Curlers lose out in Swiss tournament play-offs
It was back to cross country for 28 young athletes competing in Central Athletic Club’s first race of this season’s series of races.
For many of the youngsters, the event at Stirling University was their first taste of cross country running and although rain was threatening, the warm-up and race were held in near perfect conditions with all the runners showing high levels of enthusiasm and determination.
The race to the line was intense and it was a fine effort by Under 15 Scott Hill that brought him to the finish in first place, covering the undulating course of a little over a mile in a tasty six minutes two seconds. Under 17 runner Ross Lawrie put in a storming finish in third overall in 6.03.
A well judged effort by Alex Dunlop saw him take second in this age category in 6.19 leading in Jamie Connor (6.34), Adam Polwart (6.40), Henry Crossley (6.49) and Harvey Chambers (7.37).
Joel Gillan had an excellent race to head the Under 13 boys category to record 6.18 and Fraser Kingsley came through well to finish with 7.18.
With no Under 11 boys taking up the challenge it was left to two Under 9s to complete the boys’ efforts through Lachlan Carruthers (7.26) and Fraser McDonald (9.01).
The girls were led home by Under 17 Catriona Kane with a 6.03 effort for second overall, underlining her promise for the upcoming season. It was Loren Stewart (6.19) who proved the strongest of the Under 15 girls with a fine run and there were further excellent runs in this age group from Niamh McKinlay (6.33), Tabitha MacKenzie (6.34), Hannah Morgan (6.35) and Robyn McKerracher (7.01).
Fia Watkin was another to underline her promise as she headed home the Under 13 girls in 6.31 while Dara Clark raced well to the finish to record 7.22. Alexandra Montgomery came through well in 7.44 with Maisie Beaton (8.48) and Isla Polwart (8.57) completing the race in fine style in the Under 13 age group.
Eilidh Connor proved to be the fastest of the Under 11 girls with a tasty 7.30sec run, followed in by further good efforts from Emily Watkin (7.47), Rachel Fullbrook 8.00), Evie McKinlay (8.58), Iona Clark (9.37) and Isla Carruthers (10.57).
GOLF BRIDGE OF ALLAN
It’s been a busy couple of weeks starting with the Medal Finals played recently.
On a day of great scoring Tom Rocks finished off a great season winning the David Morrison Cup with his net 60. Sandy Robertson was just a shot behind on net 61 and Andrew Picken took third place with his net 64.
The club also hosted the annual Gents Open Texas Scramble which was once again well supported by entries from all over Scotland and kindly sponsored by Graham Robertson Electrical. Winners on the day were all local teams and in first place were Scott Mackenzie, Scott Macfarlane, Euan Wallace and Tom Inglis with an incredible net 45. In second place on net 47 were James Inglis, Brian Bisset, Jimmy McKenzie and Steve Ingram, and the team consisting of Brian, Taylor and Rhys Park along with Ed Fotheringham were third with their net 49.
In last Friday’s Senior Gents Nine
Hole Stableford, Bob Buchanan was back in the winner’s circle with a fine 24-point total and also now leads the Senior Eclectic with only three rounds to go. In second place was Keith Pyper with 23 points and Ron Griffiths was third with 20 points.
For the third week in a row no twos were scored so the pot rolls on for the fourth week on Friday.
Gents competed in an Autumn Stableford on Saturday and before the heavens opened there were some fine morning scores returned. Winner on the day was Tom Inglis with 39 points with Club Captain Douglas Gebbie second with 38 points. Scott Mackenzie was third with 37 points just squeezing out Raymond T Aimer on a countback.
Raymond did have the consolation of being confirmed as the winner of the season long Saturday Eclectic for 2021.
STIRLING
Colin Ferguson - playing on Friday won the King Edward Coronation Cup with a net 68 to beat Graham Wilson jnr. by one stroke.
Playing off 12, Colin was only three over par through 11 holes before making four consecutive bogeys and another bogey at 17 made up an inward 41 for a gross 80 and winning net 68.
