Irish Dunlop Tournament

The Irish Dunlop Tournament was a professional golf tournament played in Ireland until 1980. It was one of the top events on the professional circuit in Ireland.[1]

Irish Dunlop Tournament

Tournament information
Location	Ireland
Established	1933
Format	Stroke play (Match play in 1947)
Final year	1980
Final champion
Des Smyth

Prior to World War II, it was a 72-hole stroke play event known as the Dunlop-Irish Tournament and was one of several regional tournaments sponsored by Dunlop in which the winners were sometimes invited to play in the Dunlop-Metropolitan Tournament. After the war Dunlop revived the tournament in 1946, switching to match play in 1947. After a break of two years, the Irish Dunlop returned as a 72-hole stroke play event in 1950, after which it was staged annually until its cancellation in 1981.[2] It also provided a qualification route for the prestigious Dunlop Masters on the British PGA circuit.[3][4]

In its final year, Des Smyth broke all records for the tournament as he finished 16 strokes ahead of the field with a 261 (27 under par) aggregate. He also set a new course record for Headfort Golf Club with a 64 in the final round, having already recorded 65 in both the first and third rounds.[5]

Winners

Year	Venue	Winner	Score	Ref
1980	Headfort	Des Smyth	261	[5]
1979	Tramore	David Jones	284	[6]
1978	Hermitage	David Jones	279	[7]
1977	Douglas	Peter Townsend	276	[8]
1976	Hermitage	Eamonn Darcy	275	[9]
1975	Bundoran	Eddie Polland	277	[10]
1974	Hermitage	Christy O'Connor Jnr	284	[11]
1973	Headfort	Eddie Polland	283	[12]
1972	Kilkenny	John O'Leary	280	[3]
1971	Douglas	Jimmy Kinsella	279	[13]
1970	Tullamore	Hugh Boyle	277	[14]
1969	Bundorran	Michael Murphy	284	[15]
1968	Limerick	Hugh Jackson	279	[16]
1967	Tramore	Christy O'Connor Snr	275	[17]
1966	Bettystown	Christy O'Connor Snr	265	[18]
1965	Carlow	Christy O'Connor Snr	288	[19]
1964	Galway	Christy Greene	276	[20]
1963	Douglas	Nicky Lynch	279	[21]
1962[lower-alpha 1]	Elm Park	Christy O'Connor Snr	276	[22]
1961	Clontarf[lower-alpha 2]	Nicky Lynch	278	[23]
1960	Dun Laoghaire	Christy O'Connor Snr Jimmy Kinsella	271	[24]
1959	Hermitage	Norman Drew	284	[25]
1958[lower-alpha 1]	Elm Park	Harry Bradshaw[lower-alpha 3] Norman Drew	288	[26][27]
1957	Dun Laoghaire	Jimmy Henderson Willie Gaffney	283	[28]
1956	Dun Laoghaire	Fred Daly	276	[29]
1955	Dun Laoghaire	Christy O'Connor Snr	268	[30]
1954	Woodbrook	Fred Daly	270	[31]
1953	Newlands	Christy O'Connor Snr	278	[32]
1952	Castle	Fred Daly	273	[33]
1951	Milltown	Harry Bradshaw	274	[34]
1950	Castle	Harry Bradshaw	282	[35]
1949
1948
1947	Portmarnock	John McKenna	6 and 5	[36]
1946	Castle	Fred Daly	288	[37]
Dunlop-Irish Tournament
1937	Newlands	John McKenna	288	[38]
1936	Royal Belfast	Paddy Mahon	298	[39]
1935	Royal Dublin	Pat O'Connor	290	[40]
1934	Knock	Willie Nolan	283	[41]
1933	Milltown	Willie Nolan Pat O'Connor	291	[42]

1. Incorporating the Willie Nolan Cup.
2. Originally scheduled at Elm Park.
3. The Willie Nolan Cup was won by Bradshaw after a playoff.

