A recent round-of-16 clash between County Armagh Golf Club and Ballybofey and Stranorlar saw Marty Daly's increasingly confident charges seal a spot in the Ulster Cup quarter-finals.
The first leg was contested in an oppressively hot Cathedral City on Sunday 24 June, when the home team turned up the heat even further on their Donegal rivals to claim a commanding 6-1 halfway lead. Of particular note here were characteristically gutsy fightbacks by Cormac O'Hare and Nigel McMahon.
County Armagh Golf Club set up an Ulster Cup quarter-final derby against Cloverhill by dispensing with Ballybofey and Stranorlar.
The return leg was played a fortnight later on 8 July, when the Donegal course offered up a testing challenge given the many rainless weeks experienced there too. County Armagh required 1.5 points to further their competition participation and the first of these was secured in dramatic fashion when Patrick Brannigan finally overcame his host on the 18th green, having bounced back wonderfully from the previously ominous status of three down after six holes.
Elsewhere, Cormac O'Hare, Barry McGurgan and gaffer Daly had all built early leads and, with the latter reaching the 14th tee at five up, it was agreed to call a halt to the remaining matches. A massively impressive 9-5 victory had been achieved.
The team that got the better of Ballybofey was made up of Patrick Brannigan, Paul Corvan, Marty Daly (captain), Paul McCurry, Barry McGurgan, Nigel McMahon and Cormac O'Hare.
So, County Armagh's most enterprising Ulster Cup campaign of recent years continues apace. Greenisland, Portstewart, Ashfield and now Ballybofey have all been banished, and next up is an intriguing quarter-final meeting with Cloverhill of south Armagh.
Meanwhile, after terrific Jimmy Bruen Shield defeats of the aforementioned Cloverhill and Kilrea in previous rounds, County Armagh's interest in the 2018 series was ended when they succumbed to Lisburn at the neutral venue of Edenmore on Wednesday 4 July. Still, this run to the quarter-finals was an encouraging and enjoyable one for all concerned, and Declan McReynolds will hope to lead his squad even deeper into the tournament next year.
Continued thanks to everyone involved for giving of their time to represent any of County Armagh Golf Club's various inter-club sides.