Brotherly love as Dunmores take over from Robinsons in Bundoran and Murvagh

There is a sort of very orderly changing of the professional guard at two golf courses in South Donegal with one set of brothers taking over from another set.

For well over 40 years the Robinson brothers, Leslie and David, have been associated with Bundoran and Donegal Golf Club, Murvagh. Leslie retired as Professional at Murvagh just before Christmas and his slightly younger brother, David, is stepping away at Bundoran at the end of this month.

They are being replaced by another set of brothers, the Dunmores from Bundoran with Adam Dunmore taking over from Leslie at Donegal and Matthew following in the footsteps of David at Bundoran.

The changeover will be seamless as the Dunmore brothers have come through the ranks at Bundoran Golf Club, learning the trade from David Robinson, and it is clear that both have been good pupils.

Their path to the role of Head Professionals is linked to just a love of the game and hard work. Born in Northampton in England, the Dunmores came to Bundoran as 10 and 12 year olds, but they are now 100 per cent Bundoran.

Prior to coming to Bundoran they had played very little golf, a little pitch and putt and maybe a few rounds at their local course Brampton Heath.

Adam takes up the story: “I went straight to secondary school when we came here and we would have been up at the golf course every evening.”

But while golf became a big part of their young lives, Adam says Gaelic and soccer were just as important at that stage.


Matthew Dunmore pictured outside Bundoran Golf Club

But at Bundoran Golf Club they came under the guidance of David Robinson, who has now mentored quite a number of young professionals. “He must have mentored six or seven at this stage,” says Matthew.

“That is where we learned our trade. He was a good mentor, very, very good. He has a good way with people. That was the first thing he instilled in us whenever you were in the shop with him.

“He’s a big lad. When you were starting off though, he was scary enough to, so you thought you had to listen to him

“To be fair, that's the way he is and that's the way he deals with people. He's very person-first.

“So it was great that way. And I kind of think he's got that with us as well, so it was good. Yeah, he was probably a good role model,” said Adam, who also referenced Peter McIntyre in the Allingham Hotel as being someone who taught him the ropes growing up as well.

“There's another man there that knows how to deal with people as well.   I would have worked with Peter. You (Matthew) would have worked with him. Between the two of them, they sort of fairly set me up with how to deal with people,” says Adam.

As regards competing as Professionals, Adam, who has worked for the last seven years at Fletchers Golf, Enniskillen, has played more on the circuit.

“I would have played pretty much all the time since I qualified. A year before Covid I went to try and play a bit of Europro, but it was just tough to break into it. I got through the first stage of qualifying over in Scotland and went to the second stage.

“But then the cost increased and I didn’t pursue it after that. But I have played a good bit in the Irish region and I hope to continue although my new role will be different at Donegal with the teaching,” said Adam.

For Matthew, it should be a seamless transition as he has been Assistant at Bundoran for a number of years, but now will be taking on the role of looking after the shop and the coaching duties.

“We will have Mason Collins coming in as Assistant on April 1st as well, so it should be an easy changeover,” says Matthew.

As regards similarities between the Dunmores and the Robinsons, the younger professionals have their own personalities as well. Both are very keen to be role models for the club and are hoping to co-operate with youth coaching, summer camps, etc.

“I would have talked to Leslie a lot and asked him for advice when I was looking for the job in Murvagh. He was never interested in the front of house role but I do enjoy meeting the members and stuff. It’s one of those things if people see you, you end up  being busier, so it works out in that way,” said Adam.

“I’ve been down there a week or so and we had the Captains’ Drive-in. It’s amazing actually the number of people you know from working in Fletchers. There’s very few new faces,” says Adam.

As for Matthew in Bundoran, he says that he has a fairly good handle on how the club runs and he says he would have a good capacity to remember the names of all the members.

One of the things that both new Club Professionals are looking forward to is the coaching role, especially the one-to-ones.

“You get the same benefit, especially when you see people improving and it doesn’t matter what age they are,” says Matthew.

“But obviously juniors are very important for the future of both clubs. There has been a massive uptake round here and I know the programme at Donegal has always been strong.

“We started our junior programme last year for the first year in quite a while and it was quite good. We had a couple of Easter Camps and Summer Camps and Friday nights,” said Matthew.


Adam Dunmore pictured at Donegal Golf Club, Murvagh

Indeed, there could be a bit of rivalry now between the brothers and the two clubs which was something that both remembered was there when they were young and starting out.

Adam says they don’t really have any low handicap youngsters in Donegal at the moment “so there is scope to drive that on.”

“We have to keep pushing people through as well. We have a legacy in a way to live up to,” says Matthew, who knows that he will hardly be as long in Bundoran as David Robinson was.

“He’s in his 44th year and I can’t see myself going that long. Indeed, we'd be regarded as young Head Pros and we are in our thirties. I’d like to think that in 40 years time I’ll be retired,” laughs Matthew.

As for their ambitions for themselves at the club, both agree that their mantra would be to be remembered as: “He was a good Pro and he served us well.”

Adam says one of his ambitions is to win the home Pro-Am at Donegal Golf Club. “No pressure! I played in one of them and finished third. So I’ve got to get above that.”

He is also looking forward to meeting Paul McGinley, who has been involved in the re-design at Donegal GC. “There is a big push on to get more Americans and they’ve certainly been doing a lot of work on that in Bundoran as well.”

Both Adam and Matthew want to see the standards at both clubs kept at a high level as well as maintaining the legacy that has been built up by the Robinsons.