Final hole birdie earns Chalmers a win in Cyprus
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Dougal Chalmers, winner of last season’s Brora four-day golf tournament, but missing from this year’s defence of the Clynelish Salver, has been holidaying on Cyprus and last week birdied the last hole to win the Cyprus Senior Open by a shot from Lebanon’s Rachid Akl – at a windy Aphrodite Hills golf course.
Chalmers, a regular visitor to the Sutherland golf courses, won by one shot after holding a three-shot lead overnight in the 36-hole tournament but had seen that turn into a two-shot deficit with six holes to go.
But a strong finish in tough conditions by the 57-year-old Panmure member saw him overtake Akl to land the title with rounds of 74 and 79 for 153. Akl scored 78-76 for 154.
“I holiday on Cyprus regularly and was here to play in a team event next weekend with friends and noticed this was on during my trip so I entered for the craic and got lucky,” said Chalmers, who has a holiday home in Dornoch.
“The shamal wind was fierce on Sunday and played havoc with the scores. The par was 70 but the CSS was 72 for the first round and 74 for the second, which shows you how strong the wind was. Fortunately it is warm!”
