Irish Golf Desk

View Original

Dunne up 205 places in world rankings after ace debut (we have a picture)

Paul Dunne retrieves his ball after his ace at the 15th in the first round of the 2015 Alfred Dunhill Links. Picture © Brendan Ward

We've yet to discover some video footage of Paul Dunne's hole-in-one in his maiden professional round on the 15th at Kingsbarns in last week's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

But we do have a picture (courtesy of reader Brendan Ward) of the 22-year old rookie picking the ball out the hole at the 15th, his sixth, after he holed out with a five-iron from 205 yards en route to an eight under 64 in his first tournament round as a professional.

“I needed it. I got off to a ropey start," Dunne said at the time. "I tried to start it at the left edge of green and let the wind drift it in. I thought I’d hit it close and when I saw it drop, it was great. I played some good golf from then on.”

Dunne earned  €47,536 and a move to 201st in the Race to Dubai and a jump of 205 places to 737th in the world. But it wasn't his first official cheque as a professional. That came the previous week, when he picked up €550 for finishing tied fifth in the First Qualifying Stage Section B at Ebreichsdorf in Austria.

Dunne is playing in the British Masters at Woburn and next week's Portugal Masters and unless he wins his card in those two events, he will be heading to the Second Qualifying Stage of the Q-School in Spain in November.