Alison Murdoch Wins Her 4th Irish Women's Senior

Murdoch fired a final round 76 to win the Championship by two strokes from local favourite Phil O'Gorman at Laytown and Bettystown Golf Club,

In glorious sunshine and a soft breeze, Murdoch dropped just one stroke on the outward journey when she failed to find the seventh green in regulation. Two further pars on ten and eleven were followed by a wretched triple bogey eight on the twelfth where she struggled to find the fairway. A birdie at the next restored her lead and five further pars on the homeward stretch saw her lift her fourth Irish title in just six years.

Local heroine O'Gorman birdied the seventh on her way to two over par at the turn. When Murdoch faltered on the twelfth, O'Gorman's birdie on sixteen closed the gap to just one stroke but an unlucky bogey on seventeen put paid to O'Gorman's effort to lift the title for the first time.

Defending champion Vicki Thomas was one shot further back and her eagle on eighteen helped her leap frog into third place ahead of Canada's Karen Pultz and Strabane's Helen Jones.

Next up for Murdoch and her Canadian contingent is the Senior Ladies British Open Amateur Championship at Pyle & Kenfig Golf Club on the South Wales coast from the 15th to 17th of September.

The leading overseas contender once again is expected to be Murdoch who won the Seniors Ladies British' amateur championship in 2007.

IRISH SENIOR WOMEN'S OPEN STROKEPLAY - 54 HOLE TOTALS

231 Alison Murdoch (CAN) 81 74 76
233 Phil O'Gorman (Laytown & Bettystown) 78 78 77
234 Vicki Thomas (WAL) 83 74 77
236 Karen Pultz (CAN) 79 80 77
237 Helen Jones (Strabane) 81 77 79
240 Diane Williams (CAN) 82 79 79
242 Ruth Lindley (ENG) 81 81 80
245 Pat Doran (Donabate) 84 83 78
246 Sheena McElroy (Grange) 83 83 80
249 Edeltraud Jacob (GER) 81 83 85
250 Pauline Walsh (Headfort) 79 91 80
251 Valerie Hassett (Ennis) 88 82 81
253 Janice Paterson (SCO) 82 84 87
254 Catherine Reilly (The Heath) 86 84 84
256 Mary Madden (Ballinasloe) 84 87 85
257 Deborah Court (CAN) 88 85 84
258 Violet McBride (Belvoir Park) 90 82 86
259 Mary Geaney (Killarney) 86 87 86
260 Patricia McAllister (Laytown & Bettystown) 93 81 86 Marilyn Henderson (Castlerock) 86 85 89
261 Rhona Brennan (Bandon) 90 86 85 Jane Gardner (Malone) 87 92 82 Ann McAuley (Laytown & Bettystown) 87 88 86 Pamela Williamson (SCO) 85 87 89
262 Niamh Giblin (Dun Laoghaire) 89
263 Catherine Bird (Nenagh) 87 89 87
264 Ita Donnelly (Dundalk) 89 92 83 Olivia Conroy (Co. Longford) 89 85 90
265 Sue Joy-Sobota (USA) 90 91 84
268 Marie Moran (Monkstown) 94 83 91
269 Carmel Cahill (Hermitage) 91 83 95
270 Barbara Moysey (CAN) 94 85 91 Val Shannon (Douglas) 88 93 89
273 Mary McGoey (Greenore) 84 98 91
274 Adrienne Crowley (Woodbrook) 92 90 92
276 Barbara Biggart (SCO) 95 89 92 Mary Kavanagh (New Ross) 88 89 99
WD Mary Lowney (Dunmore) 97 81 Roma English (Larne) 94 84 Gill Rouiller (Mannan Castle) 88 90 WD

INTERNATIONAL TEAM EVENT

313 CANADA Alison Murdoch 81 74 Karen Pultz 79 (80) Diane Williams [82] 79

314 IRELAND Helen Jones 81 77 Sheena McElroy (83) (83) Phil O'Gorman 78 78

338 SCOTLAND Barbara Biggart (95) (89) Janice Patterson 82 84 Pamela Williamson 85 87

354 ENGLAND Marianne Copp (101) 99 Ruth Lindley 81 81 Sue Pidgeon 93 NR

357 GERMANY Cornelia Fischer 101 92 Edeltraud Jacob 81 83

373 USA Sue Joy-Sabota 90 91 Heidi Simpson 98 94

383 SCANDINAVIA Sonja Gottschalch 103 (97) Britt-Marie Walltorp (105) 92 Elisabeth Wendells 95 93

Parts of this ILGU Media Release courtsey of Denise McCarthy, Irish Ladies Golf Union