For Immediate Release - 18 October 2010

Thirty scratch cup champions from across Ireland, all came together at Carton House last weekend to compete for the title of Ireland’s top golfer in what was a thrilling finale to an innovative new amateur tour.

The TopGolfer Tour Championship was the culmination of a thirty-event tour which in its first year hosted scratch cups in all four provinces, attracted over 2,400 competitors from 221 clubs and now boasts over 4,000 members of its community on www.topgolfer.ie.

TopGolfer Ambassador Ronan Rafferty believes the popularity of the TopGolfer Tour, proves there is an appetite for the scratch cup format, a once stable diet of the country’s best golfers but which has slipped off many clubs competition diary in recent years.

“The scratch cup is a fantastic format for golfers who love competition. For many it’s the truest form of the amateur game and a way for low handicappers and budding stars to gauge themselves against others of the same standard. Unfortunately many clubs just stopped hosting them over the years. The TopGolfer Tour is reviving the scratch cup across Ireland and encouraging clubs to get them back on the calendars and players to compete in a tour environment. This first year has been an outstanding success and shows how important they are to the fabric of the game.”

The TopGolfer Tour Championship was held over 36 holes on the Montgomerie Course at Carton House with rounds on Saturday and Sunday and it was Rob Fitzpatrick (4) of Dunmurry Springs Golf Club who took the inaugural title, doing so in some style.

Having won twice on tour at his home club and at Rathsallagh, Fitzpatrick was clearly one to watch and he lived up to his billing. Overnight leader Derek Basquill (3) of Enniscrone fought all the way to the 14th hole on Sunday afternoon with the lead exchanging hands between the two on five occasions, but he found trouble in one of the Montgomerie Courses infamous bunkers, which just left it to Fitzpatrick to hold his nerve for the last four holes. He did just that to finish with a one under par total 143 for the championship, five shots ahead of Basquill and a further shot ahead of David Kiely (3) of Tramore.

It is free to join the TopGolfer Community online which not only provides information on all thirty tour events but also provides access to a members’ forum, blogs, competitions and tour news. New members are also in with a chance to win a very special Callaway driver and tour bag autographed by Ernie Els. Visit www.topgolfer.ie to find out more.

About TopGolfer
TopGolfer (www.topgolfer.ie) is Ireland’s community for golfers with a handicap of 9 or better. It exists to feed the competitive spirit of the top golfers playing the game in Ireland through an online community, the TopGolfer Tour, exclusive member events and the season finale Tour Championship.

Community members can meet in our online forums, enjoy blogs from some of the loudest opinions in Irish golf, enter member events, keep in touch with tour news and win special prizes in exclusive member competitions.

The TopGolfer Tour is a series of thirty events held at magnificent venues throughout the country. In addition to some impressive prizes, each tour event winner will qualify for the end of season Tour Championship in October to find Ireland’s TopGolfer.