Close call at Tain spring opener
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AT Tain’s opening Spring Tournament last Sunday, Fortrose and Rosemarkie’s Alan Cameron tied with local siblings Munro and Billy Ferries and their club mate Alan Everett for the scratch place with cards of 73, three over par but one below the CSS.
Over the final nine hole card scrutiny Cameron (38/35) was placed first with the other trio B Ferries (37/36), M Ferries (36/37) and Everett (34/39). Everett’s relegation to fourth place the result of carrying a triple bogey seven at the 10th hole. Craig Taylor (Alness) won the Class one division and Graham Gurney the higher handicap section.
Gents Spring Open (CSS 74) (all Tain unless stated):
Scratch — 1 A Cameron (Fortrose and Rosemarkie) 73 (BIH); 2 B Ferries 73 (BIH); 3 M Ferries 73 (BIH).
Division 1 — 1 C Taylor (Alness) (5) 69 (BIH); 2 M Gair (Torvean) (9) 69; 3 G Allan (The Nairn) (4) 72 (BIH).
Division 2 — 1 G Gurney (14) 68; 2 M Brown (17) 72; 3 E Chisholm (21) 74.
Muir of Ord Golf Club
Late entries will be accepted on 01463 871311 for the Gents Open on Sunday, April 6. Competitors, from the host club unless stated, tee off in groups of three at 10 minute intervals. Abbreviations — C, Carluke; D, Dufftown; F, Fraserburgh; I, Inverness; Iv, Invergordon; M, Moray; NB, Newbattle; Ta, Tain; To, Torvean; S, Stornoway; RD, Royal Dornoch.
7.30am — M MacLeod; M Hind; K MacAskill; J Stuart; V Tillman; F McKnight; D Stuart; G Stuart; J Forbes.
8am — G Flynn; B Roberts; K Gray
8.30am — G Mellis; D McIntosh (RD); A Nish Jr (M); B Aspinall; S Scott; A Nish Snr (M)
9.30am — J Bicknell; J Crisp (NB); A MacLeod (S); K MacRae (S); S Halliday (C) P MacLean (S) M Macleod (S)
10am — S Gardiner; J Bradley (Ta); G Keil (To); R Gardiner; J Mackay (Iv); M Fraser; J Matheson (To); G McQuinston (F) D Marshall.
10.30am — P Johnson (F); D Hollinger; P Mackenzie; C Speirs; D Simon; K Mackenzie.
11am — B Rae; C Howarth; J Shields; I Rae; E Watson; D Burns (To); B Frame; W Marshall; G White (To)
11.30am — J Marshall; R Marr (I); K Mapplebeck (To); D Scrimgeour; B Mapplebeck (To); G Stevenson (To); K Rodgers (I); A Gullan (I)
1pm — P Brindle; R Moir; W Duncan (D); S Forbes; J R Mackay.
Results
End of Winter Open — J Stuart (6) G Stuart (6) and F McKnight (13) 79; B Syms (9) G Flynn (10) and K Gray (10) 79; S McIntosh (+1) S Jack (15) and J Groat (14) 76.
Tuach Cup (CSS 69) — E Dance (18) 6; G Stuart (6) 3; B Syms (9) 2.
Fortrose and Rosemarkie Golf Club
The Black Isle Open Foursomes Championship (Sponsored by Munro & Noble Solicitors and Estate Agents) takes place on Saturday, April 12 and Sunday, April 13 (36 holes qualifying on the Saturday and matchplay on the Sunday) – Players go out at eight minute intervals with 4½ hours between the start of each round. If there are any withdrawals or late entries please telephone the golf shop on (01381) 620733. Players from the home club unless otherwise stated. Abbreviations: B Banchory; E Elgin; I Inverness; K Kingsfield; MOO Muir of Ord; N Nairn; RD Royal Dornoch; S Strathpeffer; SB Spey Bay; W Whitekirk.
7.49/12.19 — R Keith, L Patience and B Main, C Young; J Fraser, S Gammie and D Lackie, I Morrison; N McWilliam (E), B Cruickshank (SB); A Cameron and E Forbes (I); E Skinner, K Gaittens and J Forbes (I), D Sanderson (I).
8.17/12.47 — K Fowler, M Manson and D Joel (I), J Treasurer (I); P Bannerman (S), D Krzyzanowski (S) and P Schnier, P Cameron; J Jack, R MacLeman and M Farquhar, S MacKenzie.
8.41/1.11 — C Fraser, G Gill and R Williamson, D Newbigging; D Morrison (S), M Bartlett (S) and A Fraser, G Fraser; G Watson, R Hutcheson and P Thorn, T Hillis; A MacArthur, L MacLeman and D Cameron (I), K Carpenter (I).
