David Mortimer Wins Dundrum

[Photo: INPHO]

David Mortimer of FORE Ireland carded a one under par 71 to win the 10th Annual Philip Walton Dundrum House Hotel Pro Am by one shot on Wednesday from three players - Mark Staunton of FORE Ireland, David Higgins of Waterville and Jimmy Bolger of Kilkenny Golf club – all on level par. 

Course designer Philip Walton signed for a second round 74 to finish in a four way tie for eleventh place on four in a group that included Simon Thornton and Barrie Trainor of Team Ireland, along with David Ryan of Cahir Park Golf Club. 

Michael Collins of FORE Ireland signed for a second round 78 to drop down the field to share nineteenth place. 

Collins heads to Killarney in ten days for the 3 Irish Open having secured one of the top eight places in the 2009 Irish Order of Merit and will join David Higgins, Damien Mooney, John Kelly, Peter Martin, Gary Cullen, Barrie Trainor and European tour Rookie, Simon Thornton. 

The win in Dundrum House is the fourth this season for 2006 Irish PGA Championship winner, David Mortimer, as he recently won the Castewarden Golf Club Pro Am, the Lisburn One Day Sprint – in a tie with Barrie Trainor – and the Glenmuir PGA Professional Championship Irish Region qualifier – which he shared with Donal Gleeson 

David Mortimer’s next event on the Irish PGA Calendar is the McCAMBRIDGE/DUFFY City of Derry PRO-AM on 16th - 18th July 2010.

Speaking afterwards David Mortimer said:

"I am delighted to have won the Dundrum House Pro Am, its is a course that over the years I found challenging to play well around. The course is a tight tree lined with narrow fairways but thank full this year I happened to keep my ball on the fairway."

"I started day 1 with a solid 72, 2 birdies, 2 bogies and the rest pars, probably should have squeezed 2 shots better, but I guess I’m not the only pro who left a few out there."

"Day 2 I started on the 10^th hole, one of the toughest holes on the course, a poor drive left me with a bogie, regulation pars followed till I got to 13 where I up and downed from 50 yards for birdie on the par 5, solid par on 14 and on 15 got a good break of the tee which clipped the tree on the right left me with a wedge to 15 feet, which lead to my second birdie of the day, all pars followed then till my 11^th hole, the 2^nd hole as you play the course, I hit my tee shot into the fairway bunker on the right, 80 yards from the flag, the ball was sitting down, but I stuck a solid gap wedge to 12 feet and rolled the putt in for birdie, regulation pars followed till my 17 hole where I over shot the green and missed from 4 feet for par."

"Good drive on my last lead to a solid 7 iron 20 feet but I left the  putt  short on line." 

"Got a few choice words from my team, Vincent, Liam and Chris afterwards for leaving the putt short, but thankfully this putt didn’t cost as I scraped over the finishing line by one shot.  On my way to City of Derry Pro Am this weekend hopefully the weather will better this year compared to the weather we normally get up there. "

David Mortimer Wins Castlewarden

[Photo: INPHO]

David Mortimer of FORE Ireland secured a win in difficult conditions on Sunday at the Zurich Castlewarden Golf Club Pro Am with a winning score of one under par to finish two shots ahead of John Dwyer of Ashbourne who signed for a 73.

Mortimer is now fourth in the 2010 Lexus Race to Mount Juliet Order of Merit which is currently led by David Higgins of Waterville, with John Kelly of St. Margaret’s Golf and Country Club in second place and Eamon Brady of Clontarf third.

David Mortimer won the Irish PGA Championship in 2006 and currently combines playing on the Irish PGA circuit with teaching at the GUI Academy

10th Annual Philip Walton Pro Am

Philip Walton 1995 Ryder Cup [INPHO]

The 10th Annual Philip Walton Dundrum Golf and Country Club Pro-Am  will take place on the 13th and 14th of July, 2010.

Set in 200 acres of mature woodland in Tipperary's Golden Vale the course was designed by Philip Walton in 1993 and the championship course is a true test of golf stretching to 7200yds in length.

Dundrum House Hotel, Golf & Leisure Resort has been ranked higher in 2010 moving up to 51 in the top courses in Ireland.

The Dundrum Pro Am proves popular with the Professionals and this year is no different  with  Gary Murphy, Mark Mowland and the top 30 order of merit Pros joining Philip Walton over two days.

For the Amateurs there are 8 team prizes with the winners receiving a replica trophy and a Spanish Golf Trip.

The cost per team of three is €900 which includes practice round on the Monday before the event with the competition rounds on Tuesday  and Wednesday playing alongside a Pro with plus dinner included on both nights. There will be also some great entertainment in the clubhouse during the tournament. 

For those requiring accommodation there is a special offer of €50 B&B per person sharing or €65 for a Single room per night.

Built in 1730 it was purchased by Austin and Mary Crowe in 1978 opening as a hotel in 1981 with substantial and sensitive restoration undertaken of the Manor House which has been complimented by the construction of a White Flag award winning health and leisure club.

