School teacher Doogue top of class after opening 67 out West

Just five players in the 120-man field broke par at Rosses Point.

Mark Doogue at the 16th tee during Round One of the West of Ireland Amateur Open Championship 2024, played at County Sligo Golf Club, Rosses Point, Co Sligo. Picture: David Lloyd/Golffile

The starter talked the rookies through it all on the first tee, then sent them off with the happy rejoinder — “This is tropical, lads!” A light southerly breeze and cool but generally dry weather, punctuated by a couple of showers (one thundery), meant County Sligo barely showed its fangs in the opening round of the 101st West of Ireland Amateur Open Championship.

Yet for all that, just five players in the 120-man field, many of them rusty after a long winter, broke par at Rosses Point in the Connolly Motor Group curtain-raiser to Ireland’s amateur season.