Golf East of Ireland Championship: On some days, a strong, focused mind can be a vital 15th club in the bag. And few people are as well-prepared for such days as Mark Campbell, a 23-year-old Dubliner with a degree in psychology - he is currently doing Masters research in the field - who showed exemplary mental fortitude yesterday to assume the midway lead in the East of Ireland amateur championship at Co Louth GC.

Campbell, a winner of the South of Ireland in 1999, but who has missed the East for the past two years to play in the British Amateur - "I was almost missing out again this year. I had my form (for the British) half filled in, but decided to play here instead because it is a course I really love" - recorded a second successive round of 70 for a 36-holes aggregate of four-under-par 140, giving him a one shot lead over his closest pursuer, Michael Sinclair, going into today's final two rounds.

With a strong wind buffeting the links all day, and a stubborn tempest arriving in mid-morning and refusing to budge until the early afternoon, conditions for the Irish Independent-sponsored championship were exceptionally tough. In fact, just four players managed to break par all day; and there were horror stories aplenty, including an eight on the par four 10th from recent West of Ireland champion Mark Ryan.

If not for that misfortune, he'd have been in the thick of the hunt - but Ryan still managed to survive the cut, which fell on 150 with five of the 13 players on that mark surviving. One of those who didn't was Muskerry's Niall Turner who followed up his opening 68 with a round of 82. And first round leader John Morris suffered a lost ball, and ran up a seven, also on the 10th on his way to a 75. It was that sort of day, a day to grind it out.

There were no high numbers for halfway leader Campbell, from Stackstown, who prepared for the event with a six-week training stint recently in Florida.

Prior to Campbell commencing his second round, a squall of some vigour had descended on the Baltray links. It was of such intensity, indeed, that Campbell opted to head straight for the first tee rather than spend any time on the practice ground.

However, it was a sign of his ability to combat the conditions that, despite pulling his opening two drives, he managed to save par on both holes. In fact, he reeled off seven straight pars - almost Faldoesque - before grabbing his first birdie on the eighth, where he rolled in a 15-footer as the conditions improved.

Campbell's only bogey came at the 10th, where his approach found a greenside bunker, but he grabbed further birdies coming in at the 13th and 15th, holing from six and 25 feet respectively.

Campbell holds a one-stroke lead over Sinclair, while Morris, Derek McNamara and Eddie McCormack are in tied-third, a shot further back.