JUST AS in professional golf, where one week rolls into another, the elite amateur players have a packed diary. And, for a number of those competing in the East of Ireland Amateur Championship, which starts today at Baltray, this will be a rather serious dress rehearsal for what lies ahead with the British Amateur and the European Team championships on the horizon.

Paul Cutler, the defending champion, is a shoo-in for the Irish team which competes in the European Championships in Sweden in July.

But he is resuming tournament play here after missing out on last month's Irish Amateur Open due to injury.

Cutler won the Lytham Trophy last month, which means Irish players hold three of the most prestigious amateur titles in these islands, as Alan Dunbar claimed the St Andrews Links and Irish Amateur Open.

Cutler will enter the East as favourite, and will be looking to hit form ahead of his quest for the British Amateur at Muirfield in little over a week.

But others, among them Cian Curley, Dara Lernihan, Paul Dunne and Rory Leonard, will be seeking to push their way into the minds of the selectors ahead of that European team being named.

Dunbar is a notable absentee, as the Rathmore clubman has opted to defend his St Andrews Links title this weekend instead of playing in the East.

West Waterford's Séamus Power, who has completed his studies in the US, has also entered the St Andrews Links.