All the news and happenings from the local golf clubs

ALAN TAKES IPGA TANKARD

Fourteen handicap Alan Stewart returned a net 66 to claim the IPGA Tankard at Castlerock GC at the weekend.

Four birdies in the opening nine holes helped Alan to register his one under par 35 for the nine. The holes to give up birds were the first, a three, the third, a four, the fifth, another four and the eighth, a three. That form did not continue into the inward nine but Alan still scored close to his handicap, coming back in 45 shots for a gross 80 which netted down to the winning 66.

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Marty Kane, off 21, was one shot back on 67. This 21 handicapper was nine over on the front nine but this was mainly due to a nasty seven at the par four sixth. His six over par back nine, including a birdy four at the eleventh, was much tidier and left Marty on 88 gross and 67 net.

Gordon Stewart (20) hit a 69 to claim the High Section title while Tom Cunningham was tops in the Low Section with the same score of 69 off twelve.

Best of the Seniors was N McKenny snr scoring 70 off his mark of fourteen. Best Gross went to David Turner for his effort of one under par 72.

His first dropped shot came with a five at the seventh as he covered the opening nine in one over par 37. Eleven gave David a birdy four as did the short sixteenth to get him home with 35, two under par, for the back nine and his 72 gross.

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In Sunday’s Team Scramble it was G. Thompson (6), R. Caldwell (12), C. Guy (9), J. Stewart (9) who came out tops with a score of 54.4. This was more than two shots clear of K. Stewart (11), D. Dickson (14), J. Dickson (7), S. McCarron (10) who carded a 56.8 tally. In third place came S. Mitchell (11), C. Telford (17),

J. McCreadie (19), G. McCreadie (6) on 57.7

SAM IS LEADER AT HALF TIME

High scoring was the order of the day at Bushfoot GC as the members embarked on a two week aggregate run for the Challenge Cup and the Scratch Cup.

Sam Montgomery hit one of two 45 pointers to take an early lead.

Even with blanking the fourth Sam was able to card 22 points for the opening nine, his birdie four at sixteen helping to repair the blank.

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No more birdies on the return leg but he dropped just six shots coming back and with his 22 handicap this gave him another 23 to take him to the 45 mark.

Countback came into play to put Derek Wells into second spot with the other 45 points. Both nines matched as well but Derek’s back nine double bogey came with a six at the thirteenth to go against him in the tie break. Third place was Terence McFaull’s 43 points. Playing off eleven Terence matched this with 18 points out but then turned on the form for the back nine. A four at fifteen for his first birdie was followed by a bogey four at the short sixteenth.

The three at the final hole meant a back nine score of one under gross which translates to 25 points.

DAVID ‘SHAWS’ THE WAY TO WIN

Davy Shaw hit a massive 43 points on Saturday at Portstewart GC to win this year’s Smirnoff Trophy.

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The eighteen handicapper took on the Strand Course playing at its full length with the new tees at eight, nine and thirteen adding further challenges for the players.

Davy had 20 points bagged after nine, a not unrealistic score but he had blanked the eighth which made it more impressive.

After the turn he kept this good form going to bag a birdie four at the long fourteenth and a very good fours for par at sixteen and eighteen to boot.

A minor slip at seventeen cost him a point but 23 points were added to the card for his 43 and this kept Davy one ahead of the posse.

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Another eighteen man, Robin Agnew, took second place on 42 points. Again the front nine proved to be the least productive with just 18 being plucked from it.

The ninth gave Robin nothing but he did get a nice two at the pitch hole for four points.

Six three pointers on the inward nine combined with nothing worse than two points per hole for the rest meant a great nine hole tally of 24 which would have played a decisive role in a countback.

It was not to be as that front nine blank meant Robin was a point light to force the issue. In the Low Section it was Ansley Stewart who produced the top score of 40 points from his mark of two.

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Ansley birdied the first and the long seventh to help himself to 20 points for the nine. Eight pars and a birdy at thirteen gave him the same back for his 40 points.