9.13/1.43 — M MacDonald, C Gaittens and N D Hampton (RD), H Macrae (RD); Partners and Partners; N Jaffrey, C Thompson (RD) and G Godsman, E Brown (I); J Fair, R Elder (N) and L Reid, A Begg (MOO).
9.53/2.23 — K Manson (S), L Manson (S) and Partners; D Ewen (W), T Beattie (K) and G Moore, S Bassindale; M Evans, P Rawlinson and S Hasson, M Hasson Jnr; Partners and Partners.
10.33/3.03 — A Tait, P L Taylor and D Alexander (B), E Alexander (B); Partners and Partners; Partners and Partners; Partners and Partners.
Events in Sutherland
The collaboration between the Brora and Golspie Golf Clubs with their sponsor, Kincraig Fabrics of Brora and Dornoch, to open the Sutherland golfing season on the same weekend with two 18 hole open tournaments proved a first year success when just short of 180 golfers played the two courses over last Saturday and Sunday.
Golspie was the first venue where Invernesian David Joel (34) a recruitment consultant made a winning score on the course after recording three twos at Golspie’s first three short holes, the 2nd , 6th and tenth to record matching halves of 35 for gross 70. The Inverness one handicapper finished two ahead of Brora’s Euan Polson who in turn was two ahead of his club mate Calum Stewart.
Stewart playing of four had a nett 70 to win the Class One Handicap section from locals Chris Somerville and Colin Sutherland.
Tain’s Mike Brown led the Class 2 section with nett 69, off 18, followed by two more visiting golfers, Peter Dowey (Torvean) nett 72 and Brora’s Johnny Sutherland nett 74.
Joel, Saturday’s scratch winner followed up at Brora with a four birdie and three bogey plus one double bogey gross 71 for a second day’s second place and with a 36 hole total of 141 won the two course scratch aggregate prize while Brora’s Johnny Sutherland topped the nett 36 scores with 144.
But the two remarkable winning scores at Brora the following day came from one player beginning to make his mark in the game and the other laying down a marker for the 2014 season in which he defends the Carnegie Shield.
Nairn junior, Reece Haspell is just 14 and still carrying about a senior handicap of 18 which should receive an instant reduction after he posted a nett 65, nine below the visitor’s CSS, to win the overall handicap voucher. Mailley at 31 is in his prime and in not the easiest of conditions at Brora his golf was outstanding in leading the scratch returns.
The Royal Dornoch plus two handicapper opened with a birdie three and with three more sub par figures reduced his outward count to 32. After his fourteenth hole seventh birdie of the day he got to six under par but a dropped shot on the penultimate hole returned him to a five under par 65, one better than his already course record of 66 at Brora, where he also reigns as club champion. But due to preferred lies in use Mailley’s Sunday best 65 has to be disregarded as a new course record.
Mailley won at Brora by six shots from Saturday’s Golspie’s winner Joel. Local Daniel Norrie with an out of bounds penalty at the 12th hole in his nett 65, off 12, lost the inward half card play-off with Haspell for the overall handicap prize. Robert Mackay (Fortrose & Rosemarkie) always a regular at Brora was another to gross 71 over the James Braid Brora links which rewarded him with a nett second place 67 in the low handicap group. In the higher section there was a winning score, nett 69 ,off15, for Muir of Ord’s Allan Pollack while his club mate Barrie Roberts recorded a hole in one at the lucky 13th hole..
Results
Golspie
Scratch — 70 D Joel (Inverness); 72 E Polson (Brora); 74 C Stewart (Brora) 74.
Handicap Class 1 — C Stewart (Brora) (4) 70; C Somerville (Golspie) (6) 71; C Sutherland (Golspie) (9) 73.
Class 2 — M Brown ((Tain) (18) 69; P Dowey (Torvean) (13) 72; J Sutherland (Brora) (913) 74.
Ladies — L Cranna (Golspie) (23) 86.
Brora
Scratch — 65 C Mailley (Brora/RDGC); 71 D Joel (Inverness), D Sanderson (Inverness).
Handicap Class 1 — D Norrie (Brora) (12) 65; R Mackay (Fortrose) (4) 67; C Sutherland(Golspie) (9) 71.
Class 2 — A Pollock (Muir of Ord) (15), T Tracy (Brora) (18), D M Sutherland (Brora) (17) 69.
Ladies — A Grant (Brora) 74; Y Blyth (Prestonfield) (14) 77.
