1st P Loughran & I Loughran 61.34 nett
2nd C Dawson & P Doyle 61.88 nett
3rd D Murray & K Murray 62.5 nett
4th R Bradley & G Bradshaw 63 nett
5th P Haughey & A Ashforth 63.5 nett
Loughran's are Scramble winners
Ian and Paddy Loughran won the Club Scramble by the narrowest of margins from Paul Doyle and Chris Dawson. Just 0.54 separated the two top teams.
Father and son Damien and Kieran Murray weren't far behind either with a nett 62.5. Earlybirds Ronan Bradley and George Bradshaw colected foruth prize with a nett 63 and Paudie Haughey and Adam Ashforth brought up the rear with a 63.5 nett score.
1st Nigel McMahon 42pts (best bsck six)
2nd Martin Murphy 42pts(best back six)
3rd Oisin Toner 42pts
4th Peter Murtagh 41pts
5th Danny Maxwell 40pts
Big hitting Nigel is back in the prizes
Consistency was the name of the game for big-hitting Nigel McMahon on Sunday when he collected his second stableford competition win in a month with 42 points.
High winds made conditions difficult for most, but 'Onion' played a very steady round to secure 20 points on the front nine and add a further 22 on the back. His birdie three at the 15th hole accompanied with a half-dozen pars on the homeward trek was enough to clinch it ahead of Martin Murphy who also carded an impressive 42 points. Martin will however, rue his 'no-score' at the 10th hole, especially when a birdie three at the very difficult 16th was recorded.
Oisin Toner was another to rack up a score of 42 points on the day, 21 front and back, followed closely by Peter Murtagh with 41 points. And bringing up the rear was Danny Maxwell on 40 points.
Culub Stableford Sat 19th Feb 11
1st J Lowe 43pts
2nd C McElroy 42pts (best back nine)
3rd G Hughes 42pts (best back six)
4th D Spratt 42pts
5th I Brown 41pts (best back one)
Lowe and behold ...
John Lowe made the most of the excellent weather conditions on Saturday to win the Stableford competition with 43 points.
Underfoot it was very damp indeed, but a spring sunshine and light breeze made for a pleasant round, and in John's case, a winning one.
A string of pars over the front nine was marred only by a double bogey at the par-five eighth hole. But that single point for 21 points on the outward trek was to prove crucial at the end. A birdie 4 at the next par five set him on his way to 22 points over the back nine and together his 21 and 22 points respectively proved to be the winning score.
Just a point behind on 42 was Colm McElroy and it was his better back nine which edged the runners up prize ahead G Hughes, a winner last week. Another previous winner of recent weeks, Davy Spratt, returned a similar 42 points to claim fourth prize. And single figure handicapper I Brown collected the final prize of the day with 41 points - a birdie three at the last hole securing that for him.
Spring League replaced by team and stableford competitions
Club Competitions Convenor Davy Baird has been forced to cancel the Spring League.
But local golfers will still get their winter fix with Team and Stableford competitions replacing the League which was hit by inclement weather and course closure over the past two week-ends.
This week-end, Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 February, separate Stableford competitions will be played each day.
On Saturday 26 Feb, there will be a Two Ball Scramble. A Stableford competition will be played on Sunday 27 February.
Saturday 5th March will be a Four-Ball Classic event with Sunday March 6 a Stableford competition.
And on Saturday 12 March there will be a Mens Greensomes competition - the first at the club in quite some time. Sunday 13 March will again be a Stableford competition.
Club Stableford Sat 12 Feb 11
1st I Millar 44pts
2nd G Hughes 43pts
3rd C Shannon 42pts
4th I O'Hea 41pts (best back nine)
5th G Gillespie 41pts
Ian top of the class for stableford win
School teacher Ian Millar delivered a 'par-ful' lesson to win Saturday's Stableford competition. Eleven pars and a birdie two at the ninth hole chalked up 44 winning points for his round.
