Team Ireland combined for a 16-under day in the second and final strokeplay round at the European Amateur Team Championship in Estonia and they are safely through and hunting medals in Flight A.
Stuart Grehan was the lowest scorer on the day for the boys in green, and his six-under 66 that featured eight birdies vaulted him into a share of sixth place on the individual leaderboard with a score of -7 for the two rounds.
Holland’s Nevill Ruiter took the individual honours with a score of nine-under for 36 holes, but the team was what mattered most and Ireland, with a combined two-over on day one, had work to do to secure their place inside the top eight and claim a Flight A berth for matchplay.
Grehan was the earliest starter and set the tone, and Matthew McClean and Gavin Tiernan followed with rounds of 71 and 70 respectively to keep momentum going.
John Doyle’s level-par 72 would be the highest score and not counted, as Caolan Rafferty followed with a 69 and Thomas Higgins, playing the anchor role, went one better and carded a 68.
The -16 tally for the day was only bettered by Finland’s 18-under, and the Nordic men take the number one seed finishing seven clear of the Netherlands and 11 clear of France.
Ireland jumped four places and beat England into fifth place courtesy of the lower score in round two, and a mouthwatering tie awaits as they face each other in the matchplay quarter finals.
With heavy rain forecast overnight, a delayed start means that instead of playing two foursomes and five singles matches, it will be one foursomes and four singles matches.
Rafferty and McClean will team up against Sebastian Cave and Lewy Hayward in the opening match, with the remaining four on each team squaring off in singles. Match number two is the highlight, as Walker Cup foursomes partners Grehan and Eliot Baker will again face each other after the County Louth man got the better of his opponent in the round of 64 at the Amateur Championship at Royal Liverpool last month.
Tiernan plays Sam Easterbrook in match three, Doyle takes on Harley Smith in match four, and Higgins will line up against Tom Osborne in the final match.
Meanwhile, the Irish Girls team will have to battle it out in Flight B in Zurich after finishing in ninth place. They take on Slovakia in the quarter-final, while the Irish Boys Team finished second in Division 2 at Greece’s Costa Navarino and they too will face Slovakia in their first knockout match.
MENS SCORING
GIRLS SCORING
BOYS SCORING
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