A brilliant birdie three at the treacherous 4th hole was just one of several memorable moments as Johnny McSorley turned on the style to triumph at County Armagh Golf Club on Sunday 30 April.
McSorley also posted eight pars, with a classy four at the 16th chief among them, as he kept his cool in the stableford competition sponsored by A & N Shilliday & Co Ltd refrigeration and air conditioning.
A treble bogey at the neighbouring 6th — a tricky little hole that repeatedly belies its ranking as the course's third easiest — couldn't derail Johnny's march to a much-deserved Sunday success that sees his handicap clipped to 13.
Club Captain Richard Stewart presents Andrew Miller with the prize for best gross in the A & N Shilliday & Co Ltd stableford competition. Also pictured (L-R) are category 1 prizewinners Gary McCourt and Tom Calvert.
“Houston, we have a problem!” came the cry from Dwayne Houston's playing partners as he toiled to a no-score at the perilous 18th. Dwayne equalled McSorley's 39-point haul but a failure to add to his 17-hole total proved costly as he was edged into second place overall by virtue of an inferior performance over the closing six holes.
Nevertheless, Houston ought to reflect with pride on a round that also included consecutive pars at the low-indexed 4th and 5th holes and a superb birdie at the Quarry.
A high quality gross 78 handed Gary McCourt the category 1 honours. McCourt's 37-point offering was undermined slightly by double bogeys at the 1st and 16th. However, a birdie at the 9th and 10 pars elsewhere kept him comfortably ahead of a chasing pack led by former Captain Tom Calvert, who would have hoped to amass more than 34 points from the strong position of being just three over par with six holes to play.
On a day when the head wind coming home made getting scores over the line far from straightforward, Gavin McElmeel suffered a similar fate to Tom. McElmeel took the category 2 plaudits with a creditable 36-point performance but will no doubt rue a nervy finish that saw him collect just one point from the last three holes.
Runner-up in category 2 was Dwayne Houston's All-Ireland Four-Ball Trophy team captain, Tim Teahan, whose consistent 35-point outing contained a par at the 17th for which Gavin would likely have paid good money.
In category 3, Norman Mallon's solid 35-point return was surpassed only by Paul Hughes, who registered pars at the 1st, 4th and 14th while compiling a handicap-levelling 36 points.
Playing off two, Andrew Miller is no stranger to a gross prize, and he scooped another one here despite a day that could safely be granted ‘mixed bag' status. Showing four birdies but also three double bogeys, Miller's 75-stroke scorecard was as colourful as a living room that he'd just painted and decorated.