AN HISTORIC CLUB WITH A MAGNIFICENT GEORGIAN PARKLAND SETTING SINCE 1893

A career-best gross 67 rendered John Vernon a most deserving competition winner at County Armagh Golf Club on 4 August.

Big-hitting Vernon’s awesome outing was ignited with a birdie at the 2nd and, although an uncharacteristic double bogey at would arrive later on the 8th, seven outward pars ensured he reached the turn in a commendable one over par.

However, it was in the second half that John delivered the main highlights of his Sunday masterclass. That back nine was negotiated in just 32 strokes, as consecutive birdies at Ballyheridan and Rokeby Green sat handsomely between pars at the 10th, 11th, 14th, 15th and 16th.

Then, another back-to-back birdie salvo at the 17th and 18th represented the swashbuckling climax to an exceptional 45-point display that catapulted Vernon to the summit of the Club Stableford standings and means he’s now playing off five.

The overall second position, meanwhile, was occupied by Rory Smyth. The President’s Day champion’s unforgettable golfing summer continued apace with a 43-point showing that featured, for the closing four holes, a quite staggering sequence of eagle, par, birdie, birdie.

The 15 points acquired in that ridiculous late bonanza transformed Rory’s hitherto workaday performance into something altogether more remarkable.

On the category front, Conor McGuigan topped the 0-12 handicap pecking order with a minimum of fuss. McGuigan’s assured 39-point offering was made up of nine pars, nine bogeys and zero stress.

Runner-up in this batch was 38-point Philip Kelly, who was three under par for the last eight holes on his way to a solid gross 70.

Sean Dougan Snr bagged the category 2 honours courtesy of his sparkling 43-point round. Dougan the elder birdied the 3rd, 6th and 17th, and only a no-score at the 12th hampered his bid to trouble Vernon at the top of the tournament tree.

As it was, Sean’s closest challenger among the 13-18 handicappers was Aidan McParland, whose excellent 40-point scorecard showed a birdie at the 3rd and seven pars elsewhere.

Another Aidan was among the prizes in category 3. Here, Aidan McGee recovered from a sluggish opening to register a 37-point tally that was boosted by a fine haul of five pars in the last seven holes.

But that still wasn’t sufficient to prevail in category 3. Comfortably the victor in this section was Kevin Slevin, whose marvellous 40-point knock contained a Lonsdale birdie and three pars in a row on the back nine.

Sunday 4 August was a memorable date for Derick Hynes too, given that he fired a fabulous hole-in-one on the 9th. Well done, that man!

Three weeks later on 25 August, Aidan McParland improved on his aforementioned category placing to triumph in a Club Stroke event. On this occasion, Aidan racked up no fewer than 10 pars as he signed for a brilliant nett 66.

This Club Stableford was contested off green markers and by a reduced field due to the CAGC Scratch Cup taking place on the same day, but scoring was impressive nonetheless. This was evidenced by the fact that, just behind McParland, was Gary McCourt, who landed a terrific birdie hat-trick amid his nett 67.

Indeed, that runner-up recognition will have provided some consolation to McCourt, whose Senior Cowdy Cup side were eliminated at the semi-final stage by Portadown just 48 hours previously. Congrats to Gary and the lads on a decent campaign, and continued thanks to everyone who gives up their time to represent any of CAGC’s teams.

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