Ken Moore from Dunblane and James Fleming from Stirling both shot net 66, a score which seemed unlikely when both made a hash of the opening hole, requiring a combined total of 17 shots to complete it.  They both played steadily after that and James got his nose in front at the turn thanks to an excellent birdie at the 7^th. Ken pulled level at the 13^th when James slumped to a triple-bogey and moved ahead with a super birdie at the short 14^th. He was pegged back when James parred 17 but a par of his own down the last was enough for Ken to secure the trophy thanks to a better inward half.    

Four players shared third place on 68 – John Yuill from the home club, Neil McKinlay from  Braehead, Iain McNeilly from Bruntsfield and Greig McCourtney  from Falkirk. All four played steady golf but Greig will rue a costly quadruple-bogey at the 4^th which ultimately cost him his chance of victory.   

Results

66 – Ken Moore (Dunblane – 23), James Fleming (Stirling – 21)   

68 – Neil McKinlay ( Braehead- 19), John Yuill (Stirling – 16), Greig McCourtney ( Falkirk – 12),            Iain McNeilly ( Bruntsfield – 15)

Club Captain Bobby Roy congratulates Colin Martin on winning first prize in the Handicap section.

A large field of 156 contested Stirling’s premier open competition, the Festival Trophy. The 2008 and 2009 winner, Lindsay Blair from Grangemouth, completed a hat-trick of titles with an excellent four-under par 68. Lindsay’s score comprised birdies at 2, 4, 5, 11 and 14 and a solitary bogey at the short 10^th. He was challenged all the way by Michael Robertson from Alva who birdied the 14^th to move to three-under but bogeyed 16 and 17. His fine eagle at the last hole was not quite enough. Stevie McIvor made it a good day for Alva Golf Club by finishing 3^rd on 70. The top Stirling player was Ben Liddell who also finished on 70. Ben had a superb birdie, eagle, birdie start but his challenge faltered after an unfortunate double-bogey at the 11^th.

The handicap prize was won by the home club’s Colin Martin who shot a net 66, featuring birdies at 7, 13 and 17.  Despite a double-bogey at the 18^th, Colin was able to hold off Andy Cunningham from Braehead and Stirling’s Martin Masterson who both finished on 67. Andy’s excellent level-par back nine saw him take second prize on the better inward half. Another Stirling member, Mark Mitchell, finished 4^th on 68 despite a double bogey at the short 14^th.   

Mention must be made of Chris Goode who finished with a fantastic net score of 64 but sadly had to be disqualified for failing to sign his card.

Results

Scratch

68 – Lindsay Blair (Grangemouth)            

69 – Michael Robertson (Alva)

70 – Stevie McIvor (Alva), Ben Liddell (Stirling)

Handicap

66 – Colin Martin (Stirling -7)

67 – Andy Cunningham (Braehead – 8), Martin Masterson (Stirling – 9)

68 – Mark Mitchell (Stirling – 10)

David played some consistent golf and might have expected to win with a score of 68 in the conditions. He was pipped, however, by Joe’s superb score of 67 which included no fewer than three 2s. Unfortunately, he hadn’t entered the 2s sweep thus missing out on a significant boost to his bank balance. 

The honours in the second class were shared by Barry Paterson and Ian Bone. Their rounds could scarcely have been more different. Barry had a disastrous front nine, culminating in a 9 at the 9^th but he fought back magnificently, coming home in level par, including birdies at 11 and 13. Ian, on the other hand, had a good outward half of 39 but three double-bogeys on the back nine saw him miss his chance of an outright win.  

In class one, Ian Waller appeared on the podium for the first time this season, beating Fraser Cooper by one stroke. The 18^th hole proved decisive, with Ian shooting a birdie while Fraser had a bogey.

 Results

Class 1

70 – Ian Waller (9)

71 – Fraser Cooper (6),

72 – JimMcKerchar (7), Campbell Leggat (6), Iain Munro (1)

Class 2

72 – Barry Paterson (10), Fraser Cooper (12)

Class 3

67 – Joe McGill (15)

68 – David Liddell (15)

70 – Noel Masterson (14)

Saturday was a good day for the Wilson clan with Angus of that ilk finishing joint first in the third class and Andrew securing the Coronation Trophy with a fine score of 66. Despite shooting the best scratch score of the day, 69, Brendan Watt had to settle for second place after a count-back. A blistering start saw Brendan reach four under par after seven holes before bogeys at the 8^th and 9^th temporarily halted his momentum. Further birdies at the 13^th and 18^th were not quite enough as Andrew Wilson matched both of them to hold on for victory.

