President’s Day 2026 – Raymond Linton Takes the Honours

John Graham hosted his President’s Day Competition at Ballymena Golf Club, with the course presented in superb condition and an impressive 173 competitors taking part.

The day belonged to Raymond Linton (26), who produced an outstanding round to claim the President’s Prize with 45 points.

Linton opened with four consecutive bogeys before excellent pars at the difficult fifth and sixth holes. He reached the turn with 22 points before continuing his strong form on the back nine. Pars at the thirteenth, fourteenth and seventeenth helped him add another 23 points and secure a superb winning total of 45.

The Leading Places

Henry Eagleson (12) took second place with an excellent 42 points. After scoring 20 points on the front nine, Eagleson began the back nine with four consecutive pars and eventually came home just two over gross for an impressive 22-point back nine.

Aaron Magill (4) claimed third place with 40 points, producing a superb level-par round featuring five birdies at the third, twelfth, thirteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth holes.

The remaining net prizes went to:

• Gareth Hill (22) – 39 pts

• John Montgomery (26) – 39 pts

• Steven Smyth (4) – 38 pts

Gross Prize

Adam Barr won the gross prize with an excellent two-under-par 66, including five birdies at the third, fifth, eighth, ninth and seventeenth holes.

Aaron Magill and Gary Black both returned level-par rounds of 68, finishing two shots behind Barr.

There were just eight twos recorded on the day, reflecting some challenging pin positions across the course.

Thank You, Mr President

The membership would like to extend their thanks to Club President John Graham and his wife Sharon for all their hard work, not only in making President’s Day such a success but throughout the year.

It was fantastic to see the day so well supported by family, friends, visitors and members, and we hope John and Sharon thoroughly enjoyed the occasion.

Next week sees another important event in the club calendar with the Jimmy Gribben Memorial, played in the Stableford format.