Amidst all the Rory, G-Mac and Paddy talk, there’s one young Irish golfer making his Masters debut this week; Alan Dunbar.
The Masters field throws up a fair few curveballs. From past champions like Sandy Lyle and Ian Woosnam trying to recapture old glory to youngsters like Guan Tianlang who are at the very start of their careers, the golfers who tee off on Thursday are as varied as the flowers of Augusta National.
And in amongst all of them is a young Irish golfer making his Masters debut. Alan Dunbar, a 22-year-old from golfing hotbed Portrush, will head off on his opening round in the company of Trevor Immelman and George Coetzee today.
Dunbar is in the field as a result of winning the British Amateur Championship last year at Troon. Being a bit of a links specialist, the manicured lawns of the Masters are as far as you can get from a windswept coastline but how he does this week doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things.
A Walker Cup winner in 2011, Dunbar has played in three Irish Opens, and last year’s British Open, so he has plenty of big tournament experience and the Masters will be his last as an amateur.
Dunbar will turn pro immediately after he returns from Augusta and his first paid gig will be the Ballantine’s Championship in South Korea in a fortnight. From there he sets out on the extremely difficult road to make it as a professional golfer. The Volvo China Open and Memorial in May are already pencilled in to his schedule.
Hard as it might seem to believe, Dunbar almost passed on his Masters ticket, as they demand you remain amateur until the Masters. He would have turned pro if he could have nabbed his Tour card in Q School last year but he fell just short. At the time we’re sure that stung, though he won’t be saying that this week as he enjoys his time at the most famous golf course in the world.
Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph about his first impressions, it was pretty clear Dunbar was impressed.
“You see it on TV but it doesn’t do it justice, it’s unbelievable,” he said. “I’m a bit speechless, it’s some place.”
Dunbar will have seen the likes of Shane Lowry progress rapidly from amateur success to pro success and we see no reason why the Antrim man can’t follow suit.
Having the low amateur title from the 2013 Masters in his back pocket would be a very nice bonus.
