Aces can't stop Conway

Soth of Ireland Amateur ChampionshipRecord books were searched in vain at Lahinch yesterday to find a parallel for a hole in one feat achieved during the opening two rounds of the South of Ireland Golf championship being played out over the Co Clare links.It was not that both achievers were beaten in their matches but that the same player was victorious in each match.

Graham Conway (20), son of the Mallow professional, could scarcely believe it when his opponent, John Reynolds a plus one player from Dungarvan, yesterday holed out at the 154-yard fifth, formerly the Dell hole.

On Saturday, in the first round, John Neary, Donegal, had a hole in one at the 195 yard 16th with a six-iron.

"At the time I was two up," said Conway "but I just kept my head down and won the 17th for the match."

Yesterday, he said, "none of us saw the ball going into the hole at The Dell because of the big sand bank in front of the green. We searched for some time before finding it in the hole".

There were no great surprises during the opening two rounds of the Shell-sponsored, 102nd championship. The holder, Colm Moriarty (Athlone), beat Lisburn's Stephen Crowe (Dunmurry) by 3 and 1.

Even established players found the restored links more difficult, but they considered it to be fairer.

Former International Niall Goulding (Portmarnock), who was beaten 6 and 5 by fellow banker Pat Lyons (Cork) and who has been playing at Lahinch for 25 years, described the new arrangement as "magnificent". It is, he said, now one of the most challenging and enjoyable links courses in the country.

Irish Close champion 22-year-old Mark O'Sullivan (Galway) beat John Kavanagh (Castletroy) by 3 and 2 in a match which had some drama.

The rules committee were called out when Kavanagh's ball was lost in a greenside bunker exposed to the west wind at the new eighth hole. It was found after raking the sand. But he finished badly and lost the hole and then went two down at the turn.

O'Sullivan found the rough from the tee at the 577-yard 12th, now the longest hole on the course. He recovered to the fairway, where he saw children but his ball was gone.

"I could not say that they had taken it but I played another ball."

With this ball he got a half in double bogey seven where Kavanagh was in trouble all the way. O'Sullivan birdied the next and went three up with a par at the 14th.