Burton gives everyone a golfing lesson at Prehen

With such splendid weather and the course in fabulous condition the scoring was expected to be exceptional and that was proved to be the case. Eddie Burton (5) taught everyone a lesson with his mercurial iron play and long driving. Equal nines of 22 points provided the winning 44 point tally.

But Eddie was a tad lucky because, playing at the heels of the field, it was Paul Monaghan (16) who almost overhauled him. Paul blasted off with a superb two at the first and kept things together for a fine 23 points on the front nine holes. Everything was going to plan until the long 13th where Paul drove his ball into the waiting whins and failed to record any score. A fine birdie three at Journey’s End was needed to post 44 points which was only beaten on a break of tie.

Jamie Hope (12) took third place with a 43 point tally that would have been good enough on most days to lift top spot. All three players are now the proud owners of October Draw Tickets which they will be praying that lady luck will turn into some of the 36,000 prize fund! Anyone else who fancies their chances of winning need only contact City of Derry Golf Club on 71346369 with 90 or 100 euros before the big draw on October 30th.

Meanwhile the wind and rain decided to play its first staring role of the year in the Sunday Society but nothing could dampen the enthusiasm or the game of Sunday Society Secretary Mr Terry Phillips.

Playing off sixteen, eyebrows raised together everyone, Terry put aside all his golfing cares and woes, all the technical swing tinkering he’s been engaged in over recent months and just got back to basics. He gave the ball a good belt, trudged to find it in the fairway, belted it again and holed the putt on the green! His reward was, given the difficult conditions, a very good 42 points and his first place finish of the year.

Dermot Hegarty (24) steamed into second place with a 41 points scored tailed with a best of the day 24 points over the closing nine holes that included a long chip in on the difficult Red Barn Par 4 seventeenth.

Sunday Society Captain Ken Quigley (16) decided it was time he showed his post credentials by shooting a very steady 41 points for third place, only being beaten on a break of tie over the closing holes.

Four handicapper Cormac McKeone took fourth place with a 41 point tally that also suffered from a tie break and Alfie Kane (9) slipped into fifth spot with 40 points beating a host of chasing players on the same score.

The Sunday Society continues every week until the end of March and all members are invited to play.

While Ron Grieve (17) was the proud winner of the prestigious Harry Bryson Memorial Trophy played for at Prehen on Thursday last.

A remarkable 44 points not only gave him a commanding two point winning margin but it also saw his handicap cut by a clear two shots.

A one shot handicap reduction was the reward for Mickey Gillen’s (13) second place score of 42 points and a similar one shot reduction saw Martin McNulty return to single figure status after his third place score of 41 points. No hardship to Martin, a former two times Golfer of the Year at Prehen.

An impressive 21 points on the front nine saw Raymond Taylor (11) collect his second prize in as many weeks and Seamus Given (19) took home the back nine prize with 22 points by virtue of a tie break on the last three holes.

After only two weeks of the new season no less than 87 members have already joined the Society and with good weather prospects that could soon reach the magic 100.