The 13-handicapper was well on his way by the half-way stage with 24 points on his card, and he continued the good form over the homeward trek to add a further 20 points.
Just a point behind on 43 was G Hughes whose 22 points front nine included birdies at the sixth and eighth holes. Continued consistent scoring on the back nine added a further 21 points to deservedly secure second prize on the day.
Colm Shannon claimed third prize with 42 points, birdies at the sixth and 18th holes the highlight of his round.
And Ian O'Hea snatched fourth prize with 41 points, virtue of a birdie three at the 18th hole which left George Gillespie picking up the final prize of the day with a similar 41 points.
Prizes can be collected in the Pro Shop.
Closure of the course on Sunday due to torrential rain overnight, has inevitably led to Competitions Convenor Davy Baird reconsidering the format of the twice postponed Spring League. Details are not yet known but will be announced later in the week. Watch this space!
Spring League - Rain Stops Play!
The County Armagh Golf Club Spring League will begin in earnest this week-end, Saturday and Sunday 12th and 13th February.
It was to begin last week but the course was closed on Sunday, and Saturday's competition therefore became a club stableford. In similar circumstances anytime during the six weeks of the Spring League, that week's League competition will also be cancelled.
Competitions Convenor Davy Baird has published details of Spring League which will now run until mid-March.
Players may play both Saturday and Sunday, with the best score of the two days counting. Temporary handicap cuts will also be introduced as required.
Winners will be decided with four best scores over the six week-ends of the competition. There will also be prizes for each day.
Club Stableford - Saturday 5 February
1st K Grimley 44 pts (best back nine)
2nd M Murphy 44 pts
3rd W Gordon 43 pts (best back nine)
4th S Macneice 43 pts
5th P Doyle 41 pts (best back nine)
Kieran gallops to photo-finish win
Kieran Grimley galloped to a stableford competition win on Saturday with an impressive 44 points.
Despite the heavy going and damp conditions, Kieran took the honours in a photo-finish with Mick Murphy who also carded 44 points on the day.
It was to have been the start of the new Spring League, but with rain preventing any play on Sunday, Saturday's competition became a club stableford.
Kieran got off to a flying start with a run of five pars which set him up for an impressive 23 points over the front nine. And with further consistent scoring and a further flutter of three pars to finish, his final tally of 44 points was always going to get him to the winners enclosure.
Mick Murphy will be disappointed to have been beaten by a short head with his 44 points amassed from 24 on the front nine and 20 on the back. So too will Winston Gordon whose 43 points earned him third prize. But his was a better back nine to push S Macneice into fourth place. Paul Doyle collected his first prize of the year with 41 points.
Club Stableford
Sun 30th Jan 11
1st N McMahon 44pts
2nd C McElroy 43pts
3rd T Donnelly 40pts (BB9)
4th K Grimley 40pts
5th NP McGeown 39pts
Nigel has prize in the 'onion' bag
When you record two birdies from the very difficult last three holes at County Armagh, the winning enclosure very often beckons. It certainly did for Nigel 'Onion' McMahon who bagged a superb birdie three at the 16th hole after landing his second shot less than two foot from the pin, and then round it all up on the last with a similar birdie three. But it took all of the 44 points he amassed over the 18 holes to win it - Colin McElroy, snapping at his heels with 43 points, claiming second prize.
Consistent scoring by Nigel saw him score 22 points over the front nine adding a further 22 over the back nine, but ultimately his two birdies settled the issue. Colin similarly was in superb form with 22 points over the front nine, or rather from eight holes, as he failed to score at the sixth. A birdie two at the nine however, set him up for the back nine where he added a further 21 points for a total 43.
Tom Donnelly was three points adrift in third place with 40 points from his round. Kieran Grimley, with three birdies in his round, claimed fourth place with a similar 40 points. And Niall McGeown was back in the prizes with his 39 points securing him the final prize on the day.