Golf returns
GOLF STIRLING
The Spring Meeting and May Medal was played last weekend with the 149 Saturday players enjoying higher temperatures and a light breeze and the Friday players (70) facing light rain and a moderate breeze -almost a role reversal of the previous weekend.
Three Friday players managed into the sweep prizes.
The Scratch Medal was a close contested affair with three players Roland Fleming, Alan Dryden and John Colquhoun all returning one under par 71.
Alan and John led by one stroke after nine on level par 36, however Roland managed to win on the better inward half aided by a chip in closing eagle which was matched by John shortly afterwards.
Alan was faultless on the back nine with eight pars and a birdie on 13 whilst John will rue a double bogey at Cottons Fancy and Roland making a birdie.
The Handicap Prize was won by Colin Ferguson with an excellent 64 to win by one stroke from Jonathan Neilson and George Brown. Colin was one under par through six, three consecutive bogeys followed for a 38.
A birdie two came at 10 followed by another three consecutive bogeys but he finished par, par, bogey for 38 and gross four over 76. Colin also qualifies for the Saturday Medal Finals, winning Division 2.
Congratulations to both Roland and Colin securing a place at the Annual Dinner and Presentation of Prizes in November.
Blair Mackay continued his rich vein of form - a 66 the previous week - for second place on 68 on the better inward half (bih) from John Cattigan.
John Philliben also maintained his run of form navigating his way round for a winning one over par 73 to win Division 1. A blemish free first 10 holes saw birdies at holes 1, 5 and 9 for three under par.
However, a string of bogeys came at holes 11-15 before getting into fifth gear with a par, par, birdie finish for 40.
Grant Mcbeath beat John Murray on the bih both on net 68 for second place and Fraser Duff was fourth.
Jonathan Neilson - off 20 - kept damage limitation to a minimum with only two double bogeys at 9 and 12 and a birdie at 2 with pars at 1, 4, 10, 13 and 14 to win Division 3 and qualify for the Medal Finals.
Jonathan beat George Brown - playing on Friday - on the bih with both players having great rounds of net 65. Robert Dickson was third on net 68 with a five stroke improvement on the back nine of 45.
Results: Spring Meeting and May Medal: Division 1 - 1 John Philliben 73 (6) 67 Finals Qualifier; 2 Grant Mcbeath 77 (9) 68 bih; 3 John Murray 78 (9) 69. Division 2 - 1 Colin Ferguson 76 (12) 64 Spring Meeting Handicap Prize and Finals Qualifier; 2 Blair Mackay 80 (12) 68 bih; 3 John Cattigan 81 (13) 68. Division 3 - 1 Jonathan Neilson 85 (20) 65 bih Finals Qualifier; 2 George Brown 82 (17) 65; 3 Robert Dickson 98 (27) 68.
Wednesday Stableford: Division One 1 AJ Taylor (8) 38pts; 2 B Stretch (8) 37; 3 S Wallace (5) 36; 4 L Cook (10) 35. Division Two - 1 S Mcfarlane (14) 40pts; 2 H Waters (15) 39; 3 D Young (15) 38 bih; 4 G Meldrum (11) 38. Division Three - 1 P Traynor (17) 43pts; 2 P Murdoch (17) 38; 3 K Saunders (18) 37. Scratch Sweep Gross - 1 B Liddell 33pts; 2 S Mclellan 31 bih; 3 S Wallace 31.
It’s a busy week for the club who are hosting a Scottish PGA Tour 36-hole shoot out today (Wednesday) and tomorrow (Thursday).
King George V qualifier is at the weekend with Titilest kindly adding additional prizes via the Pro Shop.
The Wilson Salver - Open Gents Greensomes - is open to visitors and members and is on Sunday, May 15. Six handicap prizes from £300 to £100 and two scratch prizes are available.
STIRLING LADIES
On Tuesday, May 3 there were 44 ladies taking part in two competitions. Thirtyfour entered the Medal and the winner was Margo Gardner with net 70 (card play off ) with second Alison Davison net 70 and third Marion Nicol net 73.
Margo and Alison both recorded twos at the 10th. Rosemary Chalmers, Karen Anderson and Julie Fraser all recorded twos at the 6th.
Ten ladies entered the Nine Hole Stableford. The winner was Jean Logan with 19 points, second Edna Stewart with 18 points and third May Quinn with 14 points.
On Saturday, May 7, eight ladies took part in the 18 Hole Stableford. Alison Davidson won with 36 points, second Pat Cockshoot with 34 points and third Margaret Neilson with 34 points.
