John O’Brien (Castlemartyr)

Castlemartyr’s John O’Brien took second place at the Ulster Seniors in Lough Erne yesterday, the Corkman shot a second round 77 to finish one behind Ballybunion’s Peter Sheehan.  O’Brien also claimed top spot in the 55-59 category.  The Castlemartyr member had held the lead after opening with a two under par 70 on Monday, O’Brien was the only golfer to break par in the first round.  It was looking good for O’Brien but Sheehan played the back nine in two under to leapfrog the Corkman.  Sheehan was the only golfer to master the back nine, effectively sealing the win for the Ballybunion member.  O’Brien has been playing some great golf recently and less than two weeks ago he shot a 66 in Blarney to set a new course record.

Karl Bornemann was just one shot back from O’Brien, his second round 73 matched the winners best of the day score and saw him just ten places on the leaderboard.  Bornemann closed with ten pars in a very steady round of golf.  Pat Lyons finished in 7th place, the Cork member was three under after seven holes thanks to a flying start, and even though he signed for a 76, he still jumped around 20 places on the final standings.  Tom Cleary made a welcome return to the prizes, taking the 65+ category prize having returned to championship golf this year after a two year gap.  There was a huge field for the event with over 120 golfers taking part.