All the news and happenings from the local golf clubs

Brian Walker, playing off twelve, won Saturday’s Sweep at Bushfoot GC with a score of 37 points.

He hit two double bogies on his way out but was saved by grabbing a birdie three at eight to be able to turn with 19 points bagged. The double bogies returned with a six at ten but that was the last of them. Brian covered the last eight holes in four over par for another 18 points and a 37 total.

The McIlroy family filled the next two placings with Lennie, playing off nine, getting second spot with 35 points.

He was six over par going out for 16 points but improved coming back with a four over par run getting another 19 for the card. Willie took third spot with 32 from his mark of 16.

He missed scoring on the eighth and ninth to be out with just 13 points won but again improved on the back nine to bag 19 more.

JIMMY TAKES CASTLEROCK SWEEP

Jimmy Henry Scored 31 points over the thirteen holes in play at Castlerock on Saturday to win the Sweep. Playing off six Jimmy birdied the first but dropped shots on four and five to have 15 points carded at the turn for home.

Steady scoring, nothing less than two points per hole, kept Jimmy going until seventeen gave up a birdie four to the card. With a par four at the end Jimmy could sign for another 16 and his total of 31.

Ivor Platt finished his round just one point back on 30. A couple of one pointers held him back a bit over the opening six and he had to be content with 12 points out.

Coming back was better, with the help of a two at fourteen Ivor was one under par for the final seven and got 18 points for his efforts. Karl Stewart took third slot with his 29 points.

The nine handicapper parred four holes but dropped a shot on the short fourth. This was recitied by his birdie three at the sixth and gave him 16 points out. Three bogies started the inward half before the pars recommenced only for Karl to miss scoring at seventeen.

His par to end gave Karl 13 back for his 29.

RAMSEY MEMORIAL WIN FOR COLM

The tough weather conditions did not slow the scoring at Rathore on Sunday as three players scored 39 points each at the top of the table.

The best of these came from Colm Friel, playing off 21, who matched his handicap on the outward nine holes thanks to a good birdie three on the fifth.

Eighteen points at the turn for home then, and Colm improved on this coming back. A nice birdie two on eleven was backed up by his third and final birdie, a three on fourteen, so that even a double bogey six at the seventeenth couldn’t prevent Colm carding 21 points for the inward nine to get to 39 for the day.

That back nine score also worked well for him in the countback stakes to push Michael Gaston into runners up spot. Michael is in form at the moment and hit 20 front nine points in spite of not scoring at the second.

His three for birdie at nine helped him there. A two on eleven set him off well in the inward nine but the dreaded blanks appeared again at seventeen to thwart his chances of silverware.

His 19 points back got him level on points but missed out in the tie break. Jonathon Hutchinson completed the trio of 39ers. He hit birdies at three and four, a two and a three, but failed to register at nine to be out with 21 points logged.

Ten gave up a birdie four but that was the last of them for Jonathon, a couple of double bogies meant 18 points was all that could be mustered and third place was the result.

Best Gross went to Ben Best for his round of 70. His solitary birdie on the outward half came with a four at the fourth but was teamed up with a few dropped shots to see Ben get to the turn in 39, four over par.

No shots were lost over the final nine holes but the birdies arrived in a flock with a two on the short eleventh and three threes on twelve, fourteen and seventeen to follow.

RPGC MONTHLY MEDAL RSULTS

John J McElderry won the Monthly Medal over eleven holes of the Dunluce Links on Saturday by one shot.

The two handicapper covered the front nine in four over par and birdied ten in five to finish on 46.

This netted down to his winning 44. The man to finish two shots back in Silver position was Paddy A O’Donnell.

His birdie three on five helped him to get to the turn in 39 shots and he birdied ten to finish on 47 gross net 46.

The Bronze position was filled by Ian Dowds also on net 46. Out in 45 Ian birdied ten to get round in 53 which nets to 46.

RPGC WINTER LEAGUE

Team F, ably captained by Gareth Logan is leading the Winter league by three points. They have an aggregate score of 342 compared with Rory McCartney’s second placed Team G on 339. Following close behind is Robert Brolly with Team B on 337 points.

The individual table is topped by Jerry Long on 78 with Dr Tom Turner four back on 74. Third place is occupied by Robert Brady with 69 points to his name.

HOME CLUB WINNER AT RPGC ALLIANCE

Eighty-two members turned out on a bright and not too breezy day at Royal Portrush for this month’s NW Ladies Golfing Alliance.

Sixteen holes were played and the scoring was very close as a ‘Home Club’ player topped the scoring.

D Grey, from the Royal Portrush club, won with 33 points. This was after a tie breaker with Section ‘A’ topper R McCormick from Ballycastle GC. Still in Section ‘A’ M Mitchell (RPGC) took second place with N Bennett (Castlerock GC) and R Glover (Portstewart GC) third and fourth with 31 each.

Portstewart members took the top three slots in Section ‘B’. J Robinson and CChristie with 32 each and I Bratton with 31. L Creaney from Castlerock was fourth with another 31.

CAPTAIN AT THE HELM IN PORTSTEWART

In very poor conditions Mark Windebank did his captain’s duty and played through the wind and rain to victory in Saturday’s Sweep.

He scored 31 points over the fourteen holes in play off his handicap of two.

His birdie four at the fourth kept him to his handicap for the front seven, fourteen points, but the inward seven was more fruitful.

Eleven gave up a three and the par five fourteenth a four to see Mark back in two under par gross for another seventeen points.

His resulting 31 was two clear of the field.

CLIVE TAKES SHORTER ROUTE TO CUP

A 43 point haul for Clive Shorter was enough to win the Gerry Ramage Memorial Cup at Rathmore on Sunday.

The thirteen handicapper had 21 bagged over the front nine from his four over par score. His six at thirteen set Clive back a little but that slip did not have any serious bearing on his game as he slipped in a putt for a two on fifteen and dropped just one more shot on seventeen to be back in two over par for another 22 points. His 43 was two in front of Darren Dunlop on 41.

Darren had no birdies on the opening nine but had scored consistently to get 19 points on the card at the turn. Ten and eleven gave up birdies however and Darren added another with his three on sixteen for good measure. 22 points came from the back nine to keep Darren one in front of Trevor Stewart on 40 points.

Trevor started with two double bogeys then nicked a two on the third to steady the ship and get 18 points lodged after nine. No more birdies were found but fewer shots were lost on the inward nine as Trevor secured third spot with 22 back and 40 overall.

Ben Best was back in Best Gross category for his round of 65, four under par. His eagle three on four and a birdie three on the fifth saw Ben out in 32 shots, three under par, and this form continued into the inward half with the par five tenth giving up a four and a three dropping in at thirteen.

Ben’s only dropped shot came with his five on the seventeenth and meant a one under par back nine for his gross of 65.

McDowell ties for

seventh at Pebble Beach

Graeme McDowell finished in a tie for seventh position at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am after posting an impressive closing round of 67 on Sunday.

The Portrush man carded seven birdies and two bogeys in his final 18 holes to end six under for the tournament at the venue where he won the 2010 US Open.

McDowell was five shots behind the winner, American Jimmy Walker.

A round of 72 left Padraig Harrington joint 27th on two under, but Paul McGinley missed the cut.

McDowell played the tournament, which was played over three courses, alongside his father Kenny.

Having started his challenge with consecutive rounds of 71, McDowell fired a 72 on Saturday, but improved his form on Sunday.

Three birdies on his outward nine were followed by a bogey at 11, but four birdies out of five holes between the 12th and the 16th saw him move up the leaderboard.

He dropped a shot with a bogey six at the 18th to fall back to six under.