New Raceview season in full swing

THE 2010 competition season got underway at Ballymena Golf Club recently, with the opening competition the gents' foursomes qualifying to match play.

Although the winter conditions were still in place, the scoring was not the usual for this outing.

The leading qualifying pair were Neil Courtney (11), partnered by Brian Reynolds (17), who returned a nett score of 66 from their shot allowance of 14.

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Second best return came from Stephen Surgenor and Ian Lecky, both playing off 13, who had a nett 68, with a back nine of five over gross.

Third place went to Johnny Jamieson (4) and David Smith (5) who returned a nett 69.5, having covered each nine in three over gross.

Fourth place was taken by Jim Warwick (21) and brother Roy (20) with a nett score of 70.5 and on a better second nine from William Tuff (9), partnered by Nigel Thompson (10) who in turn had a better second nine score from Wilfred Leetch (19) and Billy Greer (10).

Club captain John Graham (11) and Gary Rodgers (13) came next with a nett score of 71, despite dropping four shots on the last three holes.

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The final qualifying pair were Michael Scroggie (7) and Donal Smyth (16) who posted a nett 71.5, even after dropping eight shots on the final four holes.

The draw for the matchplay stage was: Courtney/Reynolds v Scroggie/Smyth; Jamieson/Smith v Leetch/Greer; Warwick/Warwick v Tuff/Thompson; Surgenor/Lecky v Graham/Rodgers.

ALLEN MEATS

The second Saturday competition was kindly sponsored by Allen Meats and the top score came from William Greer who, playing off a handicap of 10, toured the course in three over gross for a total of 43 stableford points.

He had to depend on a second nine of level par gross for 23 points as there were two other returns of 43 points, from Paschal McLoughlin (19) and Mark Simpson (11).

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Greer had 13 pars, four bogeys and a birdie at the 17th, in his round to remember. McLoughlin had 22 points on the front nine with pars on the third and fourth plus a birdie at the nine. The back nine was very steady and a par at the last was crucial as his back nine squeezed Simpson into third place.

Mark had 23 points on the outward nine, which he played in level par gross, while the inward nine contained five pars for an additional 20 points.

Fourth nett went to 14-handicapper Campbell Wade, who had the best of the 42-point returns. He had quite a mixture on the opening nine, but still managed to register 18 points, but the tougher closing nine seemed to pose him no problems as he covered it in one over gross for an additional 24 points.

David Kernohan (19) produced a sound round where he scored 22 points on the front nine, to which he added 20 more.

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The final nett prize was won by James Eagleson (14) again with a total of 42 points of which he scored 23 on the outward journey. The inward nine resulted in five fives, two fours and two threes for another 19 points.

The best gross card came from plus one handicapper Dermot McElroy, who played each nine in 33 shots – two under par gross.

It appears Dermot has lost none of his touch of last year and the club wishes him every success in 2010, especially on the representative stage.