With recent finishes of 115th, 77th, 64th and 59th, Denis McInerney’s modest ambition of a Top 50 finish appeared to be edging closer to realisation, but he surprised even himself with a jump right to the top of the leader board as he took the Wednesday Sweep with 44pts off 14.
Birdies at 1, 7 and 17 were the highlights of a very steady round. As he searched for reasons for the dramatic improvement in form so that he might incorporate them into his routine, he realised that long time regular playing partner Francis Tallon had been unavailable to play that day. That was the only difference he could think of!Runner-up was the methodical and consistent Eugene Maguire with 43pts off 13. He reached the turn in just 1 over par and had put 24pts on the board, and things continued nicely when he opened the back 9 with 3 pars and a bogey. The 14th hole has been something of a bogey hole for him as his last 14 visits have seen him return 5 double bogeys and 3 triple bogeys. Unfortunately for him he took one of his triple bogeys yesterday to deny him the chance of victory. Alan Harrison came third with 42pts off 15. He played very steadily to record 9 pars and 9 bogeys, and this was one occasion the noted cricketer will have been pleased to have hit only one 6.
Double bogeys at 5 and 6 restricted Hugh McCloskey to 19pts on the front 9, but there were no such slip ups coming home and he added another 22pts to his outward score to take 4th place with 41pts off 20. Martin Stewart, 7, also had 41pts but missed out on the prizes over the back 9. He was level par after 11 holes, but a trio of bogeys immediately followed and a birdie at 17 was too little, too late to undo the damage.
Two players had level par rounds to contest the gross prize which went to Alex ‘always in contention’ Denver with 36 gross pts. Three birdies and 3 bogeys balanced things out and equal halves of 18pts were sufficient to give him the edge. Nathan’s opening birdie was soon followed by an eagle at 4 to help him to 20pts on the front 9. Although he had a faultless 8 pars coming home, it was an NR at 13 which sent him home empty handed.