Success for Lisburn Rotarians at St Andrews tournament

Three of the team, who are all members of the Rotary Club of Lisburn - John McIlroy (Malone GC), Patrick Coyle (Lisburn GC) and Liam McCartney (Dunmurry GC) - qualified for the Irish team with best Stableford scores over the first two days - an exceptional achievement.

John was the Irish team captain after gaining the highest score over the two qualifying days. It was a particular honour as he is also the president of the Lisburn Rotary club this year.

There was incredibly tight competition over the final two days with the final played on the Old Course - one of the last events before final preparations for the Open later this month.

In the end Ireland finished second, pipped by a single Stableford point by England.

"It was the expeerience of a lifetime to captain the Irish team and to play the final day on the legendary Old Course in glorious sunshine with the stands and hospitality tents already erected for the Open," John said.

"It was a great honour for the Rotary Club of Lisburn to have three members of the six strong Irish team and we hope to return next year to repeat the experience."

The icing on the cake for the Lisburn group was the success of Barbara Black, wife of Rotarian Rowan Black and a member of Dunmurry GC, who won the prize for the best gross score in the ladies competition.