Joshua Hill produced a battling performance on day two of the East of Ireland Men’s Amateur Open Championship to maintain his lead by the narrowest of margins at County Louth.
The Galgorm Castle golfer backed up his impressive opening five under par round of 67 with a hard fought one under par 71 to take a one-shot lead at the halfway point.
The 22-year-old got off to an almost perfect start on Friday, carding six birdies in testing conditions to open up a three-shot overnight lead over former champion Stuart Grehan (Co. Louth), North of Ireland champion Dylan Keating (Seapoint), reigning South of Ireland champion Jonathan Keane (Lahinch) and Norwegian contender Nicolai Rosli (Oslo Golfklubb).
“I played really solid and smart,” said Hill.
“It was very windy in the evening. I know the morning may have been worse, but I just tried to play one shot at a time and put it in the right areas because I knew pars were good scores. I was fortunate enough that a couple of putts dropped here and there and it worked out to be a really good round of golf.”
Starting his second round from the 10th tee in the morning wave, Hill found himself under pressure early as bogeys on 10 and 11 saw the chasing pack begin to close the gap. However, a run of four consecutive pars helped the South Alabama University student settle back into his rhythm before birdies on 16 and 18 restored his momentum.
The good form continued as he began his back nine and, as he had done the previous day, Hill birdied the second and third before adding another at the fourth.
As the rain began to fall, Hill dropped shots on five, six and eight but rallied once again, closing with birdie on 9 to finish at six under par, one shot clear of local hopeful Grehan.
“I was just trying to stay patient out there,” said Hill.
“Got off to a rocky start but I said there’s so many holes left to play, you never know what happens. I played the next seven holes really solid. I was happy to get back to level par after nine. I had a really hot start to the front nine but then stumbled in a little bit so I was happy to grab that birdie on nine.”
County Louth hopes of a home winner remain high with Grehan, Gavin Tiernan, Evan Farrell and Gerard Dunne all within six shots of the lead. Grehan leads the charge, sitting just one shot off the lead after he carded a three under round of 69, while Gerard Dunne produced the round of the day, shooting a five under par 67 to get back to level par.
Having won the East playing out of his native Tullamore in 2015, Grehan will be hoping to deliver a title for County Louth for the first time in 41 years this time around.
“I’m happy enough with my performance. Giving myself loads of looks, so hopefully get a few of them to drop tomorrow and see what happens,” said Grehan.
“Just keep doing what I’m doing. I love being in that situation, the final group and all that. There should be good crowds out tomorrow from County Louth so should be a great day.”
With 36 holes left to play on Sunday, Hill has put himself firmly into contention for his first Irish men’s championship title, but he knows there is still plenty of golf left to be played.
“It’s a long day tomorrow so you’re going to have to just stay patient and just one shot at a time,” said Hill.
“Weather looks like it is going to be a bit iffy so you got to stay in there and just one shot at a time and plot your way around and then hope for the best but there’s still a long way to go.”
View the second-round scoring here
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