Campbell's 20-point haul is pick of the bunch in last round of September Series
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The latest competitions at Thurso Golf Club were played in damp, autumnal conditions.
October 1 saw the last round of the four-round September Series. This competition, which is a mini summer league, is played over the nine-hole course with the best three of four rounds counting, and has been very popular with almost 300 rounds being played.
Going into the fourth and final round, Jordan Bain was the clear leader on 61 points with three sub-par rounds of 20, 20 and 21 points. With 18 points being equivalent to par, this meant Bain was seven under par and was going to be very difficult to catch.
Alan Swanson was his closest challenger on 58 points.
Conditions were reasonable for the early starters, but this deteriorated as the day went on. The term “dreich” was never more appropriate as many golfers returned to the clubhouse rather the worse for wear.
Despite this, and a much smaller field than normal, seven players broke par, with four of them scoring two-under-par 20 points.
Ross Sutherland was one of the players on 20 points and took fourth place. Sutherland had two early birdies but was left to rue a double bogey six at the penultimate hole. However, Sutherland’s 20 points saw him rise up the leader board to third place.
Ross Williamson, in his first season of competitive golf, continued to show his potential, also with 20 points. A birdie three at the fifth set him up for a good score but trouble at the antepenultimate hole saw no points scored. Despite this, his score was good enough for third place.
It came as no surprise that the next player with 20 points was the in-form leader Jordan Bain. Despite no score at the third hole, Bain had five nett birdies in his round.
Even with this excellent score, Bain’s three-round total remained on 61 points, such was the high standard that he had set over the first three rounds.
Making his first appearance in the winner’s circle this season was Eric Campbell. Campbell is also in his first season of competitive golf and his 20-point haul was the pick of the bunch.
A poor start was followed by three consecutive nett birdies at holes four, five and six, and four points at the eighth hole was enough to clinch victory.
September Series round four results: 1 Eric Campbell, 40 points; 2 Jordan Bain, 40; 3 Ross Williamson, 40; 4 Ross Sutherland, 40.
September Series final leader board: 1 Jordan Bain, 61 points; 2 Alan Swanson, 58; 3 Ross Sutherland, 57; 4 Iain Dunnett, 55; 5 Kyle Reid 54.
The weather was, if anything, worse on Saturday, October 3, for the October Medal. The rain never gave up all day.
However, there’s always a small group of players who will play in just about any conditions and so it turned out with 11 hardy, or maybe foolhardy, members taking on the challenge.
Not surprisingly, in the very difficult conditions, it was the low handicappers who came to the fore on this occasion, taking the first two places.
Jordan Youngson’s 83 (9) 74 was good enough for fourth place.
In third place was Steven Lowe with 84 (13) 71, a seven at the last hole spoiling what was otherwise an excellent round.
Runner-up was Bryan Suttar. Suttar reached the turn in an excellent one-over-par 36, including birdies at the third and sixth holes. His back nine couldn’t have got off to a better start as he birdied the difficult 10th.
A few shots were dropped on the back nine, hardly surprisingly given the horrendous conditions, as Suttar came home in 38 for 74 (6) 68.
Graeme Henderson, the 2019 club champion, has not had his best season but he produced some of his 2019 form on Saturday. A steady front nine of three-over-par 38 was reasonable under the circumstances but, with dropped shots at 10 and 11, Henderson may have thought his chance of victory had gone.
However, a superb birdie two at the 223-yard par-three 12th hole improved his chances considerably. Playing the last six holes in one over par, his only blemish being a bogey at the long 16th, Henderson had a medal-winning total of 74 (8) 66 – a reasonable round in normal conditions but a superb one in the wind and rain.
October Medal results: 1 Graeme Henderson, 74 (8) 66; 2 Bryan Suttar, 74 (6) 68; 3 Steven Lowe, 84 (13) 71; 4 Jordan Youngson, 83 (9) 74.
Sunday’s Russian Stableford was postponed due to the ongoing bad weather. It has been rearranged for this Saturday.
