SUNDAY SUCCESS FOR BRIAN AND DEAN

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.