The Irish Golf Club Gazette

10/05/2012

Devlin Still in Euro School Chase

Ballymena's Chris Devlin stayed on course to progress to the second stage of the European Tour qualifying school as he posted a one- over-par 73 at Frilford Heath in Oxfordshire for a 54-hole aggregate of 210.

Devlin goes into the fourth and final round of the first stage just one stroke behind leader Liam Bond, the former Welsh champion.

The Ballymena ace dropped two strokes on the opening hole but then got his act together to reach the turn in 38 and finished with a birdie three.

Ruaidhri McGee, the Irishman now living in Spain's Murcia region, is still very much in the hunt for one of the 29 places at stake after a 72, which left him joint ninth on 216.

McGee posted halves of 37 and 35.

John-Daniel Guiney is joint 35th on 220 and still in with a chance of making progress, but Brian Casey, David Rawluk and Mike Kelly have drifted out of contention.

Illness Strikes Dunbar in Turkey

Getty Images

Ireland suffered a major blow before a ball was struck in the World Amateur Team Championships for the Eisenhower Trophy in Turkey on Thursday as Alan Dunbar had to pull out of the opening round due to sickness.

The 22-year-old Walker Cup star from Rathmore completed all the practice sessions, but was struck by a sickness bug overnight and had to stay in his hotel room, while Kevin Phelan and Gavin Moynihan went into battle.

It was not known whether Dunbar, the British Amateur champion, would be fit enough to play on Friday

Both Phelan and teenager Moynihan staged spirited performances over the PGA Sultan course at Antalya, but because of Dunbar's absence, both their scores had to count in the aggregate.

Phelan, the Florida-based Waterford man, made a sensational start.

He began at the 10th and covered his first nine holes in a five-under-par 31, but then suffered a hiccup, dropping strokes on three consecutive holes before regaining his composure and picking up another birdie in a fine 68.

Moynihan, who has enjoyed a remarkable season, slipped to a double-bogey seven at the 16th, but apart from that he was steady and finished with a 73. That gave Ireland a first-day total of 141.

America made a fast start to their bid for the title as they carded a 13-under-par 131 to top the leaderboard by four strokes from Mexico.

10/04/2012

Dunbar Part of Eisenhower Trophy

Some of the world’s finest men’s amateur golfers are gathered in Antalya, Turkey for the World Amateur Team Championship which starts today.

Thirty-six of the top 100 players in the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR) will compete for the Eisenhower Trophy at the Cornelia Golf Club and Antalya Golf Club (PGA Sultan Course) from today until Sunday, October 7.

Following on from the Republic of Korea’s successful defence of the Espirito Santo Trophy in the women’s event at the weekend, the French men’s team will be looking to retain the title their compatriots won at Buenos Aires Golf Club in 2010. The French team, comprising Johann Lopez-Lazaro, Alexander Levy and Romain Wattel, finished four shots ahead of Denmark and five ahead of the USA.

Chris Williams, the recent recipient of the Mark H McCormack Medal as the leading player in the 2012 WAGR ranking, heads the field which includes four of his fellow top ten ranked players.

Williams is joined by the Lytham Trophy and St Andrews Links Trophy champion, Daan Huizing, from the Netherlands, Justin Thomas, the world number three from the USA, Frenchman Julien Brun, who won the recent Allianz Golf Open Toulouse Metropole on the European Challenge Tour and the ninth-ranked player Robert Karlsson from Sweden.

The final player on a strong American team is the US Amateur Champion Steven Fox. The Amateur Champion Alan Dunbar will be a key part of the Irish team and the two-time Asian Amateur Champion Hideki Matsuyama will lead Japan’s challenge.

A field of 72 teams are competing in the 28th staging of the championship, surpassing the previous record of 70 in South Africa in 2006. Six countries are making their first appearances: Macedonia, Kyrgystan, Malta, Oman, Poland and Ukraine.

Each team consists of two or three players who play 18 holes of stroke play. The team score is taken from the two lowest scores from each team in each round.

