Winner Ian battles through worstof the elements

Meal deal open stableford competition at Foyle today.

This was the case on Saturday with early morning golfers enjoying the much better end of a day of extremes.

Ian Harrison played through the worst of the conditions on Saturday to lift top prize with an extremely commendable 37 points off 11. His round of just 2 over par reflected both the quality of his play and his famous dogged determination.

The runners-up spot was filled by Gary McNally with 36 points off 3. Birdies at 3, 4, 5, 10 and 13, and no accompanying slips, meant a great round of 5 under par.

The low section went to Martin Corey with 35 points off 6. He was another player to go round under par with birdies at 4 and 9, and a bogey at 5, leaving him one under.

Four players had 34 points with Mark Headley’s 17 points on the back 9 giving him second place in the section, off 6, after a 1 under par round. Andrew Cummins, 4, and Paul McCabrey, 2, went round in 1 and 4 under respectively, but missed out on the prizes on the back 9.

Johnny McEvoy claimed the middle section with 35 points off 10 helped by birdies at 2, 10 and 18. After an almost fruitless year he has now claimed two runners-up spots and a section in a fortnight and will no doubt be eager to see if he can claim an outright win soon. Second place went to regular contender Sean McClean with 33 points off 15, an almost flawless round lacking that little bit of luck which can make all the difference. You would have to feel for Stephen Hewitt who battled through the worst of the week’s weather to score 34 points off 12, but then became a victim of his own success when a previous victory handicapped him out of the prizes. Gerard Henderson, 9, Eddie Girvan, 12, and Michael McMahon, 9, each came close with 32 points.

The high section saw brothers Maurice and Trevor Turnbull both returning 35 points to battle it out for the main prize. In the end Maurice, 19, came out on top after a close count back, but there is little doubt Trevor, 16, will bounce back in the near future.

Raymond McCann with 3 4 points might normally have expected to have found a place among the prizes but was to miss out to the battling brothers on this occasion.

In a competition when eight players went round under par, it was David Sutton’s 5 under which took the gross prize with six birdies and a single bogey.