County Armagh Golf Club's penultimate Medal of the 2018 campaign was contested on 18 August, when the leaderboard was headed by Andrew Conn. In this stroke event sponsored by Gerard Byrne Tyres Ltd, the eventual victor was very much on the right track throughout a blistering nett 64.
Andrew reached the Quarry at an acceptable three over par, before really hitting his straps in a middle section where he reeled off eight consecutive pars either side of the turn. That presented a tournament-winning opportunity with four holes remaining, and the nattily-trousered 11-handicapper grabbed it with both hands. Conn proceeded to close out his Saturday game with a brilliant birdie at the 17th amid three calming bogeys, which ultimately enabled him to register a tremendous gross 75 and deservedly capture the monthly silverware.
County Armagh Golf Club Captain, Colm Shannon, and sponsor, Gerard Byrne from Gerard Byrne Tyres Ltd, are pictured with prizewinners in the August Medal (L-R): Shane O'Halloran, John Maguire, Kieran Donnelly and Rodney Villiers.
Runner-up to champion Conn was John Maguire, who fired an exceptional gross 67 that was unfortunate to be denied the top honours on a break of tie. Maguire's round was bookended by bogeys at the 1st and 18th, but he negotiated the intervening 16 holes in a scintillating five birdies and 11 pars.
In the category reckoning, Kieran Donnelly prevailed among the 0-12 handicappers by virtue of his superb gross 73 and accruing nett 65. A birdie on Oul Coach Road helped Donnelly to a level-par outward nine before a tranquil homeward nine of 39 shots.
Sam Rutherford Cup skipper, Patrick Brannigan, finished next to Kieran after a somewhat schizophrenic outing consisting of five birdies, five bogeys, six pars, one double bogey and, sadly decisively, a concluding treble bogey. Nevertheless, this gross 75 was a both excellent and entertaining display that renders Brannigan a single-figure player once more.
Birdies at the 2nd and 10th provided each of John Mawhinney's nines with a welcome early boost, and he capitalised fully by also recording five pars and avoiding any major trauma. John's terrific and clickety-click nett 66 earned him a new handicap of 16 and pre-eminence in category 2.
Second position here was filled by Don McKee, who matched McKinney's total but was edged out on account of his inferior back nine. Still, McKee's 10-par salvo is indicative of a high-quality performance.
Shane O'Halloran's nett 67 and category 3 victory was just the latest impressive episode of what has been a particularly productive golfing summer that has seen his handicap plummet to 18. A treble bogey on Rokeby Green was the sole blot on O'Halloran's Medal copybook, as he scored nothing worse than a bogey at any of the other holes.
Finally, Rodney Villiers hared out of the traps with three opening pars before a birdie at the 13th – for which Shane would no doubt have paid good money – regained his momentum. Villiers would later sign for a pleasing nett 68 that landed him the runner-up prize in category 3.