The new season began under the captaincy of Brian Wallace from Dunfanaghy Golf Club. It was as usual a perfect day for playing golf. A slight breeze caused  no real concerns but just enough wind to make the day interesting.

Playing conditions were very difficult because of the necessary sanding of the course done as a routine to ensure that the course will be playable all winter.

This meant that ball striking of a more precise nature than usual was required .In the event the cream as always came to the top.

Michael McGeady the leading local golfer returned a 1 under par round .He as ever was a model of consistency.

He had a birdie at the second, a par five, dropped a stroke at the long par the sixth to finish the first nine on level par.

His start to the second nine resulted in a dropped stroke which he got back at the 11th but he recorded six straight pars and got one under the par with a birdie at the par-five 18th to record a very strong 71 .

In hot pursuit was Finnian O’Doherty of the local club. He was out in 35 and leading the high class field alongside Garret Mallon. However, three bogeys at 15, 16 and 17 saw him fall back into the field and a timely birdie at the last saw off the challenge of Garret who he beat on the break of tie which sent Gareth into the nett runner up spot.

In third in the Gross was Seamus McMonagle who had a round which included a mixture of bogies interspersed with pars and no less than three birdies. 

The Nett was won by Maurice McGettigan who is no stranger to the winning podium in Alliance competitions.

Odran had 18 points on each nine which included just three gross pars but it was a well compiled and consistent round. He beat Gareth Mallon  by virtue of a back nine of 18 points to Gareth’s 16 points.

Hard luck story of the day belonged to third placed Clive Davison who blanked the 18th. He had to search for his ball following an errant drive, found it but adjudged himself that he had looked for it longer than the permitted search time off five minutes and finished with 34 points. If he had found it in time who knows he might have been the winner on the day .

The  Alliance which has existed in its present format for 46 years has suffered a decline in its membership which is drawn from the clubs in Donegal, Derry, Tyrone and Fermanagh and until now has had a waiting list for members.

It has vacancies for four balls from 11.00 to 12.00. It has been a feature in recent years that in all clubs everyone wants to play in the morning and the Alliance is no different.

This appears to have led to the decline in numbers playing. If anyone is interested in playing in this most competitive environment then please contact +353 87 248 8181 to book one of five times on the time sheet that are available.

North Western Golfing Alliance,  Letterkenny GC, Saturday 27th September 2014

Par 72 S.S.S. 72

Nett

• 1st Nett Odran McGettigan (25) Strabane Golf Club 36 Points b.o.t.
• 2nd Nett Gareth Mallon (2) North West Golf Club 36 Points
• 3rd Nett Clive Davison (13) Portsalon Golf Club 34 Points b.o.t.
• 4th Nett Eddie McHugh (16) Strabane Golf Club 34 Points b.o.t.

Gross

• 1st Gross  Michael McGeady (scr) North West Golf Club 71
• 2nd Gross Finnian O’Doherty (scr) Letterkenny Golf Club  74
• 3rd Gross Seamus McMonagle (scr) Dunfanaghy Golf Club  75 b.o.t.
• 4th Gross Noel Callan (scr) Faughan Valley Golf Club 75

Twos

E Corry, M Houston, B Wallace, M McGettigan, J Harley and D Forbes.