Really looking forward to this tournament as I headed out to Southern Ireland to play Ballykisteen Golf Club near Limerick for next round of the EuroPro
Round 1
Finally a lovely sunny day greeted us and the course was in pristine condition
The most important thing for me was to get off to a solid start and keep in contention after round 1 and that is exactly what I did
Starting on the back nine first I reeled off 6 straight pars before a a birdie on the 16th (my 7th) got me to -1 under par
Two more pars to finish and I had finished the front nine in 35 -1
Onto the front nine now (my back) and again par after par kept me going in the right direction
I did make a bogey on the 7th and another on the 9th and my day one round was over with a solid +1 (73) and in great shape for day 2
Round 2
With the great conditions the scoring was very low from the day 1 so I knew now that steady wouldn’t be enough and I would have to shoot about -3 / -4 to make the cut line
I got off to a great start with pars on 1 & 2 before a birdie on the 3rd got me back to level par for the competition
Trouble on the next 3 holes see me make 3 bogeys in a row but I responded in great fashion with 3 excellent birdies on the spin to get me back on track
I now had nine holes to go and needed to shoot -3 to make the cut so attacking was now my only option
5 straight pars followed a birdie on the 15th got me to -1 and with two par 5’s to finish it was still possible but now tricky as these holes are well protected
A huge drive on the par 5 16th (hit too well) as it carried through the fairway and into the trees nearly 300 yards away, which seemed impossible to reach from the tee, left me in real trouble
left me no option but to chip out sideways which left me no chance of going for the green in two shots
Still with with over 250 yards to go I went for the green with my 3 wood which came just short into the water hazard. A drop and 3 putt saw me make an 8 and now needed to finish bidie, eagle on last two holes to make the cut
I made a par on 17 and on 18 my birdie putt just lipped out for another par
My total score was 146 (73 & 73) which was +2 for the tournament; a really solid score but just outside of the cut
here’s my scorecard:
I’m playing really solid steady golf at the moment and feel I’m very close to a top finish, just need to keep that bad hole off the card and I am nearly there
The location is a bit more local next week as I head to Royal ascot Golf Club to play on the Jamega Tour
As always thank you all for your support
Matt
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