County Armagh Golf Club’s competitive action on 7 July was generously supported by McAnenly Transport Ltd, and it was Ally Dodds who returned home with the precious cargo of tournament victory.
Dodds reached the turn in 42 hits but it was thereafter that he really got into his stride. The then 18-handicapper’s ensuing back nine was error-free, comprising as it did five pars and four bogeys.
County Armagh Golf Club Vice-Captain, Declan McReynolds, and Sean McAnenly, from competition sponsors McAnenly Transport Ltd, present the winner’s prize to Ally Dodds, who posted 42 points in last month’s stableford event.
That resulted in a marvellous 18-hole tally of 42 points, which catapulted Ally to the peak of the Sunday standings and secured him a new handicap of 16. On this evidence, that three-shot reduction should pose Dodds little or no problem in his on-course tussles.
Matching the winning score but missing out on a break of tie was runner-up, Kevin Ward. His equally brilliant 42-point performance was most notable for back-to-back birdies at the 4th and 5th and, later, the bountiful sequence of consecutive pars from the 12th to 15th.
On the category front, Adam Hunniford prevailed among the 0-12 cohort with an excellent 39-point scorecard that showed birdies at the 11th and 14th and eight pars elsewhere.
Finishing second to Adam in category 1 was Kris Calvert, who was no doubt keen not to be overlooked amid his brother Jamie’s Webster Cup triumph of 24 hours previously. Kris succeeded in that mission with a 38-point haul that would’ve been even greater but for the late blemish of a treble bogey at the Lakes.
The category 2 plaudits were taken by Brian Digby, whose mightily impressive gross 78 yielded 41 points and left him just one shy of Dodds and Ward in the outright reckoning. And Peter McBride gave it Dixie on a wonderful three-over-par front nine, eventually signing for 38 points that placed him in second position behind Digby.
Meanwhile, three pars in four outward holes represented the most fruitful spell of the splendid 38-point outing with which Sean Bailie topped the pile in category 3. The runner-up prize in this section was sealed by Gerry Kelly, who racked up half a dozen pars on his way to a fine 37-point total.
Finally, a heavenly birdie at Cathedrals put the finishing touches on the accomplished 71-shot affair that earned Stewart Stevenson the day’s gross accolade.