For more information on the Dundrum Pro-Am 2010 please contact the Pro-Shop on +353 (0)62 71717; or email: golfshop@dundrumhouse.ie


Or visit www.dundrumhousehotel.com

Designer Sprints Own Course

Philip Walton : INPHO

Dundrum House Hotel, Golf and Leisure Resort in County Tipperary hosted the fourth one day Irish PGA Sprint Series on Tuesday with a three under par score of 69 proving enough to hold off the challenge of Jimmy Bolger of Kilkenny and Eamonn Brady of Clontarf who both finished on 2 under in a tie for second place.

Having designed the championship course in Dundrum House some might argue that the winner, Philip Walton of FORE Ireland, held an advantage.

The Dundrum House golf course has been ranked higher this year moving up to 51 in the top courses in Ireland.

“I wish that by designing courses you also could get the magic dust that made it easier to play them. But that’s not the case!“ explained Walton in the club house afterwards. “If it was then I should have won the St. Helen’s Bay Resort Pro Am last Wednesday as well.”

After making the turn in one under par the 1995 Ryder Cup winner then birdied the 10th, 12th, the par five 13th and then the 15th to complete the back nine in 33 shots signing for a three under par total.

“Over the past two days I worked on my grip as things didn’t feel right in Narin and Portnoo at the weekend,“ Walton continued, “In fact so much so that I didn’t go to the Open de France this week where I have an exemption. But today things were right.”

“I struck the ball well off the tee. Then on the greens I didn’t too badly either with a new putter and had a total of 27 putts - so was happy with result - especially here in Dundrum House. It bodes well hopefully for the Pro Am in two weeks.”

In a five-way tie for 4th place on 1 under were Damien Mooney, Michael McDermott, Gerry Burke, John Kelly and Gary Cullen

David Mortimer of FORE Ireland finished on +3 after signing for a 75.

Ted Higgins Jnr carded a 77 to finish in a tie for 28^th place.

“The real secret of today was that Willie Crowe [the owner] reckoned I wouldn’t birdie the par four 10^th hole as it was playing long. So I was determined to prove him wrong!"

“That then set me on my way through the back nine where I picked a few more birdies to finish with a 69.” Walton concluded

THE PHILIP WALTON PRO AM JULY 13th & 14th 2010

David Higgins Leads Lexus Race to Mount Juliet

David Higgins of Waterville held off the challenge of some Ireland’s European Tour players to seize the Quinn Insurance Pro Am – and a ten thousand pound pay day - with two rounds of 66 to card a total of 12 under to win the event by three shots from Damien McGrane.

With the victory the Waterville professional - and 2009 Irish Order of Merit winner – leapfrogs a number of players to take the lead of the 2010 Lexus Race to Mount Juliet Order of Merit from Eamon Brady of Clontarf and David Mortimer of FORE Ireland in third place

Following a number of weeks diligently playing a significant number of events on the Irish PGA circuit the former European Tour card holder took to the Slieve Russell course on the first day finishing 6 under par to hold a one shot from John Kelly and Brian McElhinney.

On the second day Higgins repeated the six under par score to finish in a tie with Damien Mooney on the day and a combined score of 132 to win the tournament.

Simon Thornton carded a four under par total after two rounds of 70 [aggregate 140] with Peter Lawrie finishing on 142.

The in form Mark Staunton of FORE Ireland signed for 3 under alongside team mate David Mortimer both on 141; Michael Collins carded 142 [74, 71] in a tie with Philip Walton [73.72].

Michael Collins said:

“This week was the biggest Pro Am of the year at the Quinn Charity Pro Am at the Slieve Russell hotel and Country Club in Cavan. All the pro’s look forward to this event as we are always well treated with our accommodation and food covered for the 2 days as well as playing for the substantial prize fund of €70,000.”

“I finished 1 over for the 2 rounds (74 and 71) in 21st position. Even though its not where I wanted to finish, there were better signs of getting back to form with a lot of good shots being hit without a huge amount of reward on the greens.”

“Over the 2 rounds I hit 2 poor tee shots which cost me 3 shots and a terrible kick on the 11th hole I round 2 cost me a double also. Round 2 was a little frustrating as 4 birdies and an eagle were diluted by the double on 11 and 3 bogeys, 2 of which were three putts on 2 and 7 ( my 11th and 16th). I wasn’t overly worried by the 3 putts because I was pushing for birdies to try and get under par for the tournament and push up towards the top 10 and the better money.”

“What I was happy with was I hit 15 greens and missed another 2 by 2 yards. That is a big improvement on my stats over the last month or so where I was averaging closer to 12 greens per round. Even my 68 in Dundalk consisted of only 13 greens. Greens in regulation would normally be one of my stronger stats so, with a marked improvement in my putting this year and a continued improvement in G.I.R.s, I should be able to get back to competing at the business end of tournaments shortly.”

PGA Sprint One Day Event - Bunclody GFC

Wednesday 26th May 2010: Eamon Brady of Clontarf Golf Club won the PGA One Day Sprint event at Bunclody Golf and Fishing Club on Tuesday with a four under par round of 68, a shot ahead of Darren McWilliams in second and then David Higgins in third place after his round of 70.

David Mortimer of FORE Ireland signed for a level par round of 72 and matched birdies and bogeys down both stretches to card two 36’s and moves Mortimer into second place on the order of merit.

Eamon Brady currently leads the LEXUS RACE TO MOUNT JULIET 2010 ORDER OF MERIT with John Kelly in third place.