Final qualifying event of the season is held at Lisburn Golf Club

The last qualifying event of the season at Lisburn Golf Club was held on Wednesday 2nd October. Piers McMillan (12) was clear winner on 41 points, the highlight of his round being an eagle 3 at the 12th hole. Second place was contested between Darren Welsh (12) and Lewis Darragh (10). Both players finished on 39 points and both had 20 points in their homeward 9 holes. Both players scored 14 points on the last six holes and 7 points on the last three. They each had 4 points on the last 2 holes, but Darren’s 3 at the last (stroke index 11) secured second place. The season has now effectively ended and handicaps will be static over the winter pending the review by the handicap committee.

A number of adult golfers have shown a reduction in their handicaps. Leading the way is Captains prize winner Joe Davey having reduced his handicap from 25 to 18, closely followed by Billy Friars going from 20 to 14 and Andrew Cairns from 26 to 19. Amongst the lower handicap golfers, Stephen Higgins and Andrew Parr both moved from 12 to 8 and Alastair Symington from 8 to 5. Another player to move into category 1 of golfing handicaps is Michael Bryson now down to 5. Six of this years successful Ulster Fourball Team are ineligible to play in that competition next year having reduced their handicaps below the 16.5 threshold.

In the juvenile section, handicaps improve much more rapidly. The best improvement was shown by Jack Shellard in moving from 27 to 14. Other Juveniles taking the step from category 4 to category 3 were Cameron Allison moving from 28 to 19, Jonathan Scott from 28 to 19, Wilson Thompson from 28 to 20 and Henry Thomas from 24 to 19. A number of juvenile golfers moved from category 3 to category 2. These included Aaron Marshall moving from 17 to 9, Andrew McGregor from 18 to 12, Joshua Robinson from 16 to 11, Kyle Patton from 14 to 9 and Josh Clarke from 18 to 12. Mark McNellis moved from 8 to 5 to join Christian Kennedy (4), Lewis Patmore (5), Craig Ryan (5) as category 1 golfers. Nine of this years juvenile golfers have ended the season with a handicap of 9 or lower.

Last autumn, Lisburn golfer, Jordan Patmore (1) was one of the 25 people out of 130 applicants to embark on the BSc in Applied Golf Management course at Birmingham University. This course is run in conjunction with the Professional Golfers Association. During the summer, Jordan had a summer placement in collaboration with the PGA in Fuerteventura Golf Club in the Canary Islands. At the end of September, Jordan successfully completed a playing assessment by PGA and last week at the beginning of his second year of study, he signed up with the PGA to become a professional golfer. The club wish him well with his continuing studies and his future career.