Olivia Mehaffey is just one shot off the lead in the Women’s Irish Challenge at Malahide after an opening round of two-under-par.
The Tandragee woman made three birdies – including one on the last – and a solitary bogey to join a six-way tie for second place.
Canice Screene, at level-par and tied for 17th, is next best of the Irish. An up-and-down day saw her mix an eagle, two birdies and four bogeys, leaving her two shots ahead of Beth Coulter, making her professional debut, who also had an eagle but just one birdie and five dropped shots.
Annabel Wilson, Olivia Hunt and amateur Aoife Kelly are all tied for 86th at +6 and have their work cut out to make the cut, while the task facing Amy Mangan is even tougher as she lies T112 at +8.
At the business end of the leaderboard, 27-year-old Englishwoman Billie-Jo Smith, twice an LET Access Series runner-up but still searching for her first victory, carded four birdies and an eagle in a three-under 69.
Smith graduated to the LET in 2025, but found the going tough in her rookie season and is currently ranked 60th on the LET Access Series Order of Merit in 2026.
At 23rd in the rankings, Screene is the highest-ranked Irish woman and two good rounds at Malahide would go a long way towards her push to regain LET status for 2027.
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