Inter-club ecstasy
On Sunday the club faced its most hectic day in it’s history in that it played host to three quarter finals of inter-club competitions. By the end of the day the club suffered the ecstasy, agony and the live to fight another day that these competitions bring.
The ecstasy came when the Sam Rutherford team overturned a 5 hole deficit from the first leg against Ringdufferin to reach the semi-final of the competition where they will face Kilkeel or Tandragee. The 11-30 start for the match meant that the cloud cover was only briefly holding back the gorgeous sunshine that would engulf the match as it progressed through the eighteen holes that had to be played in each match to determine the result. At the half way stage things were looking pretty good for the visitors as they led in the first three matches to consolidate their first leg lead. But with the exit door staring them in the face the team of David Pilkington & Sean Campbell, Colin & Joe Pilkington, Jim McKay & Frank Quinn and Michael McEntegart & Paul Owens rallied with the latter two pairings in particular playing tremendous golf to see us run out victors with 6 holes to spare.
The joy of winning quickly dispelled the agony experienced by the juvenile Ronan Rafferty team who went out to Tandragee with the last putt in the last match on the eighteenth green. The away leg in Tandragee on Saturday left our juveniles trailing 14-6 and it all to do against star studded opposition. The car park at 7-10 saw the juveniles arrive for their match to tee off at 8am and the enthusiasm was bubbling from everyone despite the early hour. The gauntlet was quickly thrown down by our juvenile Captain Micheal McGuinness who took all 4 points off his 4 handicap opponent and the win seemed infectious as it spread through the team. The match went down to the fifth and final match where the two points for the win would have seen the match end all square at 20 points each. Alas the gallant last putt slipped by the hole and a relieved Tandragee progressed to the semi-final. The team of Ryan McGivern, Stephen Coleman, Neil Smyth, Daniel Hughes and Micheal McGuinness can be rightly proud of their achievements this year in competitive club competition against some of Ulster’s finest young talent. The quality of the golf in the match on Sunday morning astounded Tandragee PGA professional Dympna Keenan who is their juvenile convenor.
The Junior Cowdy team took on Mannan Castle in the first leg at 2pm. The match did not go exactly to plan as the visitors raced into a 2-0 lead by winning the first two matches. The final two matches brought us better news with victories in both to tie things at 2-2 and leave us with a three hole lead. As they say this match is only at half-time with the second half next Sunday at 2pm in Mannan. The Cowdy team has overcame a similar home result by winning away at Ardglass in an earlier round so all is still to play for.
In spite of all the inter-club activity there was still time for the weekly competition which brought a host of new faces to the fore for the first time. Charlie Quinn found his rhythm with a return of 44 points to claim overall victory from Chris Devine who shot 42 points. The low section was won with 41 points by Mark Keogh. Robbie Norton won the middle section with 40 points as Pat Crossan with 37 points won the high section following a marvelous back nine of 24 points.
The Ulster Sports Trust qualifier will be played for next weekend.
The juvenile day on Tuesday saw a new name in Niall Ward visit the winners enclosure for the first time this year. The win for Niall sees him climb up the chart for juvenile Golfer of the Year which is currently headed by Conor McKinley. With only a handful of points separating a dozen players the Tuesday competition is proving very successful with handicaps tumbling down each week as the lessons and playing sees a vast improvement in some of the clubs very young talent.
The Crash Repair Wednesday Cup off the back white markers welcomed Raymond Flynn to the winners enclosure and books him a place in the end of August final. There are only 4 more places left to be won in this prestigious competition kindly sponsore by Newry Crash Repair Centre, Monaghan Street.
Congratulations to Frank Quinn who is the new holder of the Seniors Maritime Trophy. On Thursday Frankie won the penultimate round of the competition and amassed enough points lead to render the last round meaningless in terms of the overall winner.
The club matchplay Singles has four very interesting quarter finals as David Pilkington (7) meets Nial Smyth (16), Colin Pilkington (6) takes on Sean Campbell (10), Shane Grant (12) plays Tony Fenton (18) and Daniel Hughes (19) meets Joe Pilkington (15).
The Pairs competition sees a semi-final meeting between Daniel Hughes & Ross Collins versus the McGivern brothers Conor & Ryan. Benny Tierney and brother in law Declan O Neill await the winners of David Pilkington & Colin McParland against Mark Keogh and Anthony Hillen match in the other last four match.