Banbridge Golf Club celebrates centenary with 
a week of events

Every category of member was catered for and the climax of the celebrations was the Centenary Dinner on Saturday night.

Tuesday was ladies day. This competition will be covered in more detail in the Ladies Notes. Suffice to say that Sheila English won the top prize and the section prizes went to Diana Whan, Hilda Caughey and Ada Lavery.

The club’s PGA professional, Jason Greenaway, generously sponsored the prizes.

As well as her prize, Sheila was the first recipient of a beautiful cut-glass trophy purchased by the Ladies Branch of the golf club to commemorate the centenary.

Wednesday was for the seniors and the juveniles.

The seniors had their competition on Wednesday morning and there was a good turnout. Philip Mallon (10) was the winner with 44 stableford points. He was round in two over par gross 71 with birdies at holes 8,11 and 13.

Kenny Arlow (14) was second with 42 points. He had three birdies over the last 5 holes and that catapulted him up the leaderboard.

Peter Hillen (10) took third prize with a commendable 39 points.

Tom Fee (12) and Colin McKinney (16) just missed out with 38 points each.

The juvenile competition off the white blocks was won by Jamie Thompson (12) with 41 points. Jamie beat Thomas Luke (15) and Robert Lyttle (12) on countback.

Dylan Cowan won the juvenile competition off the yellow blocks.

There was huge interest in Thursday’s Centenary Team Competition. Once again the weather was glorious and the course was in immaculate condition. There were prizes for the first five teams.

The winners, with 97 points, were Paul Downey, Luke Woods, Mark McCoy and Callum McCandless.

In second place, also with 97 points, were John Parkes, Bertie Shaw, Brian Parkes and Gerry Blevins.

In third place, once again with 97 points, were Kieran Magennis, Rory Madeley, Peter Hillen and Kenny Whan.

In fourth place, with 96 points, were Vaughan Lamont, Roy Rankin, John Molloy and Mervyn Waddell.

In fifth place, with 95 points, were Seamus McGrath, Aidan Lavery, Dermot Magee and Ada Lavery.

Mixed Foursomes is always good fun, especially when you get lovely weather, as was the case for Friday’s event.

The winning pair on Friday were Fionulla Crossey and Sean McGreevey. Runners-up were Bernie and Felix Duffy. Third place prize went to Kate Kelly and Brian Boyd.

Saturday was the big one – The Men’s Centenary Cup.

The weather was perfect, as it had been for the entire week. The course was in pristine condition, a credit to the greens staff. Tel Jub Finance sponsored the prizes, thanks to the generosity of club member Terry Malcolmson. There was a table full of prizes and the centrepiece was a sparkling brand new cup, which the club captain, Declan Dooher, had purchased.

The results were as follows: Winner: David Thompson (16 now 13) 46 points. Second: Kieran Magennis (5 now 4) 44 points. Third: John Russell (10 now 9) 43 points. Fourth: Jim Gracey (12 now 11) 42 points. Best Gross: Rory Madeley (4 now 3) 67. Best Senior: Carson Clegg (18) 42 points. Low Section (0-9): Callum McCandless (7 now 6) 42 points. Middle Section (10-17): Gary McCartney (10 now 9) 41 points. High Section (18+): Kenny Jones (19) 39 points.

David was “over the moon” when his name was announced as the winner. He had played the best round of his career. It was a brilliant few days for the Thompson family. David won the Centenary Cup and his son Jamie won the Juvenile Competition.