Sinclair leads North of Ireland Championship

Former international Michael Sinclair who won the North of Ireland Championship at Royal Portrush in 1997 is making a brave effort to regain the title.

The Knock plus-three handicapper opened his bid with a six-under-par 64 on the Valley Course in the first qualifying round.

His 64 equals the course record and he has three strokes to spare over Robert Forsythe (Ballyclare) and English challenger Nick Scholey.

On the first day, the lower handicap competitors play the shorter Valley Course while the higher handicappers play the big Dunluce Course.

For the second round, the players switch courses after which the leading 64 go through to matchplay.

A one-under-par 71 was best on Dunluce and that was shared by Dungannon's Colin Wallace and City of Derry member Sean Quigg.

The competition lasts until the final on Friday afternoon.

With last year's winner Gareth Shaw (Lurgan) on international duty with the Irish team in Spain, the title is vacant.

Only Michael Sinclair and Stuart Paul (Tandragee) of the 300 competitors who teed up on Monday morning have previously won the title.