Reay Golf Club: Brent is star of the show in gents' open
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Saturday saw Reay hosting its annual gents' open, sponsored by M2 Procurement and Commercial Services. Recent rainfall had taken a little of the fire out of the course, but a persistent wind and heavy showers throughout the day made it a real challenge for the field.
Despite the conditions some excellent scores were recorded, with Brent Munro being the star of the show in the scratch competition after he followed up a sublime opening round of 69 with a 71 for a winning aggregate score of 140.
Round one saw Brent play extremely steady golf with a fine birdie at the second offset by a solitary bogey at the 17th to see him round in level par. Another solid round in the afternoon, which included birdies at the 10th and 14th holes, secured a comfortable winning margin of seven strokes.
Gregor Munro who has been in fine form of late, took second place after rounds of 72 and 75 gave him a score of 147. Gregor managed to rattle off six birdies during his two rounds at the fifth, seventh, 13th, 14th (twice) and 18th.
Gavin Sutherland, enjoying a trip home to Caithness from the sunnier climes of Dubai, produced rounds of 74 and 75 for third place on 149, with four birdies coming throughout his day at the third, sixth, 11th and 13th holes.
Lee Parnell, another player on a good run of form, took fourth on 151 after rounds of 78 and 73 which included a birdie at the fourth in round one and one at the short fifth in round two.
In the handicap section Kenny Farmer Snr needed countback to overcome Thurso’s Jordan Youngson after both finished on aggregate scores of 141. Farmer's second round of nett 68 after a solid nett 73 in the morning proved crucial and he took the trophy ahead of Youngson, who fired four birdies during his two rounds.
Iain Dunnett had matching rounds of nett 71 to take third place on 142, with birdies at the 10th, 11th and 12th over his two rounds helping him along the way. Bruce Mackay produced two solid rounds of nett 70 and 72 to finish in fourth place, edged out by Dunnett on countback.
Other prize-winners included Michael Smith, Gavin Gunn, Tom Ross and Colin Paterson, who all grabbed bottles of spirits courtesy of Dunnet Bay Distillers.
The latest North Point Distillery Senior Stableford action at Reay saw David A Craig recover from a slow start to win on the day with an impressive score of 42 Stableford points following a round of 87 which included a homeward nine of 40 shots.
John Brock bagged birdies at the ninth and 12th on his way to a fine tally of 42 and was edged into second place on countback. Murdo Macdonald birdied the eighth en route to a score of 38 points and third place, with Pete Barker putting together an excellent back nine to finish fourth on 37 points.
In the overall standings Sandy Chisholm leads the way on an eight-round aggregate score of 301, ahead of Jack Johnstone on 298, John Brock on 297, Murdo Macdonald on 292 and Malcolm Thomson on 290.
Meanwhile, after a four-week hiatus, the action resumed in the Abbott Risk Consulting Summer Cup, with Ian Farquhar finishing on the top of the tree after an excellent round of 82 which included birdies at the fifth and ninth was good enough for 39 Stableford points
A fantastic inward half of 38 shots was good enough to give Leslie Malcolm second place on 35 points, with a trio of players, Jimmy Meiklejohn, Tom Ross and Gavin Sutherland, next best after all finished on 34 points.
All three players were on the birdie trail too, with Meiklejohn managing one at the fifth, Sutherland mustering a brace at the 14th and 16th and Ross signing for a hat-trick at the ninth, 14th and 16th.
This Saturday will see the ladies competing in round eight of their summer Stableford, while on Sunday the gents will be vying for silverware in the form of the July Medal.
