All the news and happenings from the local golf clubs

John Allen kept his recent run of form going at Rathmore on Saturday, scoring 40 points from his seventeen handicap to win the Graeme McDowell Trophy.

After stumbling to a no score on the second hole John slipped in a ietwo at the next to regain his poise and, after a double bogey on six, he scored nicely for the rest of the nine to get 21 points logged at the turn for home.

A couple of wobbles appeared on the back nine, a blank on eleven and one point at the end, but again John scored well enough otherwise to put another 19 points on the board for 40 overall.

That 19 point back nine was one better than the other 40 points scorer Robert Currie could muster and he was eased in to second place on countback. The thirteen handicapper birdied the par four second and dropped four shots in his front nine which gave him 22 points out.

No more birdies came Robert’s way and he had a pair of single point holes to restrict him to 18 back and get into second spot. Two 39s took third and fourth places for Ronnie McCarroll and Darren Dunlop respectively.

Ronnie, a nine handicapper, dropped two shots to be out in 37 for 21 points but missed out on sixteen to add on 18 for the back nine. In the countback this was better than Darren who had to be satisfied with fourth.

He had birdies on the par four fifth and the long tenth but did not get anything from the fourteenth for 17 points back. Fifth spot was occupied by Rory McKenna on 38 points from his mark of eleven.

A blank on six meant 17 out for Rory but he nabbed a couple of birdies, a four on thirteen and a two on fifteen to get 21 back.

Ben Best’s 69 was good enough to get the Best Gross for him. He was out in level par 35 but dropped a shot on the long tenth. His two birdies on the par four twelfth and the long thirteenth got him back under par again and he finished on one under 69.

TYRONE LIFTS CUP AT RPGC

Tyrone Clarke has won something his father Darren hasn’t, the Johnny Fitzsimmons Cup.

Tyrone scored 38 points from his handicap of six to take the trophy on countback from Dr Sam McGuinness. His opening nine hole tally of 15 points, not helped by a blank on the fourth, would not have pleased Tyrone but he channelled his feelings into the back nine and started with a birdie four on ten and a two on eleven.

His only lost shot came with a bogey five on fifteen and it was soon remedied by his final birdy of the round, a four on the long seventeenth, to have added 23 points for the back nine and boosted his tally to 38 for the Cup win.

Dr Sam put up a spirited attack for top spot just missing out in the tie break. He double bogied the first in six and ran out the front nine with 16 points scored before mounting a comeback with a birdie four on ten.

He picked out another birdie on the par four fifteenth but also dropped two shots for his 22 point back nine. Brian Lockhart hit 36 points off his eleven handicap for third place. He also found the front nine difficult to score on and turned with 16 points carded. He played the inward nine in three over par for his 20 points which took him to 36 overall.

Sid Henry scored a round of two over par 72 for the gross prize. Three over after nine Sid the produced his first birdy with a three on thirteen and followed this with a four on the long seventeenth. A closing bogey five meant a two over par 74 for Sid.

PORTSTEWART WIN ULSTER FOURBALL TITLE

Congratulations to the Portstewart Ulster Fourball team who became Champions of Ulster on Sunday past.

Having won 3/2 in Blacklion the team completed the job in fine style on Sunday past.

Congratulations are due to all the members who played in this team during the campaign and to Team Captain Ronnie Cahoon and his first lieutenant JJ O’Kane for all their organisation, motivation and drive.

Winning this trophy has been four years in the making. It took a lot of hard work, ups and downs, but this is a great achievement.

VETERAN DAVE WINS AT THE PORT

Dave Beddow produced a points tally of 40 to win the Lifeboat Spoons event at Portstewart Golf Club on Saturday.

He hit a trio of three pointers start his round but added in two single point holes on five and six. His birdie four on seven helped Dave to get another nine from the final three holes as well ending with 22 points carded after nine.

Several one point holes slipped onto the card on the inward nine before Dave took advantage of the tailwind on the difficult par four seventeenth to register another birdie for four points. Two points to finish and seventeen handicapper Dave was signing up for his winning 40 points.

Andrew Stanton took second place with his return of 38 points also playing off seventeen. He had an indifferent front nine with three blank holes contributing to a mere 14 points.

It was a different story for the inward nine with Andrew hitting seven pars for three points each to boost his tally for the nine to 24 and for the eighteen to 38.

The Low Section was topped by Keith Browne with 35 points off his handicap of ten. His front nine contained a blank and four one pointers but these were balanced a bit by a trio of three pointers with a birdie four on the seventh in that mix. Fifteen was the result but the back nine came to life for Keith.

His birdie three on eleven gave him four points and a good par four on seventeen three to get 20 points onto his card for 35 to clinch the Low Section award. The High Section was won by Johnny Payne’s 38 points. Five one point holes on the front nine were almost balanced by four three pointers for Johnny to get to the turn with 17 to his credit.

His two points per hole sequence on the second nine was broken only by his birdy four on thirteen and a three point par five on the next. 21 points were added to the front nine’s 17 for his Section winning 38.

Gary McCafferty’s round of 77 gave him the Best Gross for the day. He slipped in a birdy three on the eighth to partially balance up a few bogies and get him to the turn in two over par 38. A good birdie three down ten led on to two pars and a further birdie on the long thirteenth. Three shots went west with Gary’s six at the fifteenth but he dropped just one more to get back in three over par 38 for his round of 77.

DINNER DAY CUP GOES TO ANDREW

Fifteen handicapper Andrew McKeeman secured Bushfoot Golf Club’s Dinner Day Cup on Saturday with a net score of 63.

His first nine holes started with a bogey five and finished with a birdie three, and with nothing but pars between, gave Andrew a level par score of 35 out.

A double bogey five on the short eleventh made Andrew think a bit and he rattled off four pars before another wobble on a short hole gave him a six on sixteen.

He steadied again to add two bogies to finish the back nine on eight over 43 for an aggregate of 78. When handicaps are added in Andrew was on 63 and two shots ahead of nearest rival John Creighton who hit a 65.

John had five bogies on his card after nine for a halfway gross of 40 shots. Ten took two shots from him but he dropped just two more to get through the back nine in four over 39 for a gross of 79which netted down to John’s second prize winning 65.

Andrew and John topped Division One and Ronnie Laverty took top spot in the Second Division with a net 67. His worst return came with a double bogey seven on the long sixth but Ronnie’s front nine tally came to 42.

As with John the tenth was sore on Ronnie taking seven shots to complete the par four hole and eleven wasn’t much kinder with a double bogey five arriving to boot. A few more shots slipped away but Ronnie had enough good returns to cope with them to end the back nine in a handicap matching 11 over par 46 for a gross total of 88.

When his handicap of 21 is mixed in Ronnie ended with a net 67 and topped Div One a shot ahead of Drew King on 68. Drew also plays off 21 and he started with a double bogey six before settling down to get through the opening nine in eleven over par.

Another double bogey started the back nine but Drew kept his score in check to lose just eight to par for a round of 79 less 21 brought it down to net 68.

Trevor McKendry took yet another Best Gross after posting a level par score of 70. He was two over par after four but birdies at the par four fifth and the short seventh gat Trevor back to level. Nine took two shots off Trevor to see the nine hole score go to two over par 37.

He hit four pars before knocking in a birdie three at fourteen and followed this with three pars and a last hole birdy three to get back in two under par 33 for his prizewinning 70.

MACMILLAN GOLF

TOURNAMENT

A charity golf tournament in aid of Macmillan nursing will be held at the Brown Trout this Friday, September 26.

Come along and help raise funds for such a worthwhile cause.

To book a tee time call 0287086 8209 or come along on the day.