The last time a former European Tour player returned as a reinstated amateur to tee it up in the East of Ireland at Baltray, Jim Carvill led by nine shots with a round to go, in 2005, and won the title by three.

Could Stephen Browne, the former European Amateur champion and two-time Challenge Tour winner, repeat the trick when he gets back to County Louth for the first time in 13 years this weekend? The bookies have made the 40-year-old father of two — soon to be a father of three — a 33/1 chance behind favourite and defending champion, Paul Dunne.

While Browne himself says he’s unlikely to make a winning return, he’s looking forward to one last championship golf hurrah in the event that launched him on the road to the European Tour way back in 2001.