Big-hitting leftie Kevin Smyth has made hay while the sun has shone at County Armagh Golf Club this summer, collecting a number of prizes and satisfyingly reducing his handicap all the while. The latest instance of both came on 19 August, when Kevin carded a glorious nett 63 to prevail in a stroke event and secure a new handicap of 19.
The ultimately victorious outing had begun in inauspicious fashion as Smyth emerged from The Gap eight over par after five holes. However, he didn't put a foot wrong thereafter, negotiating the remaining 13 challenges in an error-free seven pars and six bogeys. So, this was a tournament triumph borne of considerable bouncebackability in addition to the obvious golfing adroitness.
County Armagh Golf Club's 14th hole, Sequoias, held mixed fortunes for players in the stroke competition on 19 August.
Second to Kevin in the Sunday standings was young Jamie Calvert, who signed for an accomplished gross 76. Jamie recorded birdies at the 7th and 14th, while eight pars and eight bogeys elsewhere ensured a marvellous nett 64 that means he's now playing off 11.
If that Sequoias birdie represented a high point of Calvert's offering, the same 14th hole was the scene of Brian Loney's only genuine mistake in his superb three-over-par display. A double-bogey six there was entirely out of keeping with the ten pars and three birdies that contributed so greatly to the nett 64 with which Loney took the category 1 plaudits.
An eagle two at the 18th - no doubt in-spired by the pair of Cathedrals that loom large on the overlooking city skyline - was the sensational manner in which Shea Smyth capped a heavenly gross 69 and nett 66 to clinch the category 1 runner-up award.
Tim Teahan, meanwhile, concluded proceedings somewhat less convincingly with a treble bogey. Happily for Tim, though, that stormy finish couldn't totally undermine the excellence of what had preceded it, as nine earlier pars helped steer the All-Ireland Four-Ball Trophy helmsman to the tranquil waters of a nett 67 and the leading role in category 2.
Second position here was filled by John McAleavey, who returned the same fine score but was edged out on a tiebreaker. McAleavey's most impressive play came during a first nine that he completed in just 38 shots.
Charlie Johnston proved unbeatable in category 3 by virtue of a splendid nett 65 that owed much to a spell of four pars in six front-nine holes and then the bonus of a birdie up the 10th. Runner-up in this handicap bracket was Norman Mallon, whose performance shared similarities with the peaks and troughs of the victor's. Much like Johnston, Mallon was at his finest when racking up in quick succession four outward pars and then a birdie at the 9th.
A few days later on 22 August, Joe Rooney earned the Wednesday Open spoils with a hefty 43-point haul resulting from an utterly flawless gross 66 of four birdies and 14 pars. On the same day, the Senior Open honours went to Declan McReynolds, who maintained his remarkable recent form with a sublime gross 73 for a massive 44 points.