Another vibrant qualifying season is moving inexorably towards its autumnal conclusion, but there are always some distinguished honours to be dished out from the latter items on the County Armagh Golf Club fixture list.
Chief among these is perhaps the Henry and May White Memorial Open, which was held on 14 September and generously backed once again by Philip White Tyres.
And indeed, the prestigious tournament furthered a repeated recent narrative, as Rory Smyth continued his glorious campaign by adding the White Memorial silverware to an abundant 2019 prize haul that also includes Gerry McCreesh’s President’s Cup.
Smyth’s latest super show constituted a nett 66 that kept at bay his 149 rivals on a busy Saturday on the fairways of the Cathedral City course.
The Keady player, whose summer heroics have seen his handicap plummet to single figures, registered seven outwards pars to dispense with the front nine in a mere 36 digs. Double bogeys at the 10th and 16th were unbidden, but a Ballyheridan birdie and then a pair of unfazed finishing fours edged Rory safely over the victory line.
Runner-up in the White Memorial pecking order was Stewart Stevenson. The silver-haired three-handicapper toiled to Lonsdale catastrophe — a six at the 3rd in layman’s terms — before recovering in spectacular fashion with birdies at the 6th, 8th, 11th, 15th and 18th that helped him to complete an entertaining outing in level par.
Stewart’s consequential nett 67 was one better than the nett 68 returns of the steady-eddy duo of Kieran Grimley and Tom Calvert, who were separated into third and fourth positions respectively.
Kieran’s gross 79 featured a Stevenson-style treble bogey at the 9th but, thankfully, also a more characteristic Stevenson-style plunder of nine pars and two birdies. Tom, meanwhile, was at his most adept in the early exchanges, when he parred everything from the 2nd to the 6th, and his gross 80 earned a 12-to-11 handicap trim.
The nett podium line-up was completed by a trio of contenders who declared on creditable nett 69s. In the immediate aftermath of his quadruple-bogey trudge on Lady Anne’s Walk, Art McCrory might have considered securing fifth place to be a fanciful notion, but it was realised courtesy of his marvellous 38-shot second half.
Paul Rice was similarly inspired on the homeward straight, parring six of the last seven holes to right his early wrongs and seal sixth prize. And John Lavery alighted his 18-hole rollercoaster in seventh spot in the overall reckoning. John’s mad-capped gross 80 comprised four birdies, four pars, seven bogeys, two double bogeys and a treble bogey.
That riveting Lavery round was in sharp contrast to the high-quality banality of the 14-par, four-bogey 74 with which Shea Brady clinched the day’s gross award. Next to Shea in the scratch standings was Jimmy Wilson, who birdied the 8th amid his handicap-equalling gross 76.
Memorial Trophy by competition sponsor, Philip White, and County Armagh Golf Club Captain, Kenny Edgar. Pictured behind them in the back row are other prizewinners (L-R): Tom Calvert, Kieran Grimley, Stewart Stevenson, Shea Brady and Art McCrory.