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Russell Fillis at Portstewart Golf Club. INCR13 GOLF 2Russell Fillis at Portstewart Golf Club. INCR13 GOLF 2
Russell Fillis at Portstewart Golf Club. INCR13 GOLF 2

WILLIS

A good score of 39 points was returned by Willis Glass on Saturday to win Bushfoot GC’s Bayview Cup.

The nineteen handicapper was just six over par for the opening nine which got 21 points onto his card. A few double bogies crept on as the back nine progressed but Willis played to his handicap to add 18 more for his winning 39.

This was one clear of runner up Trevor Steele on 38. Trevor blanked number one but gathered himself well to have 16 points carded at the turn.

Even with a couple of double bogies on the back nine the 21 handicapper played well enough to put 22 points up and get to 38 claiming second spot. John Camac also scored 38 but had 21 back with a no score at eighteen which meant third place on countback. The Best Gross was taken by Richard Leatham’s 77.

RONNIE WINS THE ‘ROCK

STABLEFORD

Seventeen handicapper Ronnie Moore took the main spoils in Castlerock’s Weekly Stableford by scoring 38 points off his seventeen handicap at the weekend.

He picked up four points for his birdie four on the third to even up two single pointers and this helped to get him to 20 points for the nine first holes. Sixteen holes are in play at the moment and Ronnie dropped just three shots over the final seven, picking up a birdie two in the process, to put 18 more to the card for his total of 38.

That good last seven helped him in a four way tie break and pushed Gilbert Fallows into second place. Playing off thirteen Gilbert matched Ronnie’s front and back nines of 20 and 18. His single point at sixteen would not have helped his cause in the countback process.

Johnny Dickson took the Low Section prize with another 38 points score.

The seven handicapper birdied the long third and added a two on the ninth as well to turn with 21 points scored. Johnny grabbed another two twos and birdied the seventeenth but had a couple of single point holes as well to pull just 17 points from the last seven.

The final 38 came from Hugh McCracken and it got him to the top of the High Section. Hugh had five three pointers in the front nine and was on 25 at the turn. He took a crucial six at the final hole to get 15 back but countback eased him into his section prize. Top Senior was Seamus Clyde who scored 37 points from his 28 handicap.

ALAN TWO CLEAR AT

RATHMORE

Alan Haslam hit 41 points at Rathmore on Sunday to win the Russell Turkington Memorial Trophy by two points.

The eleven handicapper birdied the long fourth and the par four ninth to balance out two bogies so; even with no score coming from the sixth he still had 21 points on the card by the halfway stage. Another minor slip at fourteen took two shots off him but otherwise the golf was very good and the scoring followed another 20 points to the card for his winning 41.

Derek McAleese was runner up on 39 points from his seven handicap. Nineteen points were plucked from the opening nine which included a birdie four on the fourth. Derek took 20 from the inward nine with birdies on the long tenth and the sixteenth.

An unfortunate six on seventeen was Derek’s downfall where a par four would have sealed a win. 38 points from Victor Bow got him third place by himself. A steady 17 points out from the nineteen handicapper was blighted by three double bogies but he improved on this coming back.

A two on eleven helped a lot but the elimination of the double bogies meant he pulled 21 points onto the card for a final score of 38. This pushed Darren Dunlop into fourth place with his 37.

His front nine was going quite well until a double bogey six at eight unsettled him and a blank at nine resulted. A disappointing sixteen points out was forgotten as Darren slipped in his birdie putt on ten to get back to steady scoring. The inward nine gave up 21 to get Darren to 37 and fourth prize.

Ian Kettyle grabbed the gross prize by shooting a 67. A birdie four and a bogey on the front nine saw him out in 35 shots.

His four on ten and three on sixteen got Ian into sub par figures and his closing hole two cemented this by getting to two under for the day.

RATHMORE’S ST PAT’S DAY TOPPED BY KEITH

Rathmore Golf Club’s St Patrick’s Day event was, as usual, heavily supported by Open Championship winner Darren Clarke.

