NORTH OF IRELAND AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP:DARA LERNIHAN gave the Irish selectors a prod at Royal Portrush yesterday when he snatched the silver medal as leading qualifier in the Magners North of Ireland Amateur Open Championship.
With Conor Doran and Johnny Caldwell sitting pretty on six-under-par 136 for their qualifying rounds on the Valley and Dunluce Courses, and Caldwell in pole position because of a better back nine, Lernihan breezed in to tie the lead but with a 68 from Dunluce.
That was three shots better than Doran and Caldwell from the jumbo track on which the medal is decided in the case of a tie.
"That makes up a little for losing the final of the Irish Close at Belvoir Park and, hopefully, I can build on this for the rest of the week," said Lernihan (21).
The plus-two handicapper from the Castle club stormed off birdie-birdie, but was hauled back to earth with bogey fives at the fourth and seventh holes. However, he hit the trophy trail again with birdies at nine and 10, and added others at 13 and 17.
Caldwell pencilled in birdies at two, 16 and 17, with dropped shots at seven and 11 in his 71. At the second, he two-putted from 10 yards off the green, lowered a 10-footer at 16 and hit two drivers and a wedge to four feet at 17.
Doran's 71 was carved out in unusual fashion. He started off in a blaze to be four-under-par after 10 holes, then made four bogeys in a row. A birdie on the home green, from 12 feet, was a fighting finish.
Esker Hills plus-four handicapper Shane Lowry posted his second 69. He birdied the second, fourth (from 30 feet) and fifth holes, but missed the green for bogey at six, before another birdie from 10 feet at seven.
A lost ball at the 10th was somewhat offset when he made birdie with his second to pencil in a bogey, but he also bogeyed the 12th before a run of four pars and a birdie-birdie finish.
The cut was made on 147 but not all on that mark got through to this morning's first round of matchplay. Notables who missed out on qualifying were Niall Kearney of Royal Dublin and Scrabo's Andrew McCormick.
Kearney was a member of the Irish winning team in Turin while McCormick was a semi-finalist in the Irish Close earlier this month.
Matchplay qualifiers and draw
(Dunluce first, Valley second - Par 142)
136 - C Doran (Banbridge) 71 65; J Caldwell (Clandeboye) 71 65; D Lernihan (Castle) 68 68.
138 - S Lowry (Esker Hills) 69 69.
139 - D Downie (Sutton) 71 68; A Dunbar (Rathmore) 72 67; A Morris (Belvoir Pk) 74 65.
140 - D Crowe (Dunmurry) 72 68; C Hughes (Royal Portrush) 71 69.
141 - R Bridges (NUIM/Stackstown) 73 68; I Kettyle (Rathmore) 73 68; G McDermott (Co Sligo) 75 66; G McAuley (Dunmurry) 71 70.
142 - D Coyne (Galway) 74 68; Donal Mulholland (Castlerock) 75 67.
143 - J Heaslip (Ballyclare) 73 70; B Campbell (Malone) 78 65; P Davidson (Dungannon) 74 69; D Reilly (Westmanstown) 73 70; A O'Callaghan (Douglas) 71 72; S Ward (Co Louth) 78 65: C O'Malley (Westport) 76 67; P Doherty (Ballyliffin) 75 68; A Kerr (Clandeboye) 74 69; C Moulds (Lisburn) 74 69.
144 - A Daly (Delgany) 74 70; D Sutton (Lockerbie) 74 70; R Evans (Moyola Park) 73 71; P O'Leary (Lucan) 72 72; G McGee (Malone) 71 73; P O'Hanlon (Curragh) 74 70; J Crangle (Fortwilliam) 76 68; P Cutler (Portstewart) 74 70.
145 - T McClements (Holywood) 77 68; A Hogan (Newlands) 76 69; M Gaynor (South Carolina) 75 70; J Turner (Royal Portrush) 74 71; C Brown (Royal Portrush) 74 71; G Smith (Stirling) 74 71.
146 - D Baker (Downpatrick) 76 70; P Buckley (Kanturk) 75 71; RJ McDowell (Royal Belfast) 75 71; S Kelly (Lockerbie) 73 73; B Best (Rathmore) 73 73; S Crowe (Dunmurry) 71 75; J Hawthorne (Fortwilliam) 73 73; R Boal (Castle) 79 67; R McNamara (Headfort) 77 69; A McKinley (Shandon Park) 74 72; P Reavey (Warrenpoint) 74 72.
147 - L Ashby (Killerig) 76 71; N O'Reilly (Clonmel) 76 71; G Armstrong (Carrickfergus) 75 72; P McCabrey (Lurgan) 73 74; P O'Kane (Moyola Park) 73 74; B Hobson (Shandon Park) 71 76; D Coghlan (Royal Dublin) 75 72; J Stevenson (Royal Portrush) 77 70; P Thompson (Ballyclare) 76 71; B Galway (Cairndhu) 75 72; G McDowell (Rathmore) 75 72; C Crangle (Fortwilliam) 74 73; F Rafferty (Dungannon) 76 71; R Cannon (Laytown Bettystown) 75 72.
Non-Qualifiers on 147 - J McKinstry (Cairndhu) 79 68; R Leonard (Banbridge) 77 70; D Beattie (Whitehead) 77 70.
Matchplay
First Round
7.00 (8-minute intervals): S Crowe v Reilly; McCabrey v Hughes; Hogan v Sutton; Rafferty v Lernihan; Baker v Heaslip; OKane v Kettyle; Smith v J Crangle; OReilly v Lowry.
8.04: Boal v Moulds; Coghlan v A Dunbar; McKinley v Campbell; Galway v Ward; Kelly v Coyne; Buckley v McAuley; O'Leary v Evans; Stevenson v Caldwell.
9.16: O'Hanlon v Ashby; McGee v Brown; McDermott v Reavey; Mulholland v Best; Doran v Cannon; O'Malley v McClements; Downie v Armstrong; Kerr v Hawthorne.
10.20: Cutler v Thompson; Daly v Turner; Bridges v Hobson; O'Callaghan v RJ McDowell; D Crowe v G McDowell; Doherty v Gaynor; Morris v C Crangle; Davidson v McNamara.
Second Round tees-off at 12.20.
