‘Career’ amateurs rule the roost

FOR a pleasant change, all four South of Ireland semi-finalists at Lahinch this morning are career amateurs, men who work during the day and play golf in their spare time.

So a growing trend for these events to be dominated by young men in their teens and early 20s who play golf full-time has been reversed, at least for the time being. The first match at 8.30 this morning involves the 30-year-old Robert Cannon from Laytown & Bettystown and Eamonn Haugh, 43, of Castletroy.

They will be followed a quarter of an hour later by Gary O’Flaherty, a 34-year-old from Cork Golf Club, and Limerick’s Irish Close champion Pat Murray, who celebrated his 38th birthday last Friday