Successful Open Week at Ballymena Golf Club

At the end of play the winners were Gary Black (2) partnered by his wife Jill (12) with a winning total of 38 stableford points from their handicap allowance of seven shots.

The first nine produced seven pars, a dropped shot on the fifth plus a non-score on the par three fourth.

The second nine contained three pars, four bogeys and a strong finish of two birdies was equal to 20 points.

Second place went to Sean McGarry (4) and partner Jill Crockard (23) with 37 points and they will be reflecting upon a costly non-score on the final hole.

Their front nine of five pars, three bogeys and a double bogey on the opening hole, converted into 20 points, to which they added three pars, four bogeys and two double bogeys for an additional 17 points.

MONDAY STABLEFORD

The Monday open stableford resulted in the low handicap players coming to the fore with five-handicapper Michael Smyth the winner with 41 points, while Gary Black (2) secured second place with 40 points and Michael McGarry (3) won the gross prize.

Smyth opened his round with six straight pars followed by a birdie, bogey, birdie for 21 points. The second nine contained six pars, two bogeys and a birdie on the par three 16th for a further 20 points.

Runner-up Black’s front nine was made up of seven pars, a bogey at the second which he retrieved with a birdie on the ninth for 19 points. The back nine saw Gary score six threes, fours on the 11th and 16th and a lone five on the 17th for an additional 21 points.

Third nett was Adam heron with 39 points, having scored 21 on the outward nine plus 18 on the inward trip.

Michael McGarry’s gross car of level par 68 shots came from six pars, a dropped shot and birdies on the first and ninth. The inward nine was made up of four pars, three bogeys and birdies at 11 and 17 for equal nines of 34 shots.

WEDNESDAY OPEN

After the ladies’ competition on Tuesday, Wednesday saw another men’s stableford, where the winner was Douglas Coulter (14) who posted 39 points but had to depend upon a better last six hole total from John Devlin (11).

Coulter was six over par on the first nine for 19 points while the second nine was quite steady as he scored 20 points, with the last six holes producing 13 points against Devlin’s 12.

John played the first five holes in one over and the nine holes in four over for 19 points. The second nine produced five pars, a bogey on the 12th and two double bogeys but he managed to birdie the final hole to take his second nine total for 20 points.

The third nett prize was won by Gregory McToal (20) a visitor from Cushendall, who scored 38 points.

Nigel Thompson (13) collected the fourth nett prize with 36 points, of which 16 came from the front nine. Nigel entered the back nine with four dropped shots but the final five holes yielded four pars and a bogey for a further 20 points.

Sean McGarry (4) won best gross with a round of four over, having been one over from an outward leg which contained eight pars. The homeward nine was made up of six pars and three bogeys.

THURSDAY

Thursday was seniors’ open day where the winner was Bertie McDowell (19) who returned a score of 40 points and on a better second nine total of 18 points, against 17 from second-placed Des McCartney.

McDowell’s first nine saw him register five fours and four fives, which was five over gross, for 22 points.

The back nine was played to his handicap although he registered only one par, on the 17th, yet he scored a further 18 points.

McCartney, with a shot per hole on handicap, had a dream first nine holes which yielded 24 points but the second nine was a different story as he could only add a further 16 points, not helped by non-scores on the final two holes.

Third prize was won by Robin Scott, an 11-handicapper from Kilrea Golf Club, with 39 points.

FOURBALL BETTERBALL

Eugene Reid (15) and Eugene M Reid (19) proved to be the top pairing in Friday’s fourball betterball competition. They played the front nine in six under, 29 shots, to which they added a five under on the back nine. In total they scored nine birdies, eight pars plus an eagle two on the first for a total score of nett 57 shots.

Second place was won by Brian Phillips (15) and partner Gordon Bell (12) who returned a score of nett 58, which included nett eagles on the second and ninth.

Nigel Getty (5) and Derek O’Kane (9) claimed the third nett prize with a nett score of 59 shots having been out in five under 30 shots and home in four under 29. Their card contained seven birdies, 10 pars and a nett eagle on the 15th.

MCBURNEY TRANSPORT OPEN STABLEFORD

Good playing conditions made a for top-class winning scores in the final open week competition, sponsored by McBurney Transport.

The top score was returned by Moore Colgan who, playing off a handicap of 27, produced 45 points to win by a margin of three points.

A first nine hole score of seven over gross put 24 points on his card and he added a further 21 from the second nine, which included a non-score on the 13th.

On the plus side, Moore’s card was boosted by a four-point gain at both the eighth and 16th. In total his card contained five pars, which were worth 16 points alone.

Second prize was won by Paul Stevenson (6) who scored 42 points but he had to depend upon a better second nine.

Paul opened up with a birdie, only to shed two shots on the par three second and also on the 16th.

That was a setback but on the full card, Paul played the course in 68 shots which was level par. His card was made up of 12 pars, birdies on the first, fourth, 12th and 17th and double bogeys on the second and 16th.

Third nett was Harry McGarry (10) also with 42 points but on in inferior second nine to Stevenson.

Having commenced with two bogeys, Harry played the next seven holes in three under to get back to level par for 23 points. The back nine saw Harry drop four shots for an additional 19 points and 42 points overall.

Leslie Frew (17) recorded 40 points and on a better second nine from Ken herbison (21) and Ivan Mcmaster (15).

Frew’s front nine was played to his handicap for 18 points but the back nine was much better, helped by a birdie at the 10th.

Another birdie followed on the 13th, with both worth four points, and the only single point was on the 17th as he recorded 22 points for the nine holes.

Fifth prize went to Ken Herbison, also with 40 points, and on a better second nine from McMaster.

Ken had non-events on the second and 17th which proved costly. On the plus side, he scored six pars and the other holes were quite steady as he scored eight three-pointers.

The final nett prize was won by Ivan McMaster (15), also with 40 points. He had a non-score on the 13th but it was rectified almost immediately with a birdie at the next hole. Ivan scored five pars on the outward nine where he had 21 points but that 13th and a further double bogey at 15 were setbacks which prevented him from adding any more than 19 points to his tally.

The best gross card came from Christopher Magee (3) who played the course in two under, 66 shots. Each nine resulted in eight pars plus birdies at the third and 13th in a round which was three better than his Captain’s Day winning score.

SUNDAY OPEN STABLEFORD

The Sunday open stableford resulted in Adam Heron (10) coming tops with 39 points.

Having started his round with six straight pars, Adam scored 21 points for the nine holes, before adding a further 18 on the homeward trip.

Second place went to Robert McBurney (22) who collected an overall total of 37 points.

Best gross came from Richard Campbell (6) who scored 37 shots on each nine.