ONE of the marquee events of the Portsalon Golf Club summer took place on Saturday as the club remembered former greenkeeper Charlie Canning with the memorial trophy played in his honour.
As always, the Canning family put a tremendous effort into the day, lining up a superb array of prizes for the competing Ladies and Gents in their Open competition.
The winning score on the day came from 19-handicapper Stuart Nicholl with a tally of 44 points. Stuart split his scoring evenly, with 22 points on each nine, recovering from a slow start with a birdie on the 5th hole and landing five pars on the back nine to win by two points.
The valiant runner-up on the day was Claire McGonagle (5) who tallied 42 points to grab the silver medal on a break-of-tie and, in recording a one-under par gross round, set a new Ladies Course Record on the new course.
Claire, too, had to recover from a slow start that left her three-over through three holes. She remained on that score through the 11th, a birdie at six balanced with a bogey on seven amid a run of pars, before taking full flight on the closing holes.
She recorded birdies at the 12th, 13th, 15th, 16th and 17th holes in a truly sparkling run of play and carded a total of 71 blows in a superb afternoon’s work – making it two successive weekends of course record-breaking golf at Portsalon.
Just pipped into the bronze medal position was birthday-boy Kevin Hensey, who celebrated his 30th in fine style with five birdies on the card, including a rare double at the tough sixth and ninth holes.
Congrats to all the prize-winners on the day and, once more, credit to the Canning family on hosting another stellar event.
Calling all Junior Golfers
Kernaghan Cup / Shaw Shield Day at Portsalon GC is next Thursday 12th August. The Shaw Shield is open to under-18s with GUI Handicap, registration is in the Club Shop from 8.45am – 9.15am Thursday morning.
The Kernaghan Cup is open to all non-handicap juniors from any golf club, registration is in the Club Shop from 9.45am – 10am. Entry fee for both competitions is just €5 per player and includes lunch afterwards. Call on 074-9159459 with any queries.
Lady Captain’s Day
This Saturday, 14th August, is Lady Captain’s Day at Portsalon and we wish Iris Condron the very best of luck on her big occasion. The timesheet is available for gents up until 10.30am on Saturday morning and once again from 1.40pm onwards. The first tee is reserved for the Ladies and Captain’s guests between these times.
Club Results
Wednesday Stableford Gents – 4th August
Winner: Sam Faulkner (10) – 39 pts
Runner-up: David Bonner (10) – 38 pts BOT
Gross: Damian Toland (4) – 33 gross pts
Third: Kevin Boyce (10) – 38 pts
Charlie Canning Memorial – Ladies & Gents Open – Results
Winner: Stuart Nicholl (19) – 44 pts
Runner-up: Claire McGonagle (5) – 42 pts BOT
Gross: Cian Harkin (+3) – 37 gross pts
Third: Kevin Hensey (7) – 42 pts
First Nine: Brian McAleer (14) – 23 pts
Second Nine: Anne Busch (28) – 22 pts
Sunday August 8th – Members
Winner: Pauric Curley (33) – 41 pts
Runner-up: Tony McNamee (13) – 40 pts
Portsalon Ladies Notes
Lady Captains Day
Lady Captain Iris Condron’s much-anticipated Captain’s Day is on this Saturday 14th August. Ever mindful of the current Covid restrictions, a few changes to the usual format have been made.
Members are reminded to put their names on the timesheet and include their names on the sheet in the locker room before Friday. An exciting day is expected with a number of players showing some great form recently.
Best wishes to Iris on her Captain’s Day and good luck to all the participating members, it’s all to play for in the Ladies big Major of the summer.
Shannon wins Members Competition
In a rain-affected day, a few hardy souls took to the fairways on Sunday and braved it out. Frances Shannon had the best of the scores with 34 points from Monica McGettigan 32 points.
