Mark Staunton of FORE Ireland leads after round 1 of the PGA Irish Club Pro event at Dundalk Golf Club on Wednesday after completing the course in a four under par 68 in an afternoon round which saw deteriorating conditions and increased onshore winds for those with late tee off times.
John Kelly is in second place after a 69 with a group of four players - Raymond Burns, Kenny Fahey, John Sugrue and David Walker - two shots further back on 71.
David Mortimer of FORE Ireland, currently second in the 2010 Race to Mount, signed for a level par 72 with the leading player on the Irish Order of Merit Eamonn Brady carding a 77.
Kevin Dorrian of Scrabo Golf Club was two over par along with Philip Walton of FORE Ireland who also signed for a 74.
Michael Collins was one shot further down the leader board after carding a round of 75.
2009 Order of Merit winner David Higgins reached the club house with a 76 on his card.
Brendan McGovern of Headfort Golf Club signed for an 80 after double son the 13th, 15th and 16th holes.
Ted Higgins Jnr was 82 for day one with three double bogeys on holes 4, 7 and 12 the major setback.
| "Today was the first round of the Club Pro's and the draw ended up being very important with the weather dis-improving dramatically into the afternoon," explained Michael Collins after his round at Dundalk Golf Club. "I hit the ball quite well and missed 5 good birdie chances in the first 8 holes only to bogey 9 to turn in plus 1. Another bogey at the 11th and 15th put me 3 over." "My day was summed up at 18 when a good 9 iron shot left me an 8 footer up the hill and into the wind for my only birdie of the day which I left short. It was a stark contrast to last week when the birdies were flying in all directions." "I played with Stan [Mark Staunton] who played well for a 68 which was a proper score in that wind. He made no mistakes all day and is a clear leader going into tomorrow. I am only a few shots off of second so if I can get some feathers flying early on I might be able to move up the leader board and get some badly needed order of merit points." |
