County Armagh Golf Club’s busy post-lockdown schedule continued on 9 August, when Garry Toal clinched glory in a stableford fixture.
Garry’s maiden success was based largely on a sublime outward nine, which he negotiated in just 39 digs. A birdie on Lady’s Anne’s Walk and pars at the 3rd, 7th and 8th contributed to his reaching the turn with a colossal 25 points in the stableford bank.
A 16-point back nine was an understandable regression to the mean after those early heroics. Nevertheless, at the close of play, Toal could proudly submit a brilliant 41-point scorecard that deservedly earned him both competition delight and a satisfying 22-to-20 handicap lowering.
Coming up just one point short of Garry’s prevailing score was Stephen Moloney, who claimed the overall runner-up prize. Stephen, too, completed the first half in five over par, which was particularly creditworthy given that his progress had been checked somewhat by a nasty treble bogey at the 5th.
Thankfully, no such misfortune would befall Moloney on a tremendous homeward nine, where a Beresford birdie punctuated five pars and three bogeys elsewhere. Stephen’s 40-point aggregate means that he is now within touching distance of single-figure handicap status.
In category 1, Ronan McWilliams landed first position with a demonstration of why he has been selected to represent CAGC’s Ulster Cup and Pierce Purcell Shield sides in recent weeks. Ronan’s high-quality gross 78 yielded 38 points and defeated second-placed Nathan Grimley on a countback. For his part, Nathan constructed an excellent five-over-par round that contained birdies at the 2nd and 14th.
Anthony Hillen opened with four straight pars and later birdied the 8th as he notched 22 points on the front nine. Hillen’s eventual 40-point total saw him take the plaudits in category 2. The silver-medal berth here was filled by Paul Traynor, who impressively parred the last two holes to conclude a 37-point outing.
Five consecutive pars from the concrete jungle of the Obelisk to the leafy suburbs of Sequoias were a major contributing factor in Chris Hart’s marvellous 39-point plunder, which proved unbeatable in category 3. Hart’s closest challenger in this bracket was Aidan McGee, who notched five pars amid a solid 37-point showing.
Lastly for the Sunday exchanges, the gross gong was carried off by that man, Joe Rooney, courtesy of a typically majestic knock comprising three birdies, 13 pars and just two dropped shots.
Three days later on 12 August, the Wednesday action made a welcome return after a deluge forced its abandonment the week before.
Very much on top of his game on this occasion was Colm Shannon, who finished without compare in the over-50s Open. The 2018 Club Captain’s inspired 40-point performance peaked with a two at Shambles.
Meanwhile, declaring at the same 40-point mark and fending off all comers among the under-50s cohort was Kris Calvert. The eight-handicapper birdied the 5th and 8th during his classy gross 74.
Finally, a Shannon-like birdie at the 11th, in addition to a fruitful haul of eight pars, powered Michael Wasson to a formidable 42 points and victory in the over-70s Wednesday event.
