Irish amateur open

markthespark77

just seen that the amateur open is Being help in connemara from today to next wednesday, with free entry..
has anyone here ever gone to one of them,are they any good.though with this nice weather would Be good to see the up and coming..

Rikand

well just for a bit of clarification, its the Irish Amateur Close, rather than the Irish Amateur Open. The Irish Amateur Open was on in May

Entrants are Irish only in the Close, whereas with the Open, they can be from anywhere in the world.

As regards going to watch it. It's definitely worth it! The standard is high amongst most of the players, almost as good as you'd see at a Professional level and to get in to see it for free, well, sure you can't beat that value! Plus it'll be gorgeous down there this weekend!

Brian Casey and Robbie Cannon are playing together in the first 2 rounds and I would follow them if I was tipping down. I fancy Brian Casey to win pretty much anything he plays in after seeing him a couple of times last year. Phenomenal striker of the ball for a young fella.

mag

casey is at the st andrews trophy afaik

Rikand

mag wrote: »

casey is at the st andrews trophy afaik

Oh, saw his name on the list of people playing and thought he was

Rikand

List of Scores : http://www.gui.ie/home/events-results/results/irish-amateur-close-championship

Some unreal scoring from Coyne - 8-under par!

Nice to see local legend Gorfield in with a solid 71 to start.

big_drive

I believe Coyne is actually a 2 handicapper. Makes the score all the more brilliant as he'd be at the higher end of the handicaps in a c'ship like this.

Anyone know what the handicap cut off was for getting in?

Arsenium

mag wrote: »

casey is at the st andrews trophy afaik

Its a pity the way these tournaments fall. Brian Casey won the Mullingar scratch cup last year but it clashed with the Welsh Amateur Open this year and also fell a week after the Irish Amateur Open. It would have been great to see him go back and try to defend the title. Also, while it was a great field, it wasnt as strong as you would usually expect and now this weekend the amateur close championship clashes with the St. Andrews Trophy.

Which is being led by Ryan Evans who shot 66 (!!) on the jubilee course in round 1. Christ how difficult must it be to go from top amateur to touring pro when you see the amount of incredible golfers out there all after the same goal.

Sorry for going (slightly) off topic...I've developed a big interest in amateur golf in recent years, purely from a viewing perspective I might add !!

mag

theres a few of the irish lads (o donovan, casey, diamond, whitson) who are vying for walker cup to a greater or lesser degree i guess... so they need to play in the big uk & euro am tournaments to get the exposure.

im surprised 2hc was getting into the close too

Arsenium

mag wrote: »

theres a few of the irish lads (o donovan, casey, diamond, whitson) who are vying for walker cup to a greater or lesser degree i guess... so they need to play in the big uk & euro am tournaments to get the exposure.

im surprised 2hc was getting into the close too

Yep. You could add Rory Mcnamara to that list. He was down to play in the east of Ireland last week but had to pull out. Current holder of the West and last year's North.

I'd concur with an earlier poster about the quality of amateur golf on show for free in Ireland. It's not all about TV and media promotion as far as I'm concerned.

mag

yep, i much rather go to the provincials/close and have a wander around than any pro tournament. you can easily just walk alongside groups and get a proper look at the golf

markthespark77

sounds good so..i think ill head down for a look so...cheers

Ghacker

Leading score this morning was a 68 by Alan Thomas. Richard bridges leading with a score of 140(71,69). Alan Thomas in 2nd with 141(73,68).