All the news and happenings from the local golf clubs

STEELE BEAMING AT
Pictured above is Maureen McIlvar and Catherine Ann McGoldrick from KRD Credit Union Ltd presenting a sponsorship cheque to Tom Girvan (Captain) Joe McCloskey (Vice Captain) and Francis Loughlin (former Captain) from Kilrea Golf Club. KRD Credit Union Ltd kindly sponsor this year's Autumn League which has just started and will run for the next eight weeks.Pictured above is Maureen McIlvar and Catherine Ann McGoldrick from KRD Credit Union Ltd presenting a sponsorship cheque to Tom Girvan (Captain) Joe McCloskey (Vice Captain) and Francis Loughlin (former Captain) from Kilrea Golf Club. KRD Credit Union Ltd kindly sponsor this year's Autumn League which has just started and will run for the next eight weeks.
Pictured above is Maureen McIlvar and Catherine Ann McGoldrick from KRD Credit Union Ltd presenting a sponsorship cheque to Tom Girvan (Captain) Joe McCloskey (Vice Captain) and Francis Loughlin (former Captain) from Kilrea Golf Club. KRD Credit Union Ltd kindly sponsor this year's Autumn League which has just started and will run for the next eight weeks.

BUSHFOOT

In the fourth week of the MoreSports.com League at Bushfoot Golf Club Alvin Steele took control of Section A with a return of 41 points from his handicap of twelve.

He did blank the fifth but birdied seven in two a dropped just two other shots in a front nine that yielded 20 points to Alvin. No more blanks appeared on his card on the return leg but Alvin hit four pars and four bogeys and also slipped in a birdie three on seventeen to take a further 21 points from the course for his tally of 41.

This proved to be two up on the second placed Martyn Freeman on 39 points. The seven handicapper bogied the par four fifth but hit back with a birdy four on the long sixth before hitting an eagle two on the eighth. All that gave Martyn 23 points out. Unfortunately that form was not repeated on the inward nine where a few shots were lost with bogeys and two shots went west on the twelfth to restrict Martyn’s points for the back nine to 16 and give him a 39 point total.

In Section Two Andrew Fulton hit 42 points to claim the top spot. The 21 handicapper scored at all holes on his way out and covered them in seven over par for 20 points. Andrew was steady for the main part of the back nine, five over par for eight of the holes, but had a blank on the thirteenth. The steady part gave him 22 points though and a grand total of 42 to get him the top position in the section.

Thomas Watt, a nineteen handicapper, plucked 38 points to take the runners up position. He had a very good outward nine holes which gave up 22 points. A few single point holes on the way in hampered the scoring for Thomas to 16 for his 38 total.

Trevor McKendry took the homours in the Best Gross department for his round of 74. Bogies on four and five and seven pars saw him through the opening nine in 35 shots but he picked up three more bogies by the fourteenth to go to five over par.

The long fifteenth got Trevor a shot back and a three on seventeen another before a closing bogey five meant another nine holes played in two over par 37 for his gross of 74.

ALLIANCE DOUBLE FOR

CASTLEROCK

Close to 100 golfers battled in the NE Golfing Alliance met at Castlerock last week with another victory for the Castlerock contingent.

Nicky Thompson hit 42 points to win the day on countback from Gilbert Fallows, another ‘Rock man. Gilbert pulled 24 points from the front nine in an early start while Nicky was a late starter.

Portstewart’s Martin Hughes took third place with 40 points and there was a strong showing from David Allen, pro at Castlerock and Roe Park GCs with 39 points to his credit.

David is from the same stock as Jack Allen, the last outing’s winner, and Tommy Allen who features in this meeting’s leaderboard. So we have a Castlerock/Allen family battle to watch over the next series of outings.

To emphasise that two new members, Geoff Mitchell (39) and Jason Campbell, (38) both Castlerock, made notable starts in their NEGA careers! Geoff also had two twos Sandwiched between them was John Ferris from Castlerock with another 38 points. Michael Moss, Portstewart, made his debut with a good 37 points.

The next outing will be at Portstewart GC on 13th November.

MAIDEN PORTSTEWART

SENIORS WIN FOR ALAN

After a “steward’s inquiry” to ensure Alan Campbell was in the correct age category, he was allowed to play in the Open Seniors event on the Riverside course at Portstewart GC, and he played so well he finished up as the winner by two clear points.

His birdie four on the long sixth and a three on nine helped Alan to get through nine holes on two over par 37. This gave him 21 points for the nine.

While he only picked up one more birdie, a two on seventeen, he dropped just one shot to par on the sixteenth for a level par back nine which gave up 23 points to boost Alan’s tally to 44 for the round.

Glen Lambert, a Riverside expert, took runners up spot with a good 42 points off his 18 handicap. His intent was clear from the start as he slipped in a birdy three on the first for four points and followed this with several three pointers to have 22 points scored after nine holes.

Glen played eight of the remaining holes well, 19 points came from them, but a nasty six on the closing par four gave up just one point and he had to be content with 20 back and 42 overall.

Ballyclare GC’s W. Steele scored 41 points to claim third place on countback from Peter Glover, another Portstewart player. The Ballyclare man produced the best “away” card of the day in spite of a no score on the fifth hole. He hit 19 points out before improving on that on the back nine. The seventeen handicapper covered this in five over par with the help of his birdie two on seventeen and gave another 22 points to his card for his 41.

Peter Glover also blanked the fifth hole but birdied the short par four ninth to get turned for home with 19 points carded. He also played the back nine better with the help of his birdie two on the thirteenth. He covered it in six over par for 22 points but lost out on countback to get pushed into fourth place. The final placing went to another visitor, S. Watt, who travelled over from Castlerock and scored 41 points from his 25 handicap.

The next Open Seniors event on Portstewart’s Riverside Course will be on Tuesday 25th November.

FIRST PORTSTEWART TURKEY GOES TO KEITH

Eight handicap Keith Johnston claimed the top bird in Portstewart GC’s first Turkey Competion of the season with a score of 38 points over the sixteen holes in play.

He dropped no shots at all on the opening eight holes and birdied the short sixth to be out in one under par 31 for 21 points.

Three bogies started his back eight but another two came Keith’s way on twelve to start another series of pars. Sixteen took another shot off Keith but 19 points over the eight was good enough to get him on to 38 for the day and keep him a point clear of the pack.

Gary Todd, off eight, produced a very tidy card, three over par for both halves, no blanks, no single points, 19 out, 18 back for 37 overall and second place on countback from David Clarke who also scored 37. Playing off 15 David, with the assistance of a birdie four on the seventh, got to the turn with 19 points scored and kept the pace up for the back eight too.

No more birdies but no lapses either saw David sign up for 18 back and 37 total for his turkey. Denis DeLargy was just a point back on 36 playing off sixteen for the fourth bird. Denis had a modest 15 points for the opening eight but, after a visit to the hospitality at the ninth, came out fighting!

He birdied twelve for four points, and pulled nine points from the three closing holes to be back with 21 for the back eight. His back eight score pushed David Hassan into fifth place with a matching 36.

He too had an average 16 points out but again things hotted up on the inward eight. The twelve handicapper dropped just three shots to par but picked up a good birdy two on fifteen for four points to get 20 back and 36 overall.

The final turkey of the day went to Richard Clarke for his 34 points from his mark of eighteen. A blank on the fifth, a two shotter for Richard, held his scoring to 14 points for the eight but, as with Denis and David, the back eight was more profitable. A trio of three pointers near the end boosted Richard to 20 points for the back eight and left him on his turkey winning 34.

On the Riverside it was Gerry Hassan who took the top bird with 42 points. His three over par outward nine gave him 21 points and a birdie three to open the back nine added four to that.

Four shots were dropped to bogeys, one of them meant just one point to thirteen handicapper Gerry, but a closing par four gave him three points for another 21.

Noel Dobbin hit 41 off 12 for the second bird. He matched Gerry’s 21 out and hit two four point birdies on the back nine but a couple of single point holes held him to 20 for the nine and 41 for second place.

TURKEYS AT RATHMORE

The Valley Course was restricted to thirteen holes on Sunday but turkeys were still fough for with Donal McNicholl taking the first choice after scoring 30 points from his seven handicap.

Birdies on the par five fourth and the par four fifth helped Donal to 22 points for the opening nine holes. With just the opening and closing pairs of holes open for play two pars and two bogies gave Donal another 8 for his card to boost it to 30.

Second placed man was Jonny Birch playing off two for the day who claimed 29 points. Jonny birdied the same two as Donal going out and added a birdy three on nine as well. Seven gave up just the single point to restrain Jonny to 18 out. The long tenth fell to an eagle three and Jonny parred the last three for 11 back and his total of 29. David Bellingham scored 19 out and 10 back for the last bird on offer.

Rory Houston got the Best Gross plaudits for his thirteen hole total of 48 shots, two under par. Threes at two and nine sandwiched a four on the long fourth to help Rory out in 33. He finished the job with four pars to get round in 48.