Played at Rosapenna Golf Club (Sandy Hills) on Saturday 19th February 2011 Par 71 S.S.S 70
1st Nett Kieran Doherty (6), 2nd Nett Odran McGettigan (24), 3rd Nett Noel McCrory (16 ), 4th Nett Ben Corry, 5th Nett Cathal Patton, 6th Nett David McLaughlin (15)
The following had a 2 and will receive 4 golf balls each.
M.McDermott,N.Callan,E.O’Carroll,K.Spence,M.MacLochlainn, Jnr;
M.Feeney,S.McCay,M.Bradley,K.Quigg,N.McCrory,M.Doherty.Danny MacLoughlin had 2 2’s.
What a splendid golfing day and in such a historic setting one could readily imagine the greats of yesteryear ,Old Tom Morris in 1891,James Braid and Harry Vardon in the early 1900’s and more recently designer Par Ruddy going around the ground they once trod being more than pleased with the condition of the course.
They would also have been delighted with the problems that their creations posed for modern day golfers who with a few exceptions on at day that was perfect for the game were found wanting. Sandy Hills examines all aspects of a golfers’ game, from the subtle borrows on the greens .
The need for astute course management off the tee, to place a ball in the correct area to avoid bunkers and the elevated greens created by Ruddy making the choice of second or even third shots difficult to calculate in order to on the putting surfaces in regulation golf.
Suffice to say that once again Sandy Hills was the victor and many returns were marked N.R.As many of the competitors come off the 18th with their heads bowed in defeat.
The winner on break of tie from local favourite, Enda Kennedy the current holder of the Rosapenna Scratch Cup, was Justin MacLochlainn from North West .Justin has been a model of consistency this year without achieving the top position until now and this will make his win all the sweeter. The verymodest and self-effacing Justin was 2 over after 2 and a further shot went after 5 while Enda was 2 over after 2 he was 3 over after 7. He then got into top gear with birdies at par 5 8th another on the par 4 9th and was really flying with his third consecutive birdie on the par 4 10th .At this point he was back at level par. Justin who finished the first 9 on 3 over as he had been after 5.He also birdied the 10th .
However back at the 11th Enda had dropped 2 strokes courtesy of a three put .(in all he had 5 three puts). He birdied 14 so at this time Justin was back at level and Enda was I over .Justin not to be out done had a double bogey on 15. They both dropped a stroke each over the last three holes .It was only on count back that they could be separated. The Man in third place from City of Derry was Jayson McIntyre who did the first nine in three over and the back nine in 2 over to be just the one shot behind Justin and Enda. However the player who will sadly rue a triple bogey on the par 4 12this Charlie Doherty who at that stage was but 1 over .His game at this point had deserted him and he proceeded to bogey 4 of the last 6 holes. He finished in 6th Place.
In the Nett section Strabane totally dominated the prize list taking the first 5 places the winner for the second competition in a row was from Strabane golf club, Kieran Doherty had the poorest of starts as the 6 handicapper had 4 strokes gone off his handicap after 4 holes .He then proceeded to play great golf and his only blemishes after this was 2 dropped shots on the last 2 holes.
Odran McGettigan a club mate had it all to loose when he reached the 16th and that is what anunfortunate and ugly 9 at the par 5 17th did for him to lose out on the break of tie.
In the Golfer of the year with two more competitions to count the following are the principal positions In the Nett Justin MacLochlainn is on 23 Odran McGettigan and Enda Kennedy on 17.In the Gross Justin leads the way here too on 36 from Jayson McIntyre on 26 and Enda Kennedy ,JohnHarding and Cathal Patton all on 19 .
THE NEXT COMPETITION WILL BE HELD on 26th February 2011 again in Rosapenna Golf Club. I am sure that the members will return with renewed energy and determined to do better this time.
Barry Ramsay
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