The question always was whether any of the chasing pack would catch up to Ray Murphy. Heavy rain necessitated a delay in play until 6pm. With nine holes played the answer seemed no as with a 21 for his front nine Ray increased his lead to five strokes with Donal Duggan (St. Anne’s) and Thomas Hanley (Bruff) being the closest to him. Kevin McCarthy (Rocklodge) closed with a final round of 44 to finish on 139, he was quickly followed by Donal Duggan (St. Anne’s) who went one better with a 43 and a closing 54 hole score of 137. It just remained to see what Ray would produce and true to form he scored a final 9 of 24 to card an overall total of 133 and a winning margin of four strokes to add the Strokeplay title to the Matchplay title he won in June. Once again tremendous credit is due to Rocklodge whose course remained in superb condition despite the atrocious weather.
Gents Senior Strokeplay
1st Ray Murphy (St. Anne’s) 133, 2nd Donal Duggan (St. Anne’s) 137, 3rd Kevin McCarthy (Rocklodge) 139 (on final 18), 4th Paudie O’Sullivan (Claycastle) 139