The Lonsdale Cup represents one of the most eagerly anticipated events in the County Armagh Golf Club calendar. With an August position on this term’s fixture list rather than its usual slot of early June, members had to wait with bated breath for that little bit longer.
However, when the prestigious stroke competition, once again generously sponsored by Armagh City Hotel, was finally held on 1 August, the Lonsdale was granted its due reverence and respect by both a course in fine condition despite the recent deluges and low scoring among just shy of 200 hopeful contenders. And heading up that field to be crowned a most worthy 2020 Lonsdale champion was Richard Black, who returned a marvellous nett 65.
The 2015 Club Captain reached the turn in just 38 digs, having signalled his ‘Major’-winning intentions from the off with three consecutive pars to open. Similar excellence would follow in the second half, where Richard reacted to his solitary blip of a six at Sequoias in defiant fashion. His wonderful closing sequence of three pars and a bogey thereafter made a mockery of the pressure or nerves that one might expect to feel in those late circumstances.
Black’s serene showing ultimately led to his signing for a gross 78 and taking receipt of the historic Lonsdale Cup, arguably the most coveted piece of silverware that CAGC has to offer. His 13-to-12 handicap reduction and accompanying return to category 1 were merely the icing on the cake of a job very well done.
Immediately below Richard in the overall pecking order were three more players who also posted nett 65s and missed out on the top spot only on a break of tie. Uppermost among that chasing triumvirate was runner-up Paul Donnelly. The 2018 Bumblebee Cup winner carded three pars on each nine of a superb round that earned him a two-shot handicap trim.
Occupying the bronze-medal berth, meanwhile, was Bill McAtavey, whose tremendous 10-over-par outing included nine pars and a birdie at the 6th. Only an unwelcome hat-trick of double bogeys curtailed Bill’s tilt at glory.
The last of the aforementioned trio was fourth-placed Bernard Grimley, whose brilliant gross 77 was also something of a white-knuckle ride. Bernard eventually alighted his 18-hole rollercoaster having racked up an eclectic mix of three birdies, eight pars, five bogeys, a double and a treble.
In fifth position in the Saturday standings was Gerry Cullen. His tranquilly consistent nett 66 was in stark contrast to the antics of McAtavey and Grimley and peaked with steady three pars in a row in the middle of the homeward nine.
Stephen Miller may not have expected to feature on the Lonsdale leaderboard after his damaging quadruple bogey on the Old Coach Road. However, such was Miller’s admirable resilience, he responded by parring four of the remaining 10 holes, having earlier birdied the 3rd, and signing for a gutsy nett 67.
Completing the nett podium line-up was Paddy Burns, who clinched seventh prize. The former Honorary Secretary birdied the 3rd, like Stephen, and later reeled off four pars between Shambles and Beresford on his way to a high-quality nett 67 and a new handicap of 15.
Elsewhere, the gross accolade was claimed by Mark Loughran, whose typically accomplished three-over-par display contained birdies on Lady Anne’s Walk and Plateau. Mark’s closest challenger in the scratch reckoning was gross runner-up, Jerome Leer, who also posted a masterly 73 but lost out on a countback across the last six holes.
Finally, also deserving of mention from the Lonsdale Cup action is Paul Rice, who fired a hole-in-one at, appropriately enough, the 3rd (aka Lonsdale). There were even rumours of backspin!
