Russell Claims JK Leisure Victory at Ballymena Golf Club
- Jun 1
- 2 min read
Brian Russell (26) won the JK Leisure sponsored event at Ballymena Golf Club with a superb score of 43 points.
Russell opened his round with two bogeys before taking a double bogey on the par-five third. He repeated this pattern over the next three holes before parring the short par-three seventh and completed his front nine with bogeys on the eighth and ninth holes. This gave him 21 points at the halfway stage.
The opening two holes of the back nine were played to handicap before Russell bogeyed both the twelfth and thirteenth and parred the fourteenth. Two consecutive bogeys followed before he played the seventeenth to handicap and closed his round with a par to secure the outright victory.
Runner-Up Spot for Dempster
Brian Dempster (24) finished one point behind on 42 points.
Dempster started his round with a single point on the first but quickly recovered with a par on the second. A run of four bogeys followed before a par on the seventh. He then recorded a bogey on the eighth and a double bogey on the ninth to reach the turn on 20 points.
The back nine began steadily with five consecutive bogeys before a superb birdie on the fifteenth hole. A bogey on the par-three sixteenth was followed by a double bogey on the difficult seventeenth and a closing bogey, giving him 22 points on the inward nine and second place overall.
Bell Continues Good Form
Third place went to the in-form Steven Bell (20), who returned 40 points with matching front and back nines of 20 points.
The remaining prize winners were:
David Ross (20) – 40 points
Paul Casey (6) – 40 points
Clifford Worthington (17) – 39 points
Stephen Ritchie (14) – 39 points
Kenny Morrison (20) – 39 points
Twos Competition
There were 24 twos recorded during the competition.
Notable achievements included:
Paul Casey registering twos on both the 4th and 7th holes.
Callum Black recording twos on the 7th and 16th holes.
Gross Prize
Richard Mark claimed the gross prize with an impressive two-over-par 70.
His round included birdies on the 9th, 10th and 13th holes, although an unfortunate closing double bogey denied him an even better finish.
Looking Ahead
Next week's competition is the Bill Rainey Memorial, played in the VPar format and sponsored by Marie Hart Physiotherapy, based at Antrim Business Park.
Marie Hart Physiotherapy offers a specialist TPI Fit for Golf Assessment alongside a comprehensive range of physiotherapy services.
Captain's Day
Friday 13th June 2026
Lady Captain's Day
Thursday 19th June 2026
Open Week 2026
Ballymena Golf Club's Open Week 2026 begins on Sunday 21st June and features a full programme of competitions throughout the week.
The event is kindly sponsored by Irwin (M&E) Ltd.
Thank you to all players, sponsors and members for their continued support.
