Edinburgh & East of Scotland Golfers' Alliance

GRAEME JOHNSTON WINS THORNTON
CUP AT MUSSELBURGH

By DUNCAN IRELAND
Secretary, Edinburgh & East of Scotland Alliance

Another fine day at Musselburgh for our final event of the year. A total of 89 played on an excellent course, which was playing very tricky, as the scores will testify to. Nevertheless a massive thank you to Musselburgh as a long-time supporter of the Alliance.
Congratulations are finally due, after quite a long wait, to Graeme Johnston. His net 69 off four was just enough to beat John Kerr's net 70, also off four, into second place and was only one off the best scratch of the day, a 72, from Kenneth Glen.
Incredibly close at the top as you can see from the prizes. We had six tied for fourth scratch and five tied for fifthhandicap.
Now with the final qualifier completed, we move on to the championship at Dalmahoy. The top 60 from the scratch order of merit have qualified by right to play.
Congratulations to Stevie Doyle of Liberton on winning the Handicap Order of Merit even before the championship begins. He can't be caught but second and third places are still very much up for grabs.
The Scratch Order of Merit is also still very much in the melting pot with six players still being able to win and numerous others able to take the minor places.
I hope you enjoyed your Edinburgh and East of Scotland Golfers’ Alliance season and the courses we played. If you have any suggestions for outings for next season, then please forward them to me or, better still, come along to the AGM & Presentation of Prizes on April 23 and let us know then.

LEADING RETURNS FROM TODAY’S MUSSELBURGH COMPETITION:

OVERALL WINNER (Thornton Cup) – Graeme D Johnston (Glenbervie) (4) 69.

SCRATCH
1st (£100) Kenneth Glen (Royal Musselburgh) t 72.
2nd equal (£70 each) Stevie Lamb (unatt) p, Ross Noon (Longniddry) 74.
4th equal (£13 each) Neil Colquhoun (Merchants of Edinburgh) p, Andrew Dunsmore (Deer Park) p, Scott Grieve (King’s Acre) t, Neil Shillinglaw (Glencorse), Jim Noon (Leven), Paul Wardell (Whitekirk) p 75.
Other leading scratch scores:
76 Derek Fish (Glenbervie), Ian Fyfe (Musselburgh), Norman Huguet (Royal Musselburgh) t, Craig Imlah (Peebles), James McGhee (Turnhouse) t, Callum Smith (Royal Musselburgh) p, Adam Strang (Rothco Mortgages) p, Mike Thomson (Cardrona) p.
77 Alexander Culverwell (Dunbar), Graham Johnston (Baberton) t, William Laing (Prestonfield), Andrew Marshall (Houston GR) p, John McLean (Bathgate) s, George Wither (Lothianburn).
78 Harry Cartmill (Bathgate), Kevin Connachan (Royal Musselburgh), Richard Johnston (Glenbervie), Colin McLachlan (Glenbervie) s, Derek P Miller (Murrayfield), Chris Morris (Kingsknowe) p, Andrew Rothney (Deer Park).
79 Alistar Anderson (Peebles), Steven Doyle (Liberton), Ronald Grant (Baberton), Ewan Hogarth (Peebles) t, Andrew Wight (Glencorse) s.

HANDICAP
(Prizes in vouchers)
1st (£100) Graeme D Johnston (Glenbervie) (4) 69.
2nd (£80) John Kerr (Deer Park) (4) 70.
3rd (£60) George Thomson (Duddingston) (4) 71.
4th (£40) Willie Laing (Prestonfield) (5) 72.
5th equal (£8 each) Harry Cartmill (Bathgate) (5), Tom Flaherty (Gullane) (8) s, Ian Fyfe (Musselburgh) (3), John McLean (Bathgate) (4) s, Peter Sewell (West Linton) (8) 73.
Other leading net scores:
74 Derek Fish (Glenbervie) (2), Ronald Grant (Baberton) (5), Colin McLachlan (Glenbervie) (4) s, James Rankeiller (Edinburgh Western) (11) s, Graham Roberts (Liberton) (9), Neil Shillinglaw (Glencorse) (1).
75 Alistair Bell (Mortonhall) (5), Steven Doyle (Liberton) (4), Graham Grieve (Torphin) (7), David Jeffrey (Whitekirk) (7), Ross Noon (Longniddry) (+1).
76 Alistair Anmderson (Peebles) (3), John T Anderson (Kingsknowe) (7) s, Eric Bird (Pumpherston) (6), James Laurieston (Easter Moffat) (10), Derek P Miller (Murrayfield) (2), Alistair Robertson (Kingsknowe) (10), George Wither (Lothianburn) (1).

p denotes professional; t trainee professional; s senior amateur. All the remainder are amateurs.