The Irish amateur foursome of Reeve Whitson, Niall Gorey, Gary Hurley and Dermot McElroy struggled on the opening day of qualifying for the prestigious Australian Amateur Championship in Melbourne.

Whitson (Mourne) posted a four-over par 76 on the long-time Australian Masters host venue at Huntingdale, and one of Melbourne’s renowned Sandbelt courses. 

Mourne's Reeve Whitson leads the Irish quartet after day one of the 2012 Australian Amateur. (Photo - Golfing Union of Ireland)

Qualifying is taking place both at Huntingdale and Woodlands and the Irish four will need to be among the top-64 after two rounds to advance to the match-play and final stages of the championship.

Whitson found himself trailing in a share of 30th place and seven shots behind the Australian pair of Matthew Wittenberg and Ben Hollis who lead the 216-player field by two strokes.

Gorey (Muskerry) carded a 77 to be lying tied 46th while Hurley (West Waterford) signed for a 78 to be among those tied in 63rd place and McElroy (Ballymena) a horror 82 to be sharing a lowly 135th positon.

The Irish four players were selected by the Golfing Union of Ireland (GUI) to compete in the Australian Amateur Championship, the Lake Macquarie Amateur Championship and the New South Wales Amateur Championship.

It is the first time in a decade the GUI have despatched a team to contest three of the more prestigious events on the Australian amateur schedule.