Hanna wins PGA Tankard as Toner goes low once more

On a breezy day on the links, John Hanna stayed on course to land the prestigious PGA Tankard sponsored by Marty McDonnell at Mourne Golf Club, while Conor Toner dipped below par once again on the famous Newcastle links.

Hanna didn’t get off to the start he wanted after running up a double bogey seven at the first, but he kept his composure on the front nine before a telling back nine ensured the win. The former teacher got top marks for an inward nine of two over 38 that included a birdie four at the 12^th and just three dropped shots.

It all added up to a winning score of 42 points for the overall win and Division 3 success. His closest challenger came from Division 2 winner Darryl Northrop, who also kept his best for last with a remarkable back nine. Northrop only had two pars all day and none on the back nine that saw him record five bogeys but no less than five birdies for a score of 40 points. Three of those came with a burst of birdies on the three closing holes – a quite stunning finish to the round.

Toner has been the model of consistency of late, firing sub-par rounds for fun on the Championship Links at Royal County Down and last Sunday was no different. The towering figure carded four birdies in all and just two dropped shots for a gross two under 69 to win Division 1 with 38 points.

Early bird Matthew Davey and Connor Cunningham were tied second in Division 1 with 35 points, John Kielty was second in Division 2 with 39 points and Christopher Nugent and Patrick O’Rourke were tied second in Division 3 with 35 points.

In the previous week’s Donard Nursery Cup sponsored by Keelryan, it was the partnership of John Murphy Junior and Michael McLaughlin who finished top of the pile with a winning score of 61 gross on the betterball format. The winning pair were pushed all the way by Andy Torrens and Paul Murray, who were narrowly defeated on a countback.

Eugene Valentine and Michael Nugent Junior squeezed into third after their 62 got the better of Aaron McKeown and Michael O’Higgins (62) on a countback.

At this juncture we must also take a breath to congratulate Eugene Valentine on another recent feat where he holed out for yet another hole in one. We have reason to believe this is Valentine’s ninth hole in one – yes, ninth – and this time it took place at the par three 10^th on the Championship Links at RCD.

Some of his playing partners were apparently heard saying: “That’s just selfish, could you not start sharing some of these, we’ve had no holes in one!”

In the Juvenile section, a huge shout out to Ollie Toner who won the Juvenile June Medal with a simply staggering nett score of 52. Ollie returned a gross 86 on the Annesley Links for a winning 52 off a 34 handicap. Eoin Smyth was second with his 70, while Eoin Polly was third with a 73.

And last but by no means least, congratulations to John Murphy’s Junior Cup side who continue to fly the flag for Mourne with their 3-2 win over Portadown at the weekend and are now in line to play either Rossmore or Cavan in the next round.

Images courtesy Danny Hillen