Barrie Trainor produced a stunning start to the €50,000 Quinn Insurance Charity Trophy tournament, at Slieve Russell, yesterday morning, with a five-under-par 67 but was joined late in the day at the top of the leaderboard by both Geoff Loughrey and Robert Giles.
Trainor decorated his card with five birdies and no bogeys while Loughrey made half-a-dozen birdies but lost a stroke at the par four fifth hole after finding rough and then missing the green.
"I'm playing with all new PING gear and I feel that it has helped my game immensely," explained Trainor, the Irish Assistants' champion for the past two years.
Trainor began his charge at the first hole with a drive and wedge to three feet and sank the putt for birdie three. Another one-under-three followed at the eighth hole where he wedged to 15 feet and rolled in that putt, as well, before getting up and down from greenside sand at the ninth for birdie four to turn in 33.
Two more birdies flew in on the back nine - a four at the long 13th, where a wedge approach left him just three feet from the flag and the 17th where he was just four feet away with a drive and sand-wedge to set up birdie three.
Loughrey began birdie-birdie with putts of six and 20 feet and another six-footer gave him a two at the fourth. He got that back with a four at the long sixth hole, made another two from 10 feet at the 10th before two-stabbing from 20 feet for birdie four at 13.
"I used my pitching wedge a lot as the course is firmer than I have ever seen it. That gives you a lot of run on the ball," said Loughrey.
It was birdie boy Giles as he made eight but added two bogeys. He turned in two-under with birdies at the fourth, sixth, eighth and ninth with a variety of long and short putts. On the way home, Giles made birdies at 11, 14, 15 and 18.
Last year's runner-up Damian Mooney is making a strong bid again for honours as he posted a 69. He highlighted his card with a golden eagle three at the ninth, his finishing hole, and he also sprinkled four birdies over his card.
On 70 are last year's winner David Higgins, Tristan Mullally, Simon Thornton, who also eagled the ninth where he finished, and John McHenry. A further stroke adrift are John Kelly, Francis Howley and Jimmy Bolger.