Roddy collars title after dodgy start
Fereneze lad seals the deal after close encounter at Paisley GC
Roddy McAuley shone in the sun as he was crowned Renfrews h i re Boys Champion of Champions.
Played at Paisley Golf Club on Sunday, and once again sponsored by Greenlaw Garage, the golfers couldn’t rely on the sunny conditions of Saturday as the weather returned to normal Scottish conditions of wind and rain.
In the final, McAuley, of Fereneze GC and also champion at Caldwell, faced Patrick McCartney of Greenock GC who was runner-up in the Boys County Match Play last year.
The game started in a peculiar fashion with McAuley going out of bounds at the first and second holes while McCartney was safely on the fairway at both holes.
This gave McCartney an early two-hole lead. The next hole was halved before he then went three up at the fourth when McAuley missed the green and failed to get up and down.
The fifth and sixth were halved before McAuley won the seventh after McCartney unusually took two attempts to recover from the greenside bunker.
The lead was then reduced to one when McCartney missed the green at the eighth hole and failed to recover for par.
The ninth was halved in par with Patrick one up at the turn.
The next four holes were all halved in what was now a very tight game with putts being missed by both players who were otherwise coping well with good golf in the poor weather conditions.
The game went all square after both missed the green at 14 but McAuley made a good up and down. The 15th hole was halved and the telling blow came at the par five 16th with both players just short but McAuley making a good birdie with the only long putt seen all day to go one up.
On the 17th, McAuley was safely on the green while McCartney missed on the right. McAuley safely took two putts to win the hole and the match by 2/1.
A Renfrewshire Golf Union spokesman said: “The match was played in the best of spirits by two fine Renfrewshire boys.”
In the semi-finals played on Friday, Patrick McCartney beat Aaron McCue, while Roddy McAuley beat Kenan Ingram.
In the quarter finals, McAuley beat Mackenzie Holmes, Kenan Ingram beat Cameron Lyle, and McCartney beat Euan English. Aaron McCue received a walk over when his opponent failed to make his tee time.
In the preliminary rounds Mackenzie Holmes beat David Tarvet, Cameron Lyle beat Angus Frood, Euan English beat Naill Gallagher.