Heart of Down is taken by Spa ace

Heart of Down is taken by Spa ace

11 September 2013

SPA golfer Chris Harland kept the home flag flying to win the recent Heart of Down tournament.

The competition was played over the Ardglass and Spa courses and two handicapper Harland toured both in a combined five over par for a total of 71 points.

He opened up with a six over par round at Ardglass, but kept storming back with a one under par round at his home course. His 71 points was good enough to win by a point from German visitor Steffen Hahn.

The top of the leaderboard was dominated by local golfers. Barry Stevens, from Spa, took third place from clubmate Johnny Montgomery and Downpatrick’s Denis Tumelty after all three finished on 69 points.

Two more Spa men, Tom Wilson and Alan Stevens, finished sixth and seventh on 68 and 67 points respectively.

English visitor Chris Slack, from Workshop was eighth and Mark Gibney, from Downpatrick, ninth after both finished on 66 points.

A total of 86 players competed in the men’s competition, including visitors from England, Scotland, Wales, the Republic of Ireland, the United States and continental Europe.

There were 30 competitors in the ladies’ competition and the winner was Marie Hoare, from Skibbereen in West Cork, who pipped Spa’s Liza Dalzell to top spot after both finished on 72 points.

Next best of the local contingent was Spa’s Beth Coburn, who finished eighth on 65 points, one point clear of Dorothy McMullan, from Ardglass, while Vivienne Abernethy, from Spa, completed the top ten on 61 points.

Following the tournament an 18-hole competition was played at Royal County Down and leading the way in the men’s event was American visitor Bob Micetic.

The 17 handicapper from Coghill Golf and County Club, near Chicago, finished on 38 points, five points clear of runner-up John Columb, from Headfort Golf Club, Co. Meath.

Chris Garland maintained his good form to finish third on 31 points, followed three more Spa players — Gregg Marshall (30 points), Alan Stevens (28 points) and Barry Stevens (28 points).

The ladies’ competition was dominated by English visitors. The winner was Catrin Russell, from Chevin GC in Derbyshire, who finished on 34 points.

Martina Syron and Kate Docherty, both from Wimbledon Park GC in London, were second and third on 29 and 25 points respectively. The top local finisher was Dorothy McMullan, from Ardglass, on 23 points.