Dorrian scores at Bright Castle

Dorrian scores at Bright Castle

5 October 2022

ON the same weekend that saw both Arsenal and Manchester City dominate their respective North London and Manchester derby rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United in the English Premier League, Kevin Dorrian produced an equally dominant display en route to winning the latest big six weekend stableford competition at Bright Castle Golf Club. 

The former Irish PGA professional showed that there’s still life in the ‘not so’ old dog yet and although his World Handicap Index rating is now a lot higher than it once was, Kevin produced a weekend round that he would have been proud of when he plied his trade on the aforementioned tour. 

A super steady level par front nine, coupled with a one over par back nine which included three birdies at the 12th, 14th and 16th holes, resulted in a one over par round of 74 which yielded 43 points and saw Kevin finish three points clear of the chasing pack.

 There was an almighty scrap for the minor honours at the weekend, with no less than five players posting 40 points totals. 

Several countbacks were required to determine who got the runner-up and third place prizes and Declan Toman and Stevie Maxwell did just enough to claim those respective awards. 

The Division 2 handicap prize was hotly contested and after Gary Carberry, Philip Maskey and Thomas Johnston all posted 40 points totals, it was Gary who got the nod courtesy of his superior back nine total. 

Thirty-eight points were enough to give Gary Reid and Stephen Browne the Division 1 and 3 honours but Stephen Browne will be feeling a little blue after what can only be described as a topsy-turvy back nine. 

Sitting pretty with 28 points after 11 holes, Stephen added only two points to that total over his next five holes before producing another eight points at holes 17 and 18. 

A par four on his 17th hole got Stephen three points and it was followed by an extraordinary hole out from the 18th fairway for an eagle two and a further five points. 

A nice way to finish and while Stephen will be looking back at this particular big six event as the one that got away, his Division 3 handicap win and two shares of the weekend twos pot will at least give him some consolation. 

Just like Stephen, Cecil Telford also pocketed two shares of the weekend twos pot, with single shares going to Jason Hilditch, Chris Halloran, Ciaran Mahon, Adam Adair, Ian Craig, Declan Toman and Chris Miles.

Just like the Mammas and Pappas once sang about in their hit song, California Dreaming, all the leaves are brown and the sky is indeed grey, which is a sure sign that autumn has arrived. 

The superb condition of the greens at Bright Castle doesn’t happen by chance and to make sure they are as good next season as they were this year, essential green maintenance such as hollow coring and sanding of greens will be taking place in the coming days. 

Maintenance such as this is a major bugbear for members of all local courses but, as mentioned, it is essential and a few weeks pain in the short-term is a small price to pay and we’ll all reap the rewards once again next spring.