IRISH AMATEUR STROKEPLAY CHAMPIONSHIP:THE PERNICKETY weather front which combined gusting winds with heavy rain showers proved to be a nuisance for those competing in the Irish Amateur Open championship at Royal Dublin yesterday.
But, as one of those who moved into contention acknowledged, such inconveniences as putting on and taking off rain gear and working out how best to shape a shot are minor when compared to other challenges in life.
For sure, Kelan McDonagh, a graduate of Maynooth and former Irish Youths champion, knows all about perspective.
Earlier this year, his girlfriend – Claire Condron – was diagnosed with cancer and two weeks underwent a bone marrow transplant.
Yesterday McDonagh opened with a 72 that left him two shots adrift of first round leaders Simon Ward and Tiarnan McLarnon.
On a day when the wind led to second-guessing club selection, with Italian Alessandro Bogoni suffering more than most in registering a fortitude-building round of 92, Co Louth’s Ward and Massereene’s McLarnon benefited from afternoon starts – when the wind eased slightly – to post their rounds, leaving them one ahead of American Mike Miller and Ulsterman Dermot McElroy.
Only four players managed to beat par, and McDonagh was the only one to match par.
“Over the years, I’d throw away a few shots here and there just by getting annoyed. But, now, it doesn’t really matter where the ball goes as long as I can find it again,” said McDonagh of the perspective he has found through his girlfriend’s illness.
“You just get on with it. Whether you make par, birdie or bogey, it doesn’t matter. You just walk to the next tee anyway.”
McDonagh, who lost his place on the Irish panel last year, worked hard over the winter on his game and adopted a new regime after his girlfriend was diagnosed in January: he moved to Kilcock and joined Carton House.
“I’m playing there in the mornings, go into the gym in the afternoon and then go in to see Claire in the evenings. It’s a kind of built-in rigid routine every week and it’s kind of helping my golf . . . I’ve had a pretty strict regime over the last three or four months.
“It’s nice to see some reward for the hard work I’ve been putting in. I really have been pushing myself hard, so it’s nice to see some fruition at the end of it.
“Hopefully it’ll lead to better things at the weekend,” he added.
McLarnon, the Irish universities champion, and Ward topped the first-round leaderboard but only had to look over their shoulders to be aware of the quality of the field in pursuit.
McLarnon sank a 60-footer for birdie on the 18th – his fourth of the round to go with efforts at the third, 11th and 16th – to set the clubhouse target which was matched less than an hour later by Ward who benefited from a practice round on Thursday with European Tour player Shane Lowry.
For McElroy, the 18-year-old from Ballymena, yesterday’s round was disciplined if not spectacular in that he started with 10 straight pars in what he called “boring” golf.
It was effective, though, and the new putter in his bag – a mallet instead of a blade, prompted by some “horrendous” putting in early-season trips to Australia and Spain – ensured that he was again firmly ensconced at the business end of the leaderboard with the weekend to look forward to.
