Six Scots beat halfway cut in Irish stroke-play at Royal Dublin

Murrayshall's Gavin Dear action image by courtesy of Tom Ward Photography. Click on it to enlarge.

Gavin Dear leads and Wallace

Booth still has double vision

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Scotland's top player in the R&A's world amateur golf rankings, Gavin Dear from Murrayshall, Perth, showed his class to lead at halfway in the AIB-sponsored Irish men's amateur stroke-play championship over Royal Dublin's testing links.
Dear, a member of Scotland's 2008 World Cup winning team in Adelaide, fired a superb round of 69 to add to his opening 76 and his two-over-par tally of 146 leads by a single stroke from Nicky Grant (Knock) who matched the Scot's second round - the pair being the only players to break 70 over the opening two days in which the wind has varied between a 30mph gale and a 20mph "breeze" for the second round. Germany's Philipp Westermann lies a stroke further back on 148, one ahead of Walker Cup squad members Wallace Booth, pictured above by Cal Carson Golf Agency, the reigning Scottish stroke-play champion from Comrie, and Niall Kearney (The Royal Dublin).
Booth shot a one-over-par 73 today in slightly improved weather conditions and that Scottish-Irish double, last achieved by Aberdeen's Richie Ramsay is definitely still in his sights.

WIND, WIND AND MORE WIND

After the 30mph gale that ruined so many cards on Friday, several tees on the back nine were moved forward for the second round when the wind had dropped to a more manageable 25mph … but Royal Dublin’s links, with or without a wind, is a tough test if you are not hitting the ball.
Grant, a 22-year-old past Irish boys and youths cap from Knock, has not played for Ireland since 2006 when he was suspended for six months for unspecified “disciplinary reasons.”
He put together a fine round of 69 to add to his opening 78 to lead at three-over-par 147 until late starter Gavin Dear came in to grab the pole position.
Westermann, a 20-year-old from Hamburg, had six birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey in returning a 70 for 148.
Only the leading 39 players qualified for Sunday's final two rounds. Which meant that only six Scots of the starting Tartan Army of 19 survived the cut.

Apart from Dear and Booth, there were Ross Kellett (Colville Park), Scott Borrowman (Dollar) and Paul Betty (Hayston), all tied 18th on 155. James Ross (Royal Burgess), little known outwith the Edinburgh area - for the moment, completed the Scots qualifiers on 157, the limit mark.

Betty, level with Booth at the start of the day, sagged from a praiseworthy 76 in the gale on Friday, to a 79 for 145 – eight shots off the lead and the same mark as Kellett who improved by five shots to a 75 today. Borrowman duplicated Kellett's 80-75 rounds. Ross scored 80-78.

Among the non-qualifiers was 17-year-old Pedro Figueiredo from Portugal with scores of 80 and 74 for 10-over-par 154. Last year he won the Irish title by seven strokes with a 10-under-par total. Sic transit gloria.