BRIDGE OF ALLAN
With the course starting to come back to life with the recent mix of warmer temperatures and a bit of rain, another good weekend was had by those taking part in the gents club competitions.
On Friday, the senior Stableford competition was as well attended as always with Gordon Darlington coming out on top ahead of David Santi, both of whom recorded 20 points. Raymond Aimer took third spot on 19 points just ahead of Hugh Dent on the same scores. Hugh’s disappointment of missing out on the top three was tempered by him recording the first two in four weeks and taking the accumulated pot alone.
Saturday’s competition saw the biggest turn out of the season and resulted in Sandy Robertson topping Division 1 with a net score of 62 well clear of everyone else. Scott Mackenzie took second place with a net 67 and Keith Bath took third with a net 68. Hugh Dent, again, came fourth.
It was a similar situation in Division 2 with James Gore carding a net 62 well clear of Taylor Park in second with a net 66. Rhys Park was third with a net 68. Hopefully the strong participation numbers continue in the weeks ahead.
DUNBLANE NEW
The RS Erskine Quaich saw a close finish with three players returning five under par 64s but the winner of the Quaich with the BIH, thanks to birdies at 15 and 18, was Farquhar Maclean (15).
Best scratch score was a two over par 71 from Gregg Kennedy who was one of the ones pipped for the Quaich despite having birdies at 15 and 17 but had bogeys at 11 and 12.
Stuart Mcdonald (11) won the First Class on 65 and BIH, thanks to a birdie at 11, than Kenny Gibson (11). Three players then returned 66 but third place went to Alan Thomson (11) with a better last six than Robert Wales (11) who in turn had BL6 than Ben Clark (11).
Second Class was won by Phil Castle (14) on 65 highlighted by a birdie at the 4th. Runner up was Ian Anderson (12) on 66 and BL6 than Ian Maclachlan (16). Fourth spot went to Peter Williams (12) on 67 and BIH than Peter Kindness (13).
Stewart Cameron (18) made a rare appearance among the winners with a 64 to win Third Class and just miss out on the Quaich. Three players returned 65 but second place went to Jack Seal (22) with a BL6 than Andy Gillen (22) who had a BIH than Tom Casey (23).
Thanks are due to Erskine Eyewear (Optometrists) for their kind sponsorship of the RS Erskine Quaich.
In Wednesday’s Monthly Midweek Medal the best scratch score was a five over par 74 from Tony Stanger highlighted by a birdie at 13.
In the First Class, three players returned 62 but the winner was James Mccowan (14) with a BIH than Ian Kenny (13) who had a BIH than James Mcintosh (12). Fourth place went to Robert Mackellar (12) on 64.
Gary Beale (17) edged the Second Class on 65 and a BIH, including birdies at 14, 16 and 18, than Ewan Kilgannon (19). Third place went to Joe Mcgee (18) on 65 and fourth was Wallace Clarke (16) on 68.
Today (Wednesday) there will be a Multi Tee Stableford. On Friday and Saturday it will be the Hydro Cup although times on Friday will be limited
due to Corporate Day running until 2.30pm.
Results: RS Erskine Quaich - Medal (May 6 and 7): Winner - Farquhar Maclean 79 (15) 64 BIH. Scratch - Gregg Kennedy 71.
First Class - 1 Stuart Mcdonald 76 (11) 65 BIH; 2 Kenny Gibson 76 (11) 65; 3 Alan Thomson 77 (11) 66 BL6; 4 Robert Wales 77 (11) 66 BL6. Second Class - 1 Philip Castle 79 (14) 65; 2 Ian Anderson 78 (12) 66 BL6; 3 Ian Maclachlan 82 (16) 66; 4 Peter Williams 79 (12) 67 BIH. Third Class - 1 Stewart Cameron 82 (18) 64; 2 Jack Seal 87 (22) 65 BL6; 3 Andy Gillen 87 (22) 65 BIH; 4 Tom Casey 88 (23) 65.
Midweek Monthly White Tee Medal (May 5): Scratch - Stephen Murray 71. First Class - 1 Hugh Maclennan 77 (12) 65; 2 Steven Murphy 77 (9) 68 BIH; 3 Neil Welsh 72 (4) 68; 4 Gordon Pringle 74 (5) 69 BL6. Second Class - 1 Gordon Steven 76 (14) 62; 2 Iain Mcbroom 95 (26) 69 BIH; 3 Stuart Hay 83 (14) 69 BIH; 4 Stephen Pilley 84 (15) 69 BIH.