Sport

Grants awarded

Elite Grants: Ireland's elite amateur golfers have been awarded grants totalling £50,000 from the Sports Council

Fri Nov 10 2000 - 00:00

Elite Grants: Ireland's elite amateur golfers have been awarded grants totalling £50,000 from the Sports Council. Graeme McDowell, the Irish Close champion and runner-up in the European strokeplay championship, is the main grant beneficiary with £6,000, writes Philip Reid. The financial awards are based on criteria agreed by the Sports Council and the Golfing Union of Ireland. McDowell, 21-yearold student at the University of Alabama, who won the Irish Close, Irish and Leinster Youths' and World Universities titles in a two-month spell over the summer months, came out top of the criteria table.

Fellow internationals Noel Fox, winner of the Irish strokeplay and East of Ireland titles, and Michael Hoey, who won the North of Ireland as well as making successful trips to tournaments in Dubai and Argentina, have each been awarded £3,500. In all, 41 players have benefited from the grants scheme.

RECIPIENTS

£6,000 - G McDowell (Rathmore). £3,500 - N Fox (Portmarnock), M Hoey (Shandon Park). £3,000 - C McMonagle (Dunfanaghy). £2,000 - J Kehoe (UCD/Birr), M McDermott (Stackstown), D McNamara (Connemara). £1,500 - S McTernan (Co Sligo), D Jones (City of Derry), C Moriarty (Athlone). £1,250 - M Murphy (Waterville), A McCormick (Scrabo). £1,000 - E Brady (Royal Dublin), S Paul (Tandragee), T Rice (Limerick), J Foster (Ballyclare), M Campbell (UCD/Stackstown), D Crowe (Dunmurry), M O'Sullivan (UCD/Galway), P McDonald (UCD/Woodbrook), D Gannon (Co Louth), P McLaughlin (Ballyliffin), G Maybin (Ballyclare). £700 - M Sinclair (Knock), S Browne (Hermitage), D Mortimer (Connemara), G Cullen (Beaverstown), B McElhinney (North West). £500 - K Fahey (Galway), E Arthurs (Forrest Little), M McTernan (Co Sligo), R McCarthy (Forrest Little), C Doran (Banbridge), D Ryan (Grange), C Bowe (Tramore), M McHugh (Ballinasloe), N Kavanagh (Westport), N Turner (Muskerry), M Canty (Tramore), A Harty (West Waterford), D Loughnane (Galway).

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Links Pro-Am: Despite dropping two shots in the last three holes Peter Lawrie's level par 71 was good enough to win the nett in the Esso sponsored Links Pro-Am at The Island yesterday. Lawrie won by a shot from Des Smyth with Royal Dublin's Eamonn Brady in a five-way tie for fourth place.

Consolation for Des Smyth was however, that his 71 took the gross from amateur internationals Gary Cullen and Noel Fox.

Smyth birdied at the third to be out in one under par 34 and dropped his only shot of the round at the par five 15th in a back nine of 37.

71 - P Lawrie (scr, O'Callaghan Hotels).

72 - D Smyth (+1, Westpoint).

74 - E Brady (Royal Dublin), D O'Gallagher (6, Blainroe), F O'Brien (7, Royal Dublin), J Gleeson (6, Milltown), G Cullen (+2, Beaverstown).

75 - P Rogers (1, Dundalk), J Creaney (8, Naas), B Reddan (1, Co Louth), A Walton (4, The Island), D McKenna (5, Blainroe).

76 - F Gannon Scr, Skerries), J Fanagan (+2, Milltown), N Fox (+2, Portmarnock), P Walton (scr, Westpoint), J Carvill (scr, Bar-One-Racing), P Smyth (6, Killiney).

77 - B O'Melia (scr, Newlands), J Hutchinson (scr, Royal Dublin), A Dowling (scr, Hermitage), D McSwiggan (7, The Island), P O'Hagan (4, Charlesland), M Delaney (5, Laytown and Bettystown).

78 - S Duffy (7, Newlands), L Owens (scr, Royal Dublin), P McGahon (6, Greenore), D Casey (3, Hermitage), C O'Connor (scr, C O'C), P Kennedy (7, Hermitage), N Barr (8, Lucan).

79 - P Moroney (8, Dun Laoghaire), M Gallagher (6, Headfort), P O'Brien (Laytown and Bettstown), H Jackson (scr, Donabate), C Abernethy (4, Royal Dublin).

Prize winners: Nett: Lawrie, Brady, O'Gallagher, Gleeson, O'Brien. Phelan. Gross: Smyth, Cullen, Fox, Fanagan, Carvill, Rogers. Team: 64 - G Cullen (Beaverstown), C Abernethy (Royal Dublin), J Sommers (Charlesland).

Hong Kong Open: India's Arjun Atwal showed yesterday that he was not in awe of his illustrious playing partner Seve Ballesteros by taking a share of the lead after the first round of $300,000 Star Alliance Open in Hong Kong.

Atwal fired a five-under-par 65 to finish the day tied with Taiwan's Yeh Wei-tze and Sweden's Stephen Lindskog.

Ballesteros carded a 74, while the tournament's other star attraction Sam Torrance finished with a 71.