The gale force winds at County Sligo Golf Club blew Jonathan Keane in the right direction as he fired a whopping nine birdies to lead the Connolly Motor Group West of Ireland on five-under-par with a 66.
Pars are overrated and the South of Ireland champion needed only five of them and he limited himself to just four bogeys as he established a five-shot lead at the end of day one of stroke play qualifying.
“Delighted, it was tough to be fair with a lot of wind and one or two showers of rain so I’m delighted with my round,” said the Irish international.
The Lahinch man started well with three birdies in his first five holes before a birdie on the 7th was sandwiched between dropped shots on the 6th and 8th. He birdied the 10th but stalled slightly with back to back bogeys on the 11th and 12th before turning for home on the notoriously difficult Rosses Point home straight.
But he made light work of it with four birdies in his last six holes on, 13, 14, 15 and 18.
“It usually plays into the wind but it was slightly down wind which makes it easier. I holed a few nice putts coming there to get a few birdies so that was good.”
The morning starters got a pleasant surprise with only a fresh breeze greeting them and Keane felt that they were ideal conditions to make a score even if the wind turned tricky on the back nine.
“When I went down to the range this morning there wasn’t that much wind then when I teed off it began to pick up but I’m pretty used to wind like this it’s pretty standard for me so I just went out there and played well.”
Keane’s South of Ireland win last year was a famous one as he became the first local member to win at Lahinch since 1968 and becoming a major champion has given him an air of confidence heading into the new campaign which is a Walker Cup year at his home course – this week’s winner will be guaranteed an invitation to join the Walker Cup squad for a practice session later this summer and he will have designs on securing a permanent spot.
“Last year was a great year for me and I got great confidence from it. I was happy with how my pre-season went and how I played in a few tournaments abroad and how my practice was so I was feeling good about my game. I was delighted today to have a good score.”
The Kilfenora native looks an odds on favourite to win the 36-hole qualifying and lift the Pat Ruddy Cup which would also give him first seed status in the matchplay stages. He may not even have to hit another shot in anger if Storm Dave has its way with the Rosses Point links and cancels play tomorrow.
“Hopefully we play tomorrow,” he said. “I know there is bad weather promised but just going to go out there and play the same as today and play each shot as it comes and whatever score I have that’s it.”
The bulk of the good scoring came from the early risers with home favourite Aodhagan Brady perfectly placed in solo second at level-par after a round of 71, while former West winner Caolan Rafferty (Dundalk) and 2024 Irish Amateur champion on this course Matthew McClean (Malone) are alongside defending champion Dylan Holmes (Greystones) and Edward Farr, who survived a six-for-four playoff in Wednesday’s Pre-Qualifier, on one-over after hard fought 72s. The lone late starter on +1 is Belmullet’s Cormac O’Muirithe who defied the odds and the conditions to match their 72s.
Former West of Ireland champion Keith Egan started with a solid round of 73 to lie alongside Seapoint’s Dylan Keating, Westport’s Conor Stapleton, Charlie McDonnell of Concra Wood and Switzerland’s Martin Shone on two-over, and they were later joined by 2017 champion Barry Anderson and Bangor’s Shea Dorman.
There were also good starts for local member and former South winner TJ Ford, former Close winner Quentin Carew (Heritage), Ryan Griffin of Ballybofey & Stranorlar and Dooks’ Conor Hickey who battled round in 74 for three-over tallies.
At present, with 58 players on +7, should conditions deteriorate on Saturday to the point where play becomes impossible and the round cancelled, they’ll all advance to the knockout stages along with six of the players on +8.
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