All the news and happenings from the local golf clubs

CASTLEROCK

Scratch player David Turner took the honours in the Club Stableford at Castlerock on Saturday with a tally of 38 points.

The par five “Railway” gave up a birdie to go with David’s eight pars on the front nine which equates to 19 points. The next par five, the eleventh, went the same way before David made his one and only bogey of the round with a five on the long par four twelfth.

A shortish par four follows this and was duly birdied to get David back to one under for the back nine. Five pars later he was signing for his round of 71, two under par, and a points total of 38.

This was one better than runner up Danny Brown on 37. Danny plays off twelve and, on the outward nine, bettered this by one. Danny opened his card with three points and added another three at the Leg O’Mutton.

His birdie four on the fifth gave up a three pointer to make up for the single point taken from the third but this was taken back by another one pointer at six.

So, 19 points out and Danny kept the good form going by taking six points from ten and eleven, including another birdie at the latter, and even with a five at fifteen he was scoring steadily.

Until sixteen gave him nothing! Danny recovered sufficiently to pull four points from the two closing holes to add 18 to the card but the damage was done and second place had to be accepted.

Andy Guthrie was best in the Low Section with 36 points playing off seven. He dropped a point on the par five third but the long fifth was birdied to balance the books as Andy played to his handicap to get 18 points logged at the turn.

He was doing better on the back nine, two up on twos, until the final hurdle, the eighteenth, gave him nothing and another 18 points was signed for. In the High Section Ashley McElwee scored 35 points from his mark of eighteen to take top slot.

He had 19 points on his card after nine and was well in contention until a brace of blanks on fifteen and sixteen appeared from nowhere to reduce his back nine total to just 16. Top senior was Jim Todd on 32 points, two nines of 16 each.

The gross prize went to four handicap Chris Loughrey for his round of 77. His three fives to finish the front nine meant he was four over for it, 40 shots taken. Chris nabbed a birdie four on eleven but dropped a shot on the long fifteenth.

A nice two on the par three “Summit” was again followed by a bogey but Chris was back in level par 37 to get his total down to gross 77.

JOCK AND PAUL AT THE

DOUBLE

Jock Boyle teamed with Paul Rohdich to win the LMS Trophy at Royal Portrush GC on Saturday.

They hit 44 points to win by two on the day. Paul birdied the long second and added a two on the third for good measure. The pair ten added nothing but pars until Jock came in with a birdie four on nine to see 25 points logged.

He had the taste for fours as he knocked in another for birdy on ten as well. No more birds were forthcoming and the duo dropped three shots to get back with another 19 points on the card to get their total up to 44.

The father and son Team Tennant took second spot with 42 points. The second was eagled in three and the third gave up a birdie to see them off to a flier.

Their three for birdie on eight was sandwiched between a few bogies and took their front nine points to 21. The back nine started in a similar vein to the front with the par five tenth falling to a birdy and a two being hit on eleven.

No more sub par figures appeared after this but a matching 21 points did and got them a countback nod over the other 42 pointers, Ian Kerr and Simon Rankin.

Their birdie four on the second saw them out in one under par for 22 points and their birdie two on eleven helped them to add 20 to this but the Tennant’s 21 back eased Ian and Simon into third place.

CLEAR WIN FOR MAUREEN AT BUSHFOOT

Maureen Pentland won Bushfoot’s Jubilee Cup and the Wheeler Spoon at Bushfoot GC last Tuesday with a score of 35 points.

A no return at nine meant Maureen just about played to her seventeen handicap but she bettered it on the way in and even added a birdie two, at the sixteenth, for good measure.

Her 35 points was one better than runner up Aileen Reid on 34. Aileen was scoring nicely until a seven had to be registered on the par four fourteenth which scuppered the chances of a win.

A good score of 34 points however got her second spot a point in front of Caroline McKendry on 33. Caroline was also scoring nicely until the final hole which gave up nothing for her card.

CLOSE FINISH IN UNCLE JACK’S TROPHY

Half a shot was all that separated winners Trevor Cooke and Sian Wee from the rest on Saturday in Uncle Jack’s Trophy at Bushfoot Golf Club.

Their opening hole cost them a six but that was not the pattern for the rest of the card as the pair rattled off several pars before falling to another double bogey seven on the long sixth.

They finished nine holes on seven over, two better than their allotted eighteen handicap. The back nine started the same way as the front, with a double bogey six, but again a recovery was set in place and again they bettered their handicap, coming back in eight over par to end the round with a net 67 for their trophy win.

Runners up, on countback, were Gerald Madden and Kenny McKillop with a net 67.5. A nice two on the short second got them to one under par and, but for a double bogey six at the fifth, they would have been out in level par.

As it was they ended the nine on two over. This was matched on the inward nine with the help of a birdie three on seventeen and their net 67.5 got them second place in a tie break with Richard Brewster and Adrian Hutchinson.

A triple bogey seven to finish sealed their fate in the countback but before that they had fared well with a birdie three at the third helping them to a five over par outward nine.

That final hole seven took them to seven over for the back and twelve over for the round, netting to 67.5.

SHORTER ROUTE TO CUP WIN FOR CLIVE

Rathmore GC’s Malachy Curran Bowl was won by Clive Shorter on Sunday with an impressive net 65.

The twelve handicapper went out in a modest seven over par thanks to a brace of double bogeys but he stemmed the flow of dropped shots with a good birdie four on ten and hit another birdie with a three on fourteen. A few shots slipped away but not many as Clive covered the back nine in one over par to get his net 65.

This proved to be one clear of the field led by Jim Taylor on net 66 form his mark of fifteen. After six holes Jim was two under par with the help of a birdy three on five and a two on six.

This induced a dizzy spell for Jim as he then took six on the seventh nd a nasty looking eight at the eighth!

A par four to finish the nine settled him again and he scored steadily from there to finish with a gross 81 netting to 66. Robbie Doherty took third place with net 67. An unfortunate nine on the seventeenth scuppered his chances of a win as he had scored well apart from this.

Countback with Robbie kept him in third place at the expense of Gerry Thompson who was eased into fourth place on 67. Davis Smith, David McLaughlin and Jonny Birch all ended the day on net 68s with Jonny winning the best gross prize for his round of 72.

He had eagled the long fourth and birdied the ninth on the way out. Coming back the birdies were harder to find with just the one, a three on twelve, to be seen. Johnny Martin and Ian Meneely took eight and ninth respectively with their net 69s.

Hastings takes top spot

The new 2014 golfing season got underway on Saturday at Gracehill with a monthly medal competition.

Steven Hastings, playing off 11, won the Division One section with a magnificent nett 66.

His superior back 9 was just enough to relegate 7 handicapper Jonny Munnis into the runner-up position. A shot further back in third with a nett 67 was Neil Bennett (11).

In Division Two Zane Adams, playing off 23, started his year off in fine style with an outstanding nett 64 - one can already hear the axe being sharpened!

Kevin Kearns, playing off 17, was a couple of shots further back in second place. Vice-captain Ivan Harper (22) finished in third place with a nett 67.

Neilly Greer continued his excellent form picking up his second first place finish in as many weeks with a superb 41 points in the Sweep on Sunday.

By playing the back 9 in only 1 over par, single figures must be on the horizon for this 11 handicapper.

Morris Peden, playing off 13, was the best of the rest with 38 points.

His birdie-birdie start to the back 9 formed the foundations, which allowed him to hold off Jonny Munnis (7) who finished in third, a point further back. Ian Morrison collected the gross prize with a 75.