Nichlaus is the winner at last Lambeg competition

A total of £2400 was raised at the event, which took place at Aberdelghy, with funds being presented to the club’s nominated charities.

Representatives from Alzheimers Society and Action Cancer came to the clubrooms to receive the cheques and gave a brief talk about their respective charity on the work they do and how the money would be spent. The winner of the competition, Stephen Johnston, was presented with The Dougie Parker Memorial Trophy.

It was a matter of first and last for Nichlaus Lavery (12) when he won the “The Rose Bowl” on Saturday, the last prestigious competition of the year, after winning the Lambeg Championship at the beginning of the year. Nichlaus got off to a reasonable start with a single bogey and a par at the first two holes but a lost ball at the 3rd gave him no points. That was his last mistake and with 3 brilliant birdies at 7, 8 and 12 accompanied 7 pars he piled on the points and finished with a winning total of 43. Finishing one shot behind was Paul Nelson (6) with 42 pts. Alan Brannigan (17) and Tony Hamilton (13) both finished on 40pts, but it was Alan who took third place with the better back nine. Best Gross was won by Raymond Rodgers.

Tommy Coulter (12) won the Ian Murdoch Memorial Trophy on the count-back when he and Stephen Boyd (20) both finished on 42 pts. After scoring a bogey five at the first, Tommy had a remarkable run of six pars in a row. He finished the front nine with a total of 23 pts at the turn. Three pars out of the next five put him in a good position until he made his only bad shot of the day which led to a double bogey on the 15th. A par at 16, and a bogey at 17 may not have been enough but the birdie on the last was the deciding score. Stephen Boyd could do no wrong in his front nine but a double at the par three 12th and an 8 at the fairly easy 13th ruined his card. Finishing second was some reward for that fantastic front nine. Michael Pollins (12) took third spot with steady round scoring 41 pts. Best Gross was won by Alan Crockard. Next week sees the start of the Winter League competitions. A big congratulations to John Oakes on winning the Order of Merit for 2013. After a very tight finish, John won by a mere 4pts.