He provided all the prizes on offer including drivers, putters bags and hybrids and earned the thanks of all the participants for his generosity. Nine handicap Keith Elliott gained most as he hit 40 points to take the top spot on countback, winning the aforementioned driver.

Keith birdied the fifth in three and added in a two on eleven to help him card 19 out and 21 back. The tie break was applied right down to the final three holes when Keith got the edge over runner up Desmond McLaughlin.

Des plays off 21 and had few unfortunate entries in an otherwise very good card. The blank at eight was the most glaring but he did knock in a good birdie three on the second.

Tony McAuley took third place on 39 points with a birdy dropping in at the par four fifth. His main chance was scuppered by the no score at eighteen however. Andrew ported got fourth prize with a good return of 38 points off his mark of four.

Four and five gave up birdies as did ten and sixteen on the back nine, but six and eight gave Andrew nothing at all.

First gross prize was taken on countback by Ben Best with a 70. Ben birdied the first and the third before knocking in an eagle three on the long fourth. Double bogies appeared at the end of the front nine and he finished it on 36, one over par. Both par fives on the back nine fell to birdies and a two was grabbed at eleven.

Ben’s final bird arrived with a three at sixteen. He dropped a shot on seventeen before losing two more at the short eighteenth to be one under for the last nine. Ian Kettyle lost out on countback for the best gross but did get runner up with his 70. Ian had two nines of level par 35 each.

MONTHLY STABLEFORD AT RPGC

Dr Ian Cameron scored 41 points on the Dunluce Links on Saturday to win the Monthly Stableford competition.

The sixteen handicapper was three over par for the front nine, getting 23 points for his efforts. His back nine wasn’t quite so steady but Ian still produced another 18 for the card to end up on 41. This proved to be one more than Gary Stevenson who took the silver position with his 40 point tally.

Gary birdied the second in four and added to the sub par tally by reducing the fourth to three shots. Two bogeys later in the nine saw him onto 21 points at the turn for home. Ten gave Gary a four, his final birdie of the round, and helped him to 40 points with 19 back. This was two points clear of Bronze winner William Harbinson who took 38 points from the course with his fourteen handicap. He was four over par going out and got 21 points for this. William was also going well on the return nine but double bogied the last to add 17 to the card.

John Turner jnr was the winner of the best gross prize with his round of 68. John opened his account with a three at the par four first and added to this at the long second with a four.

He had to wait until the sixth for the next birdie, a three this time, and got his fourth on the long ninth. Out in 32, four under par, John kept the pedal down and lifted another birdy four at ten to go to five under par for the day.

His final birdie came with a two on fourteen, which meant six under, but John’s only dropped shots finally arrived with bogeys on sixteen and seventeen. These took him back to his winning 68.

Ballycastle Awards night

On Saturday night the club held its Annual Dinner when the Winter League trophies were awarded to the victorious Team Valencia members and presented by Eamon McIlroy of P J McIlroy and Sons who have sponsored the Winter League for many years. Louis Sweeney was also in attendance to present his trophy to Liam McGonigle.

Many of those who attended the Saturday Dinner still managed to get back out on the course on Sunday and in Division One, Liam McLean took the honours with 39 points, pushing Gerry McGouran into second spot on 38. Samuel Knowles pipped his fellow sixteen handicapper Garth Beckett for the Division Two top spot after both had finished with 40 points.

Next Saturday’s competition is a Fourball Betterball while the following Saturday and Sunday will be the Qualifying competitions for the knock out stages of the Valentia, Culfeightrin and Tieve Tara Cups.

It was a busy week at Ballycastle with the first trophy of the year, the Louis Sweeney Cup, played for on St Patrick’s Day in favourable conditions. Jim McCann had won the trophy for the past two years and he made a valiant attempt at the hat-trick but a bogey at his last hole forced him to hand over the trophy to his playing partner Liam McGonigle after they both finished on 46 points.

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