Dunne shoots course record 63

COUNTY Louth’s Gerard Dunne stormed through the field after an opening 79 to shoot a course record nine-under par 63 and snatch second place in the One Finance-sponsored Dundalk Scratch Cup at the weekend.

In the morning Rafferty covered the opening nine in one-under par after an eagle three at the par five sixth and a bogey at the par four eighth and he then birdied the 10th, 14th and 18th on the way in to take lead after the opening round on four under.

That left him two shots ahead of Max Kennedy, Tom McKibben and Evan Farrell who all shot two under par 70s, while Eanna Griffin was a shot further back on 71.

However, none of the chasers managed to mount an attack on Rafferty in the afternoon, with Kennedy shooting 81, McKibben 83 and Farrell 80 to drop out of contention, while Griffin managed a level par 72 to finish on one under.

Dunne’s course record in the afternoon, when he shot a bogeyfree nine-under par 63, was one better than the previous best set by Dundalk’s Aaron Grant last year.

It was also a massive 16 shots better than his first round total of 79 in the morning, but it was during that round that the seeds were sown for his record score.

‘I was not swinging it well the last few weeks, but I figured something out on the 16th this morning and going down the first in my second round I said to Evan Farrell I was going to birdie every second hole and shoot nine-under. I’m glad I kept my word!’

Dunne’s 63 was made up of seven birdies and an eagle at the par five 10th, when he holed a putt from off the green after a 3 wood approach shot.

Eugene Smith (Laytown & Bettystown) finished well up the field after rounds of 75 and 71 for a 146 aggregate.