James Todd jnr. won Division 1. Only three over par through 14 holes, James finished 5, 3, 4, 7 for 39 to add to outward 38. James pipped his father - also James - to qualify for the 2022 Medal Finals.
John Shepherd won Division 3 on net 71 and Jas Donaldson won the new scratch sweep with a four under par 68.
Results: October Medal (October 1 and 2): King George Coronation Cup winner Colin Ferguson.
Division 1 - 1 James Todd Jnr 77 (7) 70 bIh; 2 James Todd Snr 80 (10) 70 (both qualify for 2022 Medal Finals); 3 John Murray 80 (9) 71 bih. Division 2 - 1 Colin Ferguson 80 (12) 68 (qualifies for 2022 Medal Finals); 2 Graham Wilson Jnr 82 (13) 69; 3 A Donnie Macleod 83 (12) 71 bih. Division 3 - 1 John Shepherd 88 (17) 71 (qualifies for 2022 Medal Finals); 2 David Lyon 94 (22) 72 bih; 3 David Fallow 88 (16) 72.
Scratch Sweep - 1 James Donaldson 68; 2 Lee Wilson 73 bih; 3 Barry McIntyre 73.
Greenkeeper’s Revenge Texas Scramble (September 17): 1 Wendy Donaldson, Mary Buchanan, Helen Fallow and Elizabeth Farquharson 82 (25.4) 56.6; 2 D Morrison, J Kerr, M McFarlane and G Wilson 71 (13.1) 57.9; 3 Bill Graham, Graham Oxburgh and Shelagh Quinn 74 (16.1) 57.9.
Revenge Texas Scramble (September 18): 1 George Wilson, David Fallow, Bobby Roy and Jimmy Martin 71 (15.95) 55.05; 2 Robert Sneddon, Colin Peebles, Robert Motel and Tony Petale 64 (8.55) 55.45; 3 Peter Reilly, Marion Nicol, Mark Kennedy and Gordon Nicol 66 (9.9) 56.1; 4 Grant McPherson, Bruce Hunter, Andy Hudson and Tom Dow 65 (8.6) 56.4; 5 Alan Robertson, Micahel Perry, Keith Wilson and Chris Leader 65 (7.85) 57.15.
Gents/Ladies Multi-Tee (September 25): Division 1 - 1 Ewan Robertson 73 (9) 64; 2 Robert Sneddon 75 (10) 65; 3 Liam Haldan 72 (7) 65; 4 Stewart McLellan 72 (6) 66; 5 David Dryland 76 910) 66.
Division 2 - 1 Andrew Kemp 75 (15) 60; 2 Kevin Copeland 76 (14) 62; 3 Grant McPherson 79 (14) 65; 4 DAvid Smith 77 (12) 65; 5 Mike Hall 77 (11) 66.
Division 3 - 1 Alastair Logan 80 (19) 61; 2 Michael Symon 80 (19) 61; 3 Ian Hamilton 82 (20) 62; 4 Russell mcGlynn 91 (19) 62; 5 Mark Watson 80 (16) 64.
Division 4 - 1 Ian Morrison 84 (24) 60; 2 Stephen Henderson 88 (25) 63; 3 David Sibbald 91 (28) 63; 4 Malcolm McGregor 89 (23) 66; David Liddell 89 (22) 67.
STIRLING LADIES
Eighteen ladies took part in the last medal competition of the season. The winner was Pat Cockshoot with net 73, second was Di Davidson with net 75 and third Elizabeth Farquharson with net 75.
Seven ladies took part in the Nine Hole Stableford. The winner was Una Kidd with 27 points, second Joyce Mulgrew with 16 points and third Moira Thompson with 14 points.
The Saturday 18 Hole Stableford attracted four ladies on October 2 which is also the last Saturday Ladies Stableford competition for this season. First was Helen Appleby with 30 points, second Margaret Neilson with 26 points and third Louise Samphier with 20 points.
DUNBLANE NEW
After the heavy rain the course was closed on Friday and with the weather forecast less than favourable for Saturday, the Medal Finals were postponed and will now be played this weekend (October 8 and 9).
