Michael Hoey produced a brace of 70s to copper-fasten his position as the leading qualifier after 36 holes of strokeplay at the Irish Amateur Close Championship. Today the leading 64 players enter the matchplay phase of the tournament over the testing Dunluce course at Royal Portrush.
The 21-year-old Irish international's four-under-par total was a superb effort, particularly yesterday's round. Conditions on Saturday were benign, with no wind to trouble the competitors but yesterday a fresh breeze assailed the course and that was reflected in the scoring: it made Hoey's 70 all the more laudable.
The Shandon Park golfer, who won the Emirates Amateur Open earlier this year, arrived at Portrush following a fine performance at the British Amateur Championship where he reached the last 16.
Hoey has already won a national title, the 1998 Irish Amateur Open Championship but would love to emulate his father Brian, who won the Close at Malone in 1984. Hoey, the younger, will receive a silver medal as leading qualifier. Despite a double bogey at the first, Hoey quickly redeemed himself with birdies at the second, fourth and ninth. The inward journey consisted of eight pars and a single birdie at the par-three 11th.
Scrabo's Andrew McCormick was two shots adrift with Garth McGimpsey, Chris Moriarty and Colm Moriarty one shot further back. Notable casualties included defending champion Dunfanaghy's Ciaran McMonagle who won the Close last year at Killarney. McMonagle described his nine-over 81 as "horrible".
He ran up two double bogeys and a triple bogey at the appropriately named par-three, 14th "Calamity Corner": he shanked a two iron into Bobby Locke's hollow. A stroke of good fortune, literally, could not ensure his survival on the 18th. Another deplorable strike, this time with a four iron, was heading for the car-park when it struck a car and ricocheted back into play.
McMonagle could not capitalise and eventually ran up a double-bogey six, missing the cut by a single stroke. West of Ireland champion Eamonn Brady shot an 86 - it included a 10 at the 10th - and Waterville's Mark Murphy, twice a runner-up this season in the East and West, had an 89 to also miss out.
Portmarnock's Noel Fox scrapped in on the cut-off mark of 155. The Irish Open and East of Ireland champion needed to hole a four-foot putt on the 18th for an 80 and a place in the matchplay stages. UCD undergraduate Mark O'Sullivan equalled the best score of the day with a two-under-par 70 to qualify comfortably.
