Luck helps trio take new contest honours
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THE winter competitions continued at Wick with a new contest, the Yellow Ball team competition, run in conjunction with a Medal.
Eleven teams entered the competition and 39 members entered the Medal. Each three or four-man team starts with a yellow golf ball with the lowest handicap player playing the ball at the first hole and then passing it to the next lowest handicap player who plays it at the second and so on.
The winners are the team who complete the round in the lowest nett score but with the yellow golf ball that they started with. It sounds easy but not so as only one team managed to finish with the same ball they started with, Ian Thomson (6), Rob Sutherland (14) and Stewart Busby (14) and much to their amazement they won the competition with a nett 78.
They reached the turn in a respectable nett 36 with nett birdies at the second, third and seventh holes but struggled back in nett 42 with Busby lucky not to lose the ball at the last hole.
The Medal was won by Chris Taylor (4) with a nett 67 beating Gordon Steven Jnr (2), Thomson (6) and Mike Morrice (13) by two strokes. Taylor made a welcome return to form playing fine golf to go out in one-over-par 35 with a birdie at the seventh and dropped only two strokes to par to come back in 36.
Second was Steven Jnr by virtue of a better inward half. He made a great start with a birdie at the first hole but dropped six strokes to par from the fifth to the ninth to go out in five-over-par 39 but then produced fireworks to come back in two-under-par 32 with birdies at the 12th and 18th holes.
Thomson, who was third, played steady golf, going out in 37 and back in 38.
Fourth was Morrice who has been playing well in recent weeks, going out in 40 and back in 42.
Other good scores came from Tony Wilson (11) and Roy Place (28) with nett 71s.
Shot of the winter season thus far came from veteran Harry Cormack (19) who had a hole in one at the ninth to go out in 43 but, unfortunately, lost a ball at the last hole for a no return.
The next competition is the second round of the Eclectic which is being played on Sunday.
