Ireland's Dunbar storms into Amateur Championship final

Irish golfer Alan Dunbar earned his place in the 36-hole final of the Amateur Championship after beating Scot Paul Ferrier in Friday's semi-final

Alan Dunbar

Ireland's Alan Dunbar will play Austrian Matthias Schwab in the final of the 117th Amateur Championship tomorrow after defeating Scot Paul Ferrier 3&2 in the semi-finals.

The match play final will take place over 36-holes at Royal Troon Golf Club as Dunbar seeks to become the first Briton to win the coveted title for eight years.

The Irishman shot rounds of 74 and 70 in the first two days of the tournament to qualify for the match play stage, beating Borja Virto, Patrick Winther, Paul Barjon, Robert Karlsson and Ferrier to reach the final.

Dunbar's opponent in the final, Austrian Matthias Schwab, beat home favourite Jack McDonald by two holes in the semi-finals.

The winner of the Amateur Championship will gain an exemption to this July's Open Championship at Royal Lytham and St Annes.

Nick Bonfield
Features Editor

Nick Bonfield joined Golf Monthly in 2012 after graduating from Exeter University and earning an NCTJ-accredited journalism diploma from News Associates in Wimbledon. He is responsible for managing production of the magazine, sub-editing, writing, commissioning and coordinating all features across print and online. Most of his online work is opinion-based and typically centres around the Majors and significant events in the global golfing calendar. Nick has been an avid golf fan since the age of ten and became obsessed with the professional game after watching Mike Weir and Shaun Micheel win The Masters and PGA Championship respectively in 2003. In his time with Golf Monthly, he's interviewed the likes of Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Jose Maria Olazabal, Henrik Stenson, Padraig Harrington, Lee Westwood and Billy Horschel and has ghost-written columns for Westwood, Wayne Riley, Matthew Southgate, Chris Wood and Eddie Pepperell. Nick is a 12-handicap golfer and his favourite courses include Old Head, Sunningdale New, Penha Longha, Valderrama and Bearwood Lakes. If you have a feature pitch for Nick, please email nick.bonfield@futurenet.com with 'Pitch' in the subject line. Nick is currently playing: Driver: TaylorMade M1 Fairway wood: TaylorMade RBZ Stage 2 Hybrid: Ping Crossover Irons (4-9): Nike Vapor Speed Wedges: Cleveland CBX Full Face, 56˚, Titleist Vokey SM4, 60˚ Putter: testing in progress! Ball: TaylorMade TP5x