Peter takes honours in October medal race

As is customary for these monthly medals the format used was stroke-play. The course provided yet another test for golfers in this qualifying event. The odd shower or two compounded the degree of difficulty.

As always a number of players came to the fore with useful returns and they brought home the spoils. On this particular occasion seventeen golfers achieved under par returns in the stroke competition.

The winner of the medal was Peter Warke. This twelve handicapper took the honours with a five under par effort of net 65. Peter had a mixed bag of scores on the opening nine ranging from birdies to a double bogey. He birdied holes one and seven and made a par on the fourth. A five at the par three eighth was his only wayward hole. On the homeward journey further birdies came his way on holes ten and fourteen. Needless to say pars at holes thirteen, sixteen and seventeen were the other crucial scores. It required a better back nine to keep his nose ahead.

With a similar return of net 65 the runners-up award went to Paul Byrne. Also playing off a twelve handicap Paul was well in contention at the halfway juncture with a gross 37 on his card. A birdie at the seventh and pars at holes one, three, five, eight and nine gainfully contributed to his hot card. Starting at the tenth he had a run of four pars and everything seemed well under control. However he dropped five strokes on the final five holes of play. This weak finish cost him first place.

The third net award went to Martin Drain with his return of net 67. This six handicap player fashioned a gross 73 to eke out this award. On the opening nine Martin birdied holes one and eight and this negated a double bogey on the seventh. The other six holes comprised four pars to accompany bogeys on holes five and six. More bogeys came his way at holes twelve and thirteen. On the credit side he managed six pars and a birdie on the other seven holes. By virtue of a better back six score he just slipped into third place.

Four handicapper Brian Scullion played splendidly to snatch the weekly gross award. Brian shot a gross 71 to claim the honours. On the day he birdied holes eleven and sixteen but fell victim to bogeys on holes two, fifteen and seventeen. Kevin McKeown nabbed the Low section prize with his net 67. This five handicapper negotiated the course in 72 strokes. His round was an amalgam of birdies, pars and bogey. Holes three, five, twelve and thirteen yielded the crucial birdies.

In the middle section the winner was Sean Wilson with a net 68. Playing off a fourteen handicap Sean was struggling slightly on the front side but an exciting back nine was what the doctor ordered. Over the round birdies at holes twelve and seventeen were very welcome.

Finally the high section award went to John Menary. This twenty handicap player topped the section with a tidy net 67.

The other golfers with cards in red figures were as follows:

Net 67: Alastair McCaffrey (19).

Net 68: Seamus McKeown (12), Anthony Gallery (11), Collie Nash (8).

Net 69: Jim McKee (7), Timmy Cummins (3), Morris Lyness (15), Shane Magee (3), Mark O’Neill (13), Malachy McConville (6).