Gary Ward (Kinsale) waiting on the 18th hole in the first round of the AIG 2020 Irish Amateur Close Championship at Sandy Hills Links, Rosapenna Golf Club, Co Donegal today (09/10/2020). Picture by Pat Cashman

Rain, hail and high winds proved no impediment to Kinsale’s Gary Ward as he opened with a sensational two-under 70 to lead the 54-hole AIG Irish Amateur Close Championship by two shots at Rosapenna Hotel and Golf Resort in Donegal.

The 23-year old Cork Institute of Technology marketing student found fairway after fairway in a steady 25 mph northwesterly wind and raced to four-under-par through 17 holes before his lone wayward tee shot of the day at the 18th cost him a double-bogey six.

While the GUI moved up eight tees and had the greens stimping at nine, the course scoring average soared to 81.32, leaving Ward more than happy with the only sub-par score of the day.

“The way I thought to play today was literally, don’t lose a ball,” said Ward, who birdied three of the four par-fives and two par-threes to lead by two strokes from Galway Bay’s Andrew Hickey and Monkstown’s South of Ireland champion Sean Desmond.

A fourth-year Cork Institute of Technology student, he birdied the first and third and followed his lone bogey of the day at the fifth with birdies at the seventh, 13th and 17th before a solitary missed fairway at the 18th cost him a double-bogey six.

“After my practice round yesterday it was pretty clear that missing left or right was a no go,” he added. “Keeping it straight off the tee, I definitely played well today, close enough to hitting every fairway so I am happy that I did what I had to do.”

He birdied the first and third and followed his lone bogey of the day at the fifth with birdies at the seventh, 13th and 17th before a solitary missed fairway at the 18th cost him a double-bogey six.

Far from taking more coaching, Ward confessed thas the simply played more to keep his spirits up during the recent lockdown

Projected @Bridgestone OoM standings after round 1 of the @AIGIreland Close:

1. Alan Fahy 240 (no change)
2. Marc Boucher 193 (+45 points)
3. Liam Nolan 180 (no change)
4. Mark Power 178 (no change, not in Close)
5. Aaron Ryan 135 (+15 points) https://t.co/trRUSMoZBc pic.twitter.com/memh7TF2J5
— Golfing Union of Ireland (@GUIGolf) October 10, 2020

“Absolutely not. I have kept to myself and tried to enjoy golf a little bit more this year because every other aspect of life has been a little bit tough,” he said. “Golf was the thing that kept a smile on the face. I’m in 4th year in CIT, finding it tough at the moment so hopefully, it will change in the next few months. I will go out and try and hit every fairway and hopefully hole a few putts like today."

Desmond fell victim to the wind before he had hit a shot and was delighted to make five birdies in his 72 with driver borrowed from Director of Golf, Frank Casey Jnr that turned out to be two inches longer than his own.

“I was just taking the bag out of the car 15 minutes before teeing off and the bag got blown over by a gust of wind and when I went to pull the driver out, the club was in two,” he said. “Not ideal.”

As for Hickey, he was pleased to birdie the 17th and 18th in tough conditions.

“Conditions were really, really hard. It’s blowing about 35 kmph and my ball striking definitely helped me through it,” the Galway Bay man said after following a birdie four with another birdie at the last where he holed an 80 footer. “I don’t think I hit one normal shot. Everything was out of the back of the stance, just trying to control the ball a bit better.

“On the last, I hit two-iron, four-iron to the front of the green and holed an 80 footer, It was a fun finish. I think it is meant to be a small bit easier tomorrow and the wind is meant to be down. We’ll see how it goes.”

Fermoy’s Dean O’Riordan double-bogeyed the 17th and 18th but still shot a one-over 73 to share fourth with Carton House’s Darragh Flynn, Tralee’s Fergal O’Sullivan, former North of Ireland winner Ian Lynch from Rosslare and 44-year old Gary Cullen from Portmarnock Links.

“I was very solid,” Cullen said. “I made two mistakes. I had a lost ball on the par-five eighth but I hit an awful lot of fairways and greens and holed one or two 10-15 footers. But it was just a grind out there. You just had to take your punishment when you had it and ball-striking was what it was all about, just keeping it in play.”

Asked how it would feel to add an Irish Close title to his 1999 Irish Amateur Open win, he said: “Well, the game is solid and we will worry about that on Sunday. But if I play well, I have a great chance in these conditions because this is right up my street. I am looking forward to tomorrow and we will see what happens and then take another step on Sunday.