GOLF/West of Ireland Championship: For someone with the "grip it 'n rip it" philosophy espoused by all big hitters, Tim Rice is the essence of the reformed character - or so his form in the West of Ireland amateur championship, sponsored by Standard Life, at County Sligo Golf Club would have us believe.
Although he led the strokeplay qualifying which concluded on Saturday, the 24-year-old Limerick man - a business graduate of the University of Toledo - incurred no fewer than 11 bogeys in the wildly contrasting 36-holes which also included two eagles and seven birdies.
In yesterday's opening salvos of matchplay, Rice was determined not to be as erratic. A measure of his success is that he had just two bogeys in all and wasn't required to go beyond the 14th green in either of his two matches, firstly beating Colm Montgomery and, then, Padraig Dooley to take a place in the last 16.
"My matchplay record in championships has been dismal," admitted Rice, who showed a propensity for shooting good medal rounds when leading the qualifying at the British Amateur championship in Hoylake two years ago. "In the past, I have thrown away so many matches simply by getting in my own way. I was determined not to let it happen this time round."
Some recent technical adjustments have helped Rice and, while other members of the Irish squad struggled, he was never in any trouble. With a stiff wind coming in off the Atlantic, his play was impressive and featured seven birdies to go along with the two bogeys as he closed out both opponents on the 14th and saved himself the journey up the tough finishing stretch which played directly into the wind.
There was no such solace for Noel Fox, however, who joined Irish elite squad member Johnny Foster - a first-round loser to David Kelleher - and Justin Kehoe, who failed to get through the strokeplay qualifying, on the casualty list.
Robert Forsythe, a 31-year-old golf shop salesman, was the conqueror of Fox who, despite feeling unwell with a stomach ailment for the past few days, refused to make that an excuse. Forsythe, a quarter-finalist last year, was four up after 12 holes in their second-round encounter but had to fend off a determined fightback from Fox who won the 14th, 16th and 17th before closing out the match on the final hole.
The other big surprise of the opening day's matchplay came in the morning with Kelleher's win over Foster. Two down after nine holes, Kelleher got back to level terms with wins on the 11th and 14th. However, he thought his opportunity had disappeared on the 17th, a monstrous par four of 459 yards into the teeth of the wind. Short of the green in two, Kelleher contrived to "play a flop shot that you only see on television." The ball all but came back to him, but he halved the hole in double-bogey six when Foster three-putted. A drive and six-iron approach to 16 feet and two putts on the last was sufficient for the Portmarnock player to win the 18th in par, and he closed out his second-round opponent Alastair McKinley on the 17th in the evening.
Michael McDermott, seeking to become the first player in over a decade to successfully defend the title, progressed into the last 16 but faces a decidedly difficult third-round meeting with current East of Ireland champion Ken Kearney, a winner here in 1992. Stuart Paul, the reigning North of Ireland champion, also showed good form to progress while Gavin McNeill, who won the Irish Close on this course last June, again demonstrated his liking for the links with comfortable wins over Declan Brannigan and Gareth Mallon.
Meanwhile, Mark Campbell and Derek McNamara were unable to complete their second round due to fading light. Campbell, a former South of Ireland champion, was three up early on against McNamara, the Irish youths' champion of two years ago, but was brought back to level by the Connemara player. Their match was held up on the final green for 10 minutes after McNamara's ball moved as it was being marked and a ruling was required. By the time it was delivered and the players holed out - Campbell two-putting from 20 feet, and McNamara missing from four feet to win the match - the light had faded and both players took the option of resuming their encounter this morning.
FIRST ROUND D Dunne (Elm Park) bt G Massey (Hermitage) 3 and 2; G Wardlow (Shandon Park) bt R McDowell (Royal Belfast) 3 and 2; M Owens (Mallow) bt J Timoney (Headfort) 5 and 4; Colm Moriarty (Athlone) bt R Boal (Scrabo) 4 and 3; J McGinn (Greenore) bt D Morris (Limerick) 3 and 2; D Mortimer (Connemara) bt M Moreland (Scrabo) 3 and 2; P Dooley (Cork) bt L McDevitt (Rockaway) 4 and 3; T Rice (Limerick) bt C Montgomery (Malone) 5 and 4.
D Finn (Mallow) bt P McDonald (UCD/Woodbrook) 3 and 2; Chris Moriarty (Clandeboye) bt R Cannon (Balbriggan) 3 and 2; L Brady (Royal Dublin) w/o, T Dunlop (Holywood) disq; D Crowe (Dunmurry) bt M Murphy (Waterville) 4 and 3; E McMenamin (Ballybofey) bt D Gleeson (Old Conna) at 19th; S Paul (Tandragee) bt N Goulding (Portmarnock) 2 and 1; G Mallon (North West) bt J Neary (Donegal) 1 hole; G McNeill (Waterford) bt D Brannigan (Seapoint) 4 and 3.
M McDermott (Stackstown) bt M McTernan (Co Sligo) 1 hole; M Rowe (Athlone) bt D O'Donovan (Muskerry) 1 hole; K Kearney (Roscommon) bt T Ford (Co Sligo) 4 and 3; P McLaughlin (Ballyliffin) bt N Lavin (Royal Dublin) 2 and 1; A McCormick (Scrabo) bt E O'Sullivan (The Island) 4 and 3; M Collins (Sutton) bt J Moore (L&B) at 19th; E Kennedy (Strabane) bt A Morris (Belvoir Park) 3 and 2; P O'Keeffe (Douglas) bt C Doran (Banbridge) 3 and 1.
N Fox (Portmarnock) bt S McConnell (Ballyclare) 2 and 1; R Forsythe (Templepatrick) bt R McDaid (Co Sligo) 1 hole; D Sugrue (Killarney) bt M McGeady (City of Derry) 3 and 1; M Brett (Portmarnock) bt C Martin (Nenagh) 4 and 2; D Kelleher (Portmarnock) bt J Foster (Ballyclare) 1 hole; A McKinley (Shandon Park) bt D Ryan (Grange) 2 and 1; M Campbell (UCD/Stackstown) bt T Hayes (The K Club) 8 and 6; D McNamara (Connemara) bt R Duggan (Kilkenny) 5 and 4.
SECOND ROUND Wardlow bt Dunne 1 hole; Colm Moriarty bt Owens 6 and 4; Mortimer bt McGinn 3 and 2; Rice bt Dooley 5 and 4; Finn bt Chris Moriarty at 22nd; Brady bt Crowe 1 hole; Paul bt McMenamin 3 and 2; McNeill bt Mallon 2 and 1; McDermott bt Rowe 2 and 1; Kearney bt McLaughlin 5 and 4; McCormick bt Collins 4 and 3; Kennedy bt O'Keeffe 1 hole; Forsythe bt Fox 1 hole; Sugrue bt Brett at 20th; Kelleher bt McKinley 2 and 1; Campbell and McNamara level after 18 holes, match suspended due to fading light (to be resumed at 7.45am).
TODAY'S DRAW: Third round: 8.00 - Wardlow v Moriarty. 8.10 - Mortimer v Rice. 8.20 - Finn v Brady. 8.30 - Paul v McNeill. 8.40 - McDermott v Kearney. 8.50 - McCormick v Kennedy. 9.00 - Forsythe v Sugrue. 9.10: Kelleher v Campbell or McNamara.
