The lowest winning total of County Armagh Golf Club’s qualifying season came on 3 August, when Brendan O’Hea’s outstanding nett 62 blitzed a 192-man field in an Open Stroke event.
O’Hea launched his round in emphatic manner with an exceptional three-over-par outward nine that was bookended by an opening par hat-trick and, then, back-to-back birdies at the 8th and 9th.
Having bettered his starting handicap by a remarkable six strokes at that halfway juncture, Brendan’s solid 44-hit journey back to the clubhouse was more than ample to secure Open success, as well as a welcome but withering 19–to-16 chop.
Three shots off the Keady victor’s blistering pace but turning in a fantastic performance of his own was overall runner-up, Mark Stevenson, who signed for a 65. Stevenson has had his handicap reduced to 13, having parred eight of the opening 12 holes before a bonus birdie up on Rokeby Green.
Meanwhile, third-placed Andy Hayward was anything but wayward throughout a straight-shooting nett 66 that culminated unflappably in five closing pars, and also contained an earlier birdie on the Old Coach Road.
Assuming fourth slot on the Open podium was Shane O’Hagan, who reproduced his May Medal-winning form in a proficient 74-shot affair that included birdies at the 3rd and 8th and half a dozen pars on the spin from the 12th to 17th.
Equalling the nett 66 tally returned by Hayward and O’Hagan but edged out by both on a break of tie was Kieran Grimley, who was typically dependable while reeling off a birdie and 10 pars on his way to a skilled gross 77.
On a day of scintillating scoring, Thomas Murray’s was yet another player to register a nett 66 – incredibly, it was good enough only for sixth position. Thomas’s superb three-over-par scorecard showed an eagle at the 8th and a birdie at the 12th, but the roaring flames of the fireman’s Saturday ambitions were doused by a finishing treble bogey. We can all empathise.
In contrast, Conor McGuigan climaxed with a Cathedrals birdie for which Murray would likely have paid big money. As it was, it put the seal on the terrific nett 67 with which Conor completed the day’s nett prize-grabbing cast.
In the gross reckoning, Stewart Stevenson’s 70 edged his old pal Jarlath McReynolds’s 71 into second spot. In a couple of suitably expert outings, the pair’s combined 36-hole effort comprised five birdies, 25 pars and six bogeys.
