Ballycastle Golf Club Open week

The local team of Gerald Butler, Padraig Duffin, Austin Mullan and Anthony Murphy probably thought that their nett 56.9 was good enough to challenge for the top prize. However, just like the rest of the field, they had not bargained on the Clandeboye quartet of S J Barrett, Richard Robert and Ryan Curry who carded an amazing gross 55 (16 under par) to give them a nett 52.6.

Monday’s competition was an Open Stableford which was sponsored by the Turkish Regnum Carya Golf and Spa Resort and the man who come out on top was Kevin Barry McShane with 41 points.

Runner up was Philip Michael on 40 points with Allan McCook winning the Division 1 section also with 40 points. Division 2 winner was Paul Brogan again on 40 points whilst Derek Bell lifted the Division 3 section with 38 points.

The Gross Prize went to scratch golfer Joe Crangle from Cliftonville with a score of 37 points. Having scored 17 points over the front 9 Joe finished strongly with an eagle 2 at the 16th followed by a birdie 2 at the 17th which gave him a 4 point margin over local man Simon Lynn.

La Mon Hotel and Country Club Castlereagh were the sponsors of the Ladies and Gents 4 Ball competition on Tuesday. Kieran Kelly and Neal McAuley with a score of 46 points pipped Allan McCook and Michael Shirley by 1 point. No less than four scores of 43 points vied for third and fourth places but when all computations were completed the third spot was awarded to Colin Millar and John Armstrong with Richard McVeigh and Nigel Nevin having to settle for fourth place.

The Ladies section of the competition was won by the low key reserved partnership of Mary T Mc Kiernan and Susan Crawford whose score of 40 points was sufficient to give them a two point winning margin over their nearest rivals.

The Mixed Team prize went to Rosie Mc Crea and Gerry Daly with a score of 38 points.

Wednesday’s Open Stableford event was sponsored by Northern Road Markings of Kilrea and the man who obviously adhered best to all the relevant course signage and markings was local member Paul Taggart whose 41 points enabled him claim the No 1 spot. One point behind Paul was the Match & Handicap Convenor’s father Liam Gallagher with a score of 40 points. Also on 40 points was Neal Mc Auley-a winner from the previous day who took the Division 1 section. In Division 2 the familiar name of Liam Mc Lean appeared yet again as he laid claim to the first prize in that section. James Laverty playing off 18 carded 37 points which was sufficient to take the honours in Division 3. The best gross of the day went to local man Francis Mc Ginn with a fine score of 35 points whilst second gross on the day went to John Higgins Jnr. with a score of 33 points. Although not in the prizes Peter Donnelly’s day turned out not so bad as he had a Hole-In-One at the Par 3 tenth. Thursday hosted 2 competitions Living-Lighting Furniture & Accessories of Ann Street Ballycastle sponsored a Seniors 50+ Stableford whilst local BBC sports commentator Stephen Watson sponsored a Junior Open Stableford event for those under 18 years of age. Dennis Allen was the man to beat in the Senior’s competition. His 43 points was sufficient to see off the in form Ciaran Mort by 3 points who in turn saw off his old adversary Danny Taggart by a margin of 2 points. In fourth place was Richard Blaney also on 38 points but he lost out to Danny on countback. Division 2 winner from the previous day Liam Mc Lean also had 38 points but lost out to Richard on countback. In addition to winning the competition Dennis also won the prize for the longest drive whilst the Dervock sharp shooter Taggart won closest to the pin at the 17th. In the Junior Open Stableford the winner of the 9 hole competition was Frank Mc Caughan with a fine score of 28 points with Eddie Mc Caughan claiming 2nd spot on 15 points. The 18 hole competition winner was Tony Mc Garry with 48 points. James Bakewell despite a fine score of 44 points and playing from time to time with a former club champion had to settle for second place on this occasion. Perhaps James should now be looking for a new tutor!

The Girls’ section was kept in the Mc Caughan family with Frank’s sister Lucy taking 1st prize in that competition.The long trip from Clandeboye proved worth while for Morgan Mason as he won the Visitor’s Prize. In the absence of Stephen the prizes were handed over to the winners by his mother- Maureen-Despite notching up a nasty 8 at the last hole Rosaleen Colohan had done enough in the previous holes to secure 1st place in Friday’s club sponsored Ladies’ Open Stableford competition.Rosaleen’s 33 points, in what were testing conditions, gave her a 2 point margin over fellow club member Kathleen Mc Gowan. Another Ballycastle member- Fiona Glass also carded 31 points but lost out to Kathleen on countback. The leading visitor in 4th place was Dawn MacCartney from Bushfoot with 27 points. The final competition of the 2015 Open Week was an Open Stableford sponsored by Rollins Insurance. Not to be outdone by his father Liam earlier on in the week Ryan Gallagher on holiday from England went one better and claimed the top spot in this competition. His fine score of 43 points just about seen off Paul Devlin who finished one point behind on 42. The Division 1 winner was visitor Brendan Thomas from Slieve Russell who carded a fine 39 points playing off 9. Michael Mc Afee playing off 14 headed the Division 2 section with 38 points whilst Carey resident Joe Brogan playing off 19 lifted the Division 3 section with 37 points.The best gross of the day went to Francis Mc Ginn with 35 points.

The Club wishes to place on record its thanks to all those Individuals & Businesses who kindly provided sponsorship for the daily competitions held during the week