Foley aiming to bounce back out West

Hugh Foley returns to the scene of one of his greatest triumphs when he begins his bid for his second West of Ireland Championship and his fifth amateur ‘major’ at Rosses Point today, writes Brian Keogh.

The Royal Dublin man won a strokeplay edition of the West in 2021 and dedicated it to his late father David.

But after enjoying a stellar 2022, when he became the first man since Darren Clarke in 1990 to win the North and South of Ireland titles back-to-back and was runner-up in both the Irish Close and the US Mid-Amateur, he’s looking to bounce back this week from a nightmare 2023.

“My confidence definitely did take a knock at times,” said Foley (26), who suffered an injury and poor form and failed to win a place in the Walker Cup team for St Andrews.

“Last year was just too results-driven. I was thinking, ‘I need this to get on the team, so I need top fives and top threes, or I need to win, rather than just playing golf and getting better’.”

After rededicating himself over the winter, he can’t wait to see how his game holds up in the traditional curtain-raiser to the amateur season here and go on to bid for a tour card at Q-School in September.

“I’ve had great times at Rosses Point, which is where I played my first championship,” he said. “So I’m really gunning to get going because I feel like I’ve improved over the last month or two, and I want to test it out.”

Foley is drawn with TJ Ford, a former South of Ireland winner from Co Sligo, and Walker Cup player Matt McClean from Malone.

Ford returns home with form, having shot 64 in the second round to finish third in the Laytown and Bettystown Scratch Cup last Sunday.