Coughlan sets pace after quick-fire 66

Just ten players broke par but the GUI was the big winner on day one of the AIG Irish Amateur Close as the 132-strong field averaged just under four hours to get around Galway Golf Club.

With “Ready Golf” in operation, the time par was set at 4 hours 15 minutes and the field raced around in quarter-of-an-hour less with Castleknock’s Paul Coughlan the leader as he overcame a stomach bug to open with a four-under par 66.