Carlingford Cup team come unstuck at Dundalk

It was originally arranged for Friday July 30 but the course was deemed to be unplayable that day because of very heavy morning rain.

The Banbridge team captain, Colin Wilton, was forced to make three changes from day one. Neil Clydesdale’s handicap was cut too low while Alan Dale and Barry Tumilty had work commitments. In came Shane Bell, Gary McCartney and PJ Johnston.

Dundalk is a superb test of golf. Every hole is a challenge especially the par fours. There are ten of them and seven are over 400 yards long. The par fives are not long but water plays a crucial part. A few of the Banbridge team came to grief at the par fives.

There are eight players on the team and the two best gross scores are added to the four best nett to give a team total.

Considering the difficulty of the Dundalk course, what was needed was two gross scores of 78 or 79, and then four nett scores of 74 or 75. These did not materialise.

Keith Steenson, fair play to him, shot a gross 80 but that did not please him. He was only three over par with three holes to play but came to grief a little on the run-in. Nevertheless, Keith was the best player on the Banbridge team.

Seamus Rooney’s gross 82 counted and he too knew that it could have been much better with a little bit of luck.

The four counting nett scores came from William Malcolmson, Tom Fee, Shane Rooney and PJ Johnston. All four needed to be two or three shots less.

Colin Wilton was a little disappointed and who can blame him. The knockout stages of the Carlingford Cup are very exciting and he wanted to be part of it. Not this year, Colin, I’m sorry to say.