The inaugural World Amateur Team Championship was played in 1958 at the Old Course in St Andrews. The idea for the event grew out of a number of requests being made for the USA to play team matches against other countries. The USGA and The R&A came together to establish the championship and agreed to play the first event in St Andrews. The trophy was named after President Dwight D Eisenhower.

It is now staged by the International Golf Federation which comprises the governing bodies of golf in 126 countries and the international professional tours.

10/03/2012

McGinley Welcomes Player Support

Getty Images

Paul McGinley has welcomed support from Europe's leading players tipping him as the main contender to replace Jose Maria Olazabal as captain for the 2014 Ryder Cup.

Ryder Cup-winning duo Peter Hanson and Rory McIlroy have both backed McGinley, one of Olazabal's vice-captains at the magical Medinah triumph last weekend, for the top role after the Spaniard confirmed that he will not be not standing for the post again.

McGinley has a distinguished history in team golf, playing in successful Ryder Cup campaigns from 2002 to 2006 and holing the winning putt as a rookie at the Belfry 10 years ago.

The 45-year-old has also captained Great Britain and Ireland to victories in the past two Seve Trophy tournaments with world No.1 McIlroy saying: "He was fantastic there and has also been a fantastic vice-captain."

Asked about the possibility of replacing Olazabal, McGinley told Sky Sports: "Listen, it's a great honour for anyone who becomes Ryder Cup captain, there's no doubt about that and I'm not going to say otherwise. But ultimately it's not up to me, it's for other players to decide.

"Rory came out the other day saying it (backing me) but we'll just have to wait and see how things evolve over the next few months and down the line. All I can say is, I've captained Great Britain and Ireland twice before and I thoroughly enjoyed it."

Speaking on Europe's remarkable turnaround against America in Chicago, McGinley praised Olazabal's tactics throughout the event.

He added: "Normally we're so strong on the first two days then the Americans are strong in the singles but it was actually turned on its head last week. I think Ollie's decision to play all 12 players the first day didn't benefit us the first two days but we certainly got that kick back on the Sunday."

Sweden's Hanson, who failed to pick up a point for Europe in their 14½-13½ triumph, added his support to McGinley's case for the position.

He said: "One guy that did a big, big job in the backroom was Paul McGinley. Paul did a fantastic job, He knows everything about all the previous Ryder Cups with all the records. He is really the guy that in the backroom really helped out, so I would love to see Paul be a captain."

Hoey Has Hopes at Home of Golf

Getty Images

Michael Hoey aims to inspire himself with a return to the Home of Golf as he prepares to defend his Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

The Northern Irishman claimed the biggest win of his career last year at St Andrews in the event where the first three rounds are played on the Old Course, Kingsbarns and Carnoustie, before the field return to the Home of Golf for the final round.Hoey backed up that display by winning the Trophée Hassan II in Morocco in March, although he has not had a top-20 finish since.

A closing 65 at the BMW Italian Open gave the 33 year old a tied 22nd place finish in Turin a fortnight ago, and Hoey hopes to build on that form.

“My last round of golf was a 65 in Italy, so that was kind of nice to try to that take with me,” he said. “I started putting well, and my swing is always a work in progress - but I feel like I'm closer to swinging the club well - and hopefully I will get inspired by the Home of Golf again, which I did last year.

“I just have to take the positives and Italy was good, so it's all about the putting. That's what I did last year, just putted really well and I feel my putting stroke is a lot better now.

“I just want to be more consistent. Tournaments like this if you're getting in the top ten, you're going to get a lot of World Ranking points and Race to Dubai points. That's the difference between smaller tournaments and bigger tournaments - you want to be able to play well in the big ones, really.”

Hoey also believes the pro-am format can help keep him relaxed, with a host of celebrities taking to the course.

“It's quite cold, so you've got to keep yourself warm and just be patient,” he added. “It's like a marathon, an all day long affair at each course.

“You can take your mind off your own game if you ask a guy about what he does for a living and it's always generally pretty interesting, because the guys are pretty connected. So I find it all interesting.”