North Golf Alliance trophy winners. Left to right - Munro Ferries (Tain), Brora members with Team Shield, Tony Gill, Calum Stewart, Shain Ashe, Peter Etheridge and Seann Sutherland (Bonar Bridge /Ardgay). Image by courtesy of Robin Wilson.

Munro Ferries, Sutherland are silverware

winners as Alliance season comes to end

By ROBIN WILSON
Due to a gusty day at Brora Golf Club, the leading aggregate scores of North Golf Alliance members, Munro Ferries (Tain) and Seann Sutherland (Bonar Bridge/Ardgay) remained intact at the final fixture and both became first-time winners of the individual silver, Ferries the Scratch Quaich and Sutherland the MacKintosh Salver.
Both trophies are awarded for the four best scores over the Alliance season that ended at Brora on Sunday.
To win these trophies two scores are required from courses North and South of the Ord of Caithness. In the North, Ferries used a scratch 75 at Durness and a 73 at Wick to add to his two 68s in the South, one at Tarbat and one at Tain, for his total of 284.
Runner up was the holder, Wick's Ronnie Taylor, some seven shots behind.
Seven-handicapper Sutherland (during the season he was cut to six) set out his net aggregate stall with a 67 at Tarbat and a 68 at Tain, then added in the North a 67 at Reay and a 71 at Wick for his 72-hole net aggregate of 273 and a three-shot win over Grant Maxwell (Reay).
In Sunday's individual scoring, the Tain scratch trophy winner with a 76 had to stand aside for Brora's talented youngster Calum Stewart, who turned 16 just four days earlier, and on Sunday came in with a marvellous one over par 70 for his second first scratch place of the month.
Showing maturity beyond his years Stewart had full control of his swing in an outward half of level par 35, his only two bogeys coming at the most difficult of the outward holes, the third and fifth. They were cancelled out by birdies at the seventh and ninth holes. He matched par for the next eight holes and only a three-putt on the final green prevented what should have been an outstanding par-matching 69 in the conditions.
With the home advantage, and led by Stewart's net 69, the local members walked away with the team trophy. Brora had two more members with similar net scores, Peter Etheridge and Shaun Ashe, while club and alliance secretary Tony Gill, with a net 70 off five completed the Brora winning total of 277.
Gill beat Mike Sangster (Tain) and Bryan Ronald (Thurso) into second and third places in the Class 1 Handicap section which placed Ferries into second scratch with his 76. Bill Murray (Wick) was third handicap.
Brora electrician Peter Etheridge sparked life into his card with an excellent inward 39 to claim first handicap in Class 2 from clubmate Ashe on a better last nine. Their net 69s were two ahead of third placed Alister McCowan (Durness).
RESULTS
Scratch
70 C Stewart (Brora).
75 A J Gill (Brora).
76 M Ferries (Tain).
77 M Sangster (Tain), B Ronald (Thurso).
79 B Murray (Wick).
80 R W Taylor (Wick).
Handicap
Class 1 – A J Gill (Brora) (5) 70; M Sangster (Tain) (4), B Ronald (Thurso) (4) 73; W Murray (Wick) (5) 74.
Class 2 – P Etheridge (Brora) (12), S Ashe (Brora) (13) 69; A McCowan (Durness) (13) 71.

+The start of the "Summer fixtures" in Sutherland sees an 18 hole walk-on open at Golspie Golf Club on Saturday and a similar fixture at Brora on Sunday.