The Open: McCarroll heads Regional qualifiers at The Island
The Island Golf Club. Picture via the theislandgolfclub.ie
Nairn and Portnoo's Brendan McCarroll carded a two-under-par 69 to lead the qualifiers from the Regional Open Qualifier at The Island.
With just four spots on offer in Final Qualifying at one of five UK venues on July 4, Greg Leech, and amateurs Rowan Lester (Hermitage) and Jake Hapgood (Southerndown) also got through with level par 71s.
It was the last of five Regional Qualifiers at The Island which now hands over to County Louthfor five years from 2018.
McCarroll, Leech, Lester and Hapgood will be among the 360 golfers bidding for 15 places at Royal Birkdale via Final Qualifying, at Gales Links in Glasgow, Hillside, Notts Hollinwell, Royal Cinque Ports and Woburn on July 4.
"I've qualified here a few times before," said McCarroll, who came through a playoff at The Island 12 months ago. "Anything around level par usually has a good chance here."
Among those who have entered for Final Qualifying so far are Ian Poulter, who finished runner-up behind Padraig Harrington the last time The Open was played at Royal Birkdale in 2008.
Vijay Singh, the 2000 Masters champion and two-time PGA Champion, and Retief Goosen, who won the US Open on two occasions.
The qualifiers from the Regional Qualifiers were:
- Alwoodley: Torren Matthews, Richard Law, Ben Hutchinson, Luke Jackson, Jeremy Kavanagh, Oliver Young
- Burhill: Connor Fletcher, Max Brackley, Peter Jackson, Abs Mawji, Richard Wallis, Xabier Gorospe, Chris Rodgers, Jacob Oakley
- Fairhaven: Rhys Nevin-Wharton, Adam Stone, Andy Palmer, Jamie Howarth, Sandeep Grewal, Colin Maroney
- Frilford Heath: Ricky Brackenbury, Van Phillips, Paul Robinson, Ross Langdon, Oliver Huggins, Narendra Yonjan, Fraser Moore, Ryan Campbell
- Little Aston: Haydn Barron, Jacob McGoldrick, Liam Phipps, Edward Kent, Robert Burlison, Luke Burrows, Philip White, Henry Sheridan-Mills
- Luffenham Heath: Tom Whitehouse, Michael Pask, Jack Gaunt, Kevin Crossland, Neil Chaudhuri
- Northumberland: James Harper, James Simpson, Craig Goodfellow, Rob Spence
- Panmure: Keir MacNicoll, Will Porter, Paul Shields, Francisco Pintor Smith
- Remedy Oak: Martin Rohwer, Joshua Hilleard, Sean Whiffin, Sam Boyes, Matt Mumford, Haydn Reay, Jamie Clare
- Sandy Lodge: Jack Hawksby, Rob Watson, Raymond Russell, Luke Goddard, James Ruebotham, Harry Casey, Crue Elliott, Robert Sutton
- The Island: Brendan McCarroll, Gregory Leech, Rowan Lester, Jake Hapgood
- West Lancashire: Timothy Ford, Joshua McMahon, Paul McFerran, Liam Hancock, Francis McGuirk, Sean Towndrow, Matthew Jordan, Daryl Ley
- Wildernesse: Michael Saunders, Michael Lowe, Jack Dyer, Craig Sutherland, Thomas Munchmore, Chris Groucher, Daniel Brown, Paul Nessling
The Open, Regional Qualifying, The Island Golf Club (Par 71)
Qualifiers
69 MCCARROLL, Brendan Narin & Portnoo
71 LEECH, Gregory Golfanlage Schloss Nippenburg, LESTER, Rowan (A) Hermitage, HAPGOOD, Jake (A) Southerndown
Non-qualifiers
73 ZILLEKENS, Marcel (A) Germany,
74 VAN DER WEELE, Kiet (A) Netherlands, O’BRIAIN, Neil Old Conna, SWEENEY, Brian Naas, MULLIGAN, Thomas (A) Laytown & Bettystown, WHITSON, Reeve Royal County Down, JOYCE, David (A) Powerscourt, RICE, Tim Limerick, KEANE, Iarlaith Hollywood Lakes, FRANKLIN, Shane Cregmore Park
75 MULLARNEY, Ronan (A) Galway, WILLIAMSON, Peter Unattached, SMITH, Eugene (A) Laytown & Bettystown
76 WARD, Simon Belvoir Park, MCDERMOTT, Michael Grange, BRIDGES, Richard Stackstown, WHELAN, Jake (A) Newlands
77 FOX, James (A) Portmarnock, WALTON, Brendan Unattached, MORRISSEY, Mark (A) County Sligo
78 O’CONNOR, Ruairi (A) County Sligo, MORGAN, Peter Elm Park
79 RAWLUK, David The Island, O’NEILL, Luke (A) Connemara, SZOTS, Joachim Denmark, QUIGLEY, Bernard Tullamore
80 FOLEY, Francis Australia, BERGER, Kevin Germany, VERARDO, Matteo Italy, NOBLE, William County Cavan
81 FRANSSON, Hakan Sweden, MARWEDE, Dominik Germany,
82 BORN, Alexander Germany, HEINEMANN, Mark Getgolfing.ie, SUGRUE, Daniel Dooks, KEARNS, Nial Omagh
85 LE BLANC, Kevin The Island
86 PETERSSON, Christian Sweden
88 BRENNAN, Ian Greenore
89 KERR, Adam County Armagh
90 SCHUSTER, Joerg Germany
RTD KNIGHTLY, Richard (A) Royal Dublin, CARTER, Shaun (A) Royal Dublin
NS CABIANCA, Simone Italy
NR CABLE, James (A) USA
NS KOCKS, Gerrit Germany
RTD NOVAK, Steve USA
NR MILICIC, Igor Serbia.
