126-man field.
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