St. Andrews Links Trophy: Dream Finish for Dunbar
6/7/2009 | by AmateurGolf.com Staff
see also: St. Andrews Links Trophy, The Old Course at St. Andrews
Alan Dunbar of Northern Ireland birdies #18 at the Old Course to win the St. Andrews Links Trophy, beating the strongest field of the year
ST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND (June 7, 2009)--The winner of the St Andrews Links Trophy 2009 is Alan Dunbar of Rathmore, Northern Ireland. A last round 70 left him on 285, two under par. A last green birdie put him a single shot ahead of Matt Haines of England and two ahead of Rhys Enoch of Wales.
The tournament was won and lost on the final nine. With nine holes to play, it was Enoch at 5-under, Paul O'Hara of Scotland at 4-under, and Luke Goddard of England at 3-under, with Dunbar four back at 1-under and Haines seemingly out of it at 2-over. But with the top 3 shooting 41, 41, and 40 coming in, the door was opened for Dunbar and Haines, who shot 35 and 33 respectively on the final nine.
With the win, Dunbar climbs to #40 in the Golfweek/amateurgolf.com Player Rankings. Luke Goddard's 4th place finish moves into the #1 spot, while fellow Englishman Sam Hutsby remains at #2 following a T20 finish.
Four Americans finished in the top 40, lead by Will Wilcox of Pell City, AL, tied for 14th at 8-over 295. Mike McCoy of W. Des Moines, IA finished tied for 25th and moved to #13 in the World and #5 in the U.S. Greg O'Mahony of Tequesta, FL also finished T25 at 10-over, while James Field of Pinecrest, FL finished 40th at 21-over.
The field for the Links Trophy was the strongest of the year to date, with 12 of the top 20 players in the world and 21 countries represented.
St. Andrews Links Trophy: Top Finishers
Click on each link to view that player's ranking and performance in Golfweek/amateurgolf.com Amateur Golf Rankings points events
For complete results of the 2009 St. Andrews Links Trophy, click here.
Update after 36 holes
ST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND (June 6, 2009)--After 36 holes of play, Paul O'Hara of Scotland (-3) leads by two shots over Rhys Enoch of Wales after a difficult day on the Old Course that saw only three players break par. Englishmen Matt Haines and Matthew Nixon share third at even-par.
World #2 Sam Hutsby of England sits T14 at 4-over, with #3 Luke Goddard of England T9 at 3-over, and #9 Alexandre Kaleka of France T9 at 3-over. Top-10 players Matt Jager of Australia and Dale Whitnell of England missed the cut.
Mike McCoy of the USA opened with a 68 on the New Course but struggled to a 79 on the Old Course to sit T14 at 4-over-par.
Strongest Field of the Year for the St. Andrews Links Trophy
ST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND (June 3, 2009)--The strongest field of the year-to-date is set to gather at St. Andrews for the St. Andrews Links Trophy Jun 5-7. The field, which required a +2.4 handicap for entry, includes 12 of the top 20 players in the Golfweek/amateurgolf.com Player Rankings.
When play begins on Friday, the #1 ranked players from England (Sam Hutsby), Australia (Matt Jager), France (Alexander Kaleka), Scotland (Gavin Dear), Wales (Ben Westgate), South Africa (Adrian Ford), Ireland (Niall Kearney), Norway (Are Friestad), and Switzerland (Arthur Gabella-Wenne) will tee it up among 144 players from 21 countries.
The highest American player in the field is World #15 and USA #5 Mike McCoy of West Des Moines, Iowa. The highest Canadian player is World #81 and Canada #4 David Markle of Shelburne, Ontario.
The defending champion is Keir McNicoll of Scotland who currently sits at #25 in the World and #3 in Scotland.
The format of the Links Trophy is 72 holes of stroke play over three days. One round each will be played on the Old and New Courses of St. Andrews, after which the field will be cut to the low 40 players and ties for the final 36 holes Sunday on the Old Course.
In this, a Walker Cup year, the Links Trophy and the upcoming British Amateur will go a long way toward determining who will make up the teams who will compete at Merion in September, especially on the Great Britian & Ireland side.
Top-100 Ranked Players competing in the St. Andrews Links Trophy
The tournament was won and lost on the final nine. With nine holes to play, it was Enoch at 5-under, Paul O'Hara of Scotland at 4-under, and Luke Goddard of England at 3-under, with Dunbar four back at 1-under and Haines seemingly out of it at 2-over. But with the top 3 shooting 41, 41, and 40 coming in, the door was opened for Dunbar and Haines, who shot 35 and 33 respectively on the final nine.