QUALIFIERS FOR SUNDAY'S
FINAL TWO ROUNDS
Par 144 (2x72)
146 G Dear (Scotland) 77 69.
147 N Grant (Knock) 78 69.
148 P Westermann (Germany) 78 70.
149 W Booth (Scotland) 76 73, N Kearney (The Royal Dublin) 75 74.
151 T Hakula (Finland) 77 74, R McCarthy (The Island) 77 74, F Keenan (England) 74 77.
152 M Thistleton (England) 79 73, P Cutler (Portstewart) 78 74, R Leonard (Banbridge) 77 75.
153 D Lernihan (Castle) 78 75, S Hutsby (England) 78 75, D Whitnell (England) 78 75.
154 L Goddard (England) 81 73, P Purdy (Shandon Park) 79 75, A Runcie (Wales) 78 76.
155 C Curley (Newlands) 81 74, E Arthurs (Forrest Little) 81 74, R Kellett (Scotland) 80 75, S Borrowman (Scotland) 80 75, S Lowry (Esker Hills) 79 76, P Betty (Scotland) 76 79.
156 S Einhaus (Germany) 82 74, S Hodgson (England) 80 76, M Durcan (Co. Sligo) 80 76, H Satama (Finland) 80 76, J Fox (Portmarnock) 75 81.
157 D Coyle (Co. Louth) 83 74, G McDermott (Co. Sligo) 82 75, A Dunbar (Rathmore) 80 77, R Prophet (England) 79 78, B Walton (The Island) 79 78, J Monaghan (The Island) 78 79158: L Lennox (Moyola Park) 82 76, G McGrane (The Royal Dublin) 82 76, M Glauert (Germany) 82 76, J Ross (Scotland) 80 78, A Hogan (Newlands) 80 78
MISSED THE CUT
158 S Moloney (Castletroy) 78 80, M Veijalainen (Finland) 75 83.
159 M Violas (Portugal) 85 74, P O'Hara (Scotland) 85 74, P Figueiredo (Portugal) 85 74, P McLean (Scotland) 82 77, S Brown (England) 82 77, C Doran (Banbridge) 81 78, M Rivard (Canada) 81 78, G Paterson (Scotland) 80 79, D Ruddy (Thurles) 79 80, K McNicoll (Scotland) 79 80, R Laino (England) 78 81.
160 G Yates (Scotland) 84 76, C Robb (Scotland) 83 77, J Carlota (Portugal) 82 78, J Morris (Rosslare) 82 78, C Durnian (England) 82 78, I Brennan (Greenore) 82 78, C Drumm (Rosslare) 82 78, R McNamara (Headfort) 79 81, M Bookless (Scotland) 79 81, R Durnin (Laytown & Bettystown) 79 81, B Anderson (Co. Sligo) 78 82.
161 T McGowan (Strandhill) 84 77, D O'Donovan (Muskerry) 83 78, G McGee (Malone) 82 79, L Brady (The Royal Dublin) 79 82.
162 K McDonagh (Athlone) 84 78, P Murray (Limerick) 84 78, S Binning (Scotland) 84 78, C O'Malley (Westport) 83 79, S McEwan (Scotland) 81 81, M Buggy (Castlecomer) 81 81, R Cannon (Laytown & Bettystown) 80 82.
163 T Rodrigues (Portugal) 86 77, M Brett (Portmarnock) 85 78, T Fay (Rush) 84 79, D Murphy (Portarlington) 82 81.
164 J Jóia (Portugal) 87 77, M Downes (England) 85 79, B Reiter (Austria) 82 82, T Dogil (Germany) 82 82, G Dillon (The Heath) 80 84, T Pulkkanen (Finland) 79 85.
165 P Dunne (Greystones) 84 81, G Lawlor (Newbridge) 82 83, T O' Flynn (Fota Island) 81 84, J McGinn (Laytown & Bettystown) 80 85, M Cunningham (Scotland) 79 86.
166 C Schroder (Germany) 90 76, R Cronheim (USA) 88 78, H Bacher (Austria) 84 82, C Wilson (USA) 82 84, P Shields (Scotland) 82 84, T Beaumont (England) 80 86.
167 O Sharpe (England) 86 81, S Wolters (Germany) 86 81, O Mikkola (Finland) 83 84, M Hammond (Moyola Park) 82 85.

168 A Dooley (Glasson) 88 80, R McGee (Ireland) 86 82.
169 K Nicol (Scotland) 89 80, G Dunne (Seapoint) 88 81, C Thomson (Scotland) 83 86, R Bridges (Stackstown) 83 86.
170 J Hendrick (Scotland) 88 82, A Kirstein (Germany) 83 87, P Croonquist (USA) 81 89.

171 N Woods (East Clare) 91 80, K Samooja (Finland) 87 84173: F Illouz (France) 89 84, G O'Connor-Brooks (USA) 86 87.

174 M Reardon (USA) 86 88.

175 M Aurnhammer (Germany) 89 86, A Llorente (Colombia) 88 87, B Campbell (Malone) 86 89.

178 G Perne (Slovenia) 90 88.

Disqualified - E Kennedy (England) 85 DQ, D Morgan (Mullingar) 82 DQ.

Withdrew: J Haglund (Finland) 83 WD