GOLF | Halpin caps a great week with win in House Committee Cup at Dundalk
Gareth Halpin had a week to remember and it culminated with him lifting the House Committee Cup at Dundalk Golf Club on Sunday with a six-under par score of 66.
Halpin started the week as a 16 handicapper but lost a shot on Wednesday when he shot 40 points to take second place in Category Two of the weekly Open Singles Stableford competition.
On Sunday, playing off his new handicap of 15, he showed he is in a rich vein of form to beat Eoin Murphy, another in-form player by one shot.
Seventeen-year-old Murphy, now off one, continued his march towards scratch by shooting a super 68 gross for a nett score of 67 and managed to edge out club captain Michael Coburn and Brian Mernagh for second overall.
Coburn (8) took the Category One prize with Mernagh (13) taking Category Two and Jim Deary (20) was the Category Three winner. With Murphy finishing second overall, the Gross Prize went to Aaron Grant (+1) for his two under par 70.
Patrick McEnteggart (17) won Wednesday’s competition with a super score of 45 points which was four clear of the field. Mark Gorham (5) won the Gross Prize with 33.
The timesheet for the June Bank holiday competitions will go live on Monday evening at 7pm. The morning competition will be a Singles Stableford event while there will be a two person team event in the afternoon.
Cup competitions
The Barton Cup team were beaten 3–2 by Ardee in the second round of the Barton Cup but the Fred Daly Cup team are into the Leinster semi-final after a thrilling win against Ardee.
With Josh Mackin having won his match, Eoin Murphy had a putt on 18 for a half to send Dundalk into the last four but he could only watch in horror as the ball horseshoed the hole and landed back at his feet.
With Sean Laverty four down with five to play, Dundalk looked dead and buried but Laverty rose to the challenge and won each of the remaining holes for a sensational victory to earn Dundalk a shot at The Island in the next round.
Results
Results of the House Committee Cup, held on Sunday, May 28th — 1st: Gareth Halpin (15) 66; 2nd: Eoin Murphy (1) 67/33.5/11.33; Gross: Aaron Grant (+1) 70; Category One 1st: Michael Coburn (8) 67; 2nd: Sean Reidy (5) 69; Category Two 1st: Brian Mernagh (13) 67; 2nd: Tommy Renaghan (12) 69/35; Category Three 1st: Jim Dearey (20) 69; 2nd: Caoimhín O’Callaghan (20) 72/34/21.4. CSS: 72.
Results of the Open Singles Stableford, held on Wednesday, May 24th — 1st: Patrick Mc Enteggart (17) 45; Category One 1st: Barry Cunningham (9) 40; 2nd: Joseph Laverty (12) 38/20; Category Two 1st: Edmund Sheridan (13) 41; 2nd: Gareth Halpin (16) 40; Category Three 1st: Tom Geary (22) 39/19; 2nd: Derek Williams (22) 39/18; Visitors’ Prize: Seamus Mullen (14, Ardee) 37; Best Gross: Mark Gorham (5) 33; CSS: 36.
