In a stableford event at County Armagh Golf Club on 16 August, no one could catch winner Sean Morrison at the summit of the Sunday standings.
After banking 18 points from a solid first half, Sean really hit his stride on his way back to the clubhouse. A Ballyheridan birdie and a par at Sequoias nicely punctuated a homeward trek that also featured six solid bogeys and just the one double.
That all meant that Morrison had accumulated a massive 23 points on his back nine. This, in turn, resulted in his 42 points overall, a first ever competition victory at CAGC, and a new handicap of 25 that will surely tumble further before long.
Elsewhere, declaring just one point shy of Sean’s tally and sealing the overall runner-up accolade was Marty Oliver. The 2016 Club Captain’s 6, 5 start was ragged, but he performed almost flawlessly thereafter.
Marty completed the remaining 16 holes in 13 pars and three bogeys and an accomplished gross 76 means that he’s now just one more good score away from a return to a single-figure handicap.
Another player whose round got better the longer that it went on was Caolan Doyle. The seven-handicapper was level par for a second nine that included an exquisite eagle at the 12th, and his 38-point return was top of the pops in category 1.
In second position among the 0-12 contingent was Jamie Calvert, who matched Caolan’s stableford haul but lost out on a tiebreaker. Jamie’s outing was a neat-and-tidy affair comprising nine pars and nine bogeys.
And not to be outdone in the Calvert household was old man, Michael, who grabbed the honours in category 2. Like his son, Michael satisfyingly avoided any double bogeys — his handsome scorecard boasted eight pars, 10 bogeys and 39 points.
Filling second spot in this bracket was Jim Bruce, whose symmetrical showing was made up of 43 shots on each nine. Jim notched 38 points and will most fondly recall his three consecutive pars from Rokeby Green down to Beresford.
The category 3 plaudits went the way of Peter McParland, who recorded 39 points. McParland was in particularly good form during a front nine consisting of seven bogeys and two pars.
Peter’s closest challenger among the 19+ coterie was Darren McGuigan, who landed the sectional runner-up prize with 37 points. McGuigan’s 6, 6, 6 climax was devilish, but his earlier hat-trick of back-nine pars was angelic.
Meanwhile, the Sunday gross gong was carried off by the indefatigable Shea Brady, who birdied the 7th, 12th and 17th amid a four-over-par display.
Three days later on 19 August, Fred Hanna proved unbeatable among his over-70s peers courtesy of a splendid 39-point knock that peaked with birdies at the 9th and 11th.
On the same Wednesday, some phenomenal scoring saw Brian Liddy and Ryan Runnette triumph in the over-50s and Open stableford tournaments respectively. Ryan’s awesome 45-point plunder incorporated nine pars and a birdie and means he’s now playing off 18, while Brian’s brilliant gross 85 earned him 43 points and a new handicap of 20.
