Mark Power is in early contention on both fronts at Killeen Castle as he leads the home charge after a scorching opening day at the Irish Challenge.
Power is well placed at four-under after a 68 which leaves him four shots off the pace set by Joel Mascatel and Will Enefer’s course record equalling rounds of 64. But his main concern post round was where he lay in relation to the seventeen other Irish players in the field as they chase the Christy O’Connor Jnr Trophy and a place in the Irish Open for the leading Irishman.
After day one, the Mount Juliet star holds that coveted position after he birdied two of his last three holes to set the home pace but also make a strong start in his bid for a maiden HotelPlanner Tour victory.
“I played well would have liked to be a bit better but to finish strong like that is nice, I saw the leaderboard and saw that lads were ripping it up so there is a long way to go so happy enough,” said Power who lies in T17.
“It really got firm around the greens you could hit a great shot and end up dead. Some of the par fives with the run are like par fours but you can make bogey or worse at any time. You see lads every week shooting under par hopefully it can be me tomorrow.”
After an indifferent start, the 26-year-old found himself one over through five holes but he burst into life with an eagle on the par-5 15th and a birdie on the difficult par-3 16th. The scoring clubs were working for Power as he spun a wedge to kick in distance on the 3rd and after a bogey on the 4th he found birdies on 7 and 9 which were supplemented by a terrific up and down par on the 8th.
“I dropped two on four and five which came from nowhere so to eagle 15 was nice. Hit 5-iron off the launchpad on the right of the fairway and got it to stop, the greens are still holding up well. Par fives have been good to me recently so keep that up for the rest of the week.
“I hit a wedge stiff on the 3rd but there is room for improvement. If you have a wedge in the targets are very small, they have it set up very well.”
Power knows how rewarding a good week at the Irish Challenge can be. He was the Christy O’Connor Jnr winner at the K Club in 2024 and he was pleased with how he handled the weight of both expectation on home soil and his good recent form after making nine of his last ten cuts.
“You need to get in to a really good headspace. I was getting antsy early in the round and I could have spiralled but I needed to stay patient. I have been playing very well recently and not trying to get the expectations up too much so just be confident and get into a good headspace. It is difficult knowing what the rewards are but that’s professional golf you try not to get too ahead of yourself every week.”
Overall, it was a good scoring day for the eighteen Irish players with seven shooting in red figures while 19-year-old amateur John Doyle and Dermot McElroy are level-par after rounds of 72.
It was a tale of two nines for Ronan Mullarney who came home in a superb 31 with five birdies to post a three-under 69 to share 27th place.
The Galway man was two-over after playing the back nine but he went on a birdie barrage, rolling in putts on the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 8th to turn a struggling day into a good one.
The best of the morning wave came from Waterford’s Gary Hurley who carded a two-under 70 to share 41st place with Irish Challenge invite Hugh Foley and PGA in Ireland captain Simon Thornton who proved age is just a number at 49.
Robert Brazill, James Sugrue and Killeen Castle touring professional John Gough all have work to do from one-under-par.
Fellow Killeen Castle pro and reigning Irish PGA champion Cormac Sharvin is back in the pack on one-over after a 73 alongside JR Galbraith and Sam Murphy.
Conor Purcell, Liam Nolan and Daniel Mulligan have battles to make the cut from two-over while Robert Moran and Max Kennedy are a shot further back with Brandon St John on plus seven after a 79.
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