DCGS Highlights Edition 26

Brendan Lawlor Wins The Battle At Ballycastle With Excellent 39 Points

On a tough and tricky day at Ballcastle it was Brendan Lawlor who excelled with a one point advantage over Alex Hanneffy shooting a level par 71 giving him a total of 39 points.

Brendan began his round in steady fashion parring the first three holes before dropping two shots on the difficult par four ninth hole. However Brendan soon got his round back on track with three pars and two birdies in his next five holes. With seven pars, one birdie and just one further bogey in his remaining nine holes it ensured that Brendan finished with a fantastic level par round to take victory by the small margin of just one shot.

In second place with another great score of 73 (+2) giving him a total of 38 points was Alex Hanneffy. Alex has been playing very well of late and this was another round to illustrate this. The opening nine holes for Alex was mixed with birdies and indeed dropped shots. After opening his round with two pars Alex bogeyed the tricky par four eighth hole before parring the difficult ninth and dropping two shots on the short par three eleventh. However three birdies on his four remaining holes on the front nine ensured that Alex finished one over par for the front nine. Three more birdies coupled with four dropped shots left Alex finishing the back nine also one over par to give him a total of two over par 73.

In a tie for third place four points back on 34 points was Aaron Lennie and Conor Hagan. Both Aaron and Conor have been showing great signs of improvement of late and their scores over the last couple of weeks suggest this. With a total of seventeen pars and four birdies between them it suggests that there is some very good golf being played but with seventeen dropped shots between then it is evident that there are also some improvements still to be made.

Alex Hanneffy Maintains His Good Form With An Impressive 40 Points At The Hilton

It was a tale of two nines for Alex last Friday as he produced yet another fine display to blow away the remainder of the field on his way to victory at a difficult Hilton Templepatrick.

Alex began his round with three bogeys in the opening four holes. A birdie on the par five fifth hole followed by another dropped shot on the par four ninth hole left Alex with a lot of work to do at three over par. A solid start for Alex on the back nine saw him par the opening four holes before making back to back birdies on the fourteenth and fifteenth holes leaving his just one over par for his round through fifteen holes. Two pars and a birdie in his final three holes ensured that Alex finished with a brilliant level par 72.

In second place three points further adrift was Billy Hathway. Billy finished with a steady four over par 76 to claim another good finish. With a total of ten pars, two birdies and three dropped shots on either nine it left Billy with a total of 37 points. Billy finished with two birdies in his remaining three holes which was enough to nip into second place.

In a tie for third place just one point back was Brendan Lawlor and Harry Thompson on 36 points. Brendan has been playing some very impressive golf of late and Harry has certainly been showing some excellent signs of progress. With Brendan finishing with a three over par 75 and Harry finishing with a six over par 78 there is obvious signs of some good golf being played in tricky conditions. This was certainly a very pleasing score of Harry as he continues his recuperation from his damaged foot that he injured at Portrush earlier on in the year.

British Schools Leaderboard

It was another week of changes at the top of the British Schools leaderboard as two further rounds of double points took place at Ballycastle and Hilton on Thursday and Friday.

It was Brendan Lawlor who finished the week at the top of the leaderboard on 40 points as rounds of 71, 75 where enough to secure him a further fifteen points. Following closely behind just one and a half points back is Sean Dimmick. After his impressive 69 (-3) last week at Galgorm Sean backed it up with rounds of 75, 75 which was enough to open up a considerable gap between himself and third place.

In third place a considerable fourteen and a half points back from second place is Joseph O'Neill. Joe shot rounds of 77, 76 to move up one place on the leaderboard.

In fourth place making his way into the top four is Aaron Lennie. Last week Aaron finished with steady rounds of 76, 76 to open up a three point gap ahead of Benjamin McCartney in fifth place.

There is only one round of double points remaining which will be played at Portrush this coming Thursday 6th April with the team due to be announced on Friday 7th April.

Golfer Of The Week

Last weeks golfer of the week was Alex Hanneffy. With the excellent progress Alex has been making over the last number of weeks in all aspects of his game it is clear to see why his results are starting to follow. As well as two excellent scores last week at Ballycastle and Hilton Alex also improved on his short game skills result from last term.

Since joining the school in September as a Golf Performance student Alex has made a lot of technical changes to his swing and with a lot of hard work and commitment the results are now beginning to be evident. We hope that Alex now continues this hard work on to the end of the year to give him the best possible preparation heading into the new season. Well done Alex.

Short Game Skills Testing Results

Last week the students completed their second short game skills test of the year. The testing is a fantastic way for coaches to evaluate the progress of each student and to also identify any areas for improvement. The test is also a fantastic tool in giving students confidence once they are able to measure the improvements they have made.

There were some very positive signs with 60% of the students improving their scores with their previous test. However it still highlights the importance that there is still progress to be made and that there is a lot of hard work to be done between now and the end of the programme.

Easter Holidays

With the Easter break just under a week away here is a reminder of the holidays. The students will finish at 4.00pm this Friday 7th April and commence again on Monday 24th April at 9.00am.

It is vitally important that each student is in attendance on Friday 7th April as specific events and competitions are planned.