Low scoring was expected at Seapoint Golf Links and the morning wave delivered in spades on day one of the Flogas Irish Men’s Amateur Open Championship as Warrenpoint’s Stephen Coulter equalled the course record to lead the way.
Coulter’s eight-under 64 equalled the efforts of Matthew McClean last year and he is one shot clear of Liam Abom who also flirted with a place in the history books with a 65. Defending champion Stuart Grehan is lurking ominously on five-under-par despite looking nowhere near his best in shooting a 67 and the top-3 players have clear daylight between themselves and the chasing pack.
“I played lovely from tee to green, got the ball in the right positions and held a few putts when I really needed them,” said Coulter.
Coulter’s birdies came in bunches, he made four in a row from the 4th and he responded brilliantly from a bogey on the difficult par-3 9th with three birdies in a row from the 10th.
A birdie on 14 put him within touching distance of the course record with the drivable 16th, par-3 17th and par-5 18th playing downwind and he took his chance on the last.
“I got it going nicely in the middle of the round, I will definitely take that score today. I didn’t have the course record on my mind at all I knew once I got by the 14th the wind started to turn and pick up so I was happy enough to come down the stretch.
“We got the front nine basically flat calm, maybe a club wind, I knew 13 and 14 would be a test into the teeth of it. I got through that stretch with a birdie and a par.”
Coulter enjoyed a superb year on the course for Warrenpoint, winning the Barton Shield but individual success in championships is something he is yet to taste. Even being at the summit of a leaderboard is newfound territory. He does have links form having finished runner-up at the Laytown & Bettystown Scratch Cup in March.
“It’s been a while since I played championships and competed, but happy to be back out and I will play a full schedule and see how things go.”
Anna Abom had a famous victory at the inaugural South of Ireland Women’s Open in Lahinch a fortnight ago and she seems to have inspired her brothers Liam and Thomas. Liam rolled in nine birdies while Thomas birdied the 16th and 17th to share fourth place on three-under with a 69 to keep the Edmondstown flag flying high on the domestic stage.
“She’s unbelievable, it was just an amazing performance. It was bittersweet but I know our Dad is watching over us and I’d say he was smiling,” said Liam who has form on links as a former Irish Intervarsity champion in Rosslare.
“We all drive each other to be better so she has the bragging rights for now so hopefully we can turn it around!
Liam looked like he would equal the course record himself or even break it when he made the turn in 30 and then moved to seven-under through ten holes after a birdie on the first. He was eight-under for the day after recovering from a bogey on 2 with birdies on 6 and 8 but a bogey on 9 dropped him to second place.
Also in a share of fourth place is Fota Island teenager John Doyle, England’s Tom Hughes, Mark Muldoon – who had the best score of the afternoon – and local man Gerard Dunne of Co. Louth Golf Club who also enjoyed a good run here last year, placing fourth.
Charlie McDonnell, Jack McDonell and Scotland’s Chris Somers also performed well in the blustery and cool afternoon conditions with two-under rounds of 70.
28 players ended the day in red figures including former Irish Amateur champion Matthew McClean and East of Ireland champion David Howard who are both two-under after rounds of 70 while former West winner Dylan Holmes and the returning Sean Keeling are in the clubhouse with rounds of 71.
Reigning West of Ireland champion Mark Cadden is level-par as is Munster Strokeplay champion Paul Coughlan. There were some high scorers in the morning with Seapoint’s own Dylan Keating outside the top-60 on two-over while Keith Egan and Colm Campbell are five and seven-over respectively.
A number of youngsters performed well including Doyle, Cadden, Holmes and Keeling. John William Burke of Ballyhaunis carded a two-under 70, Portmarnock’s Adam Fahey, Alex Kerins of Carton House and Glasson’s Isaac Oliver are all a shot further back while William O’Riordan of Greystones is one-over.
Scoring HERE
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