Reserve Arthurs takes a cut at the field

EOIN ARTHURS enjoyed a very productive day, first shooting a four-under-par 68 to lead the AIB-sponsored Irish Amateur Strokeplay Championship at Royal Dublin and then returning to his place of employment, the Kinsealy Grange Driving Range, to cut the grass and collect balls, writes John O'Sullivan.

The dog-eared sporting adage - "It's important to take opportunities" - provided a neat summary of Arthurs's fortunes on and off the course. Initially the 14th reserve for the tournament, the 24-year-old Forrest Little man crafted a superb round, needing just 26 putts, to lead by two shots from four others.

In relatively benign conditions, the links redesigned by Martin Hawtree still managed to punish mental or physical frailties, particularly over the closing holes, something to which 20-year-old Ben Newsome would attest.

Standing on the 17th tee, the Brighton native was four under the card, but then as he colourfully described in Cockney rhyming slang, "it all went Pete Tong (wrong)." He blocked his drive on the 17th and again on the 18th, on both occasions his ball coming to rest out of bounds. Showing great character, he made birdies with his second ball on both holes, to limit the damage to bogeys, and signed for a two-under-par 70.

Even Arthurs wasn't immune to the demands imposed by the 18th. He elected to go with a three iron off the tee, "hitting it terribly", and from 200 yards hit the same club left of the green. His chip came up six feet short and he missed the putt to record only his second bogey of the day.

It was in marked contrast to the early part of his round when he eagled the second and birdied the third and fifth: by the time he reached the back nine he had taken just 11 putts. A bogey on the 12th, when he was stymied by a sprinkler head, was immediately banished with birdies on the 13th and 14th - on the latter hole he just missed an eight-foot eagle putt.

"I played solidly all day and my putting (15 on the back nine) was pretty good," Arthurs smiled.

There is some contention as to whether his 68 represented a course record courtesy of a recent change to the ninth tee box - Lloyd Saltzman shot 66 in this tournament last year - but the semantics are unlikely to preoccupy the UCD graduate.

His recent form has been good, as illustrated by finished second in the strokeplay qualifying for the West of Ireland Championship. He's due back in work at 3pm today but has negotiated an agreement to be a little late.

Arthurs's closest pursuers include Newsome, another Englishman, Billy Hemstock, France's Olivier Serres, Scotland's Paul O'Hara and the 17-year-old Norwegian Anders Kristiansen.

The 24-year-old Hemstock, from Devon and an England A squad member, was four under after 14 holes but bogeys at the final two holes provided a chastising finish of sorts to his round.

Serres, a 23-year-old Bordeaux native, leads a sizeable French assault on the Irish Amateur Championship, while Kristiansen demonstrated the form that won him the Australian Matchplay title a fortnight ago.

Shane Lowry (Esker Hills) and Connor Doran are one shot further back on 71.

Lowry, who has already won the West of Ireland and European Nations (Sotogrande Cup) Individual titles this season, was disappointed with two bogeys in the closing four holes.

"I was hitting the ball well for most of the day but didn't hole any putts," he said. "(I hit) a couple of ropy iron shots at the end (but) 71 is not a bad score, not a bad start.

"I could have shot four under easily. That's golf."

Royal Dublin's Niall Kearney, Jim Carvill (Warrenpoint), Michael Durcan (Co Sligo) and Dara Lernihan (Castle) are all well -placed on level par, one shot ahead of Limerick's Pat Murray, Irish amateur golf's only representative at the Irish Open in Adare Manor next week.

Michael Lavelle, who will also be in Limerick, turns professional after this tournament.