With the win, Dunbar climbs to #40 in the Golfweek/amateurgolf.com Player Rankings. Luke Goddard's 4th place finish moves into the #1 spot, while fellow Englishman Sam Hutsby remains at #2 following a T20 finish.
Four Americans finished in the top 40, lead by Will Wilcox of Pell City, AL, tied for 14th at 8-over 295. Mike McCoy of W. Des Moines, IA finished tied for 25th and moved to #13 in the World and #5 in the U.S. Greg O'Mahony of Tequesta, FL also finished T25 at 10-over, while James Field of Pinecrest, FL finished 40th at 21-over.
The field for the Links Trophy was the strongest of the year to date, with 12 of the top 20 players in the world and 21 countries represented.
St. Andrews Links Trophy: Top Finishers
Click on each link to view that player's ranking and performance in Golfweek/amateurgolf.com Amateur Golf Rankings points events
| Place | Player | Scores | |
| 1 |
|
Alan Dunbar, Northern Ireland | 71-73-71-70--285 |
| 2 |
|
Matt Haines, England | 71-72-73-70--286 |
| 3 |
|
Rhys Enoch, Wales | 71-71-71-74--287 |
| T4 |
|
Luke Goddard, England | 71-75-69-73--288 |
| T4 |
|
Daniel Nisbet, Australia | 74-71-72-71--288 |
| T4 |
|
Paul O'Hara, Scotland | 68-72-73-75--288 |
| 7 |
|
David Coupland, England | 71-74-74-70--289 |
| T8 |
|
Tommy Fleetwood, England | 71-77-71-71--290 |
| T8 |
|
Nigel Edwards, Wales | 69-78-73-70--290 |
| T8 |
|
Matthew Nixon, England | 73-70-73-74--290 |
| T11 |
|
James Frazer, Wales | 73-75-69-75--292 |
| T11 |
|
Matteo Manassero, Italy | 68-80-72-72--292 |
| 13 |
|
Miles Mackman, England | 72-77-73-71--293 |
| T14 |
|
James Robinson, England | 76-73-75-71--295 |
| T14 |
|
Steven McEwan, Scotland | 76-72-71-76--295 |
| T14 |
|
Will Wilcox, USA | 73-75-76-71--295 |
| T14 |
|
Pontus Gad, Sweden | 73-75-74-73--295 |
| T14 |
|
Alexander Levy, France | 73-74-74-74--295 |
| T14 |
|
Ross Kellett, Scotland | 67-77-76-75--295 |
| T20 |
|
Anders Kristiansen, Norway | 74-75-72-75--296 |
| T20 |
|
Wallace Booth, Scotland | 72-76-69-79--296 |
| T20 |
|
Sam Hutsby, England | 71-76-74-75--296 |
| T20 |
|
Ben Westgate, Wales | 72-75-74-75--296 |
| T20 |
|
Derik Ferreira, South Africa | 72-75-75-74--296 |
| T25 |
|
Jason Barnes, England | 71-77-75-74--297 |
| T25 |
|
Mike McCoy, USA | 68-79-73-77--297 |
| T25 |
|
Greg O'Mahony, USA | 74-72-78-73--297 |
| T25 |
|
Oliver Farr, Wales | 74-72-73-78--297 |
| T29 |
|
Michael Stewart, Scotland | 73-76-73-76--298 |
| T29 |
|
Adam Runcie, Wales | 72-76-73-77--298 |
| T29 |
|
Jurrian Van Der Vaart, Netherlands | 74-74-72-78--298 |
| T29 |
|
Joe Vickery, Wales | 72-75-75-76--298 |
| T33 |
|
Alexandre Kaleka, France | 72-74-75-78--299 |
| T33 |
|
James White, Scotland | 74-75-76-75--300 |
| T33 |
|
Joel Stalter, France | 71-76-78-75--300 |
| 36 |
|
Tom Lewis, England | 70-79-75-77--301 |
| 37 |
|
Jack Senior, England | 75-74-73-80--302 |
| 38 |
|
Stuart Phillips, England | 70-78-79-76--303 |
| 39 |
|
Jamie Howie, Wales | 73-76-77-78--304 |
| 40 |
|
James Field, USA | 70-79-81-78--308 |
Update after 36 holes
ST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND (June 6, 2009)--After 36 holes of play, Paul O'Hara of Scotland (-3) leads by two shots over Rhys Enoch of Wales after a difficult day on the Old Course that saw only three players break par. Englishmen Matt Haines and Matthew Nixon share third at even-par.
