Busy period of competitions at Galgorm Castle

At the halfway stage 22-handicapper William Wilson held a one point advantage over David Bamford (15) with Mark Dunlop (7) another point away and David Murray (7) another two points down.

With two to play Dunlop had closed the gap with the help of a birdie on 16 to within one point of leader Wilson. Both players were level after 17 and each player parred the last to leave Wilson the overall winner by one point - due to his shot advantage - from Dunlop.

In Division 1 at halfway Mark Hamilton (12) had a slender one point lead over Michael Alexander (6), Roy Bell (12) and David Martin (12) with David Murray (7) and Alan McClements (11) another point behind.

McClements (par, double bogey, par finish), Alexander (birdie, bogey, par), Bell (bogey, bogey, par), Hamilton (par, par, bogey) and Martin (bogey, ‘ding’, par) all finished level but Murray took first place by two points when he finished with three pars. McClements, with a better back nine finished second with Alexander (bb6) third.

Division 2 saw David Bamford (15) take a one point lead at halfway over Neil Ramsbottom (18) followed closely by Michael Nesbitt (15) and Raymond Ardis (17) a point behind.

Ramsbottom (two pars), Ardis (par, double bogey) and Nesbitt (par, bogey) finished level but Bamford with a par, bogey finish took first place by one point from Nesbitt (last hole) in second place and Ardis (better back nine) third.

In Division 3 bogeys played an important role at the finish. At halfway David Henry (26) had a narrow one point lead over Ivan McCappin (21), Owen Henry (21) and George McDowell (19) with Jonathan McCart (19) another point down.

D Henry ran into bogey trouble over the closing holes, McDowell (bogey, ‘ding’) and McCart (bogey, par) finished together one point behind O Henry (double bogey, ‘ding’) and McCappin (two bogeys). With a better back six McCappin pipped O Henry for first place with McCart (better back nine) third.

Reg. McDowell (15) won the Seniors and David Kernohan (-3) won the Gross.

SPAR GALGORM STABLEFORD

The Spar Galgorm sponsored Stableford provided some exciting finishes.

At the halfway point George McCooke (13) and Alan Knox (18) were battling for the leadership one point ahead of David Stirling (9) who was one point ahead of William Wilson (22), Garrett Bell (5) and Sean McCormick (5).

Wilson (bogey, par), Knox (bogey, double bogey), Bell (two pars), McCormick (par, birdie) and Stirling (bogey, par) all finished level but McCooke with a birdie, ‘ding’ finish came home one point clear of the field for overall victory. Wilson (bb1) finished runner-up.

In Division 2 at the turn Knox had a clear two point lead over Albert Smyth (13) and Andrew A Moore (18) with Neil Ramsbottom another point away.

Moore (bogey, double bogey), Ramsbottom (two bogeys) and Smyth (bogey, par) finished level and were left to scramble for the minor placings as Knox with a bogey, double bogey finished in first place. Ramsbottom with a better back nine took second place with Smyth (better back six) third.

In Division 1 at halfway Stirling held a one point advantage from Bell, McCormick and Peter Kearney (12).

Stirling (bogey, par), McCormick (par, birdie) and Bell (two pars) finished level one point ahead of Kearney (bogey, birdie). First place went to Bell (better back six) with McCormick (better back nine) second and Stirling third.

In Division 3 David Nelson (19) finished two points clear of Cyril Reid (19) (better back six) in second with Stephen McCooke (28) in third.

Liam Reilly jnr (0) won the Gross prize and the Seniors was won by Des Cousley by a point from Neville Neill and James Mairs.

ULSTER FOURBALL

Galgorm Castle entertained Helen’s Bay in the First Leg and won rather convincingly by 5-0.

In the opening match Robin Deane and Jack Douglas set off at a brisk pace and were two up after five. They continued their winning ways and were four up at the turn. They held on to this advantage and eventually won 4 and 3.

George Simpson and Ivan McCappin were all square at halfway before the home pair finally won one up.

In the third match Raymond McDyer and Garth Wilson went one up after five and increased their lead to three up at the turn finally winning 2 up.

Glen Millar and Chris Warwick took an early two hole lead and were still 2 up at the turn. Play was fairly after halfway and the home pairing ran out 4 and 3 winners.

The last match saw the Alan Knox/Jonathan McCart pairing leading by two holes after five. They maintained this lead until the turn and in a hard struggle over the back nine they held on to win one up.