Promising Hoey passed over for K Club invite

SEVERAL Irish golfers, notably Belfast man Michael Hoey, are disappointed at being passed over for invitations into this week’s Smurfit European Open at The K Club.

Hoey, British Amateur champion in 2001, has been performing consistently well on the European Challenge Tour and would have benefited hugely from playing a tournament of this importance.

Among those invited are fading lights of the European Tour like Englishmen Roger Chapman, Jamie Spence and Peter Baker, a trio also favoured at last month’s Nissan Irish Open, and Paul Eales and Gary Orr.