Sidney Peppers the pins to claim a major victory at Banbridge GC

Club Vice Captain Bill McCandless (second from left), who finished third in the Bank Holiday Medal. Also included are Captain Noel McSherry, Lady Captain Denise McBrien and Honorary Member Teresa McConville INBL11-249EB

This has been played for most of the club’s 100 years and is a must win for anyone hoping to capture the majors at Banbridge.

Of the 199 competitors, 27 equalled or bettered the competition scratch score of 68. Scoring was excellent without being outrageous, so lots of players were in with a chance of winning.

Winner Sidney is a seasoned campaigner with huge experience round the Huntly links. He harnessed all his skill, determination and will to win on Saturday to post seven bogies, ten pars and one birdie.

The result was a nett score of 63 and Sidney was crowned the TB Wallace champion.

T Lyle Rea(22) was the winner of the Senior prize on the day with an excellent nett 66. It was good to see Gordon Cruickshanks (15) challenging strongly for the prizes with a nett 65. He just missed out on fourth place to John Gallagher (12) on countback. Also on nett 65 and claiming third prize was Paul Doherty (22).

The runner up on the day was new member Joe McGivern (23) with a nett 63. Joe had a great chance to win but an unlucky finish over the last three holes cost him victory. The best gross prize was won by John Bell. Starting his round at 6:30am every Saturday, I’m not surprised John started with a six at the first but steadied the ship from there on to record a fine 73 gross.

James wins the Medal

Last Monday there was a good turnout for the Bank Holiday medal and some familiar names rose to the top of the leaderboard.

Bill McCandless (6) knows every blade of grass on the course and he used this to his advantage scoring a total of 40 points for third place on the day.

A good friend of Bill’s, Nigel Bryson (8) has played the game at the highest level in Banbridge, even though it was a few years ago. Nigel scored 41 points to claim second place on Monday and pip Bill by one shot. Does this prove Nigel the better of the two golfers? It’s too close to call and the two of them probably haven’t even discussed the issue.

With a fine gross score of 70 shots, Andy Quinn deservedly won the best gross prize.

James Wilson (18) played very steady golf for 41 points and victory in the Bank Holiday medal. This should set James up for a successful summer campaign and he can look forward to many more victories.