All the news and happenings from the local golf clubs

Gordon McIlroy was the top turkey winner at Portstewart GC on Saturday, scoring 34 points over the fourteen holes in play.

The twelve handicapper had dropped just three shots to par for the opening six holes before slipping in a birdie three on the ninth to be out in two over par for 18 points.

His four over final seven holes earned Gordon another 16 for the card and took his total to 34.

He had two points to spare over the next best card which came from Philip McCarter on 32. Philip did not have the best of luck early in the front seven, hitting three double bogies in the first three holes he played, but he stuck to his task to get to the halfway stage with 14 scored.

Steady golf from there in was topped off with a birdyietwo on fifteen and netted Philip 18 back for his turkey winning 34 points on countback from another 32 points scorer Martin Breslin.

He had used six of his twelve handicap shots by the eighth but got a good birdy three on nine to have 15 points to his credit. Martin could not find any more birdies but dropped just three shots coming back and got 17 points on the card for third place.

Countback pushed Johnny Payne into fourth spot for his 32 points made up of two steady nines of 16 points each. Brian McNeill took the last bird on offer with his return of 31 points.

Still playing off eight Brian had just 13 points after the opening seven holes, blanking the eighth, but played the last seven in level par for 18 more to get him in the prizes with 31 points.

GO GO GOWLAND ON

RIVERSIDE

Maurice Gowland used his 21 handicap to great effect on Saturday to score 43 points round Portstewart’s Riverside course and win the top turkey for his efforts.

Even with a double bogey on the par four third Maurice played the rest of the front nine well enough to have 21 points bagged at the turn for home. A slightly steadier back nine gave him 22 more to get him to the winning post with 43, jus a point ahead of Sloane Harper.

Sloane hit 42 from his mark of thirteen with two nines of 21 points each. He was three over for the opening nine with a birdy three on the eighth to his credit and while no further birds were scored his 42 had the main one secured.

CHRISTMAS SHOTGUN AT

CASTLEROCK

Lady Captain Pamela held her Christmas Shotgun Start 9 hole Competition and Party earlier today, Saturday, 6th December.

A number of the ladies got into the spirit of the day and turned up in their Christmas finery. The weather was kind to us and we managed to get round dry though cold but we soon thawed out at the mulled wine reception.

We enjoyed a lovely meal which was followed by the Prize Giving. Congratulations to Phil McKenna who posted a fantastic score of 22 pts which included a hole in one at the ninth.

The pin was tucked in behind the hill and, after some searching, her ball was discovered in the hole. In second place was Norma Stewart with 18 points and Thea Patton’s 16 points got her into third spot.

Valerie Reid got closest to the pin on the third and Elaine Taylor hit the longest drive on five. Big thanks to Lady Captain Pamela for a wonderful day and her very generous hampers, another great day had by all.

COLIN ON TURKEY FORM AT RATHMORE

The top turkey in Sunday’s competition was taken by Colin Walker, playing off seven, with 29 points scored over the thirteen hole winter layout of the Valley course.

Colin nabbed a birdie three on the fifth hole and dropped a shot at each of the sixth and seventh to get through the opening nine holes on one over par.

He picked up another birdie with his four on ten before letting two more bogeys onto the card on eleven and seventeen to finish his day won two over par for his winning 29 point haul.

Trevor Stewart was his closest rival on 27 points. The twelve handicapper played to his handicap for the opening nine holes to get 21 points on the card but added two further bogeys in the final four holes to get just six points from them. In third place and claiming the final bird was Chris Langford with a tally of 26 points. Chris played exactly to his handicap of six for two points per hole.

MoreSports.com BUSHFOOT LEAGUE

Division One of the Moresports.com Winter League produced the better points scoring and it was Richard Lees who hit 40 points off his twelve handicap to top it.

He was out in three over par for 21 points but hit a couple of double bogies coming back but also slipped in a birdy three on fifteen to get another 19 points for his total of 40.

Harold Love took second spot for his round of 39 points playing off ten. He also played the opening nine in three over for 20 points and then matched Richard’s back nine score of nineteen, a nice two on the fourteenth helping him there.

In Division Two Willis Glass took 37 points from the course to get to number one position. His steady 20 points from the first nine holes was the base for Willis’s win and that steadiness stayed with him in the main for the back nine, with just one slip when a triple bogey seven came his way on ten and limited the points to 17.

That still kept Willis one in front of Joe McMullan who scored 36. He had a blank on the sixth to get just 15 points logged after nine but made great headway on the back nine taking 21 points from it to get to 36 for the round.

GREENSOMES AT RPGC

Richard Gallagher and Roderick Leitch teamed up for this sixteen hole Greensomes event at Royal Portrush on Saturday and produced the winning score of 36 points.

The pair played off ten for the day and nabbed two front nine birdies, a four on the second and a two on the sixth, to help them on to 22 points for their one over par score.

The final seven holes were played in four over par for another 14 points to get them to 36 and laid claim to the first two turkeys on offer.

Those 36 points proved to be one better than JP McKnight and Tony McAuley on 35 points. This team pulled 19 points for the opening nine, getting to the turn in five over par, and then added in 14 final seven points for their 35 return for their brace of turkeys.

The final pair of birds now have the names of Ivan Campbell and David Boyd on them as a result of their 34 point offering. 20 points came from the front nine before a birdie three on the sixteenth gave them four points and 14 back to boost them to their prizewinning placing.

Kilrea GC Autumn League

The KRD Credit Union sponsored Autumn League at Kilrea GC is continuing apace with just one week now left for the competitors to claim one of the turkeys on offer.

Week seven saw Paul Kearney post the top score of 41 pts and virtually guarantee himself one of the top 16 spots.Dominic Kealey finished in 2nd place with 40 points which also helped him move into the prizes.

Jason Johnston, Kevin Kidd, Liam Shaw and Noel Kelly all finished on 39 points.

With the best six cards counting Jason Johnston maintains his lead in the overall standings with 229 points. Paul Kearney moved up to second spot on 226 points, with Kevin Kidd now third on 225. The battle for the final prize remains very tight with John Moody and Denver Johnston now tied for 16th on 208 points. A host of other players are in close pursuit with a good final week possibly securing a turkey for up to 10 others.

The Christmas Bonanza Day will take place on Saturday December 20th. This will be a 12 hole competition to allow the maximum number of members a chance to play. There will be a complimentary buffet and prizegiving from 5PM and a Happy Hour will run in the bar from 4 -6PM.

The turkey winners will be able to collect the turkeys on Tuesday 23rd December at the club between 7 - 7.30 PM.

Good showing from Roe Park

Roe Park was well represented in the Ulster Golfers Alliance held at Castlerock last week in both group and individual categories.

Resident Roe Park PGA Professionals Michael McCrudden and David Allen both led groups with Michael’s group consisting of Royal Portrush members and David’s group all from Roe Park.

Alan Dallas, a five handicapper from Roe Park, won the leading amateur’s nett prize with a superb score of 40 points. He just beat Ted Harmon from Shandon Park thanks to a back nine total of 23 points to Ted’s 20.

Michael led in the winning team who scored 92 points. His team were Patrick McCrudden, Gary McCrudden and Gary Smyth. Michael also put in a good showing finishing joint third in the professional’s category thanks to an excellent round of 73 and scoring 36 points.

Michael was especially pleased considering he has played very little golf this season thanks to running a very busy pro shop.

The Turkey & Bottle series of competitions continued last week with a Club Stableford on Thursday. This was won by none other than Mr. “I don’t think I play enough golf” Robert Godfrey,