Over 100 Irish players will tee it up this week as the Flogas Irish Men’s Amateur Open Championship gets underway at Seapoint Golf Links on Thursday.
103 Irishmen in total are in the field as our national championship touches down in Seapoint for the very first time while 33 players from overseas will hit the east coast over the weekend.
Fourteen players from England will tee it up while seven from Wales, four from Switzerland, three Scots and two Italians add a strong European contingent. China, Finland and France each have one player competing this week.
Defending champion Matthew McClean, fresh off a third place finish at the 59th Lytham Trophy last week, will begin his title defence alongside Welshman Matt Roberts and tournament favourite Stuart Grehan who represents the neighbouring Co. Louth Golf Club.
West of Ireland champion Dylan Holmes of Greystones gets his bid for a second straight championship win underway alongside Bridgestone Order of Merit winner Brian Doran (Millicent) and Castleknock’s Paul Coughlan.
Irish Boys and Munster Strokeplay champion John Doyle will be looking to make another big splash in the group ahead of McClean while former West of Ireland winner Keith Egan looks primed to contend again and he is in the group behind McClean with Simon Walker of Roscomon and Formby Hall’s Christian Johnson.
There is a tasty opening group to get things underway at 8:00am with three-time major winner Caolan Rafferty (Dundalk) hoping for another home win at Seapoint having captured the East in Baltray twelve months ago.
Colm Campbell (Warrenpoint) will join him as he searches for a third Irish Amateur Open title while Royal Dublin’s Richard Knightly makes his first start of the season.
Former major winners Quentin Carew (Castleknock), TJ Ford (Sligo) and Alan Fahy (Dun Laoghaire) are also in the field while the likes of Ryan Griffin (Ballybofey), David Kitt (Athenry) and Jack McDonnell (Royal Dublin) are hunting their maiden titles.
Seapoint’s own Dylan Keating has just competed his final year in Louisiana and he has touched down in time to tee it up at his home course this week.
Tee Times HERE
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