Over another busy few weeks of inter-club action, various County Armagh Golf Club's teams have experienced all the highs and lows associated with matchplay golf.
The Sam Rutherford Memorial Cup saw Patrick Brannigan's charges triumph in fine style over Kilkeel to secure their passage to the competition's last eight.
Results in this event are determined by holes rather than points and, in the first leg played in Kilkeel on Sunday 25 June, the greensomes pairings of Stephen Catterall and John Lowe, Gary McCourt and Paul Corvan and Marty Oliver and Roy Turner led the way in providing County Armagh with a useful halfway platform of just one hole down.
County Armagh's Sam Rutherford side, who defeated Kilkeel to reach the quarter-finals of the competition.
Back on home soil on Sunday 2 July, Marty Daly and gaffer Brannigan as well as the Lowe/Catterall and Corvan/McCourt axis capitalised fully on that position, earning a three-hole overall victory to set up a clash with Cullyhanna club Ashfield in the next round.
County Armagh have also qualified for the quarter-final of the Senior Cowdy Cup after fending off the challenge of Silverwood.
With teams consisting of eight players in this tournament, four points are at stake in each singles match — one for each nine and two for the overall outcome — and Jonathan McKnight's side turned in a commanding home performance on Sunday 11 June to take 22 of those 32 available points.
In the return leg on Friday 30 June, Philip Kelly, Jarlath McReynolds and Captain's Day champion Samuel Jenkins all scored bountifully while, between them, Adam Cromwell, Jim Wilson, Lee Campbell and the Shea and Niall Brady bunch garnered a sufficient haul to seal a 37-27 County Armagh win and a next-round meeting with Lurgan.
Having qualified for the matchplay sessions in truly emphatic fashion, Jim Wilson's Senior Cup squad returned to Rossmore, the scene of that outstanding achievement, in good heart to face Tandragee on Sunday 2 July. Revenge may even have been on some of the lads' minds given that this was largely the same panel that suffered Barton Shield defeat at the hands of Tandragee just a fortnight earlier.
Lee Campbell and Jarlath McReynolds battled tenaciously and their respective matches were poised at all square before both were called in having been rendered academic by results elsewhere as, unfortunately, losses for Philip Kelly, Stewart Stevenson and Joe Rooney against illustrious opponents signalled an untimely Senior Cup exit.
Disappointment, for sure, but this is a young group of much talent and potential that should be stronger next year for their 2017 learning curve.
Finally, Tim Teahan's All-Ireland Four-Ball Trophy outfit, who in many ways have been the leading lights of County Armagh's inter-club season, endured a heavy fourth round reverse against Rossmore, also on Sunday 2 July. However, they still have the home leg to come; where there's life, there's hope.
County Armagh Golf Club would like to thank everyone involved for giving up their time to represent our club teams.
The Senior Cup team from County Armagh succumbed to Tandragee in a tight affair at Rossmore.