Liam Nolan hopes to make the most of his overdue Irish Open debut after he made the cut having skipped this event last year.
Nolan turned down an invite to the K Club citing rest and recovery ahead of the HotelPlanner Tour climax as his reason. But after a battling second round 68 to make the cut on level-par on a day where he had to play 23 holes in Doonbeg, he is relishing the harsh weekend forecast which could be akin to his West of Ireland days as an amateur in Rosses Point.
“It was a weird one with the weather yesterday, four hours to play nine holes. It worked out well because it was nicer this morning,” said the 26-year-old who could only complete thirteen holes on Thursday.
“Rough weather coming in proper West of Ireland weather I’ve played in many a West of Ireland so that’ll stand to me.”
Nolan has had a solid if unspectacular season on the HotelPlanner Tour but he won’t be losing ground in the Road to Mallorca Rankings with the points accrued this week transferable as well as the potential for a decent payday which would help finance trips to Portugal, Abu Dhabi, two weeks in China and the Grand Final in Mallorca.
The Galway man looked comfortable out on the picturesque links in West Clare and hopes to play in Irish Opens for years to come.
“Four rounds at an Irish Open would be lovely. It’s not the money for me at this stage it’s getting the experience. One day I hope to be playing in 20 of these as a member of the DP World Tour but the experience of playing in something as big as this with the fans is invaluable really.”
Nolan may have been frustrated not to get finished on Thursday amid the carnage in round one but when he stood on the fourteenth tee to complete his opening effort conditions were pleasingly calm. Back to back birdies were undone by a triple bogey six on 16 where he took three chips to get over a mound. There was no time to quarrel over his blip and he returned to fire four birdies including three in a row from the 8th and two bogeys to edge into the weekend.
He was pleased with how he handled the nerves after his three-putt bogey on 13.
“I started my second bit of my first round with two birdies and took three chips to get it on the green at 16, kept misjudging that bank, probably stubbornness to how steep it was. I knew I was playing well and was able to go out in the evening and play nicely.
“I started getting pretty nervous and the putter felt a bit heavier and I had a 3-putt on 13 but steadied myself and realised that it’s just an amazing experience and just to enjoy it no matter what happens if the putts drop or not. That mentality got me through the rest of the round.
“I did a weird thing. I am fine before the green but when you get down to the putting it’s so subtle out there. After I had the three-putt on 13 I started smiling on every putt and thought I am so fortunate to play an Irish Open in the West of Ireland. After that the putter felt lovely I rolled it lovely and my pace was much better so that really helped.”
Nolan’s level-par total got him in the house in a share of 50th place.
“The weather is pretty good out there, I had a quick look, think I’m 50th. I’m just happy with how I bounced back from the triple. I am really happy with how I hung in there. I still had some dodgy moments I had three birdies in a row then after ten the holes are really challenging coming in.”
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