Wins for Raymond and Lappin

Neil Raymond won his second straight Brabazon Trophy and Gareth Lappin won the Irish U18.

Neil Raymond made history at Walton Heath Golf Club by becoming the first player in 50 years to win back-to-back Brabazon Trophies. His final round 72 in windy and rainy weather left him 2 shots clear of Ireland’s Kevin Phelan and 3 shots clear of England’s Jamie Rutherford, who closed on a day’s best 68.

Raymond gained strength from a “tweet” by Andrew Sullivan whom he beat last year. “Andy sent me a twitter so I called him last night and he said I could win again. He said he threw everything at me last year and it didn’t work, that I knew how to win and that I had done it before. It was an unbelievable chat and it was nice to hear this from a European Tour player.”

In Dublin, Belvoir Park’s Gareth Lappin conquered strong winds and heavy rains to win the 1st Irish Boys open to international players held at the Hermitage Golf Club. The greens at the Hermitage are some of Europe’s finest and most dangerous, and combined with the strong winds proved to be a world class test for the field. 2nd place went to Galway’s Ronan Mullarney who was a distance 8 shots behind. The Island’s Gavin Moynihan shot a tournament best 67 in the third round which helped him to a tie for third with his young teammate Kevin LeBlanc and Newland’s Alec Myles.

The Golfing Union of Ireland, whose organization is second to none, will be looking for the Irish Boys to become a major fixture on Europe’s U18 schedule after such a successful event.