Success for Durrand and Campbell in Thurso club championship finals
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Defending champion Laura Durrand produced a dominant display to overcome Eileen Manson in the scratch final of the ladies' club championships at Thurso Golf Club.
A par five at the first hole put Laura one up. This was followed by a 12ft putt for a birdie after a solid 7 iron into the green at the second to increase her advantage.
Laura extended her lead to three after a four on the third. After pars at the par-five fourth hole, Laura moved to four up after the fifth to put herself in a commanding position early on.
The sixth hole was halved with five. With a lost ball from Laura, Eileen managed to claw back a shot by winning par with a fantastic 3-wood approach shot to 15ft at the seventh to bring it back to three down.
Both players parred the eighth with a steady par four. With the ninth hole also halved in fours, the lead was three at the turn.
After halving the 10th, a five at the 11th increased Laura’s lead to four. The long par-three 12th found Laura in trouble which resulted in a penalty drop. Eileen had a good drive just short of the green, followed by a solid up and down to bring the match back to three.
At the 13th Eileen found trouble on the left from the tee. Laura followed with a great 3-wood shot that landed just short of the green with two putts for a birdie three, taking the match to four up.
A half on the 14th helped Laura keep up the pressure as she moved to dormie four.
A solid straight drive and a good approach shot saw Laura on the edge of the 15th green. Eileen had a wayward drive to the right, having to then hack out followed by a short approach shot and a chip to the green. Laura was left with two shots for the match. She chipped to 10ft then sank the putt for a deserved win.
The handicap championship final was between Alison Campbell and Morag Mackay.
Alison plays off 22 and Morag 18, meaning that Alison would receive four shots – the shots were at the second, seventh, 11th and 18th. This turned out to be a very close match with some steady golf from both players making it all about their short game and putting.
A nervy start saw the first hole halved with sixes. The players followed this up with sixes on the second but this was a nett five as Alison received her first shot of the match to move one up.
Alison single-putted the third for a par to move further ahead. The par-five fourth was halved in sixes.
The fifth hole saw Alison move to three up after Morag found trouble, hitting the trees with her second shot. The sixth was again halved with sixes.
The seventh saw both hitting fives, nett four for Alison to move four up. The eighth was halves with fives.
Morag drove the green at the ninth and followed up with two putts to win the hole and move back to three down. Some unlucky putts saw Morag’s ball lip out on three occasions on the front nine.
A single putt from Alison for a par on the 10th allowed her to move back to four up.
At the 11th the players had matching scores and putts but, with Alison receiving the third of her shots, she moved further ahead to five up. Another single putt on the 12th saw her increase her lead to six with six holes to play.
Pars on the 13th and 14th were enough for Morag to pull back the deficit by two. Running out of holes, an unfortunate lie from Morag's drive saw her having to hack out – leaving the door open for Alison to clinch the hole and the match on the 15th.
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