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Home advantage counts for Royal Portrush members in R&A 9 Hole Challenge Final

R&A 9 Hole Challenge winners Siobhan McHugh and Robert Kennedy from Royal Portrush with Darren Clarke

Left to right: Darren Clarke, who won the Claret Jug at Royal St George’s eight years ago, with Royal Portrush members Siobhan McHugh and Robert Kennedy with R&A captain Chris Hilton after the final of the 9 Hole Challenge over the Dunluce links. Picture by THE R&A / GETTY IMAGES

FORTY-TWO club golfers enjoyed a memorable experience of playing Royal Portrush on the eve of The 148th Open when they competed in the final of The R&A 9 Hole Challenge over the weekend.

The final was contested over the first two and last seven holes of the famous Dunluce links before this week’s Open begins.

Siobhan McHugh and Robert Kennedy, from Royal Portrush Golf Club, proved a little local knowledge can go a long way after the pair won the Stableford competition with a nett aggregate score of 35 points to be crowned 2019 champions.

Kathy Loughridge and Conor Cahalane, from Belfast’s Malone Golf Club, finished runners-up.

The 2011 Champion Golfer Darren Clarke, together with Chris Hilton, captain of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, presented the prizes to the leading teams.

“It was a real privilege to play today and to finish as winners is just fantastic,” said Kennedy.

“It is an honour to be a member here and today was just a bit special. To have Darren Clarke present the prizes as well was fantastic.

“It was absolutely thrilling to be able to play Royal Portrush just before The Open gets underway,” added McHugh. “I was really nervous on the 1st tee but once we teed off it was brilliant. It was an absolutely wonderful day.”

The R&A 9 Hole Challenge is central to the organisation’s wider drive to promote this form of golf as an ideal way to enjoy playing the sport in less time, either recreationally or competitively for handicap purposes.

Almost 40,000 golfers entered nine-hole qualifying events held at courses throughout Great Britain and Ireland in 2019, as well as in Australia for the first time.

Golf Australia ran a Play 9 championship across the country with the final taking place during the Emirates Australian Open, which is part of The Open Qualifying Series, at The Lakes in Sydney in November.

R&A executive director Duncan Weir said: “The finalists have enjoyed a great experience, and they all relished the opportunity to play one of the world’s finest links courses on the eve of The Open.

“We are already looking forward to next year’s event at Royal St George’s.”

Visit www.randa.org/9HoleChampionship for more information.

Finalists in the R&A 9 Hole Challenge at Royal Portrush

The 42 finalists who took part in the R&A’s 9 Hole Challenge at Royal Portrush over the weekend after qualifiers were held all over the UK. Picture by THE R&A / GETTY IMAGES

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