All the news and happenings from the local golf clubs

In the first week of Bushfoot GC’s Glens of Antrim League Club Captain Derick Murphy topped the charts with a score of 40 points from his handicap of seventeen.

In spite of a no score on the fourth hole Derick mustered 19 points for the first nine holes. He repeated the no score on ten coming back but that was to be his last blip as he dropped just three shots to par from there to the end and gathered in another 21 to get to the magic 40 points.

That back nine of 21 proved crucial as Paul Pentland, also off seventeen, hit the same score but with 20 back. A double bogey in each nine were the culprits as, apart from those his card was very tidy.

Caroline McKendry returned a 39 pointer for third place. Playing off twenty Caroline produced a steady 19 points out in defiance of a no score on the sixth. A good two on eleven made up for a no score on sixteen and gave Caroline 20 back to secure third place.

Trevor McKendry produced another good round to take the spoils in the Best Gross category. His birdie three on the ninth saw him out in two over par 37 and, although no further birdies were to be found, he came back in 39 for his six over par round of 76.

DOCTOR’S ORDERS AT PORTSTEWART

Portstewart Golf Club held its Dinner Day Cup on Saturday and a couple of Doctors took the two main prizes. Richard Lawson won the overall sweep and Jim Lenfesty won the Dinner Day Cup itself.

Jim scored 40 points, off a handicap of nine, with just a point being carded on the opening hole. The next five holes gave up three points each with a two on the third and another on the sixth helping. 21 points were on his card after nine holes and the three pointers became harder to find after that.

Jim hit a birdy four on thirteen but took just a point each from fourteen and fifteen before pulling eight points from the final trio of holes to add 19 to the card to take it to his winning 40. Jim also topped the Low Section in the Sweep.

In the Sweep Richard Lawson went one better, scoring 41 from his mark of nineteen. His opening hole one pointer and a pair of the same in the middle of the front nine restricted Richard’s halfway tally to just 17 points but better was to come!

A par four and a birdie three opened the back nine for seven points and, with only three shots being dropped from there in, Richard put another 24 points on his card to finish with 41and took the top slot on countback from the in form Andrew Campbell who also hit 41 but could not better that back nine tally.

Andrew did not score at the first but slipped in a birdie two on the third and a three on nine to be out in 38 shots with 19 points won. He came back in four better than that with another two being struck on twelve and the thirteenth giving up a birdie four.

No shots were dropped so he had a back nine of two under par for a level par round of 72 which gave up 41 points to the five handicapper. Shaun Hartin, playing off twenty, collected 40 points to top the High Section.

He played the front nine two better than his handicap would have suggested to score 20 points and started off the back nine with a birdie three for four more. A few single point holes crept in but another 20 points kept Shaun on top in his section.

John Taylor produced a round of one under par 71 to snatch the best gross prize. He dropped a shot to par with a four on the third but nabbed a two on six and a four on seven to get under par again and ran out the nine in 35 shots.

Eleven was reduced to three shots but this was given back with a four at the next but birdies were still to come. The long fourteenth gave John a four and the fifteenth a two which pulled him back under par again before two bogies on sixteen and seventeen brought him back to level on the back nine and to one under for the round.

CHRISTY TOPS AT RATHMORE

Christy Bradley came out on top at Rathmore on Sunday, nabbing the top turkey with 43 points.

This was two better than the twelve handicapper’s closest rival. He had picked up birdies with a four on the long fourth and a three on five before failing to register a hit at the ninth and hitting the turn with 18 points earned.

Christy steadied the ship from there in getting birdies on the long thirteenth and the par four seventeenth and dropping just the one shot to par on sixteen. All that gave up a great 25 points to his card for a total of 43.

Runner up was Blair Cameron on 41 off 10. He too had a modest front nine score of 17 but he started back with birdy fours on both par fives and it took until the seventeenth for a shot to be lost. 24 back helped Blair to his 41 points and second place.

Forty points from John Ridgill took third place. Despite not scoring on the seventh John got 20 points out of the front nine and matched this coming back with the help of a birdy two at fifteen.

In the Best Gross stakes it was Ben Best who got the top position with his three under par 67. He birdied the par four first and eagled the long fourth, then birdied the fifth in three to get to four under par.

Six took a shot back but Ben turned with just 32 shots played, three under par. The par fives, usually birdy opportunities, were both bogied and it took a three on twelve and a two on fifteen to pull Ben back to level par for the back nine and allow him to sign up for his three under par 67.

HANDY ANDY TAKES

PORTSTEWART SWEEP

Six handicapper Andrew Campbell hit 41 points at Portstewart on Saturday to win the Sweep by one point.

His start of one birdie three on the second, sandwiched between one pointers on the first and third, left Andrew a point behind twos. The long seventh gave up another birdie four for three points to help Andrew to the turn with 19 points won.

Two further birdies were picked up on the eleventh with a three and the fourteenth with a four and, with just one shot lost tp par Andrew finished the back nine in one under par for another 22 points. This took his total to 41 and kept him a point ahead of the rest.

Best of the rest was Lloyd Gibb on 40. The nineteen handicapper failed to register a point at the first and the ninth and took just one on the second but played well enough elsewhere to get 18 points on his card after nine.

A five over par back nine gave Lloyd another 21 to see him safely into second place on 40 points. Martin O’Kane took the Section A prize with his return of 39 points from his handicap of six.

He was two over par after nine and had 19 points from that. He dropped a shot on ten and eighteen but slipped in a birdie four on the long fourteenth to get back in one over par for an additional 20 points.

In Section B Joey Lyons carded another 39 pointer to take top spot. He did not score on five but still recorded 19 points out and kept the form goo into the back nine where 20 points were nabbed even with another blank on seventeen.

In the Gross stakes it was Paul Holmes who came into his own with a score of two over par 74. He went out in one over par 37 with a birdie being grabbed on the long fourth hole.

The back nine tally was the same, a birdie four on fourteen easing the pain of dropping two shots at the short fifteenth to get back with his round of 74.

FINAL VICTORY FOR Dr IAIN AT RPGC

Dr Iain Cameron hit 39 points from his handicap of sixteen to claim a victory in the Monthly Stableford Finals over the Dunluce Links of Royal Portrush.

He dropped five shots on the opening nine but nabbed a birdy two on the sixth to get 22 points recorded at the turn. A couple of wobbles occurred on the inward nine with a seven on the tenth and two no scores but again a wee birdie came to the rescue on the long seventeenth to give 17 additional points to get to the total of 39 and his win was assured.

In the Monthly Stableford on Saturday it was Shane McKenna, a nine handicapper, who triumphed with 42 points. His bogey five at the opening hole was his only lost shot of the front nine. After that was out of the way he collected a pair of birdies, a two on the third and a three on the eighth, to turn for home with 24 points under his belt.

Ten produced another birdie but fourteen did a little damage by giving up nothing to Shane’s card. That said he still collected another 18 points from the back half and took top spot on 42 by two clear points.

The man for the Silver Medal was Mark Henry with a tally of 39 points. The four handicapper dropped two shots at the first but recovered well, getting his birdie four on nine, to have 18 points after nine. Mark dropped a shot on ten and eighteen but between these he grabbed a trio of birdies, three, three and four on fifteen, sixteen and seventeen to get back with 21 points for his 39 total.

Peter Graham scored 40 points off nineteen for the Bronze Section win. He blanked the second but played steadily other wise to get 18 points logged before turning for home. Very few shots were given back to the course on the inward nine and Peter gained 22 to see him home with his haul of 40.