Double celebration for mcginnity as he lands captain's prize

​It was a day of double celebration for Oliver McGinnity when he captured Gerry McDermott’s Captain’s Prize on the same day as his latest grandchild was born. His dash to see the newest addition to the family had to be delayed as he waited to be presented with the MJ Spillane Cup by the Captain before sharing his good news with the large crowd assembled in the Clubhouse.
McGinnity had started the second round lying two shots off the lead having shot a five under par nett 67 in the opening round which was played over the previous weekend.
Playing off 29, he recorded pars on the first, eight and ninth as he went out in 46 gross for 31 nett and came home in 50 gross which was 36 nett.
The pace after round one was set by John Mulligan (15), Graeme Smith (5) and Sam Malone (13) who all shot 65 nett. Smith had three birdies, 14 pars, and solitary bogey at the index one fourth on his way to an impressive 70 gross while Malone had two birdies and nine pars and Mulligan shot 12 pars on a testing blue course.
The second round was just as tough with a westerly wind that swept over the course adding to the difficulty.
McGinnity was in the second last grouping when the leaders teed off on Sunday afternoon and pars at the fifth and eighth helped him to an opening nine of 48 gross which was 33 nett and left him in a great position heading for home.
However, his hopes of victory looked to have been dashed by the time he walked on to the 12th tee having taken nine shots on both the par five 10th and par four 11th.
Double-bogeys followed at the 12th and 13th but a birdie three at the short par four 14th sparked new life into his round and over the challenging final four holes he went bogey-par-bogey-double bogey to come home in 52 gross which was 38 nett.
That gave him a round two total of 71 nett and an overall total of 138 and he ended up pipping John McKeever (15) for the overall prize by one shot with McKeever, who shot nett rounds of 69 and 70, left to rue a triple bogey at the eighth and a double bogey at the 12th in his second round. 
Andrew Carroll, the recent winner of the Professional’s Prize, continued his good form into the Captain’s Prize and playing off 15 he shot rounds of 67 and 69 for 136. However, because of a prior commitment, he forfeited his chance of  winning the overall prize by electing to play his second round  in the morning rather than at his designated tee time of 14:52 when, ironically, he would have been in the same group as McGinnity.  He finished second overall.
Sam Browne (13), who followed up a brilliant 65 in the first round with a gritty 72, finished on 137 but was also ineligible to win the overall prize as he is still an intermediate member. He finished third overall leaving McKeever to take fourth overall with Niall Boyle (12) adding a 69 to his opening 72 to claim fifth overall.
Eoin Murphy won the Gross Prize on 140. His opening round of 69 included three birdies while his second round 71 featured eight birdies. The Veteran’s Prize was keenly contested with Terry Conlon (7), after rounds of 75 and 69, coming through to win on 144.
Dennis Cunningham (12), Andrew Cumiskey (18) and Barry Rafferty (25) took the overall divisional honours while John Mulligan (15), Graeme Smith (5) and Brian Whately (25) were the winners of each of the three days.
A total of 341 players teed it up in Round 1 with 39 shooting under par and 181 making at the cut for the second round which fell at 78. Round 2 was much more testing with only 13 players under par including, the man of the moment, Oliver McGinnity. 
Saturday, July 26, Sunday, July 27, and Sunday, August 3 -  Gerry McDermott’s Captain’s Prize – Overall Results - Winner: Oliver McGinnity (29) 138 (67/71). Runner-Up: Andrew Carroll (15) 136* (67/69), Gross: Eoin Murphy 144 (71,73). Veteran: Terry Conlon (7) 144 (75, 69). Third: Sam Malone (13) 137* (65/72). Fourth: John McKeever (15) 139 (69, 70). Fifth: Niall Boyle (12) 141 (72, 69). Division 1: Dennis Cunningham (12) 141 (70, 71). Division 2: Andrew Cumiskey (18) 143 (74, 69). Division 3: Barry Rafferty (25) 143 (70, 73). Day 1 – Overall: John Mulligan (15) 65. Division 1: Ciaran Cooney (7) 71. Division 2: Tiernan O’Brien (19) 68. Division 3: Oisin Cairns (24) 69. Gross: Neal MacKell 72.  Day 2 – Graeme Smith (5) 65. Division 1: Gerry Mulligan (12) 71. Division 2: Brian Mernagh (16) 70. Division 3: Austin Carroll (20) 67. Gross: Shane Hession 74. Day 3 – Overall: Brian Whately (25) 67, Aidan Lawless (1) 70. Division 1: Garrett Duffy (2) 71, Ronan Farrelly (7) 72. Division 2: Robert McCaughey (16) 71, Pat McEntegart (17) 71. Division 3: Brendan Tinnelly (21) 71, Paul Mellon (19) 72.  *Ineligible to win overall prize.

PHOTO: ​Oliver McGinnity (seated) receives the MJ Spillane Cup after winning Gerry McDermott’s Captain’s Prize. Back Row (from left) Sam Malone (third overall), Niall Boyle (fifth overall), Barry Rafferty (Division 3 winner), Andrew Cumiskey (Division 2 winner), John McKeever (fourth overall) and Dennis Cunningham (Division 1 winner).