GOLF: Roe Park to host Golf Digest Volvo Open

The Golf Digest Volvo Open will be held for the first time at the Roe Park Resort, Limavady on Friday June 3.

The tournament, which will be the first leg of the prestigious touring competition to be held in Northern Ireland this year, will move on to Portumna Golf Club in Co Galway and then to Dundrum House Hotel Golf and Leisure Resort in Co. Tipperary later in the month.

Over 200 amateur golfers are expected to take part in the competition, which is taking place at the Roe Park Resort for the very first time.

Open to all golfers, including those without an official handicap, the open will offer over £5,000 worth of prizes.

Winners on the day will be eligible to take part in the 2016 Golf Digest Volvo Grand Final, and compete for the Champions Cup later in the year.

To enter this year’s Golf Digest Volvo Open at Roe Park Resort, visit www.golfdigestevents.ie/. For more information about Roe Park Resort, visit www.roeparkresort.com.

Another busy week at Roe Park saw the recent warm, dry weather replaced with much cooler and stormier weather at times.

With the Golfer of the Year points up for grabs members were keen to get started in Thursdays’ Club Stableford. Alan Loughery has been in great form recently and scored a superb 40 points for the win.

Keith Bennett was rewarded for an excellent back nine as he closed out with 23 points to give him a total of 38. He claimed second place ahead of a host of players including third place man Ryan McIlmoyle on the same score.

Saturday saw a Fourball Better Ball competition with Limavady Travel providing the sponsorship. vice-captain Arnold Simpson was abandoned by his usual four-ball but was thankfully picked up to partner Sammy Murphy in his group.

It proved to be a match made in heaven as they dominated proceedings by scoring a simply stunning total of 49 points for the win. John McKay and playing partner Willie Scott scored an excellent 46 points to claim second place. Third place went to the fine pairing of Andy Young and Gary Marshall who scored 44 points.

Nigel Mearns certainly means business this year as he heads the Golfer of the Year table on a fantastic 39 points after only two weeks. Nearest challenger is Andy Young in second with 32 points and Ryan McIlmoyle sits third with 24 points.

This week sees a Club Stableford competition on Saturday with fantastic prizes being provided by sponsors Limavady Travel. There will also be the usual club competitions on Thursday and Sunday.