The dream lives on, and John Kelly is intent on being part of it. Yesterday, in the second stage of the European Tour's qualifying school, the Dubliner opened his bid for a place in next week's final qualifying school at San Roque with a fine first round of four-under-par 67 to be in tied-fourth at Costa Ballena.

One of 10 Irish players competing in Ballena, Kelly finished just three shots behind first-round leader John Wade of Australia. Having recently taken up a post as club professional at St Margaret's after a spell based in London, Kelly is one of 252 competitors at three different venues attempting to secure one of the coveted 81 places on offer to next week's final stage.

As things stand, Kelly is well positioned to make it through with another Dubliner, Eamonn Brady, a former winner on the Canadian Tour, nicely placed after an opening round 69 that positioned him in tied-21st place after the first day. However, Brady will know that he can't afford to slip back any further over the next three days.

Noel Fox, a former Walker Cup player who has played on the mini tours since turning professional, shot a one-under-par 70 to be in tied-31st position and needs to make some inroads if he is to keep alive his dream of making it to tour school, while others with work to do at Bellena include David Mortimer, Jimmy Bolger and Danny Sugrue, who all opened with level par rounds of 71 to be in tied-43rd.

The rest of the Irish contingent at Bellena face uphill tasks. Chris Moriarty and Irish amateur international Darren Crowe opened their qualifying campaigns with 73s (tied-65th), while another amateur international Michael McGeady had a disappointing 75 (tied-77th) and Alan Murray finished with a 76 (tied-80th).

Greg Bowden, of Hermitage, the only Irish player competing at Golf de Catalunya, opened his qualifying quest with a two-under-par 70 which left him in tied-20th, and on course to secure a ticket to San Roque. French amateur Julien Grillon led the way there with a 64. There are 27 places up for grabs at each of the three qualifying venues.

EUROPEAN TOUR QUALIFYING SCHOOL: At Costa Ballena (par 72): 67 - J Kelly; 69 E Brady; 70 - N Fox; 71 - D Mortimer, J Bolger, D Sugrue, 73 - C Moriarty, D Crowe, 75 - M McGeady; 76 - A Murray. At Golf de Catalunya (par 72): 70 - G Browden.