Hogan hurries home in 29 to lead the qualifying

GOLF WEST OF IRELAND CHAMPIONSHIPEVEN IN hostile conditions, someone will always contrive to find a way. Yesterday, winds that originated on some arctic shore battered the dunes at Rosses Point to leave many egos bruised.

But Andrew Hogan, a 19-year-old Dubliner who once upon a time pulled his father's cart on these links in past championships, ignored the elements that featured gusts in excess of 40kph and a wind chill of -30C to emerge as leading qualifier in the West of Ireland Amateur Championship.

While most players were mainly concerned with surviving into the matchplay phase, Hogan had loftier ambitions. A plus-two handicap and full-time amateur, who has put his studies in UCD on hold to concentrate purely on golf, Hogan conjured up a second round 67, for 143, to finish the 36-hole qualifying one shot clear of Eoin Arthurs, of Forrest Little, and three clear of Irish Close champion Shane Lowry, Rory Leonard, Cian Curley and Nicky Grant.

Hogan's feat was most impressive. After nine holes of Saturday's first round, the Newlands player was eight over par, struggling and worried about checking out of the championship early.

It was time to batten down the hatches. Yesterday, Hogan produced a quite remarkable transformation that saw him come home in a mere 29 strokes, including a run of five successive birdies.

The secret? "It had to be my putting. It didn't matter how far the hole was, it just went in," said Hogan, who has represented Ireland at Boys' and Youths' level and is intent on moving on to a different level with the 2009 Walker Cup among his targets.

His is a wise head on young shoulders, willing to take it one step at a time to reach those goals.

For now, though, Hogan - who caddied in the West "six or seven times" for his dad, André - is aiming to convert that strokeplay form into the demands of matchplay fare, which gets under way over the Co Sligo links today with all of main contenders having safely negotiated a route through.

Irish international Paul Cutler, who had diced with danger after an opening 80, responded with a second-round 72, while national champion Lowry again confirmed his well-being with a 71.

"I've a good chance. I'm playing well and putting well," observed Lowry.

The only other player to match Hogan's second-round score was Grant, in the penultimate group. The Ulster player's bogey-free 67 enabled him to move into a four-way tie for third in the qualifying.

On a day when the greens at Rosses Point were left uncut as a precaution to allay the possibility of the strong wind moving balls, Hogan produced the best golf of all, his back nine purple patch featuring that run of five birdies from the 12th to the 16th.

"I'm believing a lot more in my capabilities," he explained.

In fact, the sequence was only ended on the 17th when his 18-foot birdie attempt horse-shoed out.

But he finished in some style, using a combination of the wind and adrenalin to hit a monster drive in excess of 400 yards over the back of the 18th green, before getting up and down, pitching to six feet, for a finishing birdie.

It gave him six birdies in seven holes, and allowed him to sign for a back nine of 29 that left most players in awe.

Although scores yesterday improved on Saturday's opening round, when the average score was 81.5, Hogan's run - which saw him roll in successive birdie putts of five feet, 15 feet, eight feet, 20 feet and 35 feet from the 12th - was only matched late in the evening, as the winds abated, by Grant.

Rory Leonard and Robert Cannon were the only other players to post sub-par scores, each shooting 70, Leonard to finish on 146 and Cannon a shot further back.

Englishman Jonathan Hurst, who led after the first round of qualifying, slipped back with 78 (including three double-bogeys) for 149, which nevertheless saw him comfortably qualify for the matchplay stage. The cut fell at 158.

Now the real questions are asked, and there are no places to hide.

Matchplay draw

FIRST ROUND

First quarter (from 7am at eight-minute intervals): G Hall (Edenderry) v J Fox (Portmarnock), C Doran (Banbridge) v R McCarthy (The Island), E McCormack (Galway) v G McGloin (Bundoran), N Kearney (Royal Dublin) v RJ Cannon (Laytown & Bettystown), G Lawlor (City West) v M Lavelle (K Club), I Winstanley (Formby, UK) v E Arthurs (Forrest Little), D O'Donovan (Muskerry) v A McCloy (Ballymena), S Ward (Co Louth) v C Cunningham (Carton House).

Second quarter (8.04): J Monaghan (The Island) v R Maher (Nenagh), N Gorey (Lee Valley) v J Senior (Heysham, UK), R Boal (Castle) v P Buckley (Kanturk), J Lyons (Galway) v B Walton (The Island), M Hemphill (Portstewart) v B Cashman (Belvoir Park), D Crowe (Dunmurry) v A McCormick (Scrabo), S Webster (Castle) v N Grant (Knock), S Lowry (Esker Hills) v M Durcan (Co Sligo).

Third quarter (9.08): J Hurst (Shawhill, UK) v P Killeen (Claremorris), A Harrington (Cork) v R Durnin (Laytown & Bettystown), G McDermott (Co Sligo) v W McCully (Donaghadee), B Jones (Cuddington, UK) v T Neenan (Lahinch), A Hogan (Newlands) v H Diamond (Holywood), D Finn (Mallow) v D Scully (Galway), P O'Hanlon (Curragh) v B Fowles (Wentworth, UK), A McAllister (US) v B Keenan (The Heath).

Fourth quarter (10.12): P Cutler (Portstewart) v E O'Sullivan (The Island), D Sutton (Lockerbie, UK) v K McDonagh (Athlone), D Lernihan (Castle) v M Sinclair (Knock), S Crowe (Dunmurry) v JP Hughes (Douglas), C Curley (Newlands) v P Purdy (Shandon Park), A Harty (West Waterford) v D Downie (Sutton), R Leonard (Banbridge) v C O'Connor (Athlone), K Stack (Dungarvan/UCC) v D Morgan (Mullingar).

Strokeplay details in SPORTS ROUND-UP