Garth McGimpsey returned from an injury-hit season in the best fashion possible when he fired four birdies in a best-of-the-day 73 in tough breezy conditions to win his fourth Ulster Seniors Amateur Open at Murvagh, writes Larry Walsh.

The 59-year old from Bangor finished on four over par 150 for two-shot winning margin over Mourne's Hugh Smyth with joint leader overnight Adrian Morrow of Portmarnock a shot further back on 153 after a second day 79.

The other overnight leader, Ballyclare's Allan Lilley, had a tough day and a round of 89 left him down the field.

Playing in the final group with Morrow and Lilley, McGimpsey had a steady start of three pars before bogeying the fourth, which was playing into the wind.  

He quickly struck back with an excellent two at the par-three fifth and another birdie at the eight meant he completed the 1st nine in one under 36.

A double bogey six at the par-four 11th was wiped out by birdies at the 12th and 14th before a dropped shot at the 16th gave him a second nine of 37 and a level par 73.

Second placed Hugh Smyth had also shot 77 on day one and he had a very steady round of two over 75 that included three bogeys and a birdie.

Third place Morrow found the going tough on the first nine and the early part of the second nine to be six over after eleven but he steadied the ship to finish with seven straight pars for a 79.

Due to the strong breeze blowing in from the Atlantic the scoring was higher on day two and this made McGimpsey’s round of 73 all the more commendable.

In his acceptance speech, he paid tribute to the excellent condition of the course and  emphasized how much winning the competition meant to him as he had missed much of the season due to injury.

Ulster Seniors Amateur Open, Donegal GC (Par 73)

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150 Garth McGimpsey (Bangor) 77 73

152 Hugh Smyth (Mourne) 77 75

153 Adrian Morrow (Portmarnock) 74 79

157 Keith Lapsley (Dunfanaghy) 81 76, Billy Donlon (Birr) 77 80

158 Ronnie Berry (Rossmore) 82 76

159 John Moyna (Rossmore) 79 80

160 Shane Magee (Lurgan) 79 81, Neville Steedman (Courtown) 79 81, David Cromie (Royal Liverpool) 78 82

161 Richard Brooker (Skerries) 81 80, Adrian Wynne (Strandhill) 79 82

162 Sean McGarry (Ballymena) 77 85

163 Alan Lilley (Ballyclare) 74 89

164 Mick Ahern (Skerries) 83 81, Michael Gaynor (Co. Meath) 82 82, Richard McDowell (Royal Belfast) 82 82, Brendan O'Malley (The Royal Dublin) 82 82, Nigel Woods (Bangor) 78 86, Tony Goode (Lucan) 78 86

165 Alan Mullen (Laytown & Bettystown) 84 81, Val Smyth (Co. Louth) 81 84, Eamonn Crawford (Mourne) 78 87

167 Thomas Byrne (Greystones) 87 80, Peter Cowley (Cork) 84 83, Barry.v. Reddan (Co. Louth) 83 84, Justin Coughlin (Donegal) 83 84, Brendan McDonnell (K Club) 82 85, Nigel Duke (Killiney) 81 86

168 Steven Monteith (Slieve Russell) 86 82, Noel Mannion (Dun Laoghaire) 84 84, Raph Smyth (Laytown & Bettystown) 84 84

169 Bobby O'Shea (Donegal) 89 80, Hugh Mackeown (Portmarnock) 86 83, Martin Higgins (Claremorris) 85 84, Steven Bell (Gracehill) 85 84, Tom Tyrrell (The Heath) 82 87, Mervyn Eager (Lucan) 81 88

170 John Waters (Spain) 89 81, Dominick Fitzpatrick (Moate) 88 82, Paul Cooley (Portstewart) 87 83, Joseph Dowey (Lurgan) 85 85, Des Egan (Loughrea) 85 85, Eric C. O'Brien (Portmarnock) 84 86, Kieran O'Mahony (Galway) 83 87, Alistair Campbell (Massereene) 82 88, Seamus Doherty (Ballyliffin) 80 90

