Busy spell despite fading light

Despite fading light in the evenings there was still plenty of golfing activity around Lurgan Golf Club last week.

It began on Monday with the usual end of month Open for senior players between ladies and gents with close to sixty golfers taking part.

Conditions were tough and a good score was hard to come by.In fact only four gents had returns better than par. The winner of this August Senior competition was Mark O’Neill.

The eleven handicapper took the honours with a well crafted round of 40 points. His day started with a routine par and then followed a double bogey and a birdie. After that Mark sailed through the nine with six pars on his card. He played quite well on the inward nine to record par figures at holes ten, eleven, twelve and seventeen. A non-return at the last was his only blip but it had no consequence. Bertie Loye was runner-up with a competent effort of 39 points. The sixteen handicap player started like a firebrand with par figures on the opening five holes. He then ran into a few difficulties in the middle part of his round. He made inroads again with pars on holes fourteen and seventeen. A well executed birdie on the sixteenth sealed a second place finish.

Third net on the day went to Edwin Spence. Also playing off a sixteen handicap he secured the prize with a tally of 38 points. A new entrant to this grouping was Tom Douglas and he signalled his intent by taking the gross award. This four handicapper succeeded with a return of 31 points. He was through the opening nine with six pars on his card. Birdies came at holes one and six and his only bogey was on the ninth. However his form deserted him on the back nine but pars at holes ten, fourteen and seventeen sufficed to nudge him ahead in the gross stakes. Marty Rea was the final golfer under par and he achieved it with a total of 37 points.

In the ladies competition local Margaret O’Neill captured first place with a score of 32 points. Her stronger back nine edged Joan Bell from the Knock GC in to second place.

On Tuesday 21st August the lady members were competing for the Magennis trophy. Alas the day produced torrential rain and as a consequence the competition was abandoned. It will be replayed at a later date.

Last Friday the ladies were involved in their end of month standard monthly medal competition. The top section winner was young Annabel Wilson with a net 66. In the bottom section Clare McGourty took the honours with a net 80. Young Niamh Ward had the best gross of 82.

On Wednesday 22nd August the gents were involved in the Lady Captain’s Prize for men that had been washed out the previous week. There was a grand total of 125 entries and out of that just ten members registered an under par return.

It turned out to be a day for the youth as the big three net winners were in that genre.

Three handicapper Caolan McCann grabbed first prize with his tally of 40 points. On his successful run he had five birdies on his card. Holes four and thirteen were the early ones and he closed his round with a trio of birdies. On the other hand he fell foul of bogeys on holes eight, eleven, fourteen and fifteen. Pars on the remaining holes helped him to this winning gross sixty nine.

Sixteen handicapper Conor McPeake was second with a similar haul of 40 points. Conor birdied the seventh and backed it up with pars on holes two, eight and nine. This put him in a challenging position. He birdied the tenth and secured further pars on holes twelve and fifteen. In spite of a trio of double bogeys he held onto second spot.

The third net prize went to Jamie McConville. The five handicapper won with a score of 39 points. Birdies on holes one, three and fifteen were his obvious highlights. However double bogeys on holes six, fourteen and a bogey on the last curtailed his score. Pars on the rest of the holes sealed victory. Frank Murray landed the fourth net with a total of 38 points. The last net prize was taken by John Hartnett with a tally of 37 points. Chris Watt nabbed the gross award with a 36 points total. Other golfers under the radar with thirty seven points were Ben McKnight, Billy Turkington, Barry Creaney and Kieran McCorry.

Sunday 26th August, Scratch Cups Results: Senior: 1. Dave Sutton 67; 2. Martin McAvoy 71.

Junior: 1. Ross McCandless (Banbridge) 74; 2. Matthew Madden (Silverwood) 76.

Intermediate: 1. Jack Wilson 79; 2. Kevin Brennan 86.