Men - News & Results
County Armagh Golf Club's Ulster Cup squad have gained passage to the third round of the competition after a thrilling 7.5-6.5 defeat of Portstewart.
Having vanquished Greenisland to bring about this second-round meeting with the North Coast outfit, Marty Daly's charges were greeted on arrival at the Strand Course on Sunday 29 April by delightful sunshine but also a characteristically intimidating coastal breeze that would be sure to play its blowy part.
The County Armagh players were to turn in a sterling first-leg performance, however, as wins for Cormac O'Hare, Paul Corvan and captain Marty ensured that it was a particularly worthwhile seaside jaunt.
That 3-4 halfway scoreline provided the lads with a useful platform on which to complete the job back in the Orchard County a fortnight later, but only a fool would have been counting his Ulster Cup chickens already.
Indeed, in that second leg in Armagh on Sunday 13 May, the visitors got off to the sort of flying start that would have completely banished any complacency even if it had set in. Portstewart put two early points on the board and, given their superior holes advantage and the lead they held in two of the ongoing matches, the bleakness of the County Armagh prospects at this juncture was in stark contrast to the again bright and sunny playing conditions.
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Given the arduous scoring conditions in the 2018 qualifying season thus far, any player who beats his handicap by a shot or two has usually had justifiable reason to expect to feature prominently on that tournament's list of prize winners. Although this continued to be true in the Bumblebee Cup on 5 May, there were two significant outliers among the 177 scorecards returned.
In the stroke event sponsored by Victoria Bar Armagh, champion Paul Donnelly and next-placed Paul Pender blitzed the field with exceptional final tallies that made a mockery of the awkward golfing circumstances created by strong winds, tricky pin placements, heavy rough and a course generally playing more than its full length given the lack of run.
Donnelly's nett 61 was as impressive as it was incongruous with the Saturday toils of most of those around him and fully merited the silverware that came along with it.
That said, such glory didn't look to be in the pipeline when Paul struggled to an eight at the opening hole. Indeed, he could also have lived without two more snowmen arriving at the 10th and 12th. However, elsewhere, Donnelly's performance was fantastic, as he left his 1st hole troubles behind him immediately with a level-par six-hole stretch that included birdies at the 3rd and 6th.
Paul Donnelly is presented with the Bumblebee Cup by Nicky Currie from competition sponsor, Victoria Bar Armagh. Also pictured are County Armagh Golf Club Captain, Colm Shannon, and other prizewinners (L-R) Stephen Miller, Dessie Cassidy, Eamon Connolly and Paul Pender.
Four pars would follow for Paul coming home, before a gutsy bogey at the 18th put the seal on a red-letter day that also means a satisfying four-shot handicap reduction.
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Club Stableford - Sunday 13th May
1st Gareth Frizzell 40pts (back six)
2nd Paul McCreesh 40pts (back three)
Category 1
1st Calum Connell 38pts (back six)
2nd Adam Cromwell 38pts
Category 2
1st Gary McDonald 40pts
2nd Patrick Darragh 38pts
Category 3
1st Tom Donnelly 32pts (back nine)
2nd Robert Fagan 32pts
Prize vouchers will be left in the Pro Shop
Competition Convenor 2018
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PGA Tankard Results - Saturday 12th May 2018
Sponsored by Armagh Potato Co Ltd
1st Andrew Hayward 40pts (back six)
2nd Derick Hynes 40pts
Category 1
1st Mark Frazer 39pts (back nine)
2nd Michael McGuirk 39pts
Category 2
1st Paul Kelly 39pts (back nine)
2nd Mark Keogh 39pts
Category 3
1st Mark Hughes 34pts (back nine)
2nd Eamon Connolly 34pts (back nine)
Best Gross - Shea Smyth 36pts
Prize Giving will be on Saturday 19th May @6:00pm. All prize winners are expected to attend
Competition Convenor 2018
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Away from the relative glamour and spotlight of tournaments like the Lonsdale Cup, the Captain's Prize and the Gerry Lenagh Open, or any of those with a sponsor's name attached, lies the unheralded competition type that provides the backbone of the County Armagh Golf Club fixture list: the Club Stableford.
