randa logo
Golf is open to all
Student Series

Nilsson poised for first Student Tour Series win in Ireland

logo
The R&A
02 Oct 24
3 mins
image

Hanna Nilsson leads the women’s event while three men share top spot after the opening round of The R&A Student Tour Series – Ireland at Belvoir Park in Belfast. 

Glorious sunshine greeted Europe’s best student golfers for the opening round following a deluge the day before. Credit the greenkeeping staff for working wonders to ensure the two-time Irish Open venue presented the students as stiff a test as when Harry Bradshaw won the 1949 Irish Open, and Bobby Locke took the 1953 title.  Nilsson tops the women’s leaderboard after a four-under-par 69 around the Harry Colt-designed layout. She leads by two shots over University of St Andrews student Emilie Knai and Maynooth’s Kate Lanigan. Universiy of Stirling scholar Ellie Docherty is also under par. She sits on one-under after a 72. 

Congested men’s leaderboard 

Maynooth University student Jordan Bole, Lorenzo Fior of the University of Venice and University of Limerick scholar Lucas Lyons share the men’s lead on three-under-par after posting 68s. They are one shot in front of Stirling students Jerry Fang and Nicholas Wall.   Nilsson found it hard to bounce back from a bogey when she began the Student Tour Series (STS) in the Autumn of 2022. Not now. Two full STS seasons have helped her put a mistake behind her to focus on the next hole.  She proved that when she bounced back from a bogey on the par-5, 3rd hole by birdieing three of the next five to be out in two-under 34. After birdies on the 12th and 15th holes to get to four-under, Nilsson dropped a shot at the par-3, 16th when she missed the green to the right. She bounced back with a four at the par-5 17th for an inward total of 35.  “Two years ago I’d probably have gone bogey, bogey, bogey,” Nilsson admitted. “But I’ve learned from playing the Student Tour Series to be better mentally. I can put a dropped shot behind me and just focus on the next hole.” 
image
Lorenzo Fior is in joint lead in the men's event. 

Swedish confidence 

Nilsson arrived in Belfast with high hopes of securing her first STS win thanks to finishing fifth in the 2024/25 season opener at home in Halmstad in Sweden.   She added, “I was happy with how I played at Halmstad, so I’m confident in my game and myself this week.”  Boles called on a modicum of local knowledge to get around the Belfast course with just the one dropped shot, a three-putt at the 7th hole. “I’ve played this golf course quite a few times in events over the years so I’m very familiar with it,” the 23-year-old admitted. “Today I just looked at every shot being a new opportunity, not get too dialled into what others were doing and just treated each shot as a new shot and went from there.  “I didn’t drive it particularly well off the tee, but I got a few good breaks and hit some good shots and just called on my experience. It wasn’t too stressful today. I didn’t really leave myself in bad spots overall. With the greens being so soft it meant every approach shot was a green light opportunity. Hit a good shot and you’ll have a good chance of birdie, so it was very scoreable.” 

Final push 

Boles is in his last year of the STS. He counts a joint win with team-mate Ryan Griffin in the STS – Portugal in February 2022 as his biggest STS achievement. He’s hoping to go out with a bang this year. “That win was a long time ago, so I’m going to give it go this season. I might as well,” he said.  Fior is playing in his fourth STS event. He placed tied 14th on in his debut in Italy last season and backed that up with third in France and fifth in the St Andrews final. At least he played practice rounds for those event. Not so this week.  Participation in the Italian Team Championship meant the 21-year-old University of Venice product design student only arrived in Belfast at 4pm on the eve of the event. 

No practice 

“I hit a lot of 2-irons off the tee because I struggled with my driver over the first two holes,” he said. “Plus I couldn’t play a practice round. So I just hit 2-iron to keep it in play for the rest of the round. That was good enough even though the course is soft and the ball isn’t running. But the greens are soft so you can go for the flags. I did that and was able to make five birdies.”  Sweden aside, Fior is signed up to play the next two STS tournaments in Spain and Portugal before teeing it up in the final at St Andrews next April.   The way he trended last year, don’t be surprised if he joins compatriot Miguel Orzi, winner of last season’s STS – Italy, as an STS champion. He’s certainly given himself the best possible start. So has Lyons. He birdied two of the final four holes to get to the top of the leaderboard. 
Tags
Championships