Irish eyes are smiling on Faldo Final

Day 1

Report from Colin Callander
Ireland’s Kieran Lynch carded a two under par 70 to claim a share of the lead after the first round of the 14th Faldo Series Europe Grand Final over the Faldo Course at the Lough Erne Resort in Co. Fermanagh, Northern Ireland today.
The 16 year-old Irish boys’ international from the Skibbereen and West Carberry Golf Club in West Cork goes into the second round tied with England’s Jack Brooks and Masamichi Ito, the 2010 Faldo Series Asia Boys’ champion from Japan.
Two Englishmen, Josh Loughrey (Wrag Barn) and Harrison Greenberry (Exeter), share fourth place on one under par 71 while three other Englishmen, Hugo Dobson (Fynn Valley), Henry Tomlinson (Royal Lytham and St Anne’s) and Billy Dowling (Truro), are tied in sixth place on one over par 73.
Lynch made his score on the Faldo Course’s formidable par-5s.
He began his round with three successive pars but then burst into action with birdies on the 527yd par-5 fourth, the 560yd par-5 sixth and the 568yd par-5 ninth. He dropped two shots when he missed the green on the treacherous uphill 203yd par-3 13th but then immediately made amends with his fourth birdie of the day on the 554yd par-5 14th.
“I played very well but I’m a bit surprised that I’m sharing the lead in what is such a strong field,” said Lynch. “Now I need to get some rest and see if I can keep it going tomorrow.”
Ito came into the 14th Faldo Series Europe Grand Final as one of the favourites and quickly consolidated that reputation with a solid round that would have been even better but for finding the water with his second shot on his way to running up a double bogey 6 at the 17th.
“It is very tough out there,” said Ito, who has just turned 15 and won the Faldo Series Asia title at Mission Hills, China, in March, while still just 14. “The wind was stronger than in practice yesterday and you had to be careful on every shot.
“But I putted well and I’m very happy with my score.”
Brooks, who plays out of the Pleasington Golf Club in Lancashire, and won the 2003 English Under-14 Boys’ title, qualified for the Grand Final after starting with four consecutive birdies at the Faldo Series UK Championship at Trentham and he nearly duplicated that feat at Lough Erne.
He opened with a 9-iron to 12 inches for a birdie on the 367yd par-4 opening hole and then also picked up shots on the 329yd par-4 second and the 162yd par-3 third before dropping a shot on the 174yd par-3 fifth.
Brooks made his fourth birdie of the day at the ninth to go out in 34 and then fired eight pars and a bogey on the 17th to claim the early clubhouse lead.
“I would have taken that at the start of the day,” he admitted. “I made a fast start a few weeks ago in the qualifying event at Trentham and I remembered that when I almost holed my second shot at the first.
“That settled me down and I played pretty well after that. I did drop a couple of shots but the course was much harder than in practice so a 70 is a pretty good score.”
England’s Holly Clyburn and Yi-Chen Liu from Chinese Taipei both carded three over par rounds of 75 to share the lead after the first round of the Girls’ championship. They head into the second round two shots ahead of English duo, Katie Burman and Danielle Anderson, and three in front of Ireland’s Chloe Ryan and Katherine O’Connor from Wales.
Clyburn, a member of the 2010 GB and I Curtis Cup team, played a total of 11 rounds at last week’s England County Finals at Keddleston Park, Derbyshire, and that may have accounted for a slow start that saw her bogey the first and then drop two shots at the 416yd par-4 eighth where she drove into a fairway bunker and then 3-putted for a 6.
However, Holly went on to birdie the 294yd 10th and then claim a share of the lead with a further birdie on the long 14th where she pitched to within a couple of inches of the hole.
“It’s a tough course and you have to think about every single shot”, said Clyburn, from the Woodhall Spa club in Lincolnshire. “I didn’t get off to the best start but after I took 6 on the eighth I changed my ball and that gave me a fresh start.
“That’s something I do quite a lot when things aren’t going well and it worked today because my golf got better after that.”
Liu, the Under-16 Girls’ champion at the Faldo Series Asia Grand Final at Mission Hills, was far from happy with her 75 which included two birdies and four dropped shots.
“I didn’t play very well,” she said. “I have got a lot of work to do before I go out tomorrow morning. I need to sort out my driving and I have a lot of work to do on my putting.”
Chloe Ryan, from Castleroy, consolidated a fine day for the home Irish golfers. Her opening 78 left her three shots behind Liu in the Girls’ Under-16 age group category.
Patrick Small from Bangor carded a 74 to claim a share of fourth place in the Boys’ Under-21 age group while Conor Glynn, from Carton House, the 2010 Faldo Series Irish champion, posted an eight over par 80 to go into the second day in a share of 13th place in the Boys’ Under-18 category.
The day concluded with a long game clinic for the competitors with Sir Nick Faldo and his coach Keith Wood. The 54-hole championship finishes on Thursday with the final round.
LEADING SCORES
Boys’ Under-21
70 Jack Brooks (Eng)
71 Josh Loughrey (Eng)
73 Hugo Dobson (Eng)
74 Patrick Small (NIre), Adam Andrews (Eng)
75 Sam Robertshawe (Eng)
77 Jonathan Bell (Eng), James Maw (Eng), Max Thunberg (Swe)
Boys’ Under-18
73 Henry Tomlinson (Eng), Billy Downing (Eng)
74 Jack Colgate (Eng)
75 Steve Jones (Eng)
76 Sam Cutting (Eng), Craig Ross (Scot), Andrew Scrimshaw (Eng)
77 Nicholas Inderthal (Ger), Nathan Kimsey (Eng)
Boys’ Under-16
70 Kieran Lynch (Ire), Masamichi Ito (Jap)
71 Harrison Greenberry (Eng)
74 Ewan Scott (Sco), Benjamin David (Eng)
75 James Newton (Eng)
Girls’ Under-21
75 Holly Clyburn (Eng)
77 Katie Burman (Eng), Danielle Anderson (Eng)
78 Katherine O’Connor (Wal)
80 Dana Greenslade (Eng)
81 Lianne Jansen (Ned)
Girls’ Under-16
75 Yi-Chen Liu (Cht)
78 Chloe Ryan (Ire)
79 Kyra Horlock (Eng), Sophie van Wijngaarden (Ned)
82 Abi Laker (Eng), Jessica Evans (Wal)