Two such bread-and-butter events were held on consecutive Sundays either side of the April-May border yielding victories for Brian McGrady and Dean Chambers, neither of whom will care one jot about the comparatively low-key nature of their triumph. A win's a win.
On 29 April, McGrady prevailed with a splendid 38-point performance that included both birdies at the 2nd and 11th and a spirited back-nine recovery, which was necessitated by a spell of three double bogeys in four holes immediately before the turn that threatened to derail his challenge.
As it was, this pleasing result for Brian brought with it a definite sense of déjà vu given that he last secured a qualifying top spot in another Sunday bout on 23 April 2017. Seemingly, the big 13-handicapper peaks at exactly this time of year.
County Armagh Golf Club's 2nd hole: looking resplendent in sunnier times.
Returning to the present, Stephen Moloney matched the 38-point winning total but finished in the silver-medal placing after losing out on a break of tie, as was always likely due to McGrady's aforementioned homeward heroics.
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Senior Open Stableford
1st Anthony Conlon 34 points (back 9)
2nd Art McCrory 34 points
3rd Ian Beaddie 33 points
Open Stableford
1st Paul Traynor 35 points (back 9)
2nd Lee Campbell 35 points (back 9)
3rd Calum Connell 35 points
Prize vouchers can be collected from the Pro Shop
Competitions Committee 2018
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A strong and bustling 170-man field competed gamely for County Armagh Golf Club's historic Hirsch Cup on 28 April but no one was a match for eventual champion, Patrick Brannigan.
A ragged spell of four dropped shots in as many holes immediately before the turn was Brannigan's only genuine wobble as, elsewhere in the event sponsored by Netstretch Internet Services, he gave his rivals little reason for hope.
A birdie at the 6th was the highlight of a winning round that also featured a streak of four consecutive pars on the way out and another six in a row on the back nine.
The heavy ground and penal rough continues to result in largely conservative scoring across the board, so this was a terrific performance from Patrick.
He would ultimately sign for a terrific nett 66 that, in addition to putting some silverware on the mantelpiece early in the season, returns the Ulster Cup stalwart to single-figure handicap status.
Hirsch Cup winner, Patrick Brannigan, is presented with the trophy by Cormac Knott from Netstretch Internet Services, competition sponsors. Also pictured are County Armagh Golf Club Captain, Colm Shannon, and other prizewinners Shea Smyth, Brian Hughes and Brian Cleland.
The overall runner-up position also had a popular occupant in the shape of Brian Hughes. The former planning officer plotted his way around the course to great effect and finished just one shot back from Brannigan.
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Club Stableford Results
1st Dean Chambers 37pts (back nine)
2nd Paul Traynor 37pts (back six)
Category 1
1st Caolan Doyle 37pts
2nd Philip Russell 36pts (back nine)
Category 2
1st Desmond Kinsella 35pts (back nine)
2nd Ed Hughes 35pts
Category 3
1st Kevin Smyth 36pts
2nd Paul Hughes 31pts
Best Gross John Maguire 33pts
Prize vouchers will be left in the Pro Shop
Competition Convenor 2018
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- Results - Bumblebee Cup - Saturday 5th May
- Wed open & Sen open
- NORM ON FORM IN SUNDAY STROKE
- ADAM ACCEPTS APRIL ACCOLADE
- Results - Club Stableford - Sunday 29th April
- Results - Hirsh Cup - Saturday 28th April
- SQUAD GOALS ACHIEVED AT COUNTY ARMAGH
- Results - Club Stroke - Sunday 22nd April
- Results - April Medal - Saturday 21st April
- EARLY-SEASON SILVERWARE FOR OLIVER