Golfing stalwart Hootie will be greatly missed
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ON the same day as Brora Golf Club staged their Senior Open tournament last Friday, the club flag was lowered to half way as a mark of respect and memory of senior member Hugh Baillie who had passed away in his sleep in Raigmore Hospital, Inverness, overnight.
Hugh, or “Hootie” as he was known to us all, was in his 88th year and in his near 60 years membership, several of these years as club president and secretary, he was recognised as the father of the modern-day club.
Much more will be written and recalled of Hugh Baillie over the coming weeks I’m sure, but for the moment as I sit down to pen my weekly golf
coverage, I recalled my first article for the Northern Times in the early 1980s.
Hugh had covered both football and golf for our local Raggie and when he stopped the golf coverage I telephoned the then editor, Jim Henderson, to complain of the lack of golf reporting.
Jim responded with the few lines “you write them and I’ll print them” so that’s how the readers still have me!
I began with a preview of the season’s fixtures and began with the opening line: “Saturday sees the start of the open fixtures on the Sutherland courses”. But I then a passed it by Hootie to check over. It came back with my first grammatical correction – “Saturdays can’t see!”
I have gone to him many times since to help with introductory paragraphs to my reports especially if my own golf was to be given a mention. This and his company in the golf club I will miss most.
His funeral will be on Monday but for now I will return to my golf duties with a sad heart.
ROBERT Smith, a member of The Nairn golf team of seniors who won the Senior Northern Counties Cup at Royal Dornoch last month, returned the lowest gross score of 72 to win the Brora Senior’s Open, while Roger Thorley of the Stanedge Golf Club in Derbyshire won the Seniors Cup with a nett 67.
Scratch player Smith, into the stiffening wind, easily matched the out par of 35 with a bogey-free nine holes, but then went three under par with birdies on the 10th, 13th and 14th holes. A pulled drive to the left of fairway from the 15th tee and a second ball in the same direction blocked his way to the pin on the green and the resulting seven was a big scar on his inward half of 37 for 72.
However it bettered by a shot, the 73 (38/35) from Reay’s Raymond Taylor.
Taylor’s nett 69 progressed him to first place in the low handicap section followed by local George F Sutherland and ex Brora bobby, Mike Cormack.
In Class Two local Ian Davidson’s recent club successes were followed with another handicap breaking nett 68 to get ahead on the better inward half of new club mate Andrew Smith.
Derbyshire’s Thorley took time off from a fishing trip to the River Helmsdale to play, so if he had to return his Helmsdale catch he had at least one trophy to take back to his Stanedge club. Playing from handicap 16 he completed his outward half in 40 despite a double bogey on the par five eighth hole and included two sixes on the inward run for gross 83 and nett 67 to deny the locals Davidson and Smith by a shot.
Prize winners: Scratch (CSS70). R W Smith (The Nairn) 72. R S Cameron (Brora) 74. B Nicholson (Muir of Ord) 75. Handicap Class 1 – R S Taylor (Reay) (4) 69. G F Sutherland (Brora) (10) 70, M Cormack (Inverness) (11) 70. Class 2 – I Davidson (Brora) (19), A Smith (Brora) (17) 68. F Ogley (Invergordon) (15) 71. Senior Cup – R Thorley (Stanedge) (16) 67.
