Sport digest
GOLF DUNBLANE NEW GOLF CLUB
Having missed out last weekend because the course was closed early on because of frost there was another huge entry for the Clapperton Trophy Qualifying on Friday and Saturday.
Best Scratch Score was a 1 under par 68 from Craig McGann with13 pars, bogeys at 11 and 17 and birdies at 6, 16 and 18. The First Class saw a welcome return to form for Brian Deakin (6) on 63 with birdies at 5, 8 and 15 and an eagle 3 at 18. Having been runner up on Wednesday Andrew McAulay (10) again missed out on 66 but with BIH, thanks to birdies at 10 and 14, edged out Callum Gordon (8) who birdied 15. Four players then returned 67 but fourth place with BL6 went to Keith MacDonald (8), thanks to a birdie at 17, than Sivan Isaacs (8) and Gregg Kennedy (10). Graham Watson (14) won the Second Class on 65 highlighted by a birdie at 7. Runner up was John Cleghorn (17) on 66 with a birdie at 4. There were then 4 players on 67 but third place went to John Connolly (16), despite an 8 at the fourth, but with BL6 than Steven Spence (13) who had a 7 at 9 but BIH than Gordon Foster (12) and Tom Smith (17).
Playing on Friday Scott Christie (20) won the Third Class on 63 including a birdie 3 at 9. Andrew Thomson (19) was runner up on 64 but suffered from a double bogey at 18. Six players then returned 65 but continuing recent form third place went to Roddy Morrison (20) with BIH than Paul McBride (34) who in turn had BIH than Ian MacLachlan (18), Robert Turnbull (31) and Brian Hunter (19). The top 64 net scores of 71BL6 qualified for the Match Play stages of the Clapperton Trophy. The draw will be available this week and players are encouraged to organise their ties as soon as possible and not wait to the final date.
There was a big entry for the first Monthly Midweek White Tee Medal. Andrew Hunter took the honours in the Scratch Class with a steady 1 over par 70 with 15 pars, bogeys at 7 and 10 and a birdie 2 at 14. The First Class was won by James McIntyre (9) on 64 including birdies at 4 and 18 and an unfortunate triple bogey at 11. Andrew McAulay (11) was runner up on 66 and BIH, finished off with an eagle 3 at 18, than Iain Ritchie (9) who had a double bogey at 16. Fourth place went to James McIntosh (11) on 68 and BIH including a birdie at 12 than Charlie Linton (4) who bogeyed 18. Daniel Thorpe (16) won the Second Class on 66 including a birdie 2 at 7. Four players then returned 68 but runner up spot went to Robert Weir (16) with BIH than Graham Watson (14), who had a double bogey at 16, and John Connolly (16), who had double bogeys at 12 and 17, and BL3 than Willie Turner (15) who bogeyed 16, 17 and 18. The Third Class was won by Andrew Godfrey (21) on 65 finishing with birdies at 17 and 18. Runner up was Mark Cassie (19) on 67 and BL3 than Colin Mason (19) who had a double bogey at 17. Three players then had 68 but fourth place went to Ian Reid (18) with BIH, thanks to a birdie 2 at 16, than Cameron McCann (23), who bogeyed 18, and Thomas McGhee (22) who had a very unfortunate 8 at the final hole.
There will be a Multi Tee Competition on Wednesday (21 st ) and next weekend will be the Spring Meeting.
BRIDGE OF ALLAN GOLF CLUB
Spring returned to Bridge of Allan last weekend and despite early season fiery conditions some great scores were returned. In Friday’s Senior Gents 9 Hole Stableford, Club Captain Douglas Gebbie continued his fine recent form winning with 22 points. James Gore was second with 21 points and Jimmy McKenzie third with 20 points. Simon Lyall was the big winner however, scooping the double weeks twos pot. Simon’s good play continued in to Saturday in the Spring Meeting when he won Division One with his Net 61 score. Kevin Allan was second in Division One with a Net 62 and Andrew Picken third with his Net 68. In Division Two Neil Douglas won by no less than 4 shots with his net 64, and Sandy Robertson and Tony Jackson were second and third respectively both players scoring net 68s. Mike Smith and Simon Lyall shared the twos pot in Division One and Andrew Walker returned the sole two in Division Two.
STIRLING GOLF CLUB
A huge field of 306 players enjoyed ideal playing conditions with warm sunshine and very little wind on Friday and Saturday.
Mark Watson playing in his first full season as a member held off 85-year-old stalwart Finlay McGlynn by two holes to win the Victory Cup Bogey with a tournament record score of 9up.
Mark had an excellent round with 11 pars one birdie three bogeys and three double bogeys . Hole wins came at 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 for an outward 6 up. Further gains came at 10,11,14,15 and 18 with the only hole losses at 9,12 and 16.
Finlay McGlynn - now off 33 - a single figure player for many decades only lost one hole at the short par 3 6th. With wins at 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 11, 13 and 18. Finlay took 2nd place in Division 3.
Five players all retuned 6 up ; Craig MacCallum, Craig Higgins, Robin Burgess , Ian Carmichael and Phil Ginn with the latter two losing out on the bih in Division 3.
Craig MacCallum also playing in his first full season had a great back nine of 39 win wins at 10, 15, 17 and 18 and no hole losses for 4 up coupled with an outward 2 up for 6 up.
Craig Higgins had half’s of 3 up, 3 up winning 10 holes in total with a few slip ups at 2, 5, 9, 10, 15.
Alan Morrison was 3rd in Div 2 on 4 up with wins at 3, 4, 8, 10, 12, 15 and 18.
Robin Burgess was 3rd in Div 3 on 6 up, with an excellent inward nine of 5 up.
