All the news and happenings from the local golf clubs

Colm friel was in almost perfect form on Sunday, scoring 40 points from his twelve handicap to win Kenny McDowell’s President’s Prize.

His bogey four on the short third was evened up by a good birdy three on the next but Colm then had a wee stumble and registered nothing on five.

He steadied himself well to drop just one shot, a bogey five on nine, to get to the turn with a solid 21 points on the card.

The curse of the blanks struck again on eleven and Colm responded immediately by slipping in a birdie three on twelve to repair the damage again.

A few points were lost from there, but not many, and Colm signed up for 19 back, 21 out and a total of 40 for the big win.

This was four points ahead of a trio of 36 pointers, the best of these after countback came from Geoff Magee. The fifteen handicapper followed up a double bogey six on the second with a two on the third and registered 19 points even with a no score on nine.

No blanks on the back nine but a double bogey on ten didn’t help Geoff’s cause. He did get a boost with his second birdie of the day when he grabbed a three on sixteen which helped to get Geoff 17 back for his 36 total which gave him second place.

Jonathan Hutchinson was the man eased into third spot with a matching 36 points. Four bogeys and five pars earned the ten handicapper 19 points at the halfway stage but a few double bogeys hindered his scoring coming back and 17 points was the result.

Nick Christie consequently ended up in fourth place with the last of the 36ers. Having failed to score on the opening hole he knocked in two birdies, a two on six and a three on the eighth for his 19 points out.

The six handicapper had just two bogeys coming back but he got no return at sixteen and this gave him his 17 back for 36 overall. Seven handicap Barry Magee took the final prize with his 35 points.

His eagle two on the par four fifth helped get him to the turn with 19 points carded but a blank on ten meant 16 back was all that Barry could get and the resulting 35 points took fifth place.

In the Best Gross stakes it was Ben Best whose round of 72 won the day. No birdies were forthcoming on the opening nine, jus six pars and three bogeys for 38.

Ben’s four on ten and three on seventeen were his only birdies of the round and helped him back in one under par 34 for his total of two over 72.

Rathmore’s 2014 President Kenny McDowell was well supported on his day and thanked all those who turned out to compete.

GARETH TAKES DOUGIE MAIR CUP

Gareth McLaughlin won Rathmore’s Dougie Mair Cup last Sunday with 40 points scored from his twelve handicap.

He opened his account with a birdie three on the first but gave the benefit back when he slumped to a six on the second.

The ship was steadied from there as Gareth dropped just two more shots to the turn with 21 points coming his way as a result.

He found no more birdies in the second half but dropped just four shots during it for the 19 points needed to get to 40 and that gave Gareth the victory by one point from the in-form Paul Rohdich.

Paul, playing off four, had the better of the four 39 pointers after the countback system was deployed. His blank on four was repaired by a nice two on the short sixth to get him to 17 points for the nine.

It was a different story for the inward nine where Paul dropped a solitary shot to par and lodged four birdies, threes on twelve and sixteen, a four on thirteen and a closing two on eighteen to pick up 22 more for his second placed 39 points.

Stephen Dunlop had a very consistent card with five pars and four bogeys to start and six pars and three bogeys to end, all giving him his 39 total and third spot.

John Fall jnr ended up in fourth place after countback. He had a few mishaps going out but pulled them back with his birdie three on five and an eagle two on the par four ninth to get 18 points logged.

Birdies on the par four fifteenth and the short eighteenth helped him to his 39 points. Ross Napier took the final prize with the fourth 39 point card. His front nine 21 points contained a birdie three on the seventh but he found no more of them and had to be content with 18 back for 39 total.

The Best Gross winner was Andrew Porter. After a double bogey seven on the fourth Andrew settled himself to drop nothing more for the opening nine and added in two birdie threes on seven and eight to be out in level par 35.

He knocked in consecutive birdies on the par five tenth and the short eleventh but an unfortunate double bogey five to finish put him one over par 36 for the back nine and on 71 for the round.

LEXIE DUDDY TROPHY AT BUSHFOOT

Gerald Madden hit a great total of 43 points round Bushfoot GC on Saturday to claim the Lexie Duddy Memorial Trophy in a tie break win over Ken Caskey.

The eleven handicapper dropped just three shots to par over the front nine to have 21 points on his card at half time.

He bettered this on the inward nine with a birdy two on twelve helping and dropped only two shots from there in, adding 22 points for his 43 total.

The unfortunate runner up, Ken Caskey, also hit 43 points but his best nine was the front one.

He matched the winners three over par but, playing off sixteen, this gave him 23 points for the nine.

Ken played the back nine better than his handicap would suggest and pulled 20 points from it but Gerald’s 22 back meant second place for Ken.

Peter Carson took third spot with 41 points from his mark of sixteen. Peter scored 20 points out and got his birdy three on thirteen to help along to 21 back for his overall tally of 41.

In the Best gross category it was Damian Clyde who came out tops with a five over par round of 75.

He hit a birdie four on the sixth on his way out to help him to a score of three over par 38 and hit another birdie, a three on twelve, to get back in two over 37 for a round of 75.

PORTSTEWART VETERANS

TITLE GOES TO JOHN

John Cameron kept his good run of form going on Saturday to win Portstewart Golf Club’s Veteran’s Cup with 42 points coming from his handicap of nine.

He played the front nine in level par, five better than his handicap, with the help of his birdy three at hole five and another birdie on the long seventh to have 23 points accumulated at the turn.

The back nine was started with his third birdie, a three, before John dropped a shot with a six on the thirteenth for one point.

His no score on seventeen was sandwiched between two pars for three points each to get another 19 points to go to 42 overall.

This proved to be two better than the nearest opposition in the form of Paul Holmes on 40 points. Paul plays off six and had two nines of 20 points each. He had birdied two and five, both par fours, then added in a four on the seventh to boot for his 20 out.

The inward half started with a one pointer but a two on twelve sorted that out and Paul kept his momentum going to the end with just the one bogey, a five on seventeen, to get his second 20 points.

In the Frank Montgomery (Seniors) Cup it was Sean McGahon who came out on top scoring 40 points from his mark of sixteen.

He blanked the second but that just got him going to birdie the par three third and steady himself to pull 18 points from the front nine holes.

His back nine contained just four bogies to go with his five pars and that gave the card 22 points for his total of 40 and secured the Frank Montgomery Trophy for Sean. Tommy Duffy was runner up just a point behind on 39.

He started with two single point holes but picked up points over the next two before knocking in a two on the sixth for four points to get back on the rails.

Tommy ran out the front nine with 21 points carded. He took nine points from the first three holes on the back nine but was scoring well until the eighteenth nabbed him with no points being won there at all. 18 back was the score and that put Tommy on 39 for second place.

A Club Stableford was running alongside the Seniors and Veterans matches and Fergal Dunn took the honours there with 42 points from his handicap of nine.

His one over par front nine contained two birdies, a two on the sixth and a three on eight, and gave up 22 points.

His double bogey six on seventeen was Fergal’s only departure from par golf on the inward nine and that added 20 to the card for his winning 42 points. Johnny McCartney was runner up scoring 41 points.

He picked up four points with a birdie four on the long fourth and ended the nine with 20 points.

Johnny then birdied the par five thirteenth for another four and to complete the trio knocked in a two on fifteen for another four points.

Eighteen was his undoing as his seven there earned nothing for the card and he had to be content with 21 and 41 overall. Steven McKenna hit a round of 75 to take the Best Gross award.