EMPHATIC WIN FOR CIARAN AT PORTSTEWART

Ciaran started well enough and after six holes he was three points up on twos. The lure of the stop at the ninth introduced a bit of adrenalin as he promptly birdied the next two holes, the seventh with a four and the eighth with a three to get to halfway with a great 22 points gathered.

On the back eight of the winter course Ciaran logged four straight pars before dropping a shot at the long thirteenth, his only one pointer of the round. Three pars to finish and another 21 points were scored for his winning 43.

He had three points to spare over runner up Damian Morelli on 40. An early birdie three at the second set Damian up for a good score but the ever tricky short sixth was lurking and gave up nothing. So Damian finished the first eight with a relatively modest 17 points but much better was to come with another birdie three, this time at the ninth.

He birdied both par threes on the back eight and his only dropped shot came with a five at sixteen. 23 points was the result of that and took Damian’s total to 40 and gave him his turkey. Liam Ferris took the third bird, hitting 39 points. Liam recorded a seven at the fifth hole for his only single pointer but was able to drop in two four pointers in a front eight that gave up 23 points.

Another four came his way at the ninth before a wee wobble at ten gave him his only blank. A steady finish was needed and Liam produced it to add 18 points to the card for his 39. Four handicap Chris Lundy came in with a 38 pointer for the fourth bird. His front nine matched that of the winner in that the final two holes fell to birdies and this saw Chris getting 20 points at the halfway stage. One more birdie was to come with a four at thirteen but a shot slipped away at the par three fifteenth to see Chris score 18 points for his level par back nine and 38 overall.

In a last six countback Mark Harvey was pushed one place down the list by Chris. Mark birdied seven to grab 20 points out but a couple of one pointers late in the back eight saw him finish on 38 points but losing out on fourth. The final bird of the day went to David Anderson for his effort of 37 points from a handicap of fourteen. His nice birdie two at six was followed by a blank at seven and just one point from the eighth to have just 16 points scored at the halfway stage.

The rejuvenating power of the bar at nine worked it’s magic as he came back in two over par to add another 21 points and get the Christmas dinner sorted.