Mixed weather for golf weekend competitions
High winds continued to plague Dunaverty Golf Club players last Satuday as they attempted to win the September Medal and qualify for next season’s Muneroy Cup.
John Docherty and Robert Irvine, playing together in the first group, set the target with John returning a nett 66 only to bettered by Robert’s 63.
The wind did abate slightly in the afternoon and Andrew Barbour, who only returned to golf 18 months ago, took full advantage to record his best score to date. Playing off a handicap of 16, he went out in 40 strokes and returned in 38 to give him a winning nett total of 62.
Result: 1 Andrew Barbour 78-16=62, 2 Robert Irvine 729=63, 3 Alex Arkell 78-13=65, 4 Donald Hardman 80-14=66 (bih), 5 John Docherty 748=66, 6 Neil Brodie 76-9=67.
It’s amazing the difference a day makes, weather-wise, as players enjoyed glorious sunshine as they competed in the Mixed Pairs competition on Sunday.
This is normally played on a knockout basis but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this proved impossible this year so it was held as a one-day event instead and proved to be a most enjoyable one for the 16 teams which took part.
Played as a Texas Scramble, where each player had to have six drives each, some competitors had to play from some unaccustomed places.
In glorious weather, on an excellently prepared course by greenkeepers Haydn Chambers and Campbell
MacBrayne, scoring was very close. The winning combination of Linda Arkell and David MacBrayne had a great round with only two bogeys on their card but these were offset by three birdies. Their first nine total of 31, combined with the second nine of 34, gave them a winning margin of 1.5 over Sophie Garrett and Donald Brown (Southend) who, with a better inward half, pushed Susan McLennan and Steven Garrett into third place.
The teams were unanimous in their opinions that this format should be retained for the future.
Result: 1 Linda Arkell and David MacBrayne 65-7.8=57.2, 2 Sophie Garrett and Donald Brown (Southend) 67-8.3=58.7 (bih), 3 Susan McLennan and Steven Garrett 71-12.3=58.7, 4 Katherine Hardman and Jim Williamson 68-9=59, 5 Lindsay Garrett and Alex Arkell 67-6.5=60.5, 6 Lorna Cook and Bill Brannigan 7513.8=61.2 (bih).