Jack Hume and Paul Dunne stroll through to Stage Two

Job done, on the double! Jack Hume and Paul Dunne have enjoyed quite a September, following up their parts in a Walker Cup win by impressively emerging from the European Tour Stage One qualifying at Ebreichsdorf in Austria to move on to the next phase of their respective quests to secure full tour cards for 2016.

Hume, from Naas, shot a final round 69 for 277, 11-under-par, to finish alone in fourth place while Dunne, from Greystones, carded a 70 for 278, 10-under-par, to lie in tied-fifth in the qualifiers and earn their tickets to Stage Two at various venues in Spain in November. The Irish duo each shot sub-par rounds on all four days.

American Dodge Kemmer, a graduate of Stanford University, who has been playing mainly on the Asian circuit and occasionally on the European Challenge Tour since turning pro in 2010, topped the qualifiers with a closing 68 for 272, to be four shots clear of the field.

Although he started with a bogey on the first, Hume recovered with back to back birdies at the second and third and had six birdies in all in his final round. For his part, Dunne’s 70 saw him birdie the third, 10th and 11th and record his only dropped shot on the seventh. The 22-year-old Wicklowman will make his pro debut on the European Tour playing on a sponsor’s invite in the Dunhill Links, bringing him back to St Andrews where he led going into the final round of the British Open in July.

There are three phases to the European Tour’s qualifying process for full cards, with those qualifying from Stage One – the top 21 in Austria made it through – moving on to Stage Two in Spain in early-November and then finally the Tour School in Catalunya in late November.