There were plenty of good stories that came out of amateur golf this past season, exciting, happy endings as well as disappointing, heart-breaking endings.
From Steven Fox winning the U.S. Amateur, to Nathan Smith capturing a record fourth U.S. Mid-Amateur to a 14-year-old from China qualifying for next year’s Masters -- and a whole lot more along the way.
I’ve been covering amateur golf at just about every level for some 30 years and it seems each year provides its own share of interesting stories, whether in victory or defeat.
Compiling a list of the best of them for 2012 was difficult, but here is a list of my top 10:
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No. 3: Alan Dunbar, 23, of Northern Ireland, defeated Austria’s Matthias Schwab, 1-up, to capture the British Amateur Championship at Royal Troon Golf Club in Scotland.
Along with the prestigious title is an invitation to compete this coming April in the Masters for Dunbar, who won the 2009 St. Andrews Links Trophy, the 2010 Irish Amateur and in 2011 helped lead the Great Britain and Irleand team to victory over the United States in the Walker Cup at Royal Aberdeen (Scotland) Golf Club.
“I struggled with the long game as the week went on and I had to rely on my putting,” said Dunbar afterward. “It (putting) definitely came through for me. This is just so sweet.”
Dunbar became the third Northern Ireland winner of this championship, following Michael Hoey in 2001 and Garth McGimpsey in 1985.
