Have you met Simon Thornton, our European Tour winning professional golfer? Simon is Tulfarris Hotel and Golf Resort’s tournament professional and has had an amazing year of success so far. Here are some of the year’s highlights for Simon and the golf team at Tulfarris.

Dubai Duty-Free Irish Open

July brought great success for Simon as he competed in the Dubai Duty-Free Irish Open, held in the breath-taking surroundings of Donegal in Ballyliffin Golf Club. Since 2015, the tournament has been hosted by world-renowned championship golfer Rory McIlroy and all proceeds go towards his charity, The Rory Foundation. Of the 33 competitions throughout the year, Simon finished first in 12 different ones. We are extremely proud to have such a talented golfer as part of our team.

PREM Group PGA EuroPro Tour Irish Masters

In August, Tulfarris Hotel and Golf Resort were delighted to host the successful PREM Group PGA EuroPro Tour Irish Masters which was broadcasted in a 2-hour highlights programme to 400 million people over 98 networks via Sky Sports. Amazingly, Tulfarris was the Euro ProTour’s only stop outside of the UK and mainland Europe and we feel extremely proud to have been given this prestigious honour.

Simon was the tournament host and spoke extremely highly of his new ‘home-course’.

“The first thing I noted was the quality and layout of the course, which is really impressive,” says Simon. “Tulfarris really has all the ingredients to become one of the premier golfing destinations in Ireland. It’s an exciting time for the resort and I am looking forward to being part of its success.”

The conditions were perfect on the day which ended with a well-deserved win from a young English golfer from Longridge Golf Club in Preston, Mark Young.

Irish PGA Championships

Simon’s successes this year were topped off by an impressive win at the Irish PGA Championships in mid-October. The Irish PGA Championships have been held annually since 1907 and boast many notable players and winners over its 111-year history. This year the 36-hole tournament was held in Galway Bay Golf Resort and there were some particularly difficult weather conditions to battle. This is Simons second win at the this Championship, following his victory at Seapoint in 2011.

The win secures Simons qualification for the PGA Play-Offs in Turkey from November 21-23, along with the second and third place winners. He also holds this year’s Order of Merit title as an added bonus. The championship was a challenging one and was made even more difficult by rain and unpredictable wind. Simon played exceptionally well and through skill and admirable determination, he went on to claim the title with a final score of three-under par (71/70).

Simon has won and placed in many other tournaments this year and we are delighted to have him as part of our team.You can visit Simon and the rest of our golf team in the wonderful Tulfarris Golf Club, year-round. Our championship course is perfectly manicured for a challenging yet rewarding round and our staff are always on hand with tips and tricks to perfect your swing. Contact us via phone or check our website for our great value golf deals.