Monaghan Bros Open

Dessie Noble rolled back the years as he notched up his first win in the coveted Monaghan Bros Open on Saturday.

Noble, who generally doesn’t get off to a quick start, scraped ten points over the opening five holes. With the difficult holes behind him he took full advantage of favourable conditions before launching his assault over the remainder of the course.

Three pars and a bogey rewarded him with 19 points for the outward stretch. Renowned for his doggedness, the 14 handicapper kept a six off his card on the homeward stretch as he added another 22 points for a 41 point total.

Losing out on a countback to Noble was Warren Dixon who also had 41 points.

The unassuming nine handicapper took the accolade for the best gross score of the day going round in 75 shots.

Dixon got off to a tidy start helped with a two on the par three third and came off the first nine with 20 points. To the disappointment of all those in the ‘twos club’ he bagged another brace of twos on 11 and 14 to get him back to one over par but uncharacteristically dropped three shots over the last four holes which ultimately cost him the top prize.

Andrew Truesdale finished third. Truesdale got off to a poor start and claimed ownership of a solitary point after the first two holes.

But three pars over the next four holes repaired the damage on his way to 19 points over the nine.

A two on the tricky 11th and a strong finish gave him another 21 points on the back nine which was good enough to see off Michael Leslie and Gary Smyth.

Fourth placed 18 handicapper Michael Leslie got into a winning position during his round when he reeled off eight pars and one double bogey from the sixth to the 14th holes for an eyebrow raising 25 points over 9 holes.

But some untidy finishing with only six points over the last four holes took the shine off what could have been a winning score.

Win Your Fees

The ‘Win Your Fees’ golf competition ran for six consecutive days last week.

With scoring generally good, anything in the early 40s was unlikely to win.

In the 40 point bracket was Paul Ramsey, Ken Coulter, Rodney Howe and Conor Daly.

One point better was Neill Cuthbertson, Gary Baxter and Jim O’Kane.

On 42 points were Ian Lyttle and Jimmy Mohan.

Lyttle got himself into a great position after 13 holes but he succumbed to the pressure over the last five holes finishing with a “ding” on the simple 14th followed with a haul of fives and sixes.

Mohan on the other hand produced a steady 21 points on each nine.

Two players finished on 44 points – Trevor Camley and Colin Bell.

After a countback it was Colin Bell who took top spot.

From a reasonable start, Bell produced the goods in the middle of his round with a run of eight pars and a birdie.

Unlike many before him, he consolidated his round with a strong finish picking up what proved to be a crucial birdie on 16 on his way home.

On a day when the hackles of the category one golfers were raised with CSS three below par, runner up Camley just missed out on the top prize with his 44 points.