Roe Park secure Ulster Cup first leg advantage

With low expectations and suffering from a serious case of the hosel rockets before his win Sean recruited the services of resident PGA professional Michael McCrudden.

After diagnosing a problem which all golfers fear Michael quickly set to work straightening those wayward shots.

In blustery conditions and the course playing longer than usual Sean put his new swing to the test.

It certainly worked a treat as he consistently found the fairways and greens, which is the key to any good round.

Joe Connor claimed second place with a fine round of 79 and third was Kieran Doherty with 83. John Holmes played a solid round scoring 75 to take the gross prize.

Thursday’s Club Stableford saw a huge turnout in good conditions and Alistair Sproule turned in a fine performance scoring 39 points to take the victory.

Second place with 37 points was Alan Loughery and taking third with 37 points was Graham Forrest only just beaten on count back. Junior vice-captain Conor McKay took the gross prize with a fine display of long straight drives and approach shots.

Definitely one for the future - we will certainly be hearing a lot more from young Conor as he chases his goal of one day playing on tour alongside the likes of Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods.

Roe Park entertained Hilton Templepatrick in the first round of the Ulster Cup on Sunday and things couldn’t have gone much better as they took the home leg 5.5 to 1.5.

Windy conditions made it tough for both sides and Noel McClarey got the team of to a flying start as he won his match with an emphatic 7&6 win. Sammy Murphy had it a bit tougher as he finished all square to claim half a point and Alan Rankin finished two up for another point. Martin Rafferty played some superb golf to win 5&4 while Derek Nicholl never looked like losing ultimately winning his match 3&1. Alan Loughery finished one up in a tight match for yet another point leaving the team a fantastic five points clear of their opposition. Last up was Bryan McCartney who fought hard but eventually lost his match 4&2.

Hilton Templepatrick have it all to do now as Roe Park have a commanding four point lead but anything can happen away from home and Roe Park will certainly be aware of that.

As ever with it being Masters week the driving range has seen an increase in budding golfers trying to become the next Bubba Watson. The Golf Academy with the Flightscope V1 Technology is proving popular as ever and resident PGA professional Michael will be as busy as ever there over the Easter holidays. This Friday at Roe Park sees an Open Stableford sponsored by Michael McCrudden whilst Saturday sees a Club Stableford sponsored by The Market Yard.