McGeady aiming to build on Fota finish
McGeady and Waterville’s David Higgins were the best of the Irish at Cork’s Fota Island Golf Resort last week as they tied for fifth place behind Scottish victor Elliot Saltman in the Audi Cork Irish Masters while Cutler and fellow former Walker Cupper Jonny Caldwell tied for 10th.
Saltman’s win and £10,000 (€12,500) first prize helped catapult him to the top of the 888poker.com EuroPro Tour order of merit after seven events. So with the same amount of money on offer at the Christy O’Connor Jnr-designed Concra Wood near Castleblayney, McGeady hopes to carry his good form from a closing 64 at Fota into this week and close in on a top-five place in the order of merit which would secure a Challenge Tour card for next season.
“I’m looking forward to it, it’s a great golf course up there on the side of the lake, an amazing place,” Derryman McGeady said. “You’ve got to hit good golf shots and I’m going to take as many positives as I can from my last round at Fota and hopefully bring them into this week.”
McGeady is desperate to get back on the Challenge Tour, having seen his category status drop last season and starts on Europe’s second tier circuit dry up, while also losing his Team Ireland grant.
“I’ve played every event on the EuroPro Tour this year, otherwise I’m relying on invites for Challenge Tour events. I haven’t got any of those yet so I just have to keep putting in requests. There’s no Irish event on the Challenge Tour these days so it’s very difficult for Irish players to get into fields.
“You’re very reliant on sponsorship on this tour because unless you’re in the top five you’re not making any money. So you need sponsorship to have any chance of making it and I’ve been with (sponsors) McCambridge Duffy for six years now and they’ve been very good to me. I was on Team Ireland but got dropped off it this year so I have to try and reapply next year.”
Portstewart’s Cutler was not smiling after his first experience of Concra Wood but he is looking forward to competing there this week.
“I’ve played it once before and in tough conditions the day I played it,” Cutler said. “Hopefully it’s better this time but it looks a fantastic set-up. It does have that inland links feel to it, and it’s kind of windy up in the hills, so it’s got that wind factor that links golf has.”
Designer O’Connor Jnr is delighted his four-year-old course has received the seal of approval from a professional tour and is confident its players will find it a testing examination. “Concra would remind you of a links course on inland ground, you’re always playing away or into the wind, so hopefully it is a factor. So the wind does blow here but never ferociously and there are several sheltered golf holes. There’s something like 4,000 acres of lake surrounding the golf course but it sits in amongst some undulating hills and it’s more Swiss-like, I would say. It’s a beautiful place.”
It’s also one O’Connor is backing to host an Irish Open in the future. “Absolutely. I hope Concra Wood hosts an Irish Open and I believe it’s a golf course that is well capable of handling it. The golf course is a hell of a test of golf and it could host any tournament of any rank.”
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