Alec sails to victory in RNLI competition at Raceview

Playing off 25, Alec opened with four bogeys, followed by a pair of double bogeys and he completed the front nine with two pars and another bogey on the ninth.

The back nine was a series of seven fives plus a pair of fours which left him six under par and one shot clear of Harry McGarry.

Harry (12) dropped a shot on the first but then played the next seven holes in level par and he completed the nine with a birdie to be level on the outward nine. The second nine was a different story, however, as he registered seven bogeys and two pars for a nett 63.

Third nett was Gary Stewart (10) with a nett score of 64 and on a better second nine countback from David Clements (21).

Stewart front nine contained six pars and three bogeys, and he was also three over on the homeward journey which included a birdie on the 10th hole.

Clements got though the outward nine in seven over which included two double bogeys and there were three more ‘doubles’ after the turn but against that he had pars at 10 and 18 for a nett 64.

William AH Montgomery (11) collected the fifth nett prize with a nett 65 but again he had to depend on a better second nine to see off Johnny Lynn.

Montgomery’s first nine contained six fives yet he managed to get through the nine holes in five over. After starting his second round par, double bogey, he went on to finish with six straight pars.

Lynn (6) had a level par front nine, which included birdies at the second and fifth, while his back nine was made up of six pars and three bogeys.

The best gross score came from John Robinson (1) who completed the course in two over. That was his total after nine holes but he managed to complete the second nine in level par, thanks to birdies at 14 and 18.

O’HAGAN SALVER

Played in conjunction with the RNLI competition was the O’Hagan Salver, for competitors with a handicap of 13-plus and it is scored on a gross basis.

This year’s winner is Clifford Worthington, who played the 18 holes in 12 over, 80 shots.

Two sevens in his opening three holes didn’t appear to be prize-winning form but he settled down and played the first nine in six over.

The second nine opened with a par only to be followed by two double bogeys and the other six holes were played in two over.

SUNDAY STABLEFORD

The Sunday open stableford saw Norman McIlwaine pulverise the field en route to a winning margin of five points.

After opening with a par, a non-score on the second was a mere blip as he played the remaining seven holes in one under gross, amassing 26 stableford points.

His second nine was more in keeping with a 21-handicapper, with one par, six bogeys and two double bogeys, but he still added 19 more points to win at a canter.

Second nett was Jonathan Law (5), whose 40 points total came from equal nines of 20 points.

Third nett was George Horner with 39 points, 21 of which came on the front nine, including four points for a birdie at the second.

Best gross came from six-handicapper John A Jamieson who played the course in five over gross.

WEDNESDAY STABLEFORD

The Wednesday competition, sponsored by Ace Fixings, saw winner Peter Tweed (17) post 43 stableford points, 23 of them on the way out.

Second place went to Paul Rodgers (13) with 37 points, and Gordon Caldwell took third after scoring 20 on the first nine and 17 on the way home, where he was pipped by Rodgers.

LADIES

Jill Crockard was the winner of the Lifeboat Spoons Stroke competition at Ballymena Golf Club.

Her nett score of 69 saw her finish two shots clear of nearest rivals Margaret Logan and Daphne Glass.

The former took second spot courtesy of a better back nine.

Liz Small won last week’s PGA Medallion Stableford, the latest event of Ballymena Golf Club’s Ladies Section summer competitions.

She completed her 18 holes with a total of 39 points, three more than nearest rival and runner-up, Margaret Stockman, who edged Nan Adrian into third courtesy of a better back nine.

Liz will represent the club at the regional stage of the competition at a venue still to be decided.

INTER-CLUB ROUND-UP

Ballymena’s JB Carr and Jimmy Carroll’s teams - both for members aged 60-plus - have been in action recently.

The JB Carr is a knockout competition from the outset, whereas the Jimmy Carroll’s event takes the form of qualifying followed by a knockout stage.

Wins for the Carr team over Rathmore and Dunmurry mean they have now reached the county final, where they will face Malone.

The game at Dunmurry was a close encounter where Noel Totten and Ken Herbinson had a win by 5/3, while club captain Jim Drennan, partnered by past captain Leslie Frew, won by 2/1. The third win came from Albert Craig and Ivan McMaster who birdied the second tie hole for victory.

Eric Smyth and Gordon Caldwell lost 6/4 while David Mulholland and Stephen Surgenor lost by 2/1.

The Carroll’s team were at Allen Park in the qualifying where they were placed third and now travel to Balmoral if they are to progress.

In very trying conditions, the leaders were Rockmount, who scored 125 shots from their three counting cards, while Balmoral had 118 and Ballymena 110.