World #2 Sam Hutsby of England sits T14 at 4-over, with #3 Luke Goddard of England T9 at 3-over, and #9 Alexandre Kaleka of France T9 at 3-over. Top-10 players Matt Jager of Australia and Dale Whitnell of England missed the cut.
Mike McCoy of the USA opened with a 68 on the New Course but struggled to a 79 on the Old Course to sit T14 at 4-over-par.
Strongest Field of the Year for the St. Andrews Links Trophy
ST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND (June 3, 2009)--The strongest field of the year-to-date is set to gather at St. Andrews for the St. Andrews Links Trophy Jun 5-7. The field, which required a +2.4 handicap for entry, includes 12 of the top 20 players in the Golfweek/amateurgolf.com Player Rankings.When play begins on Friday, the #1 ranked players from England (Sam Hutsby), Australia (Matt Jager), France (Alexander Kaleka), Scotland (Gavin Dear), Wales (Ben Westgate), South Africa (Adrian Ford), Ireland (Niall Kearney), Norway (Are Friestad), and Switzerland (Arthur Gabella-Wenne) will tee it up among 144 players from 21 countries.
The highest American player in the field is World #15 and USA #5 Mike McCoy of West Des Moines, Iowa. The highest Canadian player is World #81 and Canada #4 David Markle of Shelburne, Ontario.
The defending champion is Keir McNicoll of Scotland who currently sits at #25 in the World and #3 in Scotland.
The format of the Links Trophy is 72 holes of stroke play over three days. One round each will be played on the Old and New Courses of St. Andrews, after which the field will be cut to the low 40 players and ties for the final 36 holes Sunday on the Old Course.
In this, a Walker Cup year, the Links Trophy and the upcoming British Amateur will go a long way toward determining who will make up the teams who will compete at Merion in September, especially on the Great Britian & Ireland side.
Top-100 Ranked Players competing in the St. Andrews Links Trophy
| Rank | Player | Country | Points | |
| 2 |
|
Sam Hutsby | England | 5725 |
| 3 |
|
Luke Goddard | England | 5650 |
| 6 |
|
Matt Jager | Australia | 4350 |
| 8 |
|
Dale Whitnell | England | 3950 |
| 9 |
|
Alexandre Kaleka | France | 3900 |
| 10 |
|
Tommy Fleetwood | England | 3800 |
| 12 |
|
Gavin Dear | Scotland | 3750 |
| 15 |
|
Mike McCoy | USA | 3400 |
| 17 |
|
Charles Ford | England | 3250 |
| 18 |
|
Ben Westgate | Wales | 3200 |
| 19 |
|
Steven McEwan | Scotland | 3100 |
| 20 |
|
Adrian Ford | South Africa | 3075 |
| 22 |
|
Bryden Macpherson | Australia | 2950 |
| 25 |
|
Keir McNicoll | Scotland | 2850 |
| 26 |
|
Wallace Booth | Scotland | 2825 |
| 33 |
|
Jason Scrivener | Australia | 2675 |
| 34 |
|
Brendan Smith | Australia | 2650 |
| 36 |
|
Niall Kearney | Ireland | 2625 |
| 37 |
|
Matt Haines | England | 2500 |
| 42 |
|
Thomas Sherreard | England | 2250 |
| 48 |
|
Farren Keenan | England | 2100 |
| 48 |
|
Ross Kellett | Scotland | 2100 |
| 55 |
|
Steven Ferreira | South Africa | 2000 |
| 57 |
|
Jake Redman | South Africa | 1975 |
| 59 |
|
Todd Adcock | England | 1925 |
| 60 |
|
Matthew Nixon | England | 1900 |
| 69 |
|
Jurrian Van Der Vaart | Netherlands | 1750 |
| 76 |
|
Joe Vickery | Wales | 1675 |
| 77 |
|
Daniel Nisbet | Australia | 1625 |
| 80 |
|
Derik Ferreira | South Africa | 1550 |
| 81 |
|
David Markle | Canada | 1500 |
| 91 |
|
James Robinson | England | 1450 |
| 97 |
|
David Antonelli | France | 1400 |
About the St. Andrews Links Trophy
72-hole stroke play that draws one of the top amateur fields in Europe. Field plays two rounds, one at the Old Course and one additional (sometimes the Jubilee, sometimes the New), then the field is cut to the low 40 and ties. The final two rounds ar...
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