Tramore golfer Pat Murray is looking to continue his fantastic season as he holds a share of the lead heading into the final day at the Irish Mid-Amateur Men’s Championship in Tipperary.
Competitors faced a day of tough conditions with wind getting up around the course, but the experienced 53-year-old, whose parents live within walking distance of the Tipperary golf club, plotted his was around excellently to card the best round of the day, holing five birdies on his way to a 69, and a -2 total for the tournament.
“It was a tough day, one of the blusterier days you would get here in Tipperary. The greens are just so quick and so good here at the moment that hitting in at the wrong side causes problems. Kind of an uneventful round, bad bogey on the second and a really bad three putt on the tenth for bogey but five birdies other than that,” said Murray.
“Pretty rock solid but it’s nice to come back home, be able to walk from my parents’ house down to the golf club in the morning, don’t take the car, leave it there so it’s good, back somewhere I know.”
Brian Lane and Peter O’Keefe join Murray at the top of the leaderboard. Lane started his day with a double-bogey six but a birdie on four followed by an eagle on the sixth pushed the Muskerry golfer back up the table and a solid level par back nine, saw him sign for a -1 round of 71.
Douglas golfer, O’Keefe began his tournament with a -2, 70 and followed it up with another solid day of play, a level par 72 giving him a share of the lead and keeping him well in contention ahead of Sunday’s final round.
Murray knows exactly what it takes to put together a good round having been no stranger to the course over the years and is expecting the weather and course management to play a big part in where the title will find its home come Sunday evening.
“Tomorrow is going to be very much depending on what way the wind blows, if it still blows the same direction, there’s no body going to go mad out there,” said Murray.
“The greens are so good, you get a little bit aggressive you’re in trouble, you end up making three putts so tomorrow is only about being solid try an capitalise on the way out, the front nine is where you do your scoring around here and the back nine you hang for dear life, don’t take chances unless you have to.”
With just four shots separating tenth from first in the men’s championship it is very much still all to play for with 18 holes of stroke play remaining.
In the Women’s Championship Aideen Walsh cemented her place at the top of the leaderboard, following up her good start to the tournament with another impressive performance on Saturday morning, going one better this time around, carding a second round 71 for a -1 finish, and a four-shot lead over playing partner Shannon Burke (Ballinrobe) heading into the final day.
The defending champion began her day with an opening 36 across her first nine holes before bogeys on 10 and 11 threatened to throw the Lahinch golfer off course, Walsh though set herself right immediately, holing birdies on 12, 14 and 17 to help her close out the round with a back nine score of 35.
Walsh was the only player in the women’s field to card an under-par round, putting herself in the driving seat overnight and her performance so far has also seen her into contention for the best overall gross prize, just a shot behind the three leading men.
View the leaderboard here