Cutler gets Close exemption after Muirfield exploits

PAUL CUTLER, the Portstewart golfer who reached the British Amateur Championship quarter-finals at Muirfield yesterday before going down to the South Korean, Jin Jeong, won’t need to contest the weekend’s 36-hole qualifying procedure for the Golfsure Irish Close Championship at Royal Dublin.

Realising that the clash of dates could prevent Irishmen from competing in their national championship, the GUI showed commendable foresight by granting any of their players who reached the quarter-finals at Muirfield an automatic place in the match-play stages of the Close, which starts on Monday.

Cutler is worthy of the exemption, not just because of his exploits at Muirfield, but because he has already won the Lytham Trophy this season to prove himself one of the finest amateurs in the game and a powerful contender for a place in the British & Irish Walker Cup team next year.

Alan Dunbar, from Rathmore, is another capable of bringing the country’s oldest amateur trophy to the north west.

He demonstrated his potential by making it to the last 16 at Muirfield, having captured the Irish Amateur Open title over the Royal Dublin links last month.

Indeed, his liking for the course and the inevitable confidence to be derived from becoming the first Irishman since Noel Fox in 2003 to keep that title at home, make Dunbar another strong candidate for further honours.

Yet another Ulster man, Rory Leonard, won the West of Ireland at Easter and goes to Royal Dublin with hopes high, as does Cian Curley, recent winner of the East of Ireland Championship at Baltray and other current internationals in defending champion Pat Murray; Robert Cannon, Michael Sinclair, Dara Lernihan and Connor Doran.

This is the 12th Close Championship to be played at Royal Dublin.

The most recent was in 1986 when John McHenry defeated Paul Rayfus in the final while other distinguished champions at the venue include David Sheahan and John Burke.

Interestingly, an increasingly crowded programme means that the Close Championship for the next two years will be staged on an experimental basis in the month of May over 72 holes of stroke play.

Shannon is the host venue in 2011 but this year’s event continues on the more traditional basis of 36 holes qualifying today and tomorrow with 64 going forward to the first round of match play on Monday with the final on Wednesday.