Portmarnock dress rehearsal earns Amateur applause
Yates weathers the storm to put himself in contention for next year’s Amateur Championship at the north Dublin links.
NAAS’ Jonathan Yates may be a professional next June when The Island and Portmarnock host the 123rd Amateur Championship. After all, the former West of Ireland champion will tee it up in the First Stage of the European Tour Qualifying School at Bom Sucesso in Portugal next week with high hopes of earning tour status.
But the 25-year-old showed he could be a contender for the Amateur Championship at the north Dublin links next June after he carded rounds of 75 and 70 to win the Portmarnock Scratch Cup Invitational in tough conditions on Sunday.
The event was devised by the club’s Amateur Championship Committee to give some of the country’s top amateurs a chance to play the Championship Course in tournament conditions.
Yates was among the leading amateurs invited to play in a new event run concurrently with the annual Club Championship and he was hugely impressive, topping the pile with rounds of 75 and 70 to win by four strokes from fellow international Peter O’Keeffe of Douglas on one-over-par 145.
Portmarnock’s Conor Purcell, a semi-finalist in the Amateur this year, was crowned club champion as he shot rounds of 78 and 73, edging out Geoff Lenehan for the coveted prize by three strokes.
All told, the event was hailed a big success as it gave some of our leading players an idea of the challenge they might face when Portmarnock hosts the Amateur Championship for the second time since 1949, coinciding with the club’s 125th anniversary celebrations.
“The conditions were seriously tough,” said Yates, who knows how to win in the wind having captured the “West” at Co Sligo in 2016. “There was a two-club wind in the morning and a three-to-four club wind, depending on the gusts, in the afternoon.
“I’ve always loved Portmarnock and the course was really pure. We played it off the very tips at just under 7,500 with no tee moved up. The new tee boxes are brilliant as is the new bunkering.
“It is really visually interesting and they are really well placed to catch tee shots. The greens were slick and excellent for this time of year.
“The course is ready as it is to host a big event right now so I can only imagine how good it will be next year.”
Yates would love to tee it up in the Amateur Championship and won’t make a decision on his amateur status just yet but wait and see how things go at the Qualifying School.
“I will see where I’m at and what’s the best path for me,” he said. “But both The Island and Portmarnock are two of the best links courses around and very different from each other.
“They will provide a stern test, particularly for the strokeplay qualifying. Portmarnock’s history and location will attract some really big crowds no doubt and it will be a great showcase for Irish golf.
“I’ve been a member in Portmarnock through my time in UCD so its always been a happy hunting ground. But right now my focus is on Q-School. I’m just trying to improve, execute my plan and learn every day and then whatever happens after that happens, I’ll deal with whatever is thrown at me.”
O’Keeffe, who won the Flogas Irish Amateur Open at Royal County Down last year to ensure his international call-up, described the course as “tournament ready”, nine months before the big event.
“Long”, “tough” and “fair” were among the adjectives used by the protagonists to describe the revamped links, which promises to be a memorable venue for the return of big-time amateur golf and a tasty follow up to the US Open at Pebble Beach, which concludes the day before “The Amateur”, which is scheduled from 17-22 June.