A Stableford was run on Saturday but with the rain returning the entry was low. Robert Wales (10) won First Class on 38 points after a steady round of 10 pars and eight bogeys. Runner up was Calum Ferguson (11) on 36 points highlighted by birdies at 4 and 7.
Club Captain Derek Cullen (10) was third on 35 points and better last six (bl6) than Jim Crawford (5).
Second Class was won by Charlie Hislop (19) on 39 points including a birdie at 14.
Hamish Donald (16) took second spot on 37 points with Jeff Bryan (13) third on 35 points and bih than Bruce Gunn (20).
In Wednesday’s Yellow Tee Medal the winner was Joe Patton (5) on 68 and bih, including birdies at 10 and 18, than Andrew McAulay (7) who did birdie 13. Third place went to Cameron Ferguson (4) on 69 and bih than Stuart Mathieson (8) who in turn had bih than Malcolm Scott (3).
There was also a Vets’ Stableford on Wednesday. Roger Brewster (16) won the First Class on 40 points including a birdie at 12. Runner up was Wallace Clarke (16) on 39 points.
Three players then returned 38 points but third place went to Alec Wilson (15) with bih than Robert MacKellar (13) and Andy Orr (13).
Roddy Morrison (18) won the Second Class on 38 points and a bih than Bob David (22). Rod McCreath (22) took third place on 36 points having suffered with triple bogeys at 16 and 17.
Today (Wednesday) there will be a Stableford with the choice of White or Yellow tees. Friday and Saturday will now be the Medal Finals.
Results: Stableford (October 2): First Class - 1 Robert Wales (10) 38pts; 2 Calum Ferguson (11) 36pts; 3 Derek Cullen (10) 35pts bl6. Second Class - 1 Charles Hislop (19) 39pts; 2 Hamish Donald (16) 37pts; 3 Jeff Bryan (13) 35pts bih. Yellow Tee Medal (September 29): 1 Joe Patton 73 (5) 68 bih; 2 Andrew McAulay 75 (7) 68; 3 Cameron Ferguson 73 (4) 69 bl6; 4 Stuart Mathieson 77 (8) 69 bih. Vets’ Stableford (September 29): First Class - 1 Roger Brewster (16) 40pts; 2 Wallace Clarke (16) 39pts; 3 Alec Wilson (15) 38pts bih. Second Class - 1 Roddy Morrison (18) 38pts bih; 2 Bob David (22) 38pts; 3 Rod McCreath (22) 36pts.
Both British Curling’s women’s teams reached the play-off stages of the Women’s Masters in Basel after another series of impressive performances.
While it was ultimately the first time in four events this season that neither of The PEAK-based teams fielded reached the final of a tournament in which they have played, their performances provided the coaches with further food for thought ahead of selection for next month’s European Curling Championships.
The Stirling-based teams have been consistently re-shuffled in the early part of this season in a bid to assess technique and dynamics ahead of the Winter Olympic Qualifying tournament in December and the response has been excellent throughout the nine-player squad.
This time around Rebecca Morrison steered her team unbeaten through the fourmatch pool stages while Eve Muirhead’s team also came through with just a single defeat, before the two met in the quarter-finals.
That match that went to the wire with the three-time Olympian only prevailing after an extra end and she reckoned that the whole squad should be pleased with the quality of play.
“The quarter-final was a great game of curling. We played the scoreboard well and made the crucial shots at crucial times,” she said.
Muirhead was unable to repeat the previous weekend’s performance in Switzerland when she led her team to victory in The Challenger event, losing out against an old foe in the following round.
“It was pleasing to have such a good run again here in Basel, but the semi-final was always going to be tough against the current Olympic champs, Team Hasselborg,” she said.
“We were chasing from the start but managed to convert our two in sixth end to be peels but unfortunately the seventh didn’t go to plan and a score of three to them lost us the game.”
All nine players will now head to Canada this week to take part in the Curlers Corner Autumn Gold Curling Classic in Calgary.
Players are: Rebecca Morrison, Vicky Wright, Jen Dodds, Sophie Sinclair, Eve Muirhead, Gina Aitken, Lauren Gray, Mili Smith and Hailey Duff.