Stuart, Neville, Stephen and Richard win Scratch Cups

SATURDAY August 14 was Scratch Cups Day at Banbridge Golf Club.

Everyone thinks that they have a better chance of winning because they are only competing against players in their own handicap range. This always results in very low scoring, hence the calculated standard scratch score of nett 66.

As it happened, a total of 59 golfers broke 80 gross. Now that does not happen every week.

Here is how the four sections panned out:

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HANDICAPS 0-5 - The category one golfers do not actually play for a cup but the competition for top place is no less keen.

The winner, with one of the best scores of the season, was last year’s golfer of the year, Stuart Hunter. He shot a three under par 66.

Jonathan Ward was runner-up with a fine 68.

Jonathan Burns and Luke Woods also finished with 68 but they lost out on countback.

Colin Wilton and Rory Madeley came close with gross 69’s.

HANDICAPS 6-11 - The prize here is the Bank of Ireland Junior Scratch Cup and there are always a large number of serious contenders.

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Neville Kerr, Nigel Bryson and Declan Barry topped the leader board with matching gross 71’s.

Using countback, Neville was declared the winner, Nigel was the runner-up and Declan won the best nett prize.

No less than 26 players in this category broke 80. That is a fantastic standard of play.

The closest scores to the winners came from Cecil Johnston (72), Hugo Downey (72), Callum McCandless (73), Alan McVey (73) and Andrew Quinn (73).

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Gareth Magee, Lee Tumilty, John Bell and Seamus Rooney were not far away with their 74’s.

HANDICAPS 12-17 - The JJ Henderson Intermediate Scratch Cup is always closely contested and this year was no exception. Seventeen players broke 80. That was brilliant.

The winner, with a fabulous 74 gross was Stephen Pepper. The runner-up, with a 76, was Michael Robinson and Joe E. Hamilton won the best nett prize. Joe E. had a gross 78, nett 63.

There were several near misses in this section.

Brendan McConville, Alex Clarke and Barry Casey all shot gross 76 but they lost out on countback.

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Ivan Rushe, Jim Minnis, Sydney Pepper and Roland Harwood all came close with gross 77’s.

HANDICAPS 18–28 - The Sam McMillan Memorial Cup is the top prize for those members with a handicap of 18 or over.

Fifteen players in this category broke 90 and they should all be well pleased with their efforts.

The winner, with an 82, was Richard Huey. He will be pleased to see that his handicap has been reduced from 21 to 19.

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The runner-up, also with an 82, was Eamon Galloway and the best nett prize went to John McCartan with a nett 61. John shared the honour of shooting the best nett score of the day along with Neville Kerr and Richard Huey.

The near misses in the high section came from Paul Simpson (84), Gerry Blevins (84), Shane Crossan (85) and Kieran McGreevey (85).