There was a certain appropriateness in the Bankers' Cup being carried off by another financial professional, Paul Pender.
In the stroke competition played at County Armagh Golf Club on 3 June, the Monaghan Mushrooms accountant turned in a quite masterly display that rendered his 181 opponents bankrupt of ideas and enabled lodgement of the sparkling trophy in Pender's 2017 golfing account.
A tally of six over par for the course's five par 3s didn't provide an obvious foundation on which to build a career best gross 75 but, happily for Paul, his short-hole troubles were entirely incongruous with the rest of this tremendous Saturday showing.
County Armagh Golf Club Captain Richard Stewart presents the Bankers' Cup to winner Paul Pender in the company of category prize winners Cormac O'Hare, Lee Campbell and Ciaran McCreesh.
Succeeding in getting all his calculations correct despite a testing breeze, Pender hit his straps right from the off with two regulation opening pars before brilliant back-to-back birdies at the 5th and 6th immediately wiped out his bogeys at the 3rd and 4th.
A further birdie would follow at the 12th to leave the then 12-handicapper just two over par with six holes to play.
The aforementioned five up on the saucer-like Rokeby Green may have been sufficient to derail lesser candidates, but such was Paul's conviction that even this momentum-halter wasn't going to disrupt his march to victory and a two-shot handicap chop.
And, indeed, a steadfast closing run of four consecutive pars and a harmless bogey at the 18th set the seal on a magnificent nett 63 that, after some solid recent performances that ultimately yielded no silverware, trashes any previous notion that Pender was capable only of mimicking his beloved Tottenham Hotspur in perennially having to settle for bridesmaid status.
Paul's nearest challenger was Patsy Hegarty, who returned a nett 64. Having found a birdie at Lady Anne's Walk to immediately erase his bogey at the 1st, Patsy went on to string together three consecutive pars before an unexpected double bogey at the 6th.
Thereafter, however, Hegarty turned on the after-burners and dropped just two more strokes — at the Oul Coach Road and Ballyheridan par 5s — in a masterclass of calmness and consistency under pressure.
Those 10 pars in the last 12 holes would bring Patsy's total par count for the day to 13 and eventually result in an excellent gross 74 that, satisfyingly, makes him a single-figure handicapper.
Hegarty's wonderful one-over-par back nine was the determining factor in pushing him above both Cormac O'Hare and Lee Campbell in the overall standings. These two players also carded stunning nett 64s and were duly rewarded with catergory 1 honours.
O'Hare, who would occupy first position, enjoyed a spectacular spell of three birdies on the spin between the 6th and 8th as well as a very useful run of five pars in a row late in his back nine. Now playing off 10, Cormac's gross 75 is the latest instalment in a series of mightily impressive outings this season.
Promising youngster Campbell, meanwhile, registered the maiden under-par round of his fledgling career. It's unlikely to be his last.
Like Cormac, Oliver Connell also posted five back-nine pars on the bounce during his admirably steady day's work. This proved decisive in his filling the category 2 top spot ahead of Jamie Calvert, who finished with a commendable nett 66. With birdies at the 11th and 14th, Calvert was one under par for an eight-hole stretch, but a treble bogey at the Lakes caused him some pain.
Seemingly showing no ill-effects from his younger sister's wedding celebrations the previous evening, Ciaran McCreesh returned a superb nett 65 to earn both a category 3 conquest and two-shot handicap cut. Closer inspection of the McCreesh scorecard reveals a splendid six-over-par outward trek but many more strokes frittered away on the home straight — perhaps Friday night ended up taking a little toll after all.
Rarely does a tournament pass by without at least one of the prizes on offer making its way to Keady and, sure enough, Paul Rice was on hand to continue that trend with a high-class nett 66 that incorporated no fewer than seven back-nine pars and led to his occupying the category 3 runner-up berth.
The lowest gross score of Saturday's proceedings was Philip Kelly's exceptional 68. Kelly's sole blemish was a seven at the 16th with which Jamie Calvert can empathise, but five birdies and 12 pars tell their own story about the quality demonstrated here.