Henderson, Reid and Main take Thurso club championship titles
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IT was club championship finals week at Thurso Golf Club.
Results for the Monday quarter-final matches – Scratch: Alan Swanson beat Innes Mitchell; Graeme Henderson beat Nicky Doherty; Iain Dunnett beat Ronnie Dunnett; Jim Sangster beat Stephen Spargo.
Nett: Ian MacDonald beat Steve Osborne; Jordan Youngson beat Bob Robertson; Cameron Reid beat George Munro; Jocky Begg beat Angus Cameron.
Seniors: Andrew Main beat Callum Mauchlen; Jim Telfer beat James Taylor; Ian MacPhee beat Dave Calder; Jim McLeod beat Stevie King.
Wednesday saw the semi-finals with the following results – Scratch: Graeme Henderson beat Alan Swanson; Iain Dunnett beat Jim Sangster.
Nett: Jordan Youngson beat Ian MacDonald; Cameron Reid beat Jocky Begg.
Seniors: Andrew Main beat Jim Telfer; Ian MacPhee beat Jim McLeod.
The finals played on Friday night saw some very close and competitive games.
The scratch final was a very tight match between Graeme Henderson and Iain Dunnett. Neither player was more than one up and this resulted in a seesaw match which could have gone either way.
After halving the first three holes, Dunnett birdied the fourth to go one up. Henderson turned this around quickly, winning the next two to go one up, which was his lead at the turn.
Dunnett won the 10th and 12th to go one up. Henderson squared the match again after the 15th. At the 16th Henderson went one up after Dunnett had an unfortunate lie in the grass bunker.
With the 17th halved, Dunnett had to apply pressure at the 18th. Unfortunately for him, his second shot out of the rough was a flyer which went out of bounds.
The match was conceded after Henderson was on the green in regulation which was enough for Henderson to become club champion.
In the nett, Cameron Reid (16) had seven shots on Jordan Youngson (9). After six holes the match was all square, but Reid won the seventh with a par.
He then won the eighth and ninth with a birdie and a par to go three up at the turn.
With shots on the next three holes it was looking good for Reid. This was the case as he won the 10th and 11th, with the 12th halved.
The 13th was halved in par which saw Reid dormie five. Youngson won the next two but a bogey on the 16th was enough for Reid to win and become handicap champion at the age of 15.
This is a trophy that his grandfather Jim Buchan – who is now 87 and still regularly coaches Cameron – has also won.
In the seniors, Andrew Main (8) became the first man to retain the trophy as he beat Ian MacPhee (12). Both men played some great golf and this was reflected after nine, with Main reaching the turn in level par, to be one up on MacPhee who was three over par.
MacPhee won the 10th to go all square. The 11th was halved and Main won the 12th. The 13th was halved in par and Main went two up after a par at the 14th.
The next two holes were halved and a par at 17 was enough for Main to win and become senior club champion.
The Summer League sponsored by Newsbeat saw two rounds last week. On Thursday, Eann Macintosh (21) won with 39 points helped by a birdie at the fourth.
Ed Wyllie (7) had 13 pars and five bogeys as he returned 38 points. Nicky Doherty (6) had birdies at the eighth and 16th as he had 36 points.
Jim Sangster (4) birdied the 13th and 18th to return 41 points. This was two ahead of Angus Cameron (11) who birdied the fifth and eighth.
Jordan Youngson (9) had birdies at the 11th and 13th to return 38 points along with Cameron Reid (16) who birdied the fifth. Tyler Gordon (18) was alone on 37 points, one ahead of Ross Sutherland (12), Steven Osborne (13) and Ian Farquhar (15).
The July medal was played on Saturday and Donald Sutherland (8) reached the turn in level par after a birdie at the seventh offset with a bogey at the third. The back nine proved more difficult but he was helped by a birdie at the 13th.
On the 17th he was three over par with a 9 iron in his hand for his second shot which he proceeded to put out of bounds.
However, he put the next shot stiff and walked away with a bogey. This was enough for him to win the medal with a nett 65.
Bryan Suttar (6) also reached the turn in par after a birdie at the sixth. Three bogeys on the back nine saw him home with the lowest gross score of the day, 72, for a nett 66.
Alan Coghill (11) was overall third with a nett 68, one ahead of Cameron Reid (16) and David Irvine (19).
Round four of Thurso Golf Club EGGS Summer Eclectic was played in excellent conditions. Unfortunately the Stableford scoring did not mirror the weather. Ian Manson opened with a 20-point first nine holes, a score matched by Donald Jack who was three over par. Bob Robertson and Bill Watson were on 19 points with George Mitchell and Jim Telfer a point further adrift.
Nobody scored well on the second nine holes with 15 points being the best recorded. Manson was one of the 15-pointers and therefore won the competition with a total of 35 points.
Robertson was second on 34 points with Jack a point behind. Ronnie Dunnett, Mitchell and Telfer all had 32 points, two points ahead of Alan Simmonite and Clark Grant.
The ladies played for the Mackay Cup on Tuesday. First was Sarah Meikeljohn (20) with a nett 65. Runner-up was Emma Durrand (18) on nett 71.
