Tiaran McLarnon shot a course record 66 (-6) in Lee Valley this afternoon to take a four stroke lead heading into the final round of the Boylesports sponsored Senior Scratch Cup. The Massereene golfer tied the lead after the opening round when he and Kinsale teenager Robbie Walsh shot a pair of 73’s in difficult conditions.  McLarnon doubled down this afternoon and an eagle on the par four 1st hole helped him to take a firm hand on the 54 hole event, he’s on -5 (139) going into the final round.  McLarnon, who finished as runner up last year, is now six under for his last five rounds in Lee Valley – 66-73-70-74-71!

McLarnon is the man to catch and he’s four shots ahead of Ronan Mullarney who sot a 69 this afternoon to go with his opening 74  (143, -1).  Sean Desmond rounds off the top three.  He was under par in the afternoon as well, with a 71 to finish on 147 (+3).

Gallery: Boylesports Lee Valley Senior Scratch R2 Pictures

Kieran McCarthy was a bit cross after the opening round.  After a good drive on the 17th he failed to find his ball costing him two shots.  The two time winner from Kinsale then casually mentioned that he had a hole in one on the 6th which “kinda made up for it”.  McCarthy is 4th but is nine shots off the lead and probably out of touch.  Eoghan Long, Stephen Walsh, Colm Campbell, Robert Walsh, Ben Murray and Geoff Lenehan round out to the top ten.  Pat Power reeled in the years with a pair of 76’s to be the leading home contender, that included a rare eagle on the tricky second hole.

 

Although the storm force conditions passed through overnight, play was delayed for an hour this morning to allow the course staff clear the storm debris from the greens.  Strong gusting winds affected everyone this morning, but the course came in for great praise.  As the winds calmed this afternoon the scoring improved with several players shooting in the red.  30 golfers qualified for tomorrow’s final round, the cut fell at 157.  Play gets underway at 8.30, with the leader teeing off at 10am.

36 Hole Scores, BoyleSports Lee Valley Senior Scratch Cup

1 Tiarnan McLarnon 73 66 139
2 Ronan Mullarney 74 69 143
3 Sean Desmond 76 71 147
4 KIERAN MCCARTHY 75 73 148
5 Eoghan Long 75 74 149
6 Stephen Walsh 80 70 150
7 COLM JNR CAMPBELL 76 74 150
8 ROBERT WALSH JNR 73 77 150
9 BEN MURRAY 79 72 151
10 GEOFFREY LENEHAN 76 75 151
11 Jack Pierse 78 74 152
12 Aaron Grant 76 76 152
13 Pat Power 76 76 152
14 Gerard Dunne 77 76 153
15 Robert Moran 75 78 153
16 Paul Buckley 75 78 153
17 Joe Lyons 74 79 153
18 Scott O’Brien 80 74 154
19 Eanna Griffin 78 76 154
20 Mark Power 76 78 154
21 STEPHEN BRADY 76 78 154
22 David Reddan Jnr 74 80 154
23 Jamie Fletcher 81 74 155
24 Joe O Sullivan 82 74 15
25 Jack McDonnell 79 77 156
26 Fionn Hickey 76 80 156
27 Paul Tobin 75 81 156
28 Sean Enright 75 81 156
29 Kieran Lynch 83 74 157
30 James Murray 78 79 157
31 Ian Bermingham 78 79 157
32 Gary Ward 83 75 158
33 Greg O’Mahony 81 77 158
34 Mel Deasy 79 79 158
35 Christopher Taylor 76 82 158
36 STEPHEN O’NEILL 85 74 159
37 Keith Crowley(1)(2) 83 76 159
38 DAVID KITT 82 77 159
39 Jonathan Quinn 81 78 159
40 KEITH FITZPATRICK 80 80 160
41 ANDREW MCCORMACK(1) 78 82 160
42 Keelan McCarthy 85 76 161
43 Dean O’Riordan 82 79 161
44 Ian Bohane 82 79 161
45 Jason Galway 82 79 161
46 Kevin Collins 81 80 161
47 Adam McSweeney(1) 80 81 161
48 Mark Ford 78 83 161
49 Mark Shanahan 84 78 162
50 Garry O’Flaherty 83 79 162
51 Dean McMahon 80 82 162
52 john O Brien 83 80 163
53 Ian Lynch 81 82 163
54 MARK HEALY 81 82 163
55 Edwin Hannon 80 83 163
56 Cillian Moloney 80 83 163
57 Conor Dowling 86 78 164
58 Lee McMillan 80 84 164
59 Philip Spratt 76 88 164
60 SHANE KENNEALLY 83 82 165
61 Bob Loftus 83 83 166
62 Alan Considine 82 84 166
63 Cian Hourihan 86 81 167
64 Lewy HALPIN JNR 85 82 167
65 Shane McGlynn 83 84 167
66 Owen Goggin 86 82 168
67 Paul Coleman 87 82 169
68 Alan Moriarty 85 84 169
69 Niall Doonan 81 89 170
70 Eric Rumley 80 91 171
71 Padraig O’Connor — 77 77
72 Alan Thomas 78 — 78
73 Padraig 0 Connor 82 — 82
74 Sean Deasy 87 — 87
– Thomas O’Flynn 80 NR —
– Cormac Finn 83 NR —
– Ronan Curran NR 87 —
– CATHAL BUTLER 78 74 — DQ: