Paddy takes Shuttlecock honours at the Rock

As usual the course proved to be the winner with most of the members finding points somewhat hard to come by. There is of course always an exception and in this case it was 15 handicapper Paddy McLaughlin, whose 37 point total in the Low Section was just enough to edge out Colm Hendrie on countback.

In the High Section David Vary, playing off a 24 handicap, also finished on 37 points, a clear seven points ahead of his nearest challenger Stanley Forsythe.

In the Low Section Paddy scored well over the opening six holes, banking fourteen points over this stretch. Blips at the 7th and 8th holes resulting in double bogeys followed by a single pointer at the 9th denied Paddy a much higher total at the turn than his seventeen points. But after a half time team talk the double bogeys were eliminated and normal service was resumed. With pars at the 10th, 13th and 16th holes and nothing else worse than bogey his twenty point total was just enough to edge out seven handicapper Colm Hendrie.

With eleven pars along with a birdie at the par five 5th hole Colm will rue his double bogey at the par three fourth.

In the High Section David Vary continued the steady improvement which was evident last season. Although no outing wins came his way last year the signs were there that it would only be a matter of time. And at Castlerock it came to pass. Whilst most of the high handicappers struggled, as they more often tend to do on this challenging course, David meant business right from the start. With just one blip at the 8th hole producing an ugly seven, steady scoring over the front nine along with the welcome bonus of a birdie at the par five 5th hole saw David to the turn with 21 points. Interestingly and perhaps alarmingly, with only one exception this nine hole total was not bettered by any of the other High Section players over 18 holes. A “ding” at the 12th hole followed by single points at the 13th and 17th holes were countered with a three pointer at the par five 15th hole and a fine par to finish at the 18th. Sixteen points over the back nine proved to be more than enough to see off the opposition and award David with a comfortable and deserved win.

The only player to offer any resistance in this section was last year’s individual champion, 21 handicapper Stanley Forsythe, who finished on 30. Sixteen points on the outward nine which included an excellent birdie at the par five fifth kept Stanley in the hunt. Unfortunately three “dings” on the trot at the 15th, 16th and 17th holes ended his challenge.

In the “twos” competition no one struck lucky so it will be all to play for at the next outing to be held at Roe Park on Wednesday 5th June, tee off times 2.30pm to 3.00pm