Norman conquest as Nicholl takes June medal honours at Galgorm

At halfway McKelvey was one shot ahead of Nicholl and held this lead up to 12 where a par from Nicholl to a McKelvey bogey levelled the scores.

A birdie at the next saw Nicholl move into a three shot lead after McKelvey bogeyed. He continued to lead and with two to play he still led by three shots which he increased to four shots with a bogey at the last. The next nearest players were another three shots away.

In Division 1 at the turn David Burns (6) and Gary McWilliams (9) were one shot ahead of Philip Graham (-1) who was followed by Peter Daly (7) another three shots behind.

Through 13, Burns was two shots ahead of McWilliams with Graham and Daly two further shots behind.

With two holes to play Burns’s two shot advantage had closed to one by Graham and McWilliams with a two shot gap to Daly. Burns finished with two pars to win by one shot from Graham (par, birdie), Daly (two birdies) and McWilliams (two pars) who finished level.

Daly took second place with a better back nine with Graham third (better back nine).

At the halfway stage in Division 2 Mark Surgenor (14) was two shots clear of Bryan Logan (11). Another three shots behind came Colin Gray (12) and Michael Casson (12) followed by Douglas Thom (13) and James Smyth (12) at one and two shots respectively further behind.

At the Maple, Surgenor had opened up a four shot advantage over Gray who was one shot in front of Logan. Another shot behind came Smyth and Casson followed by Thom who was a further two shots down.

Approaching the Lowlands, Surgenor was three shots ahead of Gray who was one shot ahead of Casson. Smyth and Thom were a shot behind Casson followed by Thom another two shots away.

The field began to close in on Surgenor over the closing two holes but with a triple bogey, par finish he held on to win by one shot from Gray (par, bogey) with Logan (par, birdie) taking third one shot ahead of Smyth (par, bogey), Thom (bogey, par) and Casson (two bogeys).

James McAuley (16) was leading Division 3 entering the back nine followed by Bernie Frayne (19), Nicholas Read (18) and Paul Reid (16) at one, two and three shots respectively behind. McAuley was still one point ahead of Frayne who was joined by Reid through 13. Read was another three shots further behind.

Through the Grove McAuley had increased his lead to three shots ahead of Frayne and Reid with a par at 16 to two bogeys. Read was another two shots adrift.

McAuley came home bogey, double bogey to win by two shots from Frayne (two bogeys) and Reid (par, double bogey) who finished together and with a better back nine P Reid claimed second place with Frayne in third.

Ian Manson (24) was leading Division 4 at the turn. Martin Laverty (21), James McClintock (21), Chris Nicholl (21) and Eric Boyce (25) were at one shot intervals respectively behind.

After 13, McClintock was ahead by one shot from Laverty with Manson another shot behind. Nicholl and Boyce were two shots further behind. The scores through 16 remained the same for the first three with Nicholl and Boyce joining Manson.

McClintock hit bogey trouble over the closing three holes and lost his position. Laverty finished with a bogey and a par to win by one shot from Manson (two bogeys). McClintock, Boyce (bogey, double bogey) and C.Nicholl (two bogeys) finished level and third place went to Boyce with a better back nine.

Michael Reid won the gross prize with a round of 68, while George Reid won the Seniors’ prize with a round of 69.