Brilliant Dunbar leads Irish charge

ALAN DUNBAR led the Irish brigade at the 115th British Amateur Championship in Scotland yesterday with a champagne performance.

The Rathmore star tamed the tricky North Berwick course in a fresh easterly wind with a sizzling 68 – three under par – to be just one stroke off the pace in the first qualifying round and put himself in pole position to grab one of the top places in the knock-out draw.

He achieved his excellent score despite a scrappy outward half which he covered in 37 with eight pars and a bogey five on the 366-yard seventh.