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Strathspey and Badenoch golfers getting back into swing of things


By Tom Ramage

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Golf continues to roar back in the strath.

At Kingussie the season’s second hole-in-one was notched up and, as vice-president Keith Hunter celebrated, excellent player numbers have been reported in all competitions.

“We saw an all-time high of 82 entrants for the men’s July Medal – and we want to thank all members for their continued support.”

Latest scores at Kingussie include the Leverhulme Cup: 1 I Borthwick (14), 63; 2 A Dallas (4), 63; 3 Rory Borthwick (4), 64.

Presidents Prize: 1 A Michie (12), 63; 2 Ryan Borthwick (6), 64; 3 A Dempster (15), 64.

Stunning golf at Kingussie
Stunning golf at Kingussie

Anderson Rosebowl: 1 S Genini (17), 64; 2 Dylan Borthwick (13), 64; R Anderson (11), 64 – it was in this competition that member Andrew Maclean aced the 8th.

Challenge Cup Round 2: 1 A Lyon (8), 62; 2 B Shaw (4), 62; 3 L Borthwick (13), 64. July Medal Div 1: 1 D Borthwick (1), 64; 2 S Leiper (9), 64; 3 A Borthwick (6), 64. Div 2: 1 L Borthwick (12), 61; 2 R Mackeachan (15), 64; 3 J Falconer (14), 67. Div 3: 1 N Worthington (20), 69; 2 R Johnstone (20), 69; 3 D MacKinnon (22), 72.

Ladies Midweek Stableford: 1 M MacWilliam (19), 34pts; 2 J Filshie (25), 34; 3 T McQuade (42), 31. Cattenach Cup: 1 M MacWilliam (19), 72; 2 J Grant (21), 80; J Filshie (25), 81.

Midweek Medal: 1 M MacWilliam (19), 75; 2 A Nield (25), 81; 3 A Telford (20), 89. July Stableford: 1 J Filshie (25), 33pts; 2 M MacWilliam (19), 30; 3 L Collins (15), 27.

At CARRBRIDGE, the first unofficial gents competition was a Stableford, with 22 starting in the dry but finishing in the wet. Young Alfie Roberts (20) won with an impressive 44 points, well ahead of Kevin Taylor (12) 40 and Charlie Edward (22), all three gaining a cut in handicap, CSS 68 (39 stableford pts)

On Wednesday (1) the first official competition saw an opening Eclectic, being run over three months – the first qualifying with a CSS of 68. In all 16 played with Colin Campbell (15) winning with a 67. Second after some time away from golf was new member John Low (22) 67 and runner up was Andy Fraser (19)70.

The ladies kicked off with round one of the Mann Trophy, being played over three rounds. It was a stableford with a CSS of 70 (38 points). Winner was Helen Lorimer (23) 35; Amanda Shepherd (21) 33, Frances Turner (29) 33.

The William Taylor Memorial Trophies on Sunday saw blustery conditions causing difficulty, but not for two deserving winners: in the ladies CSS 70(38 pts) winner Amanda Shepherd (21) was cut to 18 after a very consistent round of 47 pts. Runners-up were Aisne Imperiale (32) 34 and Esther Stoddart (30) 30.

It was Alfie Roberts (19) who for the second time this week won the gents competition in a large field of 28. With a CSS of 69 (38 pts) Alfie had his handicap cut to 16 after a terrific round scoring 46 points. Runner up by count-back was Mark Street (18) 39 pts, followed by new member Jamie Gordon (5) 39 and Andrew R Murray (10) 39. The top five players all had a cut in their handicaps, including Finn Thurlbeck(29) 38, worthy of a mention, as it was his first competition as a junior.

At ABERNETHY several players were showing signs of rustiness, but the men and the ladies dusted down their clubs for the July medals. The men’s was won by Kevin Strathdee (8) 65 just beating runner-up Ian Sloan (13) 65 on count-back. Third was John Lunn (17) 67, first country member to take advantage of the relaxation of travel restrictions. The ladies medal was won by Jean Gordon (23) 72; runner-up was Fiona McLaren (18) 75 and third was Susan Swinden (18) 77.

