The vast majority of members at County Armagh Golf Club would bite your hand off to shoot a gross 68 once in a lifetime. Stewart Stevenson, however, was unwilling to settle for that even as the high point of a single playing weekend because, after posting that awesome number in the Open competition on 4 August, he went lower again 24 hours later. Golfing gluttony is a terrible vice.
In the Club Stableford event on 5 August, Stevenson responded to an opening bogey by firing birdies at the 2nd, 6th, 8th, 9th, 12th and 13th and dropping only one further shot. The winning Sunday scorecard showed a three-under par front nine and a one-under-par homeward trek, as Stewart dismissed the challenge posed by the city course in a measly 66 strokes. This was a stunning two-day showing from the silver-haired two-handicapper.
Stewart's accruing 42 points left him two clear of the overall runner-up, Michael Calvert, who amassed four birdies of his own including an incredible hat-trick of front-nine 2's. Calvert has had his handicap pruned to 12 on account of his excellent and eventful gross 79 but is likely still regretting his costly decision not to enter that day's 2's club!
The 9th was just one of six holes that Stewart Stevenson birdied on his way to a majestic gross 66 on 5 August.
Meanwhile, the category 1 standings were headed by Mark Keogh on 39 points. The Scot began each nine in fantastic fashion, parring the first five holes on the front and later birdieing both the 10th and 11th. Next to Keogh in the 0-12 handicap reckoning was Adam Hunniford, whose fine eight-over-par outing featured three birdies and resulted in 38 points.
Brian Wilson and Paddy Burns each returned terrific 39-point totals and were separated into the category 2 first and second positions respectively on a break of tie. A combined haul of 16 pars and two birdies is indicative of the high quality of both men's rounds.
Finally, Thomas Crowe was the standout performer in category 3. He racked up a massive 23 points during a particularly productive front nine that was followed by a more prosaic 17-point journey back to the clubhouse. One point adrift of Crowe and securing second prize in this category was Eamon Toner, whose pair of no-scores was more than compensated for by a Beresford birdie and half-a-dozen pars elsewhere.