HUGHES DEPOSITS BANKERS CUP IN HIS GOLFING ACCOUNT

Northern Bar sponsored the Bankers Cup at County Armagh Golf Club on Saturday 21 July and, when the results were returned, the drinks were on champion Mark Hughes, whose magnificent nett 63 topped a bustling field of 181 competitors.

Following a poor start that incorporated three double bogeys, Hughes sprung to life with a birdie at the 6th and proceeded immediately to reel off five pars in a row either side of the turn. Then, alternate bogeys and pars across the closing seven holes saw the Keady man over the line to a cup-clinching gross 81.

Mark had looked odds-on to take the Captain's Prize in June only to be undone by a late collapse, so this victory brings with it a satisfying sense of redemption as well as a new handicap of 16.

County Armagh Golf Club Vice-Captain, Kenny Edgar, presents the Bankers Cup to Mark Hughes, winner of the recent competition sponsored by Northern Bar, Armagh. Also pictured are other prizewinners Shane O'Halloran and Shea Brady.

Matching the winning total but losing out to Hughes on a break of tie was Shane O'Halloran. He negotiated the outward nine in just 41 strokes before responding to an ugly eight up the 10th with a gutsy par-birdie-par sequence that immediately recaptured his momentum. Shane would eventually register a superb nett 63 that scooped him the overall runner-up gong and clips his handicap by two shots.