See also

• Dunlop-Metropolitan Tournament

References

1. "Money is there for the asking". Sunday Independent. Dublin, Republic of Ireland. 20 January 1974. p. 26. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
2. "Golf blow". Liverpool Echo. Liverpool, England. 21 January 1981. p. 14. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
3. "O'Leary's victory". Belfast Telegraph. Belfast, Northern Ireland. 8 May 1972. p. 14. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
4. "Irish Dunlop Professional Golf Tournament". New Ross Standard. County Wexford, Republic of Ireland. 3 April 1965. p. 11. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
5. Hennessy, John (16 June 1980). "Golf | Course record for Smyth". The Times. London, England. p. 9. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
6. "Ice-cool David wins Dunlop No. 2". Belfast Telegraph. Belfast, Northern Ireland. 11 June 1979. p. 35. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
7. "Jones' victory dram as Eddie loses count". Belfast Telegraph. Belfast, Northern Ireland. 21 August 1978. p. 15. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
8. "Unbeatable Bertie No. 1 | At Douglas...". Belfast Telegraph. Belfast, Northern Ireland. 26 September 1977. p. 16. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
9. "Darcy cashes in on O'Connor's late slip". Birmingham Daily Post. Birmingham, England. 2 August 1976. p. 11. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
10. Magowan, Jack (23 June 1975). "Eddie said he'd win —and did". Belfast Telegraph. Belfast, Northern Ireland. p. 26. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
11. "Polland pipped". Belfast Telegraph. Belfast, Northern Ireland. 3 June 1974. p. 1. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
12. "Drama as Polland wins it". Belfast Telegraph. Belfast, Northern Ireland. 18 June 1973. p. 17. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
13. "O'Leary's best—fourth". Belfast Telegraph. Belfast, Northern Ireland. 6 September 1971. p. 15. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
14. "Boyle wins by five strokes". Belfast Telegraph. Belfast, Northern Ireland. 20 July 1970. p. 11. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
15. "Christy was favourite but failed". Sligo Champion. Sligo, Republic of Ireland. 5 September 1969. p. 14. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
16. "Golf "double" by Jackson brothers". Belfast Telegraph. Belfast, Northern Ireland. 29 July 1968. p. 11. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
17. "Boyle three putts—pipped by O'Connor". Belfast Telegraph. Belfast, Northern Ireland. 21 August 1967. p. 11. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
18. "Sensational ending to professional test". Drogheda Independent. Drogheda, Republic of Ireland. 6 August 1966. p. 11. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
19. "Drew lets prize slip from grasp". Belfast Telegraph. Belfast, Northern Ireland. 12 April 1965. p. 13. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
20. "Greene wins by 7 shots". Belfast Telegraph. Belfast, Northern Ireland. 14 September 1964. p. 16. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
21. "O'Connor putter lets him down". Belfast Telegraph. Belfast, Northern Ireland. 16 September 1963. p. 12. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
22. "Golf". Belfast Telegraph. Belfast, Northern Ireland. 17 September 1962. p. 11. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
23. "Sports news in a few lines | Nick Lynch...". Belfast Telegraph. Belfast, Northern Ireland. 21 August 1961. p. 11. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
24. "Henderson's 63". Belfast Telegraph. Belfast, Northern Ireland. 29 August 1960. p. 10. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
25. "Drew first in Dunlop tourney". Belfast Telegraph. Belfast, Northern Ireland. 8 June 1959. p. 11. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
26. "Drew—Bradshaw in play-off". Belfast Telegraph. Belfast, Northern Ireland. 26 September 1958. p. 19. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
27. "Drew just fails in trophy bid". Belfast Telegraph. Belfast, Northern Ireland. 27 September 1958. p. 10. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
28. "Henderson shares Dunlop golf prize". The Northern Whig and Belfast Post. Belfast, Northern Ireland. 18 October 1957. p. 8. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
29. "Irish Dunlop prize for Daly". The Times. London, England. 28 September 1956. p. 14. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
30. "O'Connor wins from Bradshaw". Belfast Telegraph. Belfast, Northern Ireland. 30 September 1955. p. 12. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
31. "Daly wins £500 Dunlop tourney". Larne Times. Larne, Northern Ireland. 23 September 1954. p. 7. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
32. "Dunlop victory for O'Connor". The Northern Whig and Belfast Post. Belfast, Northern Ireland. 26 September 1953. p. 5. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
33. "Fred Daly wins in Dublin". The Times. London, England. 12 September 1952. p. 9. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
34. "More news records by Bradshaw". Belfast News-Letter. Belfast, Northern Ireland. 5 October 1951. p. 7. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
35. "Record 67 to win Dunlop tourney". Irish Independent. Dublin, Republic of Ireland. 2 June 1950. p. 7. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
36. "M'Kenna wins Irish Dunlop event". The Northern Whig and Belfast Post. Belfast, Northern Ireland. 20 June 1947. p. 5. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
37. "Daly wins Dublin golf contest". Belfast News-Letter. Belfast, Northern Ireland. 25 October 1946. p. 8. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
38. "M'Kenna wins "Dunlop-Irish" event". The Northern Whig and Belfast Post. Belfast, Northern Ireland. 28 May 1937. p. 9. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
39. "Golf | The Dunlop Irish tournament". The Times. London, England. 27 March 1936. p. 6. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
40. "Professional golf tournaments | Dunlop-Irish tournament". The Times. London, England. 18 April 1935. p. 6. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
41. "Great golf at Knock". The Northern Whig and Belfast Post. Belfast, Northern Ireland. 24 August 1934. p. 12. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
42. "Honours shared". Belfast Telegraph. Belfast, Northern Ireland. 28 September 1933. p. 10. Retrieved 3 June 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.