McConnell Cup qualifiers are decided

THE McConnell Cup qualifying was held at Raceview with the top 14 nett plus the two best gross scores going through to the matchplay stage.

The best bett card came from William McDowell (25) with a nett 61, despite starting his round with triple and double bogeys. He went on to have 11 fives and six fours, along with that triple bogey seven.

Second nett was Ian Lecky (13) with a score of 62 which saw him one over gross after the front nine. On the second nine, he had four pars with the other five holes accounting for six shots.

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Thomas McNeill (9) took third nett with a score of 63 and on a best second nine from three other similar returns.

Thomas started with five straight pars and was two over gross after nine holes, before finishing the last seven holes in level par.

Fourth place went to Neil Duncan (20), agains with a better second nine from Barry Mooney (8) who in turn had a better second nine from Albert Craig (10).

Duncan could easily have led the field but triple and double bogeys on the front nine were a setback. Worse was to follow on the home stretch where, after playing the first five holes in one over par, he ran up double figures at 15 but then finished par, bogey, par.

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Mooney had a level par opening nine, which he followed with six more pars, while Craig was also out in level par but shed five shots on the inward nine, despite a birdie at 14.

The following seven players all returned nett 64s – WAH Montgomery (10), Paul Darragh (10), Desmond Leemon (16) – who had a gross two on the last hole – Wilton Simpson (22), Stephen Hayes (13), Brian Reynolds (17) and Ronnie Anderson (20).

The final nett place went to James McCloy (15) with a nett 65. Best gross was Michael Smyth, who had eight threes among his 67, followed by Stephen Russell (4) had a 70.

The matchplay pairings are: McDowell v McCloy; Craig v Darragh; Russell v Reynolds; Duncan v Leemon; Lecky v Anderson; Mooney v Montgomery; Smyth v Hayes; and McNeill v Simpson.