Home player Caolan Rafferty birdied his last hole to take a halfway lead in the Flogas Irish Men’s Amateur Open Championship at The Island.
FORMAT: 72-hole stroke play
The Irish International shot a terrific 68 for a seven-under-par total which puts him one shot clear of first round leader Harley Smith (The Rayleigh Club) heading into the weekend.
Perfect weather conditions gave the players an opportunity to capitalise on the difficult Dublin Links which resulted in some low scoring on the day and Rafferty took full advantage late on Friday.
He said: “I didn’t do a lot of wrong today, I kept myself out of trouble.
“I holed a few good putts but also missed some easy ones but overall, I was very happy.
“The mindset was that level par would be a good score as it is a hard golf course. The course was set up perfectly today for someone to go out and shoot a score. The greens are unbelievable, and the course is lovely.
“Seven under is great but there are still two more rounds to go. Hopefully, I keep doing what I am doing. I’m playing nicely but I’m not going to get too far ahead of myself.”
Smith had a solid ball striking day which has kept him in contention as he added a second round 71 to his opening 67. He is one shot clear of his Essex and England teammate Zach Chegwidden (Orsett), who shot up the leaderboard today thanks to a 68, which included a birdie, birdie finish.
Portmarnock’s James Fox is second best of the Irish contingent after posting a second round of 70 while Wales international Matt Roberts is also on two under, five shots behind the leader, after recording his second successive 71.
The event has a cut after three rounds with the top 50 and ties making it into Sunday’s final round.
For all the scores click here