Fifty-five young golfers compete for honours in Reay Junior Open
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Despite heavy rain showers, there was a good turnout for Sunday's Reay Golf Club Junior Open with 55 taking part.
Seventeen brave juniors braved the wet conditions to complete 18 holes.
In the 18-hole competition from the white medal tees, Aaran Johnson (Reay) won the scratch prize with a fantastic score of 76. This was helped by two birdies, on the par-four 13th and par-three fifth holes.
The fifth was a popular hole for a birdie, with Dylan Mackenzie and Owen Bain (both Reay) also scoring a two.
In the handicap section, Cameron Reid (Thurso) won with a nett 73 by virtue of a better inward half over Dylan Mackenzie. Third place went to Owen Bain with 81, again with a better inward half over Reece McKellar (Thurso).
From the red tees, Ella MacGregor (Brora) took the scratch trophy with a gross score of 100, while Rachel Durrand (Thurso) won the handicap.
A gross score of 101 earned Charles Fryett the scratch trophy in the 18-hole competition played off the blue junior tees. Ross Rosie (Wick) took home the handicap prize with a fine nett score of 68.
Bagging a birdie on the ninth hole, Murray Mackay (Wick) was third with a nett score of 76.
Lots more competitors completed either six holes or three holes on the main course.
Competition was tough in the six-hole round with 19 juniors taking part. In the girls' section Victoria Fryett (Reay) was way out in front, finishing on an excellent 39.
Ella Munro (Reay) and Chloe Mezals (Reay) each scored a great 50 and Ella took second place on countback.
In the boys’ competition, Ethan Mackenzie (Reay) took the prize for a second consecutive year with a super score of 36.
Michael Smith (Reay) was second with another great score of 40 and Jay Kirkwood (Reay) was only one point behind in third.
With the best overall score in the six-hole competition, Ethan took home the overall shield.
Skye Foubister (Thurso) triumphed in the three-hole girls’ competition with a great score of 28. The competition was close, with second place taken by Rachel Macgregor (Reay) only one point behind.
Third place went to Amy Andrews (Thurso) with a score of 36.
The three-hole boys’ competition was won by Noah Elder with a fantastic score of 24. Ruairidh Macdonald (Reay) took second place with a great 28 and third place went to Findlay Calder (Thurso), only one point behind with 29.
The overall shield for the three-hole competition was awarded to Noah.
Many of the youngest players took part in their first open competition on the junior three-hole course.
In the boys’ section, Jack Kelly (Reay) came first with a score of 31 and James Struthers took second place with 40.
There was some additional excitement in the girls’ competition when Lauren Tunn and Kate Miller (both Reay) each returned 24. With exactly the same scores on every hole, a one hole play-off was required.
It came down to putting and Lauren took home the prize. One point behind was Sophie Leslie (Reay), who finished in third place with 25.
The prizes were presented by committee member Carol Paterson, who had also done some advance fundraising to help support the day. Thanks were given to all the volunteers who helped to run the event, and to Nuclear Decommissioning Limited for its donation of prizes.
As a result, every player went home with a small prize. Thanks were also given to the Rotary Club of Thurso which recently awarded money to support junior development. This will be used for new equipment.
The junior section finishes for the summer season this week but will be back in the spring. Anyone interested in getting involved should email junior convener Lora Jane Kelly at reaygolfjuniors@gmail.com
