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.
Fourball Scramble - Saturday 29 January 2011
1st 55.2, K Edgar, M Elliott, D Bullick, A Rennie
2nd 56.2, G Hughes, M McParland, C O'Hare, P Toner
3rd 56.3, G McCreesh, NP McGeown, S Brannigan, B Liddy.
Prizes will be added to players' accounts in the Pro Shop
It's just not cricket!
The team of ex-Armagh cricketers had the opposition stumped in the Fourball Scramble on Saturday.
Kenny Edgar, David Bullick, Mark Elliott and Andrew Rennie took first prize in the first team competition of the year at County Armagh. With a combined handicap of 5.8, they recorded a winning score of 55.2.
In second place were Cormac O'Hare, Pascal Toner, M McParland and G Hughes who finished with a nett score of 56.2 from a combined handicap of 4.8.
And bringing up the rear with a nett score of 56.3 was Nial McGeown, Gerry McCreesh, B Liddy and Sean Brannigan, whose combined handicap for the competition was 5.7.
Club Stableford - Sunday 23 January 2011
1st Niall P McGeown 42points
2nd Paul Smith 42 points
3rd Mark Gillen 42 points
Niall insures stableford win
Niall P McGeown's par at the 17th hole proved the insurance required to secure first prize in Sunday's stableford competition.
The par-putt gave him the extra point over the back nine on Paul Smith and Mark Gillen who each also carded 42 points.
Niall was in consistent form in thawing conditions with 21 points over the front nine and repeated that score on the back nine.
Surprisingly Paul and Mark were actually leading the charge after nine holes, each with 22 points, but both could manage only a further 20 points each on the back nine.
An impressive birdie three at the par-4 16th hole clinched the runner's up prize for Paul in countback over the last three holes.
1st David Spratt 41pts (best back nine)
2nd Norman Mallon 41pts
3rd Micky Cullen 40pts
The long and the short of it ...
It's no tall story, diminutive David Spratt won the Club stableford on Saturday.
The wee man took the prize with 41 points, but Norman Mallon will stand tall in the knowledge he lost out on countback after returning the same 41 points.
Steady scoring over the front nine saw David stack up 19 points and his good form continued on the inward trek with a further 22 points added to his tally.
Norman chalked up 20 points over the front nine and added 21 on the back nine, but a 'no score' at 14 was the difference in the winning and having to settle for second.
Michael Cullen claimed third prize in a somewhat depleted field, returning 21 points on the front nine and 19 on the back for a very respectable 40 points.
Competition change for January 29/30
A Four-ball Scramble will now take place on Saturday January 29, 2011, instead of the Club Stableford listed in the club fixtures.
The Stableford Competition will be held on Sunday January 30, 2011, replacing the Two-Ball Scramble listed in the club fixtures.
ANDY Conn shook off the effects of the holiday festivities to get his new year off to a winning start at County Armagh Golf Club on Sunday.
In fact he left all trailing in his wake in the first stableford competition of 2011 with a superb winning 45 points – four points clear of his nearest rival.
A birdie two at the third hole also boosted his winnings on the day and he could even afford an out-of-bound shot at the last hole.
Mark Gillen led the chasing pack and along with Davy Spratt and Norman Mallon recorded 41 points to claim second, third and fourth place respectively on countback.