Stuart Todd, Scott Monteith, Darren Walker and Sam Goldie all returned scores of 3 up in Div 1. Sam lost out on a place in Div 1 to the bih.
Stuart started well winning the first then following up with an eagle 2 at the 2nd for another hole win. He was out in 1 up but finished strongly with six pars and four hole wins in the last six for 2 up.
Scott only lost the short sixth to go out in 2 up. Further gains came at 12,13 and 15 with losses at 11 and 14.
Darren was 4 up after 13 holes before four halved holes and a loss at 18.
Results – Div 1: 1 Stuart Todd 8 3up bih; 2 Scott Monteith 8 3up bih; 3 Darren Walker 8 3up. bih. Div 2: 1 Craig MacCallum 14 6up bih; 2 Craig Higgins 13 6 up; 3 Alan Morrison 14 4 up. Div 3: 1 Mark Watson 19 9up Victory Cup Winner; 2 Finlay McGlynn 33 7 up; 3 Robin Burgess 24 6 up bih.
This weekend players will compete in the Chalmers Cup stableford. Anyone recording anything worse than a net bogey should pick up their ball. Gross scores are entered on the card with a slash - if a no score pick up and points recorded in the relevant box on scorecard.
Players are reminded tee off times are nine minute intervals . Please adhere and tee off on your time.
The annual Masters Friday competition was won by David Oxburgh with a Stableford score of 43 points. Normally organised by Stirling member Brendan Watt and held over 36 holes, this year’s competition was run in conjunction with the King James IV Trophy, which David also won. Previously a Junior member of Stirling from 2003 to 2006, David never lost his interest in golf which his grandfather instilled in him during the families annual holidays on the Isle of Aaran. David’s grandfather, Sam Bankier was a member of Kilsyth and Hasting’s Golf Clubs for many years and his passion for the game rubbed of on David who teaches PE at Bannockburn High School. David rejoined Stirling Golf Club as a full member in 2019 and his double trophy winning score has seen his Handicap Index reduced from 16.0 to 9.9. We wish David many more successes in the years to come.
FISHING SWANSWATER FISHERY
There was some excellent fishing at the start and end of the week, with Wednesday and Thursday being a little harder. There was very little wind, and most days were bright and sunny. Water temperature rose from 5.5 to 8 despite the cold nights. The fish were deep early in the day due to the overnight frosts but were coming up as the water and air temperatures rose. Generally, they were to be found around 4 feet down and many were to be found close to the dam, with occasional rises being seen when there was some cloud cover. At the weekend, they were also in the channel at the front of the island. Those fishing from boats did well all week. Lures, such as Yellow Dancer, Woolly Bugger, and Ally McCoist, were the most popular fly patterns, with Cruncher, Damsel, Buzzer and Eggs catching well towards the end of the week. On the bait pond worms, power bait, mouse tails and maggots were all catching fish. Several superb Rainbows in the 6lb to 8lb range were landed, along with the usual top-quality Golds, Blues, Browns and the occasional Tiger.
Amongst the best bags from the fly ponds this week were: Willie Nyguist 3 for 17lb 4oz including 7lb 8oz and 6lb Rainbows and a Gold; Alex Wilkie and nephew, Cody, shared 5 for 21lb including 8lb Rainbow and returned around another 30; Frank Barr 3 for 12lb 8oz including 7lb 8oz Rainbow, plus 4 C&R; John Mathieson, in two visits, 4 for 19lb 12oz including 7lb 4oz Rainbow, plus 4 C&R; Sean Reilly 2 for 9lb including 6lb 12oz Rainbow; Tam Baillie 3 for 11lb 8oz including 5lb 8oz Rainbow, plus 1 C&R; Callum McMillan 3 for 10lb 10oz including 5lb 4oz Rainbow; Danny Doherty 5 for 12lb 8oz, plus 4lb Brown C&R; Garry McLachlan 5 for 16lb 12oz including a Gold, plus 3 C&R; Robert Watt 5 for 13lb 12oz including a Brown, plus 4 C&R; Colin Copeman 2 for 7lb including 4lb Rainbow; Charles Devine 3 for 9lb 8oz including 4lb 8oz Rainbow, plus 5 C&R including a Gold; Malcolm Miller 3 for 9lb including a Gold; Kieran Lydon 2 for 6lb 4oz including a Gold; Stuart Oliver 3 for 8lb 12oz, plus 8 C&R; Joe Woods 3 for 9lb; Paul Bainbridge 1 for 3lb 4oz, plus 8 C&R; Peter Weber caught and released 15; Paul Ryder caught and released 13; Thomas Wilson caught and released 11; William Hastings caught and released 5; Scott Walsh caught and released 5; Jordan Morrison caught and released 4 including a Gold around 10lb.
Those doing best on the bait pond included: Liam Kennedy 5 for 12lb 4oz including 4lb 8oz Gold; Tam Hislop 4 for 9lb including a Brown and a Blue; Tony Donnelly 3 for 8lb 4oz; Jamie Donnelly 3 for 8lb 8oz; Greig Bulloch 2 for 4lb 8oz; Stephen Grant 2 for 4lb; Jamie Purdy 4 for 8lb; Jordan Solomon 3 for 6lb 8oz; Caitlin Tallis 3 for 6lb 8oz; Sam Parker 2 for 4lb; Jordan Baxter 3 for 6lb.
The Fishery is open every day from 8am to 8pm except for Thursdays when we close at 2.30pm. Now that travel restrictions have been eased, we are pleased to be able to welcome anglers from all over Scotland, but ask that everyone still observes other Covid guidelines and measures that are in place at the Fishery.