Amateur news: The battle for the title of East of Ireland champion will have an added incentive when the Irish Independent-sponsored event takes place at Co Louth Golf Club, Baltray, starting on Saturday.
Nissan, sponsors of the Irish Open Championship, which this year will also take place in Co Louth, have offered a place in the Open field for the Baltray winner.
Gerard O'Toole, executive chairman of Nissan Ireland said: "We hope the gesture will enhance the East of Ireland Championship and we look forward to welcoming the winner when he comes to Co Louth in July. It would be wonderful if we were to see a star of the future emerge from the invitation."
And there will be no shortage of young guns keen to take up the invitation. Darren Crowe from Dunmurry, Seán McTernan (Co Sligo), Brian McElhinney (North West) and Michael McGeady (North West) will be among the new brigade keen to add their names to the East trophy.
The defending champion Michael Sinclair, from Knock, will be among the favourites but he will have keen competition from Irish Close champion, Mark O'Sullivan (Galway), Paul McDonald from UCD/Woodbrook, who won the West of Ireland title at Easter, the South champion Mervyn Owens (Mallow) and the North of Ireland champion McElhinney.
The handicap limit this year is 1.2, the lowest in the history of the event, and a number of players on this mark were balloted out which gives some idea of the quality of the field.
One player missing from the line-up will be Kenny Fahey. The Connemara player will lead the Rhode Island University team in the NCAA finals this weekend where former Queen's University student James Clarke is also a member of the side.
"We have had to get pretty creative with practising during the winter," said head coach Tom Drennan. "But at this point we play a southern schedule as a northern team. They do their best to overcome the long New England winter by taking trips to exotic locales like the US Virgin Islands and Hawaii, and by working out at a top indoor golf facility in Rhode Island."
Meanwhile, Mick Morris, 1978 Irish Close Champion from Portmarnock, turned the clock back last week when he shot a closing round of level par 72 to capture the Irish Seniors' Amateur Open Championship, sponsored by the Portuguese Tourist Board, on 145 at Roscommon Golf Club.
Morris won on a count-back from defending champion Phil Jones of Wales with fellow Welshman, JR Jones, a further shot back on 146.
The Welsh pair, partnered with Brian Cramb, retained the Nations Trophy with a total score of 291 from their best two cards on each day, with England filling second place on 295 followed by Scotland on 306 and Ireland recording 311.
England's David Lane captured the over 60s trophy with Mullingar's Tom Rickard taking the over 65s and Tom O'Connor from Galway tops in the over 70s category.
Such was the high-class entry for the St Rule Trophy tournament - June 19th-20th - over the New and Old Courses at St Andrews that some 30 players have been balloted out. However, Ireland will make a 10-strong challenge for the event which will include recently crowned Irish champion Deirdre Smith from Co Louth, Leinster champion Maura Morrin from the Curragh and Portuguese title holder Gillian O'Leary from Cork.
They will be joined by Tricia Mangan (Ennis), Martina Gillen (Beaverstown), Maria Dunne (Skerries), Tara and Karen Delaney (Carlow), Sinead Keane (Curragh) and Marion Riordan (Tipperary).
Reduced from three rounds to 36 holes in an effort to attract entries from the US's Curtis Cup team in the belief that the majority would be staying on for the British Women's Open Amateur Championship at Gullane from June 22nd to 26th. However, as it turns out, only Sarah Huarte (University of California Berkley) and Annie Thurman (Oklahoma State University) will compete.
Huarte has just been crowned champion of the NCAA Division One women's college circuit. She won the end-of-the-college season championship with a record-low total of 10 under par. Thurman was the 2002 US Public Links title winner. There will be other big names from the American college circuit competing in the St Rule. Sweden's Karin Sjodin, runner-up to Huarte in the NCAA championship, has entered as has compatriot Sophie Andersson.
One disappointing aspect of the entries is that Scotland's Anne Laing is the only member of the eight-strong British and Irish team for the Curtis Cup match who will be playing at St Andrews. The five England players - Emma Duggleby, Shelley McKevitt, Nikki Timmins, Fame More and Danielle Masters - as well as Anna Highgate from Wales and Ireland's Claire Coughlan have all decided to give the tournament a miss as it comes between the Curtis Cup and the British Amateur.
Meanwhile, the Irish team for the European Women's Junior Team Championship to be held in Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club on July 6th to 10th is:
Tara Delaney (Carlow), Maria Dunne (Skerries), Gillian O'Leary (Cork), Sinead O'Sullivan (Galway), Vicki Power (Brampton Park) and Catherine Tucker (Limerick).
