American Tapie tames Ballyliffin breeze

By Steve Todd, Seniors Tour Press Officer
American Alan Tapie birdied the last hole to move two shots clear at the Irish Seniors Open in association with Failte Ireland and Allied Irish Bank after taming the gusty conditions at Ballyliffin Golf Club today.
Tapie shot five birdies and just the one bogey on the 13th hole to card a four under par total of 67, the joint lowest first round total on the European Seniors Tour so far this season with Bob Cameron’s 67 in Poland.
The 57 year old, who finished tied 11th in his last tournament in Jersey behind winner Tony Johnstone, said he enjoyed the testing challenge of another links course.
He said: “I started off well, hitting a lot of good drives. I only made one bogey today on 13 when I didn’t hit my second shot well and came up short in the bunker and made bogey.
“I missed the first green and chipped into two feet and holed the putt but other than that I played pretty well. I was in control out there and I’m happy with four under.
“There’s a bit of wind, like there has been for the last two days but it was nice out there. The wind is getting stronger but I managed to deal with it.
“I’ve had a lot of links experience. I’ve had some good rounds at Royal St Davids and played well in Jersey. I’m pretty familiar with links golf and I like it.
“I don’t hit the ball too high so I don’t have a problem keeping it down in the wind. I’ve changed to a hybrid club with a high kick point and that keeps the ball low for me.
“This course is about as linksy as you can get. You get all different lies on the fairways and it’s a good test. You’ll be lucky to go all three days and not find any trouble out here. You’ll have to deal with it when it comes. I was fortunate not to have to today. I was pretty trouble free today.
“On the last hole I hit two good shots. I didn’t really know what to do on the second shot as those traps come right into play so I didn’t lay up and I went for it. I caught it wrong and had to stand in the trap but I used a wedge to chip to within 10 feet and holed the putt. It was nice to finish on a birdie.”
Tapie is two shots clear of Italian Giuseppe Cali and Argentine Luis Carbonetti, who both carded opening rounds of 69. England’s Gordon J Brand continued his fine recent form with a one under par 70, although he would have been level with Tapie had it not been for a trio of bogeys starting on the 15th.
Alfonoso Barrera had a birdie eagle finish to join him on one under par while Cali’s fellow Italian Costantino Rocca, the defending champion, also eagled the 18th to finish four shots off the lead on level par.
Rocca said: “It’s not easy out there with the wind but I like this links course. When you hit it well out there you can make a good connection with the ball.”
The evergreen 72 year old Bob Charles continued his remarkable run of shooting under his age for the fourth consecutive tournament, with a level par round of 71. Sam Torrance finished with two birdies to join Cali and Charles in a group of 11 players on level par, including Ireland’s Des Smyth.
FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 72
67 A Tapie (USA).
69 G Cali (Ita), L Carbonetti (Arg).
70 G Brand (Eng), A Barrera (Arg).
71 B Charles (Nzl), M Piñero (Esp), D Good (Aus), J Quiros (Esp), S Torrance (Sco), C Rocca (Ita), N Job (Eng), K Tomori (Jpn), S Owen (Nzl), B Longmuir (Sco), D Smyth (Irl).
72 J Bland (RSA) ; A Sowa (Arg) ; B Cameron (Eng) ; J Chillas (Sco), D Merriman (Aus) ; T Charnley (Eng) ; D Russell (Eng) ; D O'Sullivan (Irl).
73 L Higgins (Irl) ; B Heuchan (Can) ; J Hoskison (Eng) ; D Cambridge (Jam) ; S Lyle (Sco), A Garrido (Esp), E Rodriguez (Esp) ; T Rastall (Eng) ; B Lincoln (RSA) ; A Murray (Eng) ; J Rhodes (Eng), T Giedeon (Ger), R Drummond (Sco), J Sallat (Fra).
74 P O'Hagan (Irl) ; B Larratt (Eng) ; H Carbonetti (Arg) ; A Franco (Par) ; K Spurgeon (Eng) ; E Polland (Nir), T Johnstone (Zim) ; T Allen (Eng) ; S Ginn (Aus) ; P Dugeny (Fra) ; J Rivero (Esp) ; E McMenamin (Ire) (am).
75 T Gale (Aus) ; G Encina (Chi) ; A Fernandez (Chi) ; S Ebihara (Jpn) ; M Poxon (Eng) ; C Mason (Eng) ; G McGimpsey (NIr) (am).
76 J Heggarty (Nir) ; J Hall (Eng) ; D Hospital (Esp) ; T Price (Wal) ; I Woosnam (Wal) ;
77 B Boyd (USA) ; M Miller (Sco) ; J Benda (USA) ; E Darcy (Irl) ; M Bembridge (Eng) ; P Leonard (Nir) ; P Teravainen (US) , V Smyth (Ire) (am).
78 P Oakley (US), J Bruner (US).
80 I Mosey (Eng) ; M Gray (Sco).
83 G Hopkins (US).