At NEWTONMORE on Saturday the men had a Texas Scramble for the KTC Smith Cup (scratch) and Barry’s Bucket (handicap).The prizes for each were shared between the same three teams but not in the same order. The prize winning scores were: G Tonkin, D Cheyne, W Stewart 57 (2.7) 54.3; E Menzies, D Macrae, F Coyle 59 (5.3) 53.7; M Macdonald, S Macdonald, C Jones 59 (5.7) 53.3. The club was delighted to see so many golfers on the course and hope the trend will continue.

On Sunday a reduced field played for the Stags Breath trophy. It was claimed by Evan Cheyne 73 (5) 68, followed by Michael Rodger 79 (10) 69 and Gary Bain 77 (8) 69. The Ladies held their first of the year and winner of the Stableford was Jean Campbell with 34 pts, closely followed by Ellen Cheyne with 33 and Ros Spinks with 32. At 5pm on Saturday the club flag will be raised – and the new beer garden, constructed in two weeks by a willing band of talented volunteers, will open.

At GRANTOWN, meeting Covid requirements, a mixed stableford saw 48 entries despite the week’s weather. The first three gents scored earned cuts in their handicaps and 11 sharing the pot for Twos – Callum Fraser scoring at both 11th and 16th Sam Munro getting his at the par 4 4th . Stableford: gents winner Jaye Williamson (6) 41 pts; r/up Sam Munro (20) 40 pts; 3rd Fraser MacKellar (10) 39 pts. Ladies winner Elaine Hill (19) 36 pts; r/up Paula Wilson (33) 28 pts bih; 3rd Marilyn Stickley (34) 28 pts. The 9-hole mixed winner was Philip Mathieson (28) 19 pts; r/up William Mitchell (17) 10pts.

At BOAT OF GARTEN the gents played for the Glenfiddich Trophy, the single figure handicappers leading the way, Chris Helik (9) producing the only sub-70, an excellent nett 69 for a one shot victory over Ken Aitken (9), Paul Downs (3) and Brian Shaw (3).

Leading scores were ; C Helik (9) 69; K Aitken (9), P Downs (3), B Shaw (3) 70; F Sharp (7), R Simpson (6) 71; S Crook (12) 72; R Quinn (15), I Cormack (6), J A Grant (3), M McDonald (5) 73; A Boxx (16), M McCreath (14), R Thomson (10) 74.

Also on Saturday the ladies played in their SLGA July Medal with Jenny Ridley (16) securing a comfortable victory with her winning score of nett 76. In second place came Caroline Holroyd (16) on 81 with Ann Weller (20) in third place on 86.

Other scores – Club Stableford (July 2) – R Simpson (8) 38 pts; P Downs (4) 37 pts; R Philip (16), J Rodgers (9) 36 pts; B Spencer (13), R Kinnaird (6) 35 pts; G H Hay (1), 34 pts; D McConnell (15), K Aitken (9) 33 pts; C Holroyd (17), D Ross (18), R Nixon (7) 32 pts.

SLGA Medal (July 1) – F Young (18) 73; D McDonald (17) 79; A Carter (19) 82; C Bashford (14) 84; A Joy (19) 85.

Rover Cup (June 27) – C Riach (14) 62; R Kinnaird (5) 66 ;C Helik (9) 68; M McCreath (14) 69; C Philip (20) 71; A Boxx (16) 71; N Cunningham (16) 72.

Seniors Midweek Scramble (July 1) – P Haywood, L Wilson, J Taylor (8) 45 pts; K Aitken, C Semple, R Palmer (8) 44 pts; B Spencer, J York, R McGrath (8) 43 pts; M Holroyd, P Surfleet, M McCreath (8) 41 pts.


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