Top qualifier Coghill to tee off at Thurso
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THE weather conditions on Saturday were almost perfect at Thurso golf course for the Blargoans June monthly medal. This competition was also the final qualifying round for the men’s club championships.
Scoring was excellent with 15 players matching or beating the course par.
Winner of the medal with a nett 64 was Alan Coghill. This also gave Coghill, when added to his other best score, top qualifying position in the handicap club championship.
Malcolm Morrison took second place with a nett 65 after countback. Morrison had three birdies on his card, but a triple bogey seven at the sixth hole spoilt his round.
Peter Sangster’s third-place nett 65 contained four birdies in his opening nine holes of 33. A single birdie on the back nine was not enough to compensate for a double bogey at the 12th in Sangster’s gross score of 69.
Dougie Thorburn had the best gross score of 66, giving him fourth place on countback from Jamie Riddell who also had a nett 66. Thorburn’s score coupled with his earlier round made him top qualifier for the scratch club championship.
Four players – Willie Shearer, Michael Macgregor, Pat Valentine and Jim Buchan all had nett 67s. Blair McIntosh and Ronnie Matheson were a shot further back. The seniors took advantage of a lovely golfing day on Tuesday to return some good scores in the penultimate round of the EGGS Summer Stableford for the Dave Wallace Trophy.
The first player off the tee in the competition, Gary Henderson, went on to turn in a fine round of golf and claim first place with 41 points. Secure driving and excellent putting got him to the turn in 22 points and 19 more were to follow despite a blank at the 17th hole.
Sandy Reid opened with three straight pars and was only four over par at the turn despite a triple bogey at the fourth. This yielded 21 points, and a solid back nine got him to 39 points and second place, a point ahead of Sandy Wright and Doug McCowan.
Wright had the day’s best back nine of 20 points that included two birdies to finish. In contrast, McCowan made his mark on the front nine with an impressive run of pars from the fifth and 21 points. Dar Sutherland, with birdies at the third and 18th holes, also beat the 36-point mark, by a point.
After Tuesday’s round the competition has a new leader as Reid improved by seven points to a best six-round aggregate of 213 points, three clear of previous leaders Donald Jack and Pat Valentine who failed to improve.
Jack Johnstone improved by a couple of points to join Bill Hossack in fourth place on 208 points, four ahead of Ronnie Gray and Alan Simmonite. Most of those players have a poorest counting score of 32 points so there is all to be played for next week.
The dull but good golfing conditions continued into the evening for the ladies.
Laura Durrand took full advantage with a round of 73, nett 66, which was a shot more than her course record. Needless to say Durrand won the competition, the SLGA Brooch.
Second with a nett 74 was Angela Williamson with the evergreen Eileen Manson a shot more.
The main competition for the men at Thurso this weekend is the JGC Open on Sunday.
There is a further round of the Ulbster Challenge Shield tomorrow.
Details of all the fixtures can be obtained at www.thursogolfclub.com.