Ian Hamilton fought off the challenge of Stuart McKenzie to win the second class. Ian’s score was based on a solid one-over par front nine while Stuart was left to rue three successive bogeys from the 15^th.   One shot further back were John Rogerson, Peter McGuigan and Joe Woloszyn.  John played steadily throughout while Peter and Joe had more of a rollercoaster ride. Peter had a triple-bogey 7 at the 3^rd but countered with birdies at the 6^th and 12^th while Joe had 7s at the 5^th and 17^th but managed to birdie the 2^nd and, more impressively, the 15^th which was once again the hardest hole on the course.

In class three, both Angus Wilson and James Brown made second successive appearances on the podium.  James had another consistent round while Angus recovered well from triple bogeys at the start of both halves, finishing on a high with a birdie at the last. They were joined on 70 by John Cattigan and Brian Houston.  John also birdied the 18^th to claim a share of the prize while Brian shrugged off a triple bogey at the 11^th to birdie the 14^th and 16^th. He was denied outright victory by an untidy 7 at the final hole.    

Results

Class 1  

66 – Andrew Wilson (8), Brendan Watt (3)

69 – George Kirkwood, (6), Graham Manson (9), Kieron Aldridge (5), Andrew Aitken (6)

Class 2

67 – Ian Hamilton (10)

68 – Stuart McKenzie (12)

69 – Peter McGuigan (12), John Rogerson (12), Joe Woloszyn (13)

Class 3

70 – Angus Wilson (16), John Cattigan (18), Brian Houston (15), James Brown (15)

The third class was won by Alan Winter who fought back strongly after taking six at three of the first five holes. Successive threes at the 6th, 7^th and 8^th got his round back on track and he stayed on the rails to the end to win by a shot from James Brown. James was going well until triple-bogeys at the 9th and 13^th. He still had a chance of winning the class but ran up another 7 at the final hole. Steady rounds secured equal third place for Angus Wilson and John Cunningham while Jimmy Watt had cause to regret a profligate finish – after a birdie at the hardest hole on the course, the 15^th, he spilled seven strokes over the last three holes, finishing on 74.

In class two, Robbie Robertson more than made up for a mediocre front nine by storming home in level par, the highlight being a “magic two” at the 14^th. His net 68 was matched by Archie Young who played very solidly with only one six on his card and birdies at 6 and 16. One shot behind Robbie and Archie was Colin Griffin who also recovered from a poor outward half. Eight over par at the turn, Colin had further bogeys at 10 and 11 before a run of pars and good birdies at the 17^th and 18^th helped him into third place.

The winner of class one and of the President’s Cup was Rab Cunningham. One of the first to tee off, Rab posted an excellent 67 which was never surpassed.  Three-under par after five holes, he was on course for an even lower total but let shots slip at five of the next six holes before a birdie at the 18^th set the seal on a fine round. Two shots further back were Iain McFarlane and Murray Macmillan who both played steady golf to finish on 69. One shot behind them were Alan Cumming and Robert Sneddon. Alan got off to a flyer with birdies at the first three holes but couldn’t quite sustain this form while Robert shot the best back nine of the day – a one-under par 35.                    

Results

Class 1

67 – Robert Cunningham (9)

69 – Iain MacFarlane (4), Murray Macmillan (5)

Class 2

68 – Robbie Robertson (10), Archie Young (11)

69 – Colin Griffin (12)

Class 3

70 – Alan Winter (14)

71 – James Brown (15)

73 – Angus Wilson (16), John Cunningham (17)

League Leaders Ratho Park brought an undefeated record to Stirling on 12^th July having previously won all the home matches and drawn all the away games in the 2010 season.

Ratho started well with Eric McKay (9) and John Farrell (9) taking an early 3 hole lead against Bruce Hunter (7) and Graham Manson (9) but the Stirling duo finished strongly winning the last 4 holes to win by 1 up and put the first point on the scoreboard for Stirling.

Debutant Scott Hamilton (10) playing with Alasdair MacLennan (9) had a successful start when they beat Spen Taylor (11) and John Dea (11) to put Stirling 2 up in the match.

This was consolidated by Ian Cockshoot (12) and James K Todd (13) who managed a win against a strong Ratho pair of Norman MacLeod (12) and Jack Fraser (12) on the 17^th to put the home side in a 3 – 0 lead in the match. 

