Better second round wins it for David

McCreadie after 34-hole tie with Buchan

By ROBIN WILSON
On a three-hole swing at the final hole, the Gardner Trophy moved from the North-east to the Central Belt and so too did the Fraser Shield after the results of Royal Dornoch's final 36 hole open tournament of the year.
But instead of the normal 36 holes only 34 were played, two of the Struie holes being under water when an already swollen Dornoch Burn burst its banks when prevented from flowing out to sea due to a very high tide. This flooded the fairways at the 15th and 16th holes..
After the low handicap section completed the first 15 holes they then moved to the 18th tee.
Leading the scoring for the 16 holes were Steven Mitchell (Crieff) 63, Michael Buchan (Cruden Bay) 64, Mark Gray (Royal Dornoch) 64, holder Allan Duff (Cruden Bay) and from the Isle of Skye Alasdair Grant, also on 65.
A 66 from Royal Dornoch's vice-captain Hamish Macrae and cluster of four players on 67, included the eventual winner David McCreadie (Bellshill).
Five handicapper Macrae slumped to a second round 84 on the championship course and the change from Sconsor on Skye to the Dornoch championship test was too big for Grant, despite a creditable 74, and seven handicapper Gray who by then had set his focus on the Fraser Shield.
This left the quartet of McCreadie, Duff, Buchan and Mitchell in the scratch mix. A second round 79 from five handicapper Mitchell, slipped him back to a joint third finish on 142 with Duff the Cruden Bay member shooting the better round 77 to jump into second place.
After nine holes of their final round Buchan's three-shot lead over McCreadie had been cut to two, 36 against 35, but when they went to the final tee the Cruden Bay member who won the North of Scotland 72 hole title at Dornoch in 2007 had recovered his three-shot lead before running up a costly double bogey 6 for 74 and 138.
In contrast McCreadie birdied the final hole for 71 and a tie but on the better second round was awarded the Gardner Trophy.
Although Cawder Golf Club, Bishopbriggs is his home club, Gray is also a member of Royal Dornoch and this eligibility allowed him put his name on the Fraser Shield for the first time. He followed up his net 57 on the Struie with a net 71 on the championship course for a net 128.
Results
(Handicaps adjusted for the 16 hole Struie round are shown in brackets).
Scratch
Gardner Trophy.
138 D McCreadie (Bellshill) 67 71, M Buchan (Cruden Bay) 64 74.
142 A Duff (Cruden Bay) 65 77, S Mitchell Crieff) 63 69.
143 M Gray (RDGC) 64 79, K. Matheson (Royal Dornoch) 68 75, A Grant (Isle of Skye) 65 78. 144 B. Nicolson (Auchmill) 67 77.
146 B Nicholson (Royal Dornoch) 72 74.
Handicap
Fraser Shield
M Gray (Royal Dornoch) (7/8) 128; A Grant (Isle of Skye) (4) 135; N Campbell (Royal Dornoch) (6/7) 136; B Nicholson (Royal Dornoch) (4) 138.
Individual Scratch scores
Championship
S MacKintosh (Crieff) 74.
Struie
H Macrae (Royal Dornoch) 66.
Individual Handicap
Championship
A Kennedy Newtonmore (10) 72 (bih).
Struie – A Graham (Newmacher (9) 61 (Last 6).