GOLF/Amateur scene: Irish interest in amateur golf will stretch far and wide this weekend with the choice between the East of Ireland at Co Louth, the British Amateur at Royal Portcawl and the NCAA finals in Columbus Ohio occupying the cream of the amateur scene.
Two recent two-time winners, Ken Kearney from Roscommon and Noel Fox from Portmarnock, and West of Ireland champion Stuart Paul from Tangragee are all expected to be in the shake-up on Monday evening in Baltray.
Fox has decide to miss the British Amateur in his bid to take a third East title which he last won two years ago, while Kearney, who holds the championship record at Co Louth with rounds of 69 66 67 75 in 1999, will be keen to repeat last year's effort when he won by four shots from Michael McDermott and Pat Murray.
Paul made his breakthrough last year when he beat Graeme McDowell in the North of Ireland championship at Royal Portrush. And that form has continued with his success in the West at Easter when he defied the elements to beat Derek McNamara in the final.
McDermott will not be in Baltray as he has been nominated by the Golfing Union to compete at Royal Portcawl where he will be joined by Elite squad members Justin Kehoe (Birr), Gavin McNeill (Waterford), Colm Moriarty (Athlone), Tim Rice (Limerick) and John Foster (Ballyclare).
McNeill was the best of the Irish at the St Andrews Trophy at St Andrews last weekend finishing on 296 - six shots behind the winner Simon Mackenzie.
The 32-year old former Scottish matchplay and strokeplay champion, strung together final-day rounds of 72 and 70 for a one-over aggregate of 289 and a four-stroke victory over Welshman Stuart Manley and England youth international Farren Keenan.
"I had a good front nine and tried to hang in there on the back nine because it's been playing so tough. I ended with a birdie and I couldn't have asked for a better finish than that," said Mackenzie.
As Michael Hoey, last year's winner of the Amateur Championship at Prestwick, has moved into the professional ranks, the battle to become his successor has attracted the best players from 26 countries to the classic South Wales course.
It is the sixth time that Porthcawl has hosted the "Amateur" since Dick Chapman beat Charlie Coe in an all-American final in 1951.
Meanwhile, Graeme McDowell from Rathmore will pass-up the trip to Portcawl for the NCAA finals at Columbus Ohio where he will clash with Irish team-mates David Jones, Alan Murray and Seán McTernan.
McDowell is the leading player on the University of Alabama team while his three colleagues represent the University of Toledo. This will be Toledo's third NCAA Championship in the last four seasons. The tournament will be played at Ohio State University Scarlet Course from tomorrow to Saturday.
Toledo qualified for the tournament thanks to a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Central Regional Championship in Little Rock, Arkansa last week. David Jones (City of Derry) led the way with a four-under score of 212 to finish in fourth place.
But Toledo advanced without the services of one of its top players, Alan Murray (Greystones), who missed the trip due to an emergency appendectomy on May 10th. Murray practiced for the first time last Wednesday and is expected to take his place in the team tomorrow.
Coach David Graf is confident the Rockets can compete for their first-ever NCAA title."We have five outstanding players, and if the stars are all aligned and all five play well, then we have a shot."
The quest for places on the Curtis Cup team to play the US in Pittsburg on August 3rd and 4th will be very much on the minds of Ireland's leading women golfers when they compete in the 72 holes St Rule Trophy at St Andrews on Saturday and Sunday next.
And for the defending champion and Curtis Cup squad member Alison Coffey, it's a very busy three weeks.
After this week at St Andrews, Coffey will play in the British Amateur Championship from June 11th to 15th at Ashburnham and in between she faces a three-day training session with the Curtis Cup squad in Oxford.
Other members of the Ireland team at St Andrews include Maura Morrin (Curragh), Leinster champion Maria Dunne (Skerries), Deirdre Smith (Co Louth), Trish Mangan (Ennis), Claire Coughlan (Cork), Sinead Keane (Curragh), Rebecca Coakley (Grange) and Emma Dickson (Royal Co Down).
