Golf: Stakes high at South of Ireland Championship with Walker Cup places up for grabs

Fota Island's David Howard has had a busy week after featuring in the The Open 

David Howard in action at the South of Ireland Men's Amateur Open at Lahinch Golf Club. Picture: INPHO/Nick Elliott

The ante will rise considerably when the all-important matchplay phase of this week’s Pierse Motor Group South of Ireland Championship gets underway on Friday with Walker Cup team selection up for grabs in front of Great Britain & Ireland captain Dean Robertson.

The returning skipper has put a high premium on golfers who impress him this weekend ahead of next month’s 10-player team announcement and six weeks out from Lahinch staging the 51st matches against the United States on September 5 and 6.

There is automatic selection available to the top-five GB&I players in the World Amateur Golf Ranking on August 5, as well as both the British Amateur and US Amateur champion if they do not already occupy those ranking positions.

Stuart Grehan lines up a shot. Picture: INPHO/Nick Elliott

And with Louth’s Stuart Grehan, ranked 20th in the WAGR already on the team having been crowned British Amateur champion last month, that leaves four spots up for grabs, potentially, as captain’s picks.

“Come Sunday night here, I will know nine of the team, probably 10,” Robertson told The Irish Examiner.

“I'll hold one spot back, however, because should a player who's not in that nine go to Merion in the US Amateur next month and win it, they would be an automatic selection.

“But this has more weight than the US Amateur. 

The South of Ireland has, in my opinion, has as much weight as the Amateur Championship at Royal Liverpool a month ago without the exemptions to major championships.

“So they all know that. It's now time for them to step it up and go and put their name on that silverware that started in 1895 or so.” 

Scotland’s Connor Graham, aged 19 but already a two-time Walker Cupper, is currently next in line to benefit from Grehan’s automatic selection with a WAGR ranking at 23, and he underlined his credentials at Lahinch on Thursday, shooting a 10-under-par round of 62 to catapult himself up The South leaderboard to 11 under at the end of the 36-hole strokeplay qualifier for the last 64.

Graham’s 2023 team-mate Matt McClean, the Malone golfer and 2023 US Mid-Amateur title, joined the Scot at the top of the strokeplay rounds after adding a 67 to his opening 66 on Wednesday and the pair finished two ahead of England’s Ben Bolton, whose Friday 67 followed a first-round 68 for nine under.

Paying the price

Grehan advanced comfortably into the last 64 matchplay stages with a six-under-par 66 to reach eight under, though he admitted his Open Championship appearance at Royal Birkdale, followed by two days in Walker Cup practice at Lahinch at the invitation of Robertson had taken its toll.

So too fellow Birkdale participant David Howard of Fota Island, the Open qualifier who failed to match up to his opening 68 with a one-over 73 on Thursday but still progressed to the matchplay rounds.

“I was battling out there. It's just a flat day,” Howard said. “I had a really nice day yesterday. I made a few putts and today it was just very flat all day. 

Tired and made nothing and it was just a grind all day.” 

The Corkman had double-bogeyed the 10th and bogeyed the 11th to flirt with the cutline at one under par, only to battle back with a strong finish.

“It was a bit of a sweat coming in but I actually made a couple of lovely up and downs,” he said. “I'll try to get some rest and get ready for a long few days. It’s back to square one now. I'm happy enough that I've done enough in the end. It could be straight into bed now, to be honest. Get a bit of food and relax. Try and get some energy back.” 

Robertson acknowledged he had put his potential team members through the mill with his training get-together in the build-up to The South.

“They're probably more tired now after 36 holes strokeplay than they need to be going into the 64 matchplay, which I'll take the blame for,” the GB&I captain said. “However, it was a great learning exercise.

“I watched Ireland win in Estonia two weeks ago at the European Teams and I couldn't be more delighted. Warmly encouraging the players to get out there and go and get into the matchplay, the main event, and go and do the business.

So, if we had an all-Ireland final on Sunday, I would be quietly delighted. We'll just wait and see what happens. 

"The players, they know what's at stake now. It's The South with a bit of an edge to it this year and it's exciting. I look forward to it.”