Lisburn teams take their opening matches by storm

Lisburn teams made a great start to the season with a 7½ – 6½ victory in the Belfast & District Cup followed by a fantastic 6 – 1 away success by the Ulster Cup side.
By John Boyd
Published 28th Apr 2015, 17:26 BST
Greg Bailie, Stephen Shaw, Stewart MacDonald and Simon Ingram about to tee off at Lisburn and (inset) the best gross winner in the Hilden Cup qualifying, Aaron Marshall.Greg Bailie, Stephen Shaw, Stewart MacDonald and Simon Ingram about to tee off at Lisburn and (inset) the best gross winner in the Hilden Cup qualifying, Aaron Marshall.
Greg Bailie, Stephen Shaw, Stewart MacDonald and Simon Ingram about to tee off at Lisburn and (inset) the best gross winner in the Hilden Cup qualifying, Aaron Marshall.

The District Cup match, meanwhile, went ‘down to the wire’ against Rockmount.

Ryan Symington got Lisburn off to a great start with an emphatic victory on the 14th green. Chris Moulds won his match on the last green and Stuart Campbell won on the 17th.

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The result depended on the final match in which Norman McNellis was two down at the turn. He played well on the back nine and holed from seven feet to win one up on the last green.

The in-form Aaron Marshall.The in-form Aaron Marshall.
The in-form Aaron Marshall.

The Ulster Cup team played ‘out of their skins’ at Newcastle to defeat Mourne 6–1. Ian Suffern had four birdies including three twos in his victory.

Brian Houston played very steadily to win on the 14th green. Ryan Chambers, Andy Neill and Glenn Walsh won close contests. Packo Pimm made his first appearance for Lisburn and recovered from a two holes deficit to snatch a half. Brian Rainey also secured a half. Chris Budd was delighted with his team’s performance but has warned against complacency for the return match.

Hilden Cup qualifying

For the second week running Darren Welsh (12) had an excellent score round the Lisburn course.

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On this occasion he finished second to Peter McDonnell (10) who had the best round of the day.

Peter played consistently for two halves of 38. His 76 gave him a net score of 66 to lead Darren by three strokes. Gary Brett (15) also finished with a net 69 but lost out to Darren on count-back. Finn McCrory, Martin Lilley, Allen Sayers, Neil McAleese and Simon Ingram all finished on 71.

Young Aaron Marshall (6) won the best gross prize with his round of 78. He was out in level par but dropped six strokes on the back nine.

Wednesday Stableford

1st Joseph Gatt (10) 44 pts, 2nd Barry McQuillan (19) 42 pts, 3rd Philip Stewart (19) 41 pts after a tie with Andrew Patterson (17) 41.

Related topics:LisburnBelfast