Home   Sport   Article

Tain club golfer makes her mark in blustery Irish encounter


By Robin Wilson

Easier access to your trusted, local news. Subscribe to a digital package and support local news publishing.



Click here to sign up to our free newsletters!
Tain Golf Club's Mary Smith was top Scot in the competition.
Tain Golf Club's Mary Smith was top Scot in the competition.

TAIN Golf Club member, Mary Smith is very much looking forward to next season after she finished leading Scot in the British Women’s Senior Championship at Royal Portrush last week.

Her travel time will just be minutes to play next year when the event is being staged just across the Dornoch Bridge on the Royal Dornoch Golf Course, September 16-18, 2014.

The competition was played in awful weather and high winds and might have been called off had the greens staff not cut the greens which helped the ball stay on the putting surfaces.

Against a par of 75 and the CSS rising to 79 Smith had two cards of 85 for a joint fifteenth place in a field of 93. Her sister Anne Ryan scored 91 and 86 and Royal Dornoch’s Alison Bartlett two 91s.

Royal Dornoch’s Alison Bartlett is the new Scottish vets Champion

ALISON Bartlett quickly recovered from her gale-battered visit to Ireland last week where she also was taking part in the British Women’s Senior stroke-lay championship, to claim the Scottish Veteran Ladies Golf Association matchplay championship.

Already winner of the Highland vets’ title earlier in the season, Alison beat Alex Glennie (Kilmarnock Barassie), the west champion, by 5 and 4 in the final over Blairgowrie Golf Club’s Lansdowne course on Monday this week.

Northern Counties Cup at Nairn.

IN THEIR first round tie Tain’s top golfers, Munro Ferries, Dougie Thorburn, Billy Ferries and Frank Mackle lost out at the second extra hole of the Northern Counties Cup at Nairn last week to eventual silver medallists, Inverness but the Easter Ross club team can look forward with optimism to next year’s event which will be played over their home course.

In the difficult double foursomes match play tie where each pairing play to the final green Tain’s first couple of M Ferries and Thorburn finished one ahead of Inverness’s Laurie Chancellor and David Joel while the tie was squared off when Billy Ferries and Frank Mackle were beaten by one hole by Inverness teenagers Cameron Frannsen and Keiran Mackay.

Having to wait until the end of the first day of play the Fortrose and Rosemarkie first team, twice former winners, also went out of the competition on the opening day. The first team of Mike MacDonald, Chris Gaittens, Lewis Reid and Alan Cameron lost by two to Banchory. Their second team of Kevin Fowler, Steven Kinnaird, went out earlier in the day to eventual winners Newmachar.

All round it was a bad Thursday for the Ross-shire clubs. Out went Muir of Ord by fourteen holes to Fraserburgh and although Strathpeffer Spa did raise a morning ray of light with a first round win of six holes over a Royal Dornoch’s second team they crashed by nine holes to the Inverness first team in the afternoon. The Strath golfers were Michael McNab and Scott Duff who won by four holes against Dornoch and Garry Ross and Alan MacBean who won by two.

North Scottish Golfers Alliance Fixtures.

THE winter programme of North Scottish Golf Alliance has been drawn up and there will be two visits to Ross-shire venues in 2014, Fortrose on February 15 and Muir of Ord on March 1. The opening fixture will be played over the Moray (New) course on Saturday, October 5.

This date precedes the 54-hole Scottish Alliance Championship, open to professionals and amateurs, which is being hosted by Fortrose and Rosemarkie and Nairn Dunbar Golf Cubs from Tuesday, October 8 to Wednesday, October 10. The first 18 holes will be played at Fortrose with the final two rounds at Nairn Dunbar.

North Scottish Alliance fixture calendar: October 5, Moray (New); 12 Garmouth; 19 Grantown; 26 Inverness. November 2, Boat of Garten; 9 Forres; 16 Nairn Dunbar; 30 Kinloss. 2014 February, 1 Spey Bay; 8 Torvean; 15 Fortrose; March 1 Muir of Ord; 8 Moray (Old); 22 Elgin (Championship)

Tain Profession Stuart Morrison took a team of Rob Hudson, Mark Gray and Billy Duff into second place in the Sandy Pipey Pro-Am at Royal Dornoch last Saturday. Their better ball score of 131, nine under par, made up of from the two best scores at each hole finished one stroke behind the winners, father and daughter Dougal and Gemma Chalmers (Royal Dornoch) and Robin Wilson (Brora) whose professional was Ross Munro (Duddingston) with a ten under par 130.

Tain Golf Club

Ladies

Medal and Go pink cancer relief competition (CSS 76) — 1 Ina Macdougall (17) 80; 2 Trish Shearer (19) 82; 3 Carole Ross (22) 82.

Stableford (CSS 72) — 1 Ina Macdougall 38 points; 2 Claire Ross 37; 3 Mary Smoth 35.

Strathpeffer Spa Golf Club

Seniors

Medal — 1 Duncan MacLeod (12) 40; 2 J H Urquhart (15) 38.

Harry Sim Trophy — 1 A Newman (21) 39; 2 P Bannerman (5) 38.

Gents

P A Marshall Cup — 1 A Mitchell (8) 62; 2 S Duff (4) 64; 3 D F Campbell (8) 64.

Three Man Team Challenge — 1 P Bannerman, P Gair and I Bartlett 116; 2 S Gaffney, I McKie and Barry Mackay 114.

Tennent Cup — 1 M Gair (9) 61; 2 N Duff (11) 63; 3 C Anderson (11) 63.

Glass Scribe Trophy — 1 W Hermitage (22) 44; 2 S Gaffney (8) 43; 3 S Duff (5) 43.

Texas Scramble — 1 A Mitchell, J Ramsay, K Kellow and F Sutherland 51.7; 2 M Bentley, A Simpson, W Hermitage and S MacCallum 52.1.

Ladies

Medal and Breakthrough Brooch — 1 M Morrison (15) 71; 2 J Burnell (31) 71.

Alness Golf club

Ladies

Bring and Win — 1 K Whythe (21) 73; 2 R Patterson (9) 75.

Gents

Dalmore Final — 1 G Hart (12) 67; 2 R Bell (10) 68.

Millcraig Bowl Best 3 Nett Scores from six Dalmore Qualifiers — C Taylor (65/67/67) 199.


Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.



This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More