Mixed fortunes for Rockmount teams in various cup competitions

Rockmount started the match eight points behind Bangor; so a big win was needed. The Rockmount team Ryan Wilson, Colin Henderson, Andy Gregge, Jimmy Robinson and Greg Sterritt were all involved in very tight matches.

Ryan Wilson was first to come down 18 and a half at the last hole ensured the points were shared one point each. Colin Henderson was one up coming down eighteen when his approach shot to the green took an extraordinary bounce and ended up against the boundary fence; Colin could do nothing from this position and lost the hole for another shared match. Greg Sterritt was the third match to come down the eighteen the match was all square, but Greg made a tremendous putt to secure the full two points for Rockmount. Andy Gregge saw off his opponent at the fifteenth for a 4 and 3 win and Jimmy Robinson won his match 2 and 1. Rockmount secured eight points on the night with Bangor collecting two, Rockmount on thirty points are now two behind Bangor with one match each left.

Saturday June 1 was the Peter Woods sponsored stroke competition and Seniors Club Championship qualifier. Robert Burns (27) was first with a nett 67 and Ed McDonald (9) was second with a nett 69. The low section (0 -11) was won by Gary McShane (10) with a nett 70, the mid section (12 – 17) was won by Cecil Floyd (15) with a nett 71 and the high section (18 – 28) was won by David Stronge (19) who also had a nett 70. Best gross on the day was from Colin McClenaghan (2) who had a three over par gross score of 75. On Sunday the 23rd Rockmount had five teams representing the club. The Junior Cup team were at Kilkeel for their match against Warrenpoint. The Ulster Four-Ball were at Shandon Park, The Junior Cowdy at Rockmount, the Senior Cowdy team were at Edenmore and the Ronan Rafferty team at home. Rockmount and Warrenpoint had been paired together in the Junior Cup qualifying, team Captain Jonny Patterson knew it would be a difficult match. Colin Henderson, Andy Gregge, Tommy Gibson, Michael Stewart and Barry Douds all fought gallantly but with Warrenpoint gradually building an insurmountable lead, team Captain had to concede defeat. The Senior Cowdy playing their first leg match at Edenmore will be disappointed at only capturing six and half points out of a possible thirty two; but will hope to reverse this on Friday evening. The Ulster four-ball faced a tricky second leg against Shandon Park. With a slender 3-2 advantage from the home leg and a one hole deficit, Shandon appeared to be favourites. Team Captain Brendan Houston had other ideas and has instilled a winning mentality in his team. The last two pairs didn’t let Brendan down, they both won and the Ulster four-ball team will go into the fourth round to play either Balmoral or Enniskillen. The Junior Cowdy team welcomed Omagh to Rockmount with the tie evenly balanced after the away leg in Omagh two each. After nine holes there was very little between the teams but Jim Madden and David Bailie started to build a lead and won their match five and three. Two further wins followed and one match was shared giving Rockmount an overall win five and a half to two and a half. Last team out at Rockmount were the Ronan Rafferty team of Junior’s, despite holding a lead from the away leg against Edenmore, the Juniors could not repeat the form shown away from home. Edenmore eased to victory to progress to the next round. The Ulster Branch Centenary competition qualifying was held at four venues with the top four pairs from each venue going to the Grand Final at Royal Belfast Golf Club on Sunday September 1. Jimmy Robinson and Gordon Goodfellow finished second and will be contesting the Grand Final.