171 Patrick Smyth (Killiney) 87 84, Larry Hogan (Mount Temple) 84 87, Jan Gilbert (Malone) 84 87, Brendan Sheehan (Courtown) 82 89, Fred Dawson (Ballymena) 81 90

172 John Carroll (Bandon) 87 85, John McCann (Co. Louth) 86 86, Richard Gallaugher (Royal Portrush) 86 86, Stephen Jeffers (Castletown) 86 86, John Armstrong (Greenisland) 86 86

173 Marcus Conroy (Galway) 86 87, Lord Gort (Castletown) 84 89

174 Donald McCart (Sherwood Forest) 88 86, Michael Jones (Moortown) 85 89, Sean Duffy (Westmanstown) 85 89, John Houlihan (Dooks) 85 89, Oliver Roche (Donegal) 85 89, David Boyd (Royal Belfast) 84 90

175 Neil Kilgallon (European) 87 88, Rory Timlin (Galway) 87 88

177 Jerry Gore (Oughterard) 92 85, Tony Finn (Cork) 88 89

178 Larry Gould (Belvoir Park) 95 83, Niall Finnegan (Gort) 90 88, Garry Campbell (Greystones) 90 88, Ivan Brown (Castleblayney) 86 92, Alan Patterson (Royal Portrush) 85 93

179 Paul Hautz (Delgany) 90 89, Eamon Connolly (Blainroe) 90 89, Terry Lilly (Slade Valley) 90 89

180 Pat Lynch (Slade Valley) 92 88, John McMeekin (Antrim) 90 90, Jim Harnett (Portmarnock) 87 93

181 Richard Cotter (Delgany) 91 90, Hugh Donohue (Hollywood Lakes) 88 93

182 Rory Fitzgerald (Tramore) 92 90

183 Patrick O'Brien (Forrest Little.) 98 85, Alex Philp (Massereene) 93 90

184 Martin Beattie (Whitehead) 94 90

185 Donal Brazil (Mount Temple) 96 89, Liam Treacy (K Club) 94 91

186 Frank Cassidy (Dunmurry) 92 94

188 Vincent O'Rourke (Naas) 95 93

190 Ian McVerry (Warrenpoint) 95 95

191 Stephen O'Donovan (Co. Sligo) 95 96

192 P.j. Phelan (Cahir Park) 91 101

195 Desmond Fitzpatrick (Dungannon) 97 98

197 Jonathan Hutchinson (Rathmore) 99 98

NR/WD Barry O'Gorman (Rossmore) 81 NR, John Mullen (Co. Louth) 86 NR, Sean F. Hosty (Galway) 88 NR, Fergus Caine (Co. Louth) 87 NR, Brian Farrell (Balcarrick) NR 92, Patrick Morgan (Co. Sligo) 88 NR, Patrick Higgins (Forrest Little.) 85 NR, Tony McGlynn (Craddockstown) 92 NR, Brian Rogers (K Club) 89 NR, Kevin Gallagher (Kirkistown Castle) 94 NR, Michael Darcy (Oughterard) NR NR, Maurice Kelly (Naas) 80 NR, James McIlwaine (Carrickfergus) 81 NR, George Mellerick (Fota Island) 83 NR, Matt Donohue (Portumna) NR 93, Michael Coote (Tralee) 84 WD, Kevin Sheehy (Athlone) 85 WD, Dermot Morris (Limerick) 87 WD, David McHugh (Douglas) 88 WD, Tom Campion (Athlone) 89 WD, Larry Cushen (The Heath) NR WD, Jody Gilhooly (Edmondstown) NR WD, Donal O'Donovan (Bandon) NR WD, Gordon Parkhill (Larne) NR WD, Ian Smyth (Clandeboye) WD WD