Albert clocks cup win at Raceview

Having got out through the first nine with five pars and four bogeys, Albert entered the second nine with a birdie on the 10th but a double concession on the 11th was a slight setback.

However, the final seven holes were perfection as he scored five pars, dropped a shot on the par three 14th but retrieved that immediately with a superb birdie at 15 and played the final three holes in par.

Second place was taken by Craig Sloan (6) with a nett 65, which was one shot ahead of the next four prizewinners.

Craig got off to the best possible start with a birdie on the opening hole, only to shed a shot at the second but another birdie on the third set him on his way again.

He then parred four of the next six holes, only for a birdie on the seventh to be lost on the eighth but a score of one under was sound.

The second nine was somewhat different as he dropped shots on the 10th, 13th, 16th and 17th and the other five holes yielded pars.

Maurice Harkin took the third nett prize with a nett total of 66 and on a better last six holes from James McClintock.

Harkin (17) had three double bogeys on his card, but against that he had six pars and a last three hole score of two pars plus a bogey on the last was vital.

McClintock (15) may have been trying to emulate his brother Martin who had won at Raceview the previous two weeks and having been one over after the opening four holes he then double-bogeyed the fifth but worse was to follow as he triple-bogeyed the par three seventh.

James certainly steadied up after this and played the next six holes with three pars plus three bogeys and although he shed two shots on the 15th, he still managed two pars from the final three holes.

These were very rewarding as those last six hole scores were sufficient to push Kevin McGarry (10) into fifth place.

Kevin opened his round with a par only to drop a shot on each of the next four holes but four more pars had him out in four over gross.

The inward nine was quite a mix with five bogeys, three pars plus a valuable birdie at 17 as he edged Craig McCartney (6) into sixth place over the last three holes.

Craig shed a shot on each of the first two holes but remarkably retrieved both with an eagle three on the par five third.

This was followed by three bogeys plus two pars and a birdie on the ninth to be through the front nine in two over gross.

After five holes on the back nine, he was still only two over, only to drop a shot on the 15th and 17th with the other two holes being pars, to give him a round of four over gross.

The best gross score came from three-handicapper Steven Smyth who was round in three over 71.

The par three holes were not very kind to Steven as he dropped four shots but he had a run of eight straight pars from the eighth.

The only dropped shot on the second nine was on the par three 16th but he wiped that out with a birdie three on the closing hole to be home in level par.

MARK’S JUST ‘ACE’

The Wednesday open stableford, kindly sponsored by Ace Fixings, resulted in a win for Mark Simpson (10) who posted a total of 39 points.

A front nine of six pars plus dropped shots on the second, fifth and sixth yielded 20 points.

Entering the back nine with a par, he then dropped a shot on each of the next four holes by he put in a strong finish as he parred the last four holes.

This was enough to pip Dermot McElroy (-1) by one point for the top prize. Dermot had three birdies in the first four holes but he also had four bogeys in the first seven and two more birdies on the eighth and ninth meant he had no pars in the first nine holes.

The inward nine was much different as he parred the first seven holes and birdied the last two, which saw him have seven threes in total and 38 points.

Richard Mark (6), one of the club’s junior players, won the best gross prize with a round of 73.

Although he double-bogeyed the second and fourth, he had a very steady round for the rest of the card. Those par three holes took seven shots from his handicap but against that he had birdies on both the par fives plus the 11th and in total he had 13 fours, three fives and two threes.

FORTHCOMING COMPETITIONS

Wednesday, May 19 - open stableford; Saturday, May 22 - McQuillan Memorial; SUnday, May 23 - open stableford; Wednesday, May 26 - open stableford; Saturday, May 29 - Tullymore Cup.