David Ryan and David Higgins came out on top on a glorious day in Monkstown today as the annual Morgan O’Donovan Perpetual Trophy competition took place.  Both players shot an impressive 67 and although the sun was out the combination of  a hard wind blowing and fast greens meant that only a few golfers managed to break par.  The competition is now in it’s fifth year and commemorates Morgan O’Donovan who was Head Professional in Monkstown before his death in 2012. The competition today was sponsored by Ping and the pro-am format saw plenty of Munster PGA Professionals take the opportunity to get out and play with an amateur partner.

It was Higgins third time in a row to win the prestigious tournament.  Higgins had missed out on the opening events, playing his first event in Cork a few weeks ago where he shot a 73.  The former European Tour player shook off the cobwebs as he went out in a very tidy 32 strokes.  Birdies on the 4th & 5th were followed by a birdie on the 9th hole to turn on -3.  Another birdie followed on the 11th but he handed back a shot on the par three 13th.  He birdied the 15th to get back to -4, but there was one more bogey on the 18th where a tricky pin position was causing trouble for a good number of golfers.

David Ryan followed up his current good form with another 67.  He went out with two birdies and seven pars to reach the turn on -2.  He added back to back birdies on 12 and 13 to get to -4 but bogied the par five 15th hole to drop back to -3.  He recovered with another birdie on the 16th but like Higgins he dropped a shot on the last hole to sign for a 67.  Tim Rice came in one shot behind the winners, with a two under par 68.  Rice won the pro-am competition after he partnered with Monkstown’s Peter O’Flynn for a winning score of 44 points.

The event concluded the Munster PGA’s Premium Golf Brands Winter Series, and the run-away winner was David Ryan.  The Cahir Park based professional won or tied in three events, and he had an almost unbeatable lead going into today’s final event.  Ryan didn’t sit back on the lead, and his win consolidated his position at the top of the leaderboard after five events.

Golfers now have a break for a few weeks before the 2017 PGA Irish Region tour kicks off with the Irish Club Professional Championship taking place in Dromoland in early May.