Away from the course, Keith Stewart is a director at Irwin Electrical and he turned in a fittingly electrifying display to prevail in a recent stroke event at County Armagh Golf Club.
On 8 August, Stewart shocked his 201 competition rivals with a superb nett 63 that installed him immovably at the summit of the overall standings.
Playing off a handicap of 14, Keith began surprisingly listlessly given what was to follow and was an underwhelming six over par after as many holes. However, a birdie at the Quarry provided the necessary spark and Stewart would complete the remaining dozen holes in 10 pars and just two bogeys.
That phenomenal turnaround meant that Keith eventually signed for a fabulous gross 77, and he’ll no doubt be buzzing about the double achievement of tournament victory and a two-shot handicap cut.
Runner up behind Stewart was Mark Shannon, who carded a magnificent nett 65. A double bogey at the penultimate test was the only genuine blot on Shannon’s Saturday copybook — and indeed it curtailed his winning aspirations late in proceedings — but that was entirely incongruous with an impressive performance on the other 17 holes.
Birdies at the 8th and 11th and just 73 blows across the piece ensured Shannon’s eight-to-seven handicap snip as he continues to benefit from more regular golf this term after a few stop-start campaigns. If he focuses less on the attributes of Nathan Ake and more on mastering Fairy Thorn, Mark should prosper still further.
Category 1 was a heavyweight bout between two contenders whose combined handicaps could be counted on one hand and still leave you able to order three pints from afar. In first position here was Jarlath McReynolds who accumulated just the six birdies on his way to a breathless gross 69, while second-placed John Maguire fired four birdies amid his exceptional two-under-par effort. John and Jarlath are now competing off handicaps of 0 and 2 respectively. Please employ those spare fingers responsibly.
The low scoring continued into category 2, where Brendan O’Hea was garlanded on account of a wonderful nett 66. Even an unwanted hat-trick of back-nine sevens couldn’t discourage Brendan, who racked up a birdie and 10 pars elsewhere and is now a 16-handicapper as a result.
Christopher Lester also registered a disagreeable seven — this treble bogey arrived at the 2nd — but he responded with O’Hea-like defiance. Lester posted 11 pars thereafter and a terrific nett 67 delivered him to the runner-up berth behind Brendan in the 13-18 section.
Finally, the upper echelons of category 3 were populated by two men bearing the initials BL. Barry Lappin took the plaudits in this bracket courtesy of a splendid nett 67, the highlight of which was a Ballyheridan birdie. Meanwhile, two shots back and in second spot was Brendan Lynch, whose haul of half a dozen pars helped him to a fine nett 69. Perhaps BL also stands for bloomin’ laudable; or perhaps not.
