Donaldson could not attend the ceremony at the Celtic Manor following the birth of his second child, Isla Harriett, but he is already third on the 2014 Race to Dubai rankings.
Ryder Cup hopeful Jamie Donaldson has topped off 2013 by adding another piece of silverware to his burgeoning trophy cabinet being named the Golf Union of Wales Professional of the Year.
The Pontypridd-born star has had 12 months to remember on the European Tour beating a star-studded field, including Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy to win the Abu Dhabi Championship in January, while runners-up spot in the bank-busting Turkish Airlines Open plus four further top-10 finishes saw the 38-year-old finish a career-best fifth on the Tour money list smashing through the £2m barrier in the process. Donaldson’s dad Jim was on hand to collect the award and said family responsibilities had helped his continual rise through the European Tour and world rankings with Jamie currently 26th in the global standings.
Donaldson junior could not attend the ceremony at the Celtic Manor following the birth of his second child, Isla Harriett, but he is already third on the 2014 Race to Dubai rankings.
“Before his son Max was born he earned around 150,000 euros, then the next year he earned 1.3 million and with the birth of his daughter he cleared well over two million,” said Jim Donaldson.
“We are hoping for an even bigger year next year. He has always been a late starter, turned pro at 25, 255 European Tour events without a win, but since then he has gone from strength to strength.”
Amy Boulden capped her final year before joining the professional ranks with the Amateur of the Year award, while Langland Bay in Swansea were the Club of the Year, Glyn Abbey’s Mike Davies the PGA Professional of the Year and Pontnewydd’s Hannah Harris was the Volunteer of the Year at the awards.
Boulden missed out on an automatic place in next season’s Ladies European Tour, finishing 34th at final qualifying with the top 30 earning exemption.
However she is bound to get plenty of event invites on the back of her stellar amateur career and is looking to emulate the achievements of Solheim Cup star Charlie Hull who finished outside the top 30 qualifying last year but then ended up being Rookie of the Year after making the most of her opportunities.
“It is always nice to get an award like this and particularly nice to be here to receive it,” said 20-year-old Boulden from Conwy and Llandudno/Maesdu.
“It was also nice to be here with the Wales Ladies team who won the Home Internationals this year, that was great for Welsh golf.
“It was disappointing for me to miss out at final qualifying but the key thing is to put that behind me and grab the opportunities when I do get invites. Charlie Hull was in a similar position this time last year and but ended up playing in the Solheim Cup.”
Langland Bay were the club of the year after coming close in the last two years. Club manager Andrew Minty was delighted to get recognition after missing out before.
“This is great for our members and staff, the key for us is trying to do things differently to other clubs,” he said. “We have taken the initiatives from Golf Development Wales and followed them through. We have had an extensive marketing promotion and campaign through social media.”
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