In-form Harte produces sizzling round to win Arkew Cup from Begley
Fergal Harte is certainly a player bang in form at the moment. A member of the club’s regional winning Jimmy Bruen Shield team, he was part of the pairings that delivered the winning point in the recent semi-final win over Donabate and the final victory over Castleknock.
Sandwiched in between those two performances was a superb round of 43pts to claim the Arkew Cup on countback from Michael Begley after both had shot 43pts in what was also the fifth Golfer of the Year event.
Playing off eight, Harte was one over par gross for the 18 holes as he produced a round that included two birdies, 13 pars and three bogeys. Eight of those pars came on the front nine where he also bogeyed the index one fourth to turn with 21pts. The four-point birdies came at 12th and 16th and although his back nine was bookended by one point bogeys at the 10th and 18th he still managed to get home in 22pts for a total of 43pts.
That was enough to give him a better back nine by two points than Begley who, playing off 19, also shot 43pts. Begley went out in 23pts, scoring three points on six of the nine holes and had three more three points pars down the back as well as a four-point birdie for his three at the 16th. However, he failed to score at the par four 11th and could only pick up one point at par five 12th and in the end those holes proved his undoing.
Junior Cup manager Shane Hession took the Gross Prize with an excellent score of 37pts while Divisional honours went to Cathal Muckian (11), Ciaran Daly (14) and Robert Williams (18).
It was a good week for Williams as on Wednesday, playing off 16, he won Division 2 with a fine score of 38pts and saw his handicap index drop from 17.1 to 13.3.
Fergal Sexton won Wednesday’s competition with 42pts off eight as he beat Noel Tully (16) by one point with Fearghal Duffy (16) a shot further back on 40pts. Sexton’s round included biridies at the 9th and 15th, 12 pars and four bogeys as he went out in 22pts and came home in 20pts.
The other divisional winners were Stephen English (7) and Ciaran Rafferty (21) while Colin Roche recorded the day’s best gross score of 36pts.
The Past Captains and Presidents Prize was held on Sunday, August 22 and was won by Sean Hession (8) with 39pts. Dessie Ward (15) finished a shot further back on 38pts with Brian O’Neill (24) third on 36pts.
Saturday, August 21 & Sunday, August 22 – Arkew Cup (GOY 5) Singles Stableford – Overall: Fergal Harte (8) 43/22pts, Michael Begley (19) 43/20. Gross: Shane Hession (1) 37pts. Division 1: Cathal Muckian (11) 41pts, Ciaran Traynor (5) 39pts. Division 2: Ciaran Daly (14) 42pts, Conor Rafferty (15) 40pts. Division 3: Robert Williams (18) 42pts, Michael Greene (24) 39pts.
Sunday, August 22 – Past Captains and Presidents Prize – Sean Hession (8) 39pts, Dessie Ward (15) 38pts, Brian O’Neill (24) 36pts.
Wednesday, August 25 – Open Singles Stableford – Overall: Fergal Sexton (8) 42pts, Noel Tully (16) 41pts. Fearghal Duffy (16) 40pts. Division 1: Stephen English (7) 38pts. Division 2: Robert Williams (16) 38pts. Division 3: Ciaran Rafferty (21) 36pts. Gross Recognition: Colin Roche (1) 36pts.