129th Novice Championship: Kennedy flies the lone flag for Eire at Ballyliffin - Golf Information | Golf Journal

Max Kennedy will carry Irish hopes into the final 32 of The 129th Novice Championship at Ballyliffin Golf Membership in Eire.

On a brilliant and breezy day over the Glashedy Hyperlinks, Kennedy was left because the final Irishman standing after easing to a 3&2 win over France’s Oscar Couilleau within the opening match play spherical.

A complete of 28 host nation hopefuls had began the week however solely Kennedy and Sean Keeling handed the strict 36-hole stroke play qualifying rounds.

Keeling fell on the first hurdle with a 5&3 loss to the trailblazing Lev Grinberg, who’s the primary Ukrainian golfer to achieve the match play rounds. However Kennedy marched on in his quest to emulate the success of his compatriot, James Sugrue, who gained the title the final time The Novice Championship was held on Irish soil, at Portmarnock, in 2019. Kennedy’s spectacular brief recreation was a useful asset because the 22-year-old Dubliner solid a two-hole benefit on the outward half.

Two vital up-and-downs, in the meantime, from difficult spots within the bunkers at 9 and the ten stored Couilleau at bay. These helped Kennedy arrange a second spherical duel with England’s Charlie Forster, who edged out Spain’s European Novice champion, Jose Luis Ballester Barrio, on the second further gap.

Scotsman Connor Graham, the main qualifier, was pushed all the best way to the 18th by England’s Mark Stockdale within the opening match of the day however staved off his opponent’s advances with a birdie putt of 25 ft on the final to clinch a one-hole victory. Graham, whose Blairgowrie club-mate Bradley Neil gained The Novice Championship at Royal Portrush a decade in the past, endured a shaky spell across the flip and took two to extricate himself from the bunker on the 9th earlier than dropping a ball with a wayward drive off the tenth tee. The 17-year-old Walker Cup participant regained his composure, nonetheless, and emerged triumphant from a keenly contested match.

South African golfers have gained the final two Novice Championships and hopes of a triple crown relaxation with sole survivor, Jordan Burnand, who beat Spain’s Pablo Alperi Lopez by a 3&1 margin. In addition to making an attempt to maintain South Africa’s successful run going, Burnand has an added incentive this week. The 23-year-old celebrates his birthday on the eve of the ultimate on Friday. 4-up by way of 11 holes, Burnand didn’t have all of it his personal means on the back-nine however the reigning South African Stroke Play champion acquired himself over the successful line throughout a nip-and-tuck encounter.

Walker Cup participant Conor Gough, who gained the R&A Boys’ Novice Championship in 2018, underlined his match play prowess with a 3&1 victory over Denmark’s Jamie Tofte Nielsen. His fellow Englishman, Oscar Lent, loved a commanding 6&5 win over the Asia-Pacific Novice champion, Jasper Stubbs of Australia, whereas there have been first spherical victories too for Walker Cup gamers Calum Scott, James Ashfield and Jack Bigham.

Highlights from yesterday’s play and the ultimate two days of motion will be watched stay on R&A TV.

To view match play scoring from The Novice Championship click on here.