Thomas Mulligan
Thomas Mulligan clinched the 2015 Dundalk Senior Scratch Cup, sponsored by Jeffers Sportsturf, at the weekend.
The Co Louth Golf Club member hit a six under par score of 137 in the 36-hole tournament, with his first round score of a seven under par 65 laying the foundations for the win as it left him five shots clear going into yesterday’s second round.
The 16-year-old came into the tournament as one of the favourites and it didn’t take him long to show why as he chipped in at the par four first for a birdie three. Further birdies at the par-five seventh and par three ninth saw him turn in 33.
He moved quickly to seven under courtesy of eagle threes at 10 and 12 and although he dropped his only shot of the round at the 15th he got it back on the 18th when, after a drive in excess of 300 yards, he left his chip stone dead for a tap-in birdie.
His 65 left him five shots clear of Athlone’s Thomas O’Connor and Dundalk’s Caolan Rafferty, who both shot two-under par 70s.
It proved to be a big enough cushion for the Bettystown man, who shot a one-over par 73 in his second round to finish on six-under.
He bogeyed the fourth and fifth on the front nine during his second round but birdies at three, six and nine moved him to eight-under for the tournament at the turn. However, bogeys at 10 and 11 brought him back to six under and finished on that number after a birdie at 12 was cancelled by a bogey on 16.
It gave the chasing field a glimmer of hope but O’Connor shot a three-over 75 in his second round while Rafferty couldn’t find the birdies he needed to close the gap and eventually carded a 71 for a two round total of 141, three under par, and three shots adrift of Mulligan.
Rafferty was actually pipped for second place by Mulligan’s clubmate Gerard Dunne who followed a disappointing 74 with a super bogey-free second round of 67 that featured birdies on three, six, seven, 12 and 15.
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