Matthew Dinsmore hit 39 points from his handicap of seventeen to claim the High Section prize.

Two blanks on the front nine limited the points out to 17 but good steady golf from there in gave Matthew another 22 for the card.

Mark Kilgore won yet another Best Gross prize with yet another splendid round of 70, two under par. His dropped shot at the opening hole took another six to gat back. This was done by his birdie four at seven but another bogey, a five at eight, was immediately redressed with a three at nine to leave Mark on level par 36.

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The back nine started brightly with a birdy three and added another at the long thirteenth to go to two under for the day. His final birdie at sixteen was evened up by a bogey at seventeen and Mark ended the round on two under par 70.

TIE BREAK FAVOURS ALISTAIR

The Toal Kearney Cup went Alistair Stewart’s way on Sunday after a tight finish requiring a tie break.

Alistair played close to his fifteen handicap for the first nine,turning with 43 shots on the card.

He had dropped just two shots on the return leg when disaster in the form of and eight hit the card at sixteen!

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Lesser men might have crumbled at that but Alistair knocked in two pars to close the card with a back nine tally of 41.

His resulting 84 netted down to a 69 and countback pushed him into top position at the expense of David Cameron

David’s matching 69 was kicked off by a birdie at the opening hole.

His six at the par four eighth meant he was out in 37, two over par, and an eagle three at ten got him back to level par.

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A series of double bogeys conspired to give David no chance in the back nine tie break, even with a closing two, with 38 shots played.

It was a change of scene for Ian Kettyle to get third spot, he usually can be seen in the Best Gross enclosure. Starting with a nasty seven Ian bagged a two at the third and a four at the fourth before dropping another couple of shots to be out in 38, three over par.

Both par fives coming back fell to fours and Ian knocked in a putt for at two at the fifteenth to come back in 32 shots which gave him a level par round of 70.

Another gross expert, Leon Stevenson, also hit a net 70 to get fourth place.

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His front nine was a mixed bag with a double bogey and two singles teamed up with birdie threes at four and nine to see him out in one over par 36. Matching birdies and bogies coming back gave Leon a level par back nine tally of 35.

The trio of habitual gross winners was completed by Ben Best whose 68 took the Best Gross. An opening birdie and a four at the long fourth got Ben to two under before his six at the seventh pushed him back to level.

Fours at ten and eleven for birdie and bogey were followed by a trio of birdies, three four three at twelve, thirteen and fourteen, to see Ben in with 33 shots played on the back nine and 68 overall

ADAIR SHIELD WIN FOR

MATTHEW

A super round of 69 in the second round of this 36 hole competition snared the Adair Shield for Matthew McAlpin.

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Having scored 75 in the morning Matthew had just warmed up and set the tone with an opening birdie three in the afternoon. That first nine was also closed with a birdy four to see Matthew two under at the turn.

The back nine opens with a par five and this was duly birdies as was the par three eleventh to get to four under. Thirteen took a shot back and it took until the par five seventeenth for another birdie to land and get Matthew to four under again.

Eighteen, a long par four was bogied to leave Matthew with a three under par round of 69 and a 36 hole aggregate of 144, level par.

This proved to be seven shots clear of David Mulholland in second place on 151 made up of rounds of 77 and 74. Andrew Mulholland was the best of the nets with his 151.

Caroline wins St Margaret’s Cup

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The most recent open competition at Portstewart Golf Club. Was the St Margaret`s Cup, generously sponsored by Paddy and Anne McKeague from Creagh Concrete.

The event was contested by 79 members and forty visitors. Caroline McMullan playing off 21 emerged the overall winner with 38 points.

Brenda Strain playing off 12 won best gross with 21 gross points.

In runner up spot was Cath Tidy a visitor from Fortwillliam with 36 points. Anne McKeague was third with 34 points beating Maggie Penny also with 34 points, into fourth place.

The front 9 was won by Rosie King and Evelyn McFadden won the back 9.