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Team Ireland finished the opening day of the World Team Amateur Championships in Buenos Aires in a share of 49th place at Los Olivos Golf Club - fifteen shots off the lead after the French trio finished round one on 7 under par – with scores of 79, 68 and 69.
Colombia and Canada share second place on 5 under with Denmark in fourth one shot further adrift.
Team Ireland’s Kevin Phelan, of the University of Florida, signed for a round of 76 following four dropped shots and then a double bogey - with only one birdie on the last green - to finish on 5 over par.
Alan Dunbar of Rathmore carded two birdies but dropped seven shots in his round to also end the day on a 5 over par 76.
Paul Cutler of Portstewart finished one shot better on 74 after a double bogey on the eighth hole - despite opening with a birdie and carding another on the 12th. However they were not enough to recover from a total of three bogeys and so Cutler ended the day 3 over par.
The Eisenhower Trophy is a biennial world amateur team golf championship for men organised by the International Golf Federation and is named after Dwight D. Eisenhower, President of the United States when the tournament was first played as he was a keen amateur golfer.
Recent tournaments have featured teams from more than sixty countries and this year there are 70 countries competing.
