All the news and happenings from the local golf clubs

Peter Glover scored 35 points over the fourteen holes in play at Portstewart on Saturday to win the weekly sweep by a point.

The 19 handicapper started by declaring his intent, a birdie three on the first for four points!

Nothing less than two points per hole from there to the turn meant 17 for the card.

This good form faded a little on ten and eleven where a point was taken from each but returned with a vengeance when Peter came to the long fourteenth which he duly birdied for another four pointer.

On to the short fifteenth which again was duly birdied for four points. A closing par gave up three points to take Peter on to a last seven tally of 18 and an overall of 35.

One back from this on 34 came Robert Murphy and Uel Millar with Robert taking second on countback. Robert, helped by a birdy four at the fourth, was two over par for the outward seven with 16 points bagged.

He was to follow Peter’s pattern on the inward leg with birdies on the long fourteenth and the short fifteenth to get 18 points out of it to secure his placing.

Uel picked up a two on the sixth for four points and got to the turn with 17 points on his card.

Another birdie, a three this time on eleven, added four points but twelve took its toll as Uel got nothing from it.

Even with taking six points from the last two he still ended the back half with 17 points, one short of the leader and one short in the tiebreak for second.

SUPERLEAGUE FINAL DAY

Portstewart GC Captain Mark Windebank knows how to pick a partner for the Club’s Superleague series.

With Paddy McAleese by his side they took this year’s title by two league points from Geoff and Keith Walls, last year’s winners.

On the last day Mark teamed up with Paul Garrett to take the top slot with a combined score of 60 points pushing Mark Kilgore and Garry McGrotty into second place on 58.

The other prize winners were Trevor Kelly and Ciaran Cahoon who battled their way to the wooden spoon which was graciously received by the pair.

The ‘Help wee Oliver Walk’ charity also benefitted by around £700 as the Superleague players donated all of their winnings through the season to this worthwhile charity.

MATT FINISH FOR JOHN

FREEMAN TROPHY

The John Freeman Trophy has been competed for at Bushfoot GC over the last few weeks and Matt Colgan has emerged victorious to claim the trophy.

He scored 57 ranking points with a win and several high placings to finish three points up on three players, Roger Hamilton, Aubrey Sweeney and Des Walker, all with 54 points.

Roger had two wins to his credit but his back up scoring was not quite good enough to get him up to Matt’s level.

KERR-SMILEY WIN FOR MERVYN

Mervyn Steele’s net 58 won him the Kerr-Smiley trophy at Bushfoot GC at the weekend.

The 28 handicapper was out in 44, three better than the handicap would suggest and followed thios up with a 42 for the back nine.

His 86 gross netted down to 58 to see Mervyn home four shots in front of Trevor Moore on net 62.

Trevor picked up birdies with a two on the second and a three at seventeen but his triple bogey on seven didn’t help his cause.

Tied with Trevor but losing out on the countback was Colin Miller.

Like Trevor Colin plays off fifteen and he scored two birdies on his way out, a two at four and a four on seven.

He was back in five over par to get to 77 gross, 62 net.

John wins CASTLEROCK

STABLEFORD

Ten handicap John Hanson scored 32 points over the short winter course at Castlerock on Saturday to win the Club Stableford on countback.

He opened his account with a birdie three at the first for four points but then blanked the short fourth to undo that.

Amends were made on the long fifth with another birdy to help John to 13 points for the first six holes.

The final seven proved to be a roller coaster ride as John eagled the seventeenth, birdied the thirteenth and fifteenth, parred fourteen and eighteen, bogied twelve and blanked the short sixteenth!

All that gave him 19 points to take his tally to a winning 32.

Billy Moore, playing off twelve, also scored 32 points but lost out in the tie break. Billy’s birdie hole on the way out was the long third and this pushed him on to score 15 points by the turn.

Another birdie four was to be scored at the fifteenth but a couple of one pointers also hit the card and restricted Billy to 17 back meaning second place for him.

Roy Deans was tops in the High Section on 30 points. This did not look likely as he managed just ten points for the opening six holes before turning for home.

Two three pointers got Roy back to level twos before he dropped a shot at the short fourteenth.

This was the last shot he was to drop and he took 20 points from the final seven holes to finish with 30 and his prize was won.

Low Section winner was Chris Loughrey on 31 points. Out in level par courtesy of his birdies on the first and the fifth he had 13 points carded by the sixth and both par fives on the back seven fell to birdie fours to get 18 points to make up the 31 total.

Best of the Seniors was Ken Newens with 28 points from his mark of ten.

Ken picked up his only birdie of the round with a four on fifteen to take a great 19 points from the back seven.

RATHMORE’S FRANKIE TOPS LEAGUE

For the second week it was 41 points that took the top slot in Rathmore GC’s Winter League.

Frankie McDonald was the man to score them with a one under par round. His front nine was easy to report on, one birdie, a two on the third, and eight pars, resulting in 22 points for the card.

Another two, at eleven, was registered before Frankie dropped his first shot with a bogey five on twelve. Two more bogey fives came his way but 19 points were still scored to get him to 41 for the round and a victory by two points over the rest.

In the race for second place it was Blair Cameron who won out in the countback, pushing Simon Carruthers into third, both players tying on 39 points.

Blair hit two birdies on the outward journey, threes on two and five, and had 20 points bagged at the turn.

His double bogey six on twelve pegged him back a bit but very few shots were lost to the course from there as Blair added 19 points to get to 39 at the close.

Simon matched those nine hole scores, two bogeys and a birdy three on nine getting his 20 points and a two at eleven with another two bogeys getting the 19 back.

The tie break did not go his way over the final six however so third it was. Johnny Martin snr got fourth just a point back on 38.

Apart from his six to start with Johnny scored well and had 19 points carded for the opening nine.

Eleven gave him nothing at all but Johnny battled well to get another 19 squeezed out to ensure his fourth place.

Ian Kettyle produced a level par round of 69 and secured his Best Gross prize with it. His birdie three on five saw him out in one under par 34 but the two ar eleven proved to be the last birdie of his day.

Sixteen and seventeen took two shots back to see Ian home in one over par 35 and signed up for his level par 69.

MEDAL WIN FOR RPGC’S IAN

Ian Dowds produced a net 66 on the Dunluce Links of Royal Portrush to win their Monthly Medal.

The twelve handicapper grabbed his first birdie with a four on the long second and added the same at nine.

This saw him out in 37 shots, one over par. A couple of double bogies on the way in did not help Ian but his golf was otherwise very good and he ran out the back nine in 41 shots for his gross 78.

This netted down to his winning 66.

The Silver position was occupied by David McC Smith with his tally of net 70.

Playing off eight David matched that handicap on the way out, 40 shots to the turn but improved on this on his way in.

A nice birdie two on eleven helped and with just two shots dropped from there in he was back in 38, two over par.

His gross of 78 netted 70. Bronze man was Jim R Davis with a net 74. A really nasty start for Jim, an eight on the opening hole, but he recovered his composure well to get through the nine in 45 shots, a net 37 with his fifteen handicap.

Seven steady holes on the back nine were marred by two double bogeys but the resulting 44 would net down to another 37 to get Jim to his net 74 and the Bronze medal.

Gary Simpson hit a 78 to claim the Best Gross prize for the day.

His birdie four on the second helped him to cover the first nine in four over par 40.

His two at eleven and a four on seventeen then allowed Gary to sign for two over par 38 back and his 78 gross for his prize.