McLean comes out of darkness
with a winning 3-under-par 67

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Scotland youth cap Philip McLean (pictured right by Cal Carson Golf Agency), from Peterhead won today’s North-east Alliance at Deeside Golf Club with a remarkable score of three-under-par 67, despite playing the last four holes in total darkness.
A record field of 116 meant that Philip, a 21-year-old +3 player, did not start until 1pm and it was after 5pm by the time he finished.
McLean’s only bogeys in his round came at the 14th, when the light was fading fast, and the 18th, which he said was "Just a case of hitting and hoping you find the ball. I missed the green left with my second shot with a four-iron and could not even see the hole for my little pitch shot. I was glad to get down in two putts."
He had birdies at the first, sixth, 12th, 13th and 17th. His 3 at the par-4 penultimate hole has to rank as one of the best birdies he has ever scored, given that he could not see the fairway from the tee nor the green for his second shot.
“I’ve never finished a round in conditions like that before,” said Philip. “I was playing instinctive golf but it had been four years since I last played Deeside so I did not have much to go on for remembering the holes.
McLean, although he benefited from being a long, straight hitter, admitted he was lucky to escape the disasters that befell some other late finishers who could not find their golf balls, even after good strikes into the darkness.
David Corkey, for instance, hit a "great drive" off the 18th tee, was sure it would be waiting for him up the fairway ... but he could not find it. "I can only presume it plugged." The hole cost him an 8.
Four players tied for second place on par 70 – first man off Billy Main (Murcar Links), Banchory assistant pro Stewart Davidson, Fergus Bissett (Banchory) and Chris Robb (Inchmarlo), another of the late finishers.
Bisset, like many others, struggled on the very wet, very slow greens. Three under par after a fourth birdie of the day at the 13th, he dropped three shots over the last five holes, starting with three putts at the 14th followed by further bogeys at the 15th and 18th.
David Law (Hazlehead) lost two balls off the tee in recording a 72.
Scottish women's champion Michele Thomson (McDonald Ellon) had a 78 (38-40) off the men's tees. She was in the same threesome as Philip McLean and Ross Cameron, so she too played the closing holes in darkness. Cameron did well to finish with a 70.

LEADING SCRATCH
Par 70. 6248yd
67 P McLean (Peterhead).
70 W Main (Murcar Links), F Bisset (Banchory), S Davidson (Banchory), C Robb (Inchmarlo).
71 B Ritchie (Inverallochy), I Bratton (Newburgh), R Cameron (McDonald Ellon).
72 D Law (Hazlehead), M Jenkins (Duff House Royal), A Milne (Kemnay).
73 A Campbell (Deeside), B Nicolson (Auchmill).
73 S Finnie (Caledonian), D Clark (Duff House Royal), C Stephen (Meldrum House), A Bews (Murcar Links), C Trahan (Murcar Links).
74 C Law (Hazlehead), G Lornie (Kings Links), R Pirie (Caledonian), R McDonald (Inchmarlo).
75 P Morrison (Oldmeldrum), C Nelson (MacKenzie Club), J Mooney (Turriff), C Clark (MacKenzie Club).
76 F Barclay (Kintore), H Roulston (Stonehaven), J Duncan (Newburgh), N Reid (Deeside), A Graham (Portlethen).
77 G Mitchell (Braemar), J Dalgarno (Hazlehead), M Lawrie (Kemnay), L Taylor (Auchmill), D MacAndrew (Royal Aberdeen), S Cooper (Banchory).
78 D Corkey (Murcar Links), D Leighton (Northern), Michele Thomson (McDonald Ellon).
79 P Anderson (Deeside), L Prouse (Hazlehead), D Nelson (Aboyne), D Naylor (Banchory).
LEADING HANDICAP
Class 1 – A Milne (Kemnay) (5) 67; P Morrison (Oldmeldrum) (7), F Bisset (Banchory) (2) 68; B Harper (Newburgh) (6), B Ritchie (Inverallochy) (2) 69; W Main (Murcar Links) (scr), J Dalgarno (Hazlehead) (7), A Graham (Portlethen) (6), P McLean (Peterhead) (+3) 70; C Law (Hazlehead) (3), B Nicolson (Auchmill) (2), J Duncan (Newburgh) (5), R Pirie (Caledonian) (3), M Jenkins (Duff House Royal) (2), S Cooper (Banchory) (6) 71; G Mitchell (Braemar) (5), M Lawrie (Kemnay) (5), H Roulston (Stonehaven) (4), D Clark (Duff House Royal) (1), C Robb ((Inchmarlo (+2) 72.
Class 2 – F Barclay (Kintore) (10) 66; R Lumsden (Northern) (18) 68; P Anderson (Deeside) (9) 70; G Homer (Lumphanan) (10), D Bisset (Banchory) (9), M Booth (Kemnay) (12), J Scott (Peterculter) (12) 72; G Kelly (Peterculter) (14), T Collie (Kemnay) (11), D Randall (Banchory) (15) 73; P Cornfield (Auchmill) (12) 74; H McNaughton (Cruden Bay) (11), J Wilson (Deeside) (11), B Lumsden (Northern) (14), J Penny (Huntly) (13) 75; N Stewart (Northern) (11), G Allan (Newmachar) (10), G Leslie (Newburgh) (12) 76.

LEADING SENIORS
SCRATCH
76 Harry Roulston (Stonehaven).
79 Dave Nelson (Aboyne).
HANDICAP
Class 1
72 Harry Roulston (Stonehaven) (4)
73 David McKay (Caledonian) (7)
74 Leslie Roger (Royal Aberdeen) (8), Ian D Smith (Hazlehead) (6), Dave Nelson (Aboyne) (5).
Class 2
72 David Bisset (Banchory) (2).
73 Derek Randall (Banchory) (15).
75 Jimmy Wilson (Deeside) (11).
77 Donald Wood (Newburgh) (12).


DEESIDE SCORECARD Par 70
OUT: 3-4-5-4-3-5-4-4-4--36. IN: 4-4-3-5-3-4-3-4-4--34

PHILIP McLEAN 67
OUT: 2--4-5-4-3-4-4-4-4--34
IN: 4-4-2-4-4-4-3-3-5--33

BILLY MAIN 70
OUT: 4-3-6-4-3-4-4-4-4--36
IN: 3-4-3-5-3-4-3-4-5--34

STEWART DAVIDSON 70
OUT: 3-5-5-4--3-4-4-3-4--35.
IN: 4-4-3-5-3-4-4--4-4--35.

FERGUS BISSET 70
OUT: 2-4-5-4-3-4-4-3-5--34.
IN: 4-4-3-4-4-5--3-4-5--36

+Apologies to Chris Robb, who also had a 70, for not publishing his figures ... I forgot to take a note of them. If Chris E-mails them to me at Colin@scottishgolfview.com, then I will put them on display without delay.