The win was assured for Stirling when John Keirnan (15) and Graham Leisk (16) beat Ratho Captain Gordon MacKenzie (12) and A. Pirrie (13) to put Stirling 4 – 0 up with only 2 matches to play.

Ratho came back strongly in matches 5 & 6 winning both of them when Dennis Wheelhouse (13) and John Cunningham (14) beat John Leitch (18) and Robin Limnmack (20) by  one hole, and final pairing of Doug Williams (16) and J Rankine (22) beat Stirling pairing of Jim Fleming (21) and Ray Crockett (21) to make the final score 4-2 in Stirling’s favour.

A new entry sheet will be posted on noticeboards in the next few days.

Friends and family congratulate Jim on completing his quest.

Spot the ball!

Stirling Golf Club stalwart Jim McKerchar recently played 100 holes of golf in a single day in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support, raising a magnificent £2,300 in the process. Jim dragged himself out of his bed at 3.40am and was on the 1^st tee at 4.30am. The day did not start well with a drive into the heavy rough and being forced to play a provisional – it looked like being an even longer day than he’d thought. With the help of a small band of bleary-eyed supporters, Jim found his ball and went on to complete his opening round in two hours and four minutes.

Another two hours and ten minutes later he had completed his second round and went in for a well-deserved hearty breakfast.  His plan after round three was to have a quick shower but he was side-tracked into the bar for a couple of pints of stout. This appeared to do the trick as he shot a superb fourth round of 75 so he repeated the routine after the fourth round and fired an excellent 79 in round five. 

Buoyed by these good scores, Jim almost skipped along the final 10 holes and completed his marathon effort at 7.35pm. A large crowd of family and friends applauded him into the clubhouse where he slaked his thirst with copious amounts of Ireland’s national drink.

“I’d like to say a huge thank-you to everyone who supported me on the day, particularly Danny Letford who walked the first three rounds with me, “ said Jim. “Also George Wilson who co-ordinated the raffle prizes and everyone else who donated to the cause. All monies will go to help people living with cancer in the Forth Valley. If you want to know more about Macmillan Cancer Support, please visit www.macmillan.org.uk.”

Newly-crowned club champion, Kevan McArthur, shot a magnificent scratch 66 and must have been scratching his head when told he had not finished first in class one. That honour went to a resurgent Shug Clark who birdied the 2^nd, 4^th and 16^th on his way to a superb 65. Mike Hall and Stewart Gillespie also played their best golf of the season to post net 66s. Stewart shot a two-under par 34 on the back nine while Mike recovered from a triple-bogey at the 11th with a birdie at 16 and an eagle at 18.

In class 3, David McInnes must have feared the worst after taking 17 shots to play the first three holes but he recovered superbly to record a net 66, the highlight being a birdie at the 13^th. His closest challenger, Michael Willis, also had a chance of a 66 but double-bogeyed the 17^th.    

Results

Class 1

65 – Hugh Clark (8)

66 – Stewart Gillespie (5), Mike Hall (7), Kevan McArthur (0)

Class 2

63 – Hugh Colquhoun (11)

66 -  William McVicars (12), Archie Young (12)

Class 3

66 – David McInnes (14)

68 – Michael Willis (15)

In class one, Stewart Gillespie and Grieg McInnes tied on 68.  Stewart recovered from an inauspicious start, countering bogeys at the 1^st and 3^rd with a birdie at the 5^th.   A level par inward half confirmed his place on the podium for the second time in four days. In contrast, Greig began well with birdies at the 1^st and 3^rd before running up an ugly 7 at the 5^th. Birdies at the 14^th and 18^th eased the pain of a second double bogey at the 17^th. Rab Sneddon had been on course to win the class after reaching the turn in one-under par. An unfortunate double-bogey at the short 14^th and a bogey at the 17^th derailed his challenge.        

It was a good day for the current and past captains. Jim Kinnear made a rare appearance on the leader-board, shooting three birdies in a round of 81 while Bobby Roy once again found his way onto the podium despite the diligent efforts of the match and handicap team. Mention must also be made of Alastair Macmillan whose net 68 owed much to parring all four short holes – a rare feat for a high handicapper.   

Results

Class 1

68 – Stewart Gillespie (5), Greig McInnes (6)      

69 – Andrew Aitken (6), Ben Liddell (3), Robert Sneddon (4)

Class 2

66 – Derek Gavin (12)

67 – Alasdair MacLennan (10)

68 – Jim Kinnear (13), Douglas Cumming (11)

Class 3

67 – John Mungall (24), Douglas Jamard (21)

68 – Alastair Macmillan (21), Robert Roy (19)