February Club News & Competition Reports by Mr. Peter Byrne, Club Captain & PRO
February 27th 2010 - Stableford Competition
Possibly due to the attractions of the televised clash of Ireland and England at Twickenham and two large golf societies out on Saturday a much smaller field than usual took to the course . Despite a few early showers conditions were very good and with the usual wind from the south blowing in the opposite direction some very good scores were posted .
Following on from his 4 th place of last week Joe Lee (11) racked up 37 pts for 1st spot. A group of players finished on 36 pts and on countback David Murphy (7) took 2 nd place from Robert Durning (14) .
Next Sunday sees a 3 ball scamble with the same format as last year in place . Teams can have one guest ( GUI member ) if they so wish . Hopefully we will see some Spring weather and a big turn out of members for what is a most enjoyable format .
February 21st 2010 - Stableford Competition
Bathed in beautiful brilliant sunshine Ballymoney played host to a very well attended Stableford competiton on Sunday . The committee were very pleased to see such a large turn out of members and particularly some newcomers to competition .
One such participant was Owen Devlin playing off 13, although this handicap might have to be reviewed ! ,who signed for an excellent card which yielded 40 pts . This was good enough for 1 st place . On a course that was in superb condition and with such glorious weather scoring was in the main of the highest order . Three players finished with 38 pts Robert Kehoe (11) the ubitquitous Sammy Walker (10) and Joe Lee (11) and thus finished 2nd 3rd and 4th in that order on countback .
The Commitee would like to thank all who took part and hopefully next Saturdays Stableford will be even bigger. Be mindful of the fact that there are two Golf societies playing next Saturday also but as always all are welcome at the Club .
February 13th 2010 - V-Par Competition
The benign weather conditions brought out our best attendance thus far this year for the V par competition on Saturday . The predicted early morning frost did not materialise and subsequently play got under way at 8:00 am .
Even with the perfect conditions pars and birdies proved harder to come by than was anticipated and so most participants struggled to stay close to par. Playing in one of the last groups out Richard Mackey ( 17 ) held his nerve and finished 3 up to take 1 st place. Shane Fox ( 14 ) on 2up was second just nudging Gavin Doyle ( 12 ) into 3 rd place on countback who also finished 2 up.
Next Sunday sees a Roll up Stableford competition and hopefully good weather and an even bigger turn out. Incidently apologies to the Irish rugby team for my premature prediction of a victory in Paris , George Hook et al are safe in their punditry positions
!February 7th 2010 - Stableford Competition
Thankfully the weekend weather held up well after the torrential rain of mid week and provided practically perfect conditions for golf on Sunday. The sunshine from Saturday did not appear but with very little wind to contend with scoring was of the highest order.
A smaller than usual field took to the course on Sunday morning for a Stable ford competition and some o utstanding cards were returned as the day progressed.
Robert Kehoe (11) Sammy Walker (10) and Richard Temple (20) all scored 40 pts and finished in that order on countback. After one short week away from the prizes Sammy returned to the podium with another excellent card , and Robert had to be at his best to hold on to 1st place . Richard showed that higher handicappers can post good scores as well. Special mention must go to Thomas Byrne for his 39pts score which probably would have been a winning score on most days.
Next Saturday sees a V Par competition and hopefully a big turn out . This format proved to be very enjoyable last year and should suit the low handicappers . Spare a thought for the commitee members who will be checking scores while keeping an eye on Irelands victory in the Stade de France !