Ian KeenanBrendan McCarroll is the leading Irish player at the EURO Pro Tour events at Castle Dargan Golf Hotel carding a 4 under par round of 67 - which included two eagles - to remain two shots behind the leader, Ian Keenan of England, who carded a round of 65 picking up 7 birdies on the way and dropping just one shot at the 17th hole to end on 6 under.
Kevin McAlpine of Scotland and James Freeman of England are in a tie for second place at five under par.
McCarroll shares fourth place with a group that includes two other Irish players, Tim Rice (67) of Limerick and Brian McElhinney (67) of Team Ireland.
Mark Staunton was the best of the three FORE Ireland players on 2 under with an eagle on the par five 6th hole and two birdies. But two dropped shots pushed him back to don the field in share of 15th place.
David Mortimer had a mixed day carding a bogey on the fourth hole, followed by an eagle on the fifth, then a birdie on the 6th, followed by a bogey on the 7th - which summarised his round. The major problem was a quadruple bogey on the par four 18th to leave him level par at the end of day one.
Michael Collins finished the opening day one over par with two double bogey on his card – the first on the 4th and the second on the 16th hole. Three birdies on 12, 14 and 15 started a late recovery that left him signing for a 71 total.
Michael Collins said afterwards:
“Round one in Castle Dargan felt like the last round in Burhill last week. I hit the ball a bit better in the Pro-am yesterday for level par and was happy enough as I felt reasonably comfortable. I hit the ball well in places as well today but 2 shots in particular were brutal and destructive as well,” Collins explained.
“On the 4th hole, I pushed my tee shot into the tree on the right off the tee. Luckily, the ball got through but I was left with 200 yards out of the rough. Feeling happy after my good break, I then snap hooked my rescue into the hazard way left of the green. A double bogey was the outcome and 2 bogeys on 7 an 8 were cancelled out with 2 birdies on 6 and 9 leaving me 3 over for 9.”
“As usual, I kept the shoulder to the wheel and got back to level with three good birdies on 12, 14 and 15. Cue bad shot. 16 was playing straight down wind and a good tee shot was going to set up a good chance. However, a terrible snap hook resulted in a lost ball and another double. Birdie on the tough 17th was cancelled out by bogey on the even tougher 18th.”
“My game is usually all about pars and not dropping shots so its frustrating to be making so many birdies and then throwing away so many shots in the same round. Hopefully tomorrow I can keep the birdies and get rid of the bogeys,” concluded the Mallow man.
