Inverclyde Now Logo PORT Glasgow Golf Club Holds Championship Day

21 August, 2019 | Local

From right, Gordon Smith, Paul Vandermade and William Rudge

PORT Glasgow Golf Club recently held its Club Championship Day in which 72 members competed over three separate events.

Weather conditions on the day were untypically calm and dry for the most part. The course was in superb condition, in particular the greens which were running really slick after being freshly mown and ironed that morning by Jim McCurdy and his team.

The Club Championship saw the top 24 scratch qualifiers compete over two rounds of scratch golf for the coveted title of Club Champion. The morning round saw some unusually high scoring with Mark Kelly taking an early clubhouse lead with a score of 74.

However, as the later games returned, this was slightly bettered as former club champion Ryan Gallagher posted a low score of 73 to take the overall lead after round one.

In the McAuslan Trophy (Over-50s), William Rudge, fresh off a victory in the club’s annual Baxter Open trophy, posted an impressive net 65 to set an early benchmark.

This target would prove difficult to beat as player after player returned several shots worse off than Rudge. As the final groups completed their round, low scores of 68 from Gerard McGachy and a 66 from Brian Smith weren’t quite enough to surpass Rudge and his 65.

The Handicap Trophy saw one of the lowest rounds of the day with eventual winner Gordon Smith posting an impressive scratch 73 for a net score of 63. This could not be matched giving Gordon an overall winning margin of six full shots.

Kevin Ferguson took second place with a net 69 just edging out Ian Hendry in the count back. Ian will maybe look back on a possible missed opportunity with holes 11 and 16 proving problematic for him.

As the players tee’d off in the afternoon for the final round in the Club Championship, the competition was still wide open with only five shots separating the top 11 players.

In the early stages, Paul Vandermade made the first big move against the leaders, reaching the turn on level par, with only one bogey offsetting his initial birdie at the 2nd. He continued this impressive form into the back nine and, with a birdie on the difficult 16th hole, he kept himself level par for his round.

Back-to-back bogeys were to follow on 17th and 18th, however with superb final score of 70, the lowest of the day, Vandermade had set the clubhouse target of 147.

In the penultimate group, there was a battle brewing between round one leader Ryan Gallagher and Chris Logue, with both players on matching scores with only three holes left to play. Both players were unaware of Vandermade’s second round score and that three final pars would be required to match the clubhouse score.

They headed to the 16th believing it was a straight head-to-head for the title. Bogeys at 16 and 17 all but ended Logue’s challenge and, a bogey for Gallagher, also at 17, meant he would require a birdie at the par three 18th to take Vandermade to a play-off.

However Gallagher could only manage a par at the last, confirming Paul Vandermade as the new Club Champion for 2019.

Results

Club Championship

1st – Paul Vandermade 77 + 70 = 147

2nd – Ryan Gallagher 73 + 75 = 148

3rd – Chris Logue 74 + 75 = 149

McAuslan Trophy

1st – William Rudge 78 – 13 = 65

2nd – Brian Smith 85 – 19 = 66

3rd – Gerard McGachy 80 – 12 = 68

Handicap Trophy

1st – Gordon Smith 73 – 10 = 63

2nd – Kevin Ferguson 81 – 12 = 69

3rd – Ian Hendry 80 – 11 = 69

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