FERRIES AND TAYLOR NECK AND

NECK AS NORTH ALLIANCE

SEASON CLIMAXES AT WICK

By ROBIN WILSON
The North Golf Alliance season will climax at Wick on Sunday with Tain's Munro Ferries and Wick's Ronnie Taylor going neck and neck for the individual Scratch Quaich held by Taylor for the past three seasons.
Two other trophies will be decided at Wick. Bonar Bridge's Seann Sutherland carries north a three-shot lead over the holder, Mike Keay (Tarbat), in the race for the handicap Mackintosh Salver.

The third trophy to be contested at Wick is the Team Shield of which Durness are the holders. A change in the rules this year allows any four scores from the handicap categories to count. That will help the other clubs who do not put forward so many players in the higher category.
Following the fixture at Brora last Sunday the four score aggregate totals of Taylor and Ferries are the same.

Taylor has the advantage of the final fixture being played over his home course. He must be ranked favourite to lower his now running total of 279. At the the final remaining Sutherland fixture at Brora last Sunday the Wick scratch man missed his last chance to improve on his “away” rounds of 67 at Golspie and 72 at Struie while on home turf he will be banking to better his two counting Caithness scores at Reay (69) and Wick (71) to retain the trophy.
Ferries, with a 76 at Brora last Sunday, gave up his last opportunity to lower his South counting scores of Struie (68) and Tain (73) and he will have to show a return to form to better his two current Caithness scores, both from visits to Reay, a 70 and 68, that make up his total of 279. The only slight advantage Ferries holds is that if he and Taylor remain tied after Wick on Sunday the Tain member has the better “away” record, his two score “away” total of 138 from Reay beating Taylor's “away” total of 139 from Golspie and Struie.
Mike Keay, the holder of the handicap Mackintosh Salver, will try to make up the three shots on Sutherland by lowering his last October net 71 at Wick while Sutherland can relax in the knowledge that his work in Caithness is done with a 66 and a 67 already banked from the Reay fixtures.

The leaders' current totals are: Sutherland 268 and Keay 271. After the Invergordon fixture Alister McCowan (Durness) came into the frame on 273 and could still be a threat.
The members were welcomed to Brora last Sunday by a course decked out in its summer finery and a new medal tee at the 11th hole brought into use for stroke play competition for the first time.

With all other 17 medal tees in use the course yardage was extended close to 6150 yards. March also brought with it the first cold north/north-east wind of spring accompanied by a customary fifteen minute squally shower that swept down from the surrounding hills to wreck many a card.
Given the opportunity to play to their full strength, Caithness duo Don Mackay (Thurso), picture above by courtesy of Robin Wilson, and Ronnie Taylor (Wick) stood out above the remainder of the field and both returned very good scratch scores of 72 from which, after a card comparison, Mackay shrugged of his three times bridesmaid tag and was credited with his first scratch win of the season.
The two-handicap Thurso member was the only player not to be put out of his stride by the sudden squall. A former Quaich winner in season 2003/04, he was the only player to make any adjustment to his scratch aggregate four score total and his winning 72 brings him within sight of Taylor and Ferries, now just two behind on 281 from Reay 66 and 71, Struie 72 and Brora 72.
Taylor was the halfway leader at Brora but was fizzing after a three putt on the ninth green dropped his excellent outward half card back to a one under par 34, he had birdied the first and fourth holes.

The lashing rain caught up with him on the tenth tee and his start to the inward half was 6,5 against the par of 4,4. He warmed up again with a closing birdie 2 but it came too late as his inward card mounted up to 38 to lose first place to Mackay who came home in 35 for his untroubled 72.
So high did the scores soar that even scratch player Ferries got a handicap place with his net 76, but standing out in the Class one Section was a remarkable nett 66, off 7, in the tough conditions from Reay's Richard MacDonald, after halves of 38 and 35.

His highlights were three birdies, at the 8th, 12th and 14th holes, for him to finish five ahead of Hamish Skinner (Tarbat).

In the Class Section local member Peter Etheridge also stuck to his task to win with a net 69 for what is the biggest winning margin of the year, ten ahead of William Thain (Wick). Etheridge drove the ball very well all day and just when the rain was beginning to fall he brightened up his inward card with a birdie 3 at the 14th hole only to let it slip with a three putt on the 17th green. So tough was the full length Brora course that even a nett 83 came into the prize list!
Results:

SCRATCH

72 D A Mackay (Thurso) 37-35, R W Taylor (Wick) 34-38).

73 R MacDonald (Reay).

79 H Skinner (Tarbat).

HANDICAP

Class 1 - R. MacDonald (Reay) (7) 66; H Skinner (Tarbat (8) 71; L Parnell (Reay) (5) 75; W Murray (Wick) (6) 75; M Ferries (Tain) (scr) 76.

Class 2 – P Etheridge (Brora) (11) 69; W Thain (Wick) (13) 79; A McCowan (Durness) (12) , D A Matheson (Brora) (15) 83.