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[a]	Elm Park	Christy O'Connor Snr	276	[22]
1961	Clontarf[b]	Nicky Lynch	278	[23]
1960	Dun Laoghaire	Christy O'Connor Snr Jimmy Kinsella	271	[24]
1959	Hermitage	Norman Drew	284	[25]
1958[a]	Elm Park	Harry Bradshaw[c] 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