Magnificent seven puts Taylor in front
THE last club competition of the season, the Strokeplay Championship, played over 36 holes, was held at Wick last Saturday and Sunday.
There was a very disappointing entry with only six players on Saturday and five on Sunday, by far the poorest entry for a competition this season.
Despite the low entry there were some excellent scores, particularly on Sunday. After Saturday’s round Ron Taylor and John Hunter led the way with five-over-par 74s but Taylor showed his class by returning his best score of the year on Sunday, a magnificent four-under-par 65 – which may well be a course record – to win the competition by seven shots from John Hunter, who had a three-over-par 72.
Taylor had three birdie twos at the fourth, 11th and 14th plus another birdie at the 12th going out in one-under-par 34 and back in three-under-par 31.
Hunter (5) had the consolation of winning the handicap section with a two-round total of 136. On Sunday he made the best of starts with a birdie at the first to go out in level-par 35 and dropped three strokes on the back nine to come home in 37. Veteran William Murray (5) had a fine second-round nett 68 with halves of 38 and 35, which included birdies at the second, fourth and 16th holes.
A Stableford was also held last Sunday which was a non-qualifying competition played from the yellow tees.
It was won by former club secretary Ian Miller (20) with 38 points. Miller, who has not had the best of seasons, found his form with three nett birdies at the second, ninth and 14th holes and a nett eagle at the 12th, scoring 19 points for both halves.
Second was another veteran, Gerry O’Brien (24), with 36 points. He raced to the turn scoring 20 points which included nett birdies at the first, fourth, fifth and sixth holes and a nett eagle at the third, and was going well until he had no scores at the 16th and 17th, getting only 16 points on the way in.
Next with 35 points were Gary Davidson (12), Peter Taylor (11), Drew Robertson (9) and George Johnson (20), with Davidson taking third spot by virtue of a better last six holes from Peter Taylor.
The final competition of the season is the Ricky Shearer Open this Sunday. The tee will be reserved for competitors from 7.30am to noon and preferred lies will be in operation.