Kevin sparkles in DiamondJubilee competition

With a vintage display of golf the clear winner of the trophy was Kevin Hamill who registered an eight under par tally of 44 points.

Kevin set the tone for the round by matching par on the outward nine. He countered a bogey on the fifth with a birdie on the eighth. Pars were pencilled in on the other seven holes. A run of birdie, par, birdie provided the spark on the back nine. He posted further pars on his card at holes fifteen and eighteen. This comfortable inward nine put him over the line. He has an overall tidy golf game and with all facets of the game firing on the day he was a worthy winner of this competition.

Ian Hamilton was runner-up in the competition with an effort of 42 points. Playing off a seventeen handicap Ian played competent golf over both nines. Pars at holes one, three and five were important. However the highlight of this opening nine was his ace on the second. After this ‘hole-in-one’ he kept his emotion under wraps and played soundly on the back nine. Pars came his way at holes ten, twelve, fourteen, sixteen and seventeen. He had four double bogeys on his card but still held onto second spot.

The third net prize went to Peter Gordon. The twelve handicapper also fired a tidy 42 points on the day. He began his day with pars on the first and third and a birdie on the fourth. Thence followed pars at holes five, seven, eight and nine. He kept the momentum going on the back nine. More pars came his way at holes ten, twelve, fifteen and eighteen. A birdie two on the seventeenth was a further bonus. Not surprisingly this tidy golf earned him a prize.

The weekly gross award went to Gary Clarke. This one handicapper shot 37 gross points to secure this success. On the way around he recorded birdies on holes one, fifteen, seventeen and eighteen. On the debit side he fell foul of bogeys on holes two, thirteen and fourteen. With pars on the remaining holes he managed a gross 69 on his way to victory.

In the Low section there were 21 golfers with under par scores. Top of the pile was Daniel Wright with a total of 41 points. This ten handicapper had a round containing just pars or bogeys on his card. He put himself into contention through nine holes with par figures at holes one, four, five, seven and nine. He had a very neat back nine that included eight pars and a bogey on the eleventh. This strong finish ensured him the category prize.

The Middle section was captured by Michael McMahon with a four under par total of 40 points. The thirteen handicapper had a satisfactory opening nine where pars at holes one, two, six and nine stood him in good stead. His play on the back nine went up by several notches. It began with a trio of pars. A birdie at the fifteenth and a par at the eighteenth completed this winning sequence. This division had sixteen golfers producing scores in red figures.

In the High section eight golfers recorded under par returns. It was a close run affair but in the end Martin Fagan triumphed with his tally of 41 points. Playing off a 24 handicap Martin served notice by acquiring useful pars at holes four, five and seven on the outward nine. On the back nine pars at holes ten and eleven and a birdie on the twelfth were his marquee scores. Numerous net pars kept his points moving upwards. However four double bogeys deprived him of an even higher placing.

The following players registered the other under par returns:

41 pts: Gary McCollum, Stephen Loughran, Ronald Bruce.

40 pts: Colm Nash Jnr, Stephen Lennon, Martin Cavanagh, Gareth McConville.

39 pts: John Hartnett, Billy Hughes, Paul Magee, Ciaran McSherry, William McMillan, Jim McKee, Neale McKinstry, Colin Robb, Sean McClean, Gareth Smyth. Michael Fleville.

38 pts: Shane Magee, Martin Rea, Gareth Moore, Bryan Turkington, Brian Hanratty, Kevin Brennan, Sidney Fairfield, Andrew Campbell, Jim Kennedy.

37 pts: Anthony Gallery, Raymond Farrell, Martin McKinstry, David Moore, Trence Eagers, Iain Mulholland, Peter Simpson, Andy Cunningham, William Millar, Trevor Field.