All the news and happenings from the local golf clubs

Mervyn Greer and Trevor McKendry returned the better of two 43 points scores at Royal Portrush on Sunday to win the Lifeboat Trophy.

The pair birdied the short third before adding par four birdies on the fifth and eighth to boost their outward nine hole score to 22 points.

A brace of birds followed with the long tenth giving up a four and the short eleventh another two. With just one bogey in the back nine Mervyn and Trevor go 21 more for their winning 43.

The pair to lose out on the countback were Ian Montgomery and Jonathan Hutchinson who had eight pars and one bogey in a front nine that yielded 22 points.

The back nine gave up two birdies to the card, a two on eleven and a good four on seventeen but the rigours of countback meant that their 43 points was to be for second place.

L Stewart and I Ritchie got third place with 42 points.

Their high spots were a birdie four on six on their way out and birdies on ten and fifteen coming back.

MIGHTY QUINN TAKES

CASTLEROCK MEDAL

Gary Quinn, playing off seventeen, won Castlerock GC’s June Monthly Medal by two shots on Saturday.

He covered the opening nine holes in 43 shots, seven over par, and improved on that coming back.

In the front nine there were a couple of double bogies but Gary found none of those in the second half. His four over par back nine of 41 gave him a round of 84 gross which nets down to his winning 67.

Gary Gaile playing off five, hit a net 69 and took second place with this. Gary birdied the par five third to help him get to the turn in 38 shots, two over par, then ran into even better form on the return leg. He rattled off three pars before slipping in a birdie three on thirteen and a two at the next to go two under for the nine.

His only concession to par coming back came with a six on seventeen. So, 36 back and a total of 74 with this netting to 69 for his second place was the result.

Ross McCrindle had the better of the two net 70s and took the Low Section top place with it.

He birdied the second in three and with just two shots being dropped finished the nine in one over par 37.

Eleven fell to a birdie four but one or two shots then slipped away to see Ross finish the back nine in 41, four over par, and the round in 78. This netted to 70 for his section win. The High Section winner was Tom Crampsie, off seventeen with the other net 70.

His score was built on the front nine as Tom bettered his handicap by four shots hitting a gross 41.

His back nine was less effective but still good enough for his prizewinning 70. Ken Newens was the top oldie with his return of 73. Ken played precisely to his handicap of nine, five over out and four over back for his net 73.

A consistently good bit of scoring meant another Best Gross for David Turner. He bogied two par fours, two and eight, but birdied the long fifth and the par four seventh to get to the turn on level par 36.

No more dropped shots and a final birdie four on the seventeenth meant a one under back nine of 36 for his eighteen hole total of 72.

RYAN DOES THE DOUBLE AT RATHMORE

Ryan Cunningham picked up his second trophy in two weeks by winning the Robert McLean Memorial Trophy on Sunday.

His net 67 was the best of a trio of 67s with John Ridgill and Lee Wilson being edged out in countback. Ryan, Playing off four, picked up a shot on the long fourth before hitting three bogies before the turn to be out in two over par 37.

He was much less profligate after that with birdies dropping in on the par five Tenth and the par four sixteenth.

Ryan’s only concession to par came at the death with a four on eighteen. All this gave the four handicapper a gross score of 71 which netted down to his winning 67

That steady back nine pushed Ryan above John Ridgill. John plays off seventeen and if he could have eliminated one of his double bogeys things may have been different.

He had three in all but still bettered his handicap by four shots to claim second place. Lee Wilson took third with the final 67.

Lee was out in 34 shots, one under par, with the long fourth falling to a four and threes being struck on five and eight.

Just a single birdy was found coming back, a three on sixteen, but Lee had been inflicted with a nasty six on the seventeenth which took his back nine figures to four over par 39 for a round of 73. When his six handicap was deducted he matched the two 67s but lost out in the tie break.

In another repeat of last week Ben Best took the Best Gross with a score of level par 70.

Ben trimmed a shot off the par five fourth but slipped up with a pair of bogeys to get to the turn on one over par 36. His birdie three on thirteen was his only variation from level par for the back nine so he added 34 to get round in level par 70.

IT’S PAULA’S PRIZE AT

BUSHFOOT

Bushfoot’s Lady Captain Mrs Jenny Wilson hosted a successful Captain’s Day on Saturday. 

Almost fifty ladies took part in the competition and were treated to refreshments after their game

Paula Grant hit 39 points at Bushfoot Golf Club on Saturday to win the Lady Captain’s Prize. Paula’s score was built on the front nine in which she dropped just nine shots to par, well below her handicap.

This good start allowed her to have a few bad holes on the way in and still finish two points up on her nearest rivals.

Topping Division One was Aileen Reid with 37 points from her handicap of 17. Aileen had two nines of seven over each and included a birdie two on the sixteenth. Elaine McConnell was second behind Aileen with 35 points. Alice Trufelli nabbed the best gross prize for her return of 23 points

In Division Two it was Sandra Neill coming out on top with 37 points.

She also hit a birdie two on sixteen. Helen Rowney took second place with her return of 35 points.

Joy Hanley won Division Three with 35 points on countback from Florence Sweeney.

Jill McIlroy was the best of the Past Captains, scoring 35 points.

Audrey Jamieson took the front nine award for her 21 points while the back nine was taken by Julie Wison’s 20 points return.

The presentation of the Gents Competition Hood Cup and Lady Captain’s Prize was also made with this year’s recipient being Terence McFaull who scored 40 points from his handicap of eleven.

In the evening, the prizegiving dinner was followed by dancing into the wee small hours care of Bone Idol.

Mighty Marks Wins at Gracehill

Mark Dunlop playing off 12 won the McConaghie Cup on Saturday with a magnificent 41 points.

After an indifferent start Mark closed out the front nine with three pars and a birdie to make the turn with 21 points.

The only question for him to answer on the back nine was whether he could continue his excellent scoring - he duly did adding a further 20 points to his total, the highlight of which was a birdie two at the 16th.

Richard ’Wossie’ Stinson playing off six was runner-up with 39 points. With a rather chaotic scorecard with eights at the third and 12th (obviously those fairways and greens were a bit inconsistent, or else his GPS was playing up!) but with a brace of birdies on both the front and back 9, Wossie showed his fortitude to bounce back after each misadventure to show the talent which lays beneath.

Neilly Greer (11) was third with 36 points. Ian Morrison won the gross prize with a 76.

Hazel wins Lafone Cup

The Lafone Cup Open and presentation held in Portstewart Golf Club on Wednesday 25th June.

There were more than 80 lady golfers who came from as far afield as Sydney Australia.

The presentation on the evening was well supported and we were delighted to have Pat Storey from the Lifeboat join us. Pat presented the Lifeboat prizes and accepted a cheque for £295 from Portstewart Ladies.

A big thank you to the sponsor for the Lafone Cup, PVC Direct and Jane Glenn who presented her prizes for the open competition.

Presentations on the evening were as follows:

May monthly medal

Winner: Kae McCarron Runner up: Corinna O’Neill

Riverside Trophy

Winner: Irene Murry Best

Gross: Brenda Strain

Runner up: Lynne McCartney

Lifeboat

Winner: Ina Bratton Runner up Anne Mc Keague

Darren Clarke

Winner: Pat Joyce Runner up: May Johnston

Lafone Cup Open

Winner: Hazel Browne

Best Gross: Jane Glenn

Runner up: Alison Bann

Third: Stephanie Watson. Visitor from Edenmore Golf Club

Fourth: Julie Mason. Visitor from Castlerock Golf Club

Front 9: Mo Giffin

Back 9: Anne Agnew