In County Armagh Golf Club's PGA Tankard sponsored by Armagh Potato Co Ltd, Darren O'Hagan got his chips and wedges just right as he returned a golden gross 74 to leave his rivals burnt and broken.
The annual tournament was contested on 19 May, and this turned out to be something of a red-letter day for the victor. O'Hagan's birdies on the same double green of the 8th and 11th sprinkled the stardust, but his unflappable outing was constructed on the stable foundations of his 10 pars and half a dozen bogeys elsewhere.
County Armagh Golf Club's PGA Tankard prizewinners are pictured with competition sponsor, Charles Johnston from Armagh Potato Co Ltd, and Club Captain, Kenny Edgar. They are (L-R): Eamon O'Hagan (appearing on behalf of his son Darren), Colin Clarke, Eamon Toner, Paul Pender and Paddy Darragh.
The resultant 44 points both sealed Darren's stableford super-show and means he's now playing off 11, which is unlikely to trouble him unduly if this performance is any sort of accurate indicator.
Just a single point back and runner-up in the Sunday standings was Colin Clarke, whose magnificent gross 75 yielded 43 points.
Clarke reached the turn in only 36 strokes and even better was to follow in the three pars and a birdie with which he opened the back nine. A six at Sequoias proved a decisive momentum sapper, but this was another highly impressive Tankard display that saw Colin's handicap receive the same 12-to-11 prune as Darren's.
Few at CAGC can have struck their irons more cleanly than Paul Pender in 2019, and the big eight-handicapper converted that steel skill into 40 points on this occasion. Pender's terrific five-over-par offering contained two birdies and 10 pars and took care of business in category 1.
Second position here was filled by the relentless John Maguire, whose latest (almost customary) under-par showing comprised three bogeys, two bogeys and 13 pars and placed him on the brink of one-handicap status.
Bill Knipe's round was characterised by a remarkable consistency that saw him complete each nine using one birdie, three pars, four bogeys and a double bogey. The outcome of this equilibrium was a superb 40 points and pre-eminence in category 2.
Knipe's nearest neighbour among this middle cohort was Paddy Darragh, who recovered admirably from a poor start to birdie the 7th, par everything from the 10th to the 13th , and eventually sign for 39 points.
A hat-trick of consecutive pars from Crossways to Old Coach Road was a fruitful sequence that helped Hugh McAneaney to a superb 40-point haul and the top honours in category 3. And two points adrift of that total was second-placed Eamon Toner, who parred the 10th and 13th and remained a model of steadiness throughout his fine 38-point effort.