Brora greenkeeper wins Autumn Quaich
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AFTER a 24-hour delay, Brora Golf Club’s second year apprentice greenkeeper, Alistair Morrison, was rewarded with the Quaich on offer in Brora’s Autumn golf tournament last Sunday.
The event was due on Saturday and an anticipated entry in excess of 100 was expected but play was postponed because the outer end of the golf course was inaccessible due to the Dalchalm Burn bursting its banks following 30 hours of incessant rain, flooding the foot bridges at the fifth and thirteenth holes.
The rain eased by Sunday and the water level fell to permit safe crossing of the bridges and while a big contingent of Alness golfers had to cancel their planned October outing to Brora an entry of around 80 men and women still made the delayed end of season competition a successful one.
Twenty-year-old Morrison, who hails from Durness, completed his first year of golf course green keeping in Fife’s Elmwood College before the opportunity arrived for him to join the Brora staff at the beginning of this season.
His first nine hole card was cluttered with double bogies, four sixes in all at the 4th, 5th 7th and 8th holes with the only respite a birdie two on the 6th hole after he had safely negotiated the still flooded Dalchalm Burn for his outward count of 44.
The inward nine holes were covered in an excellent 41 which became decisive when he went into a card play off for the Quaich with the Brora Secretary, Tony Gill, who also matched Morrison’s net 67 but with only half of his four handicap to use, was well beaten on the net count over the last nine holes – Morrison 32, Gill 37.
Making a last impression in his final season as an amateur golfer was Liam MacDonald-MacLeod, who after a season working in the Brora Golf Club Shop, will be taken under the wing and trained as a professional golfer by local PGA Professional Brian Anderson from 1st January.
The Brora twenty-one-year old carded, from two halves of 35, a one under par score of 70 and in the scratch rankings was followed by Gill’s 71 (32/39) and Roddie Cameron’s 72 (36/36).
The 14 women who entered faired poorer against the course with their scores qualifying for handicap reduction only. The winner, away member Alison Darlington, will see her handicap drop after a nett 71, off 34. She was six shots ahead of another visiting member Jane Herd (Musselburgh) after her handicap of six dropping her gross 83 to net 77. In third place came the first based member Anne Clarke who dropped from second to third due to a finishing hole triple bogey six.
Results: Men (all Brora unless stated): Scratch - 70 L MacDonald-MacLeod. 71 A J Gill. 72 R Cameron. 74 D Lamont (Golspie). 75 I Murray (Falkirk). 77 J D Sutherland, R Powell (Deeside), J G MacBeath.
Handicap Quaich: A Morrison (Durness) (18) 67. A J Gill (4) 67. K Sutherland (9) 69, J Oliver (Golspie (9) 69. L MacDonald-MacLeod (1) 69.I Murray (Falkirk) (5), R S Cameron (2), D Lamont (Buckpool) (4) 70.
Women: A Darlington (34) 71. J Herd (Musselburgh) (6) 77. A Clarke (16) 78 P Ashe (14) 79. A Grant (18) 79.
