Mackay claims victory at Lybster
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THE Caithness and Sutherland Seniors’ Golf Society visited Lybster Golf Club last Wednesday for the second of three meetings on nine-hole courses, having played ?Bonar/Ardgay recently and making the trip to ?Durness next week.
As with the Bonar-Ardgay meeting, the Lybster course had to withstand a lot of rain beforehand but was eminently playable.
Don Mackay, a Reay member for many years, now playing out of Royal Dornoch, has been in good form in society events this season with second place over his home course and coming close to the prize list at Brora. All of his previous efforts were eclipsed, however, with an outstanding performance at Lybster.
After a good first nine, played in four over par for 19 Stableford points, the 11-handicapper played his second nine in 29 shots, two under par, for 26 points and a fantastic total for the round of 45. Needless to say, this earned a convincing win for him in the lower handicap category.
Thurso’s Ronnie Gray, a winner at Bonar-Ardgay, slipped up a little after a fine 21-point first nine, but his 37-point total earned him second place by a point from club mate Sandy Wright, whose second-nine total of 19 points relegated Wick’s Tony Wilson to fourth place on countback. Another Wick player, Johnny Robertson, and Golspie’s Don Bremner were next best on 35 points, one ahead of Pat Valentine (Thurso).
Brora’s John Beaney just missed out on the prize list at Bonar-Ardgay but made no mistake at Lybster as he captured first place in the middle handicap category with an excellent 41-point effort. Beaney played the par four holes well with a birdie at the 10th a highlight.
Sandy Reid, from the Thurso club, has enjoyed success at Reay and Royal Dornoch but the top place eluded him yet again and he had to settle for second place despite a fine 39-point round where his only blemishes were a blank at the first and a single point at the last.
Club mate Clark Grant, in his first season with the society, earned third place with 38 points beating Peter Knapp, also from Thurso, by a point, with Arnold Bevan (Golspie) and Gerald Klein (Durness) on 36 points, one clear of Reay’s Bill Budding.
Society secretary David Lyall’s form has been distinctly average so far this season so a 40-point round that won him top place in the higher handicap category was much appreciated by the Thurso player.
Lyall got only one point at the second hole on both nines but a four-point effort at the 11th made up for that.
Wick’s George Johnson and Ramsey Mackay, of the host club, both scored 38 points with 18 points each on the first nine and 20 more on the second nine and it eventually rested on the last three holes where Johnson was a shot better to take the runner-up spot.
Two Bonar-Ardgay players were next best with Gordon Kilgour on 37 points and Nigel Baird, a winner over his home course, on 36 points, one better than Jim Hawthorn (Thurso).
