Renfrewshire beat Dunbartonshire in final

of Scottish area team championship

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY SCOTTISH GOLF UNION
By ROSS MUNRO
Renfrewshire stormed to their fourth victory in the Scottish Area Team Championship with a resounding 4-1 win over Dumbartonshire in this afternoon’s final at Crail.
Murdo Carmichael’s men erased the memory of last year’s final defeat by Ayrshire with a comprehensive win over local rivals Dumbartonshire.
Former Scottish mid-amateur champion Matthew Clark (Kilmalcolm) claimed the winning point with a one-hole win over Paul Betty (Hayston) as the sun shone on the East Neuk after yesterday's gales-enforced abandonment.
Renfrewshire got off to a flyer in the final and the result never looked in doubt, with Gordon Stevenson and Bryan Adam cruising to a 6 and 5 foursome victory over Colin Peddie and Grant Minnes in the opening tie.
Former Scotland captain Craig Watson defeated Gordon Yates by the same margin for Renfrewshire to surge to a 2-0 lead before Clark’s final green win signalled celebration time.
In a sporting contest, the final two matches (Ronnie Clark v Andrew Campbell and Andrew Farmer v Kevin Smyth) were declared halved.
A delighted Carmichael, captaining his side for the first time, said:
“I’d firstly like to congratulate all the teams for their great sportsmanship over the two days here at Crail. My team have shown tremendous spirit and a never say die attitude throughout the season and they’ve been rewarded with a terrific win.
“The golf on show was first class with birdies all over the place. We probably had the oldest team in the final but I think our experience was important and counted for a lot in the tight matches, particularly this morning. We have a team of proven winners and this tops a fantastic year for our area.”
Renfrewshire’s place in the final had looked in doubt during this morning’s semi-final match against the North-east. With the other four matches evenly poised, reigning DM Hall Scottish mid-amateur champion Andrew Farmer found himself four down at the turn against Peterhead’s Philip McLean, but bounced back to string together five consecutive 3s from the tenth and seal his match with victory at the last hole to give his side a narrow 3-2 win.
Double Scottish champion David Law (Hazlehead) had earlier earned his side a point with a thrilling first extra hole win over the experienced Watson, whilst Fraserburgh’s Kris Nicol notched their other singles win.
Dumbartonshire’s also won their semi-final by a hard fought 3-2 margin over Lanarkshire, thanks to a 3 and 2 victory for Kevin Smyth in the final match against Stewart Henderson.
Paul Betty won his singles match whilst Peddie and Minnes had clinched the opening foursomes tie. Colville Park’s Ross Kellett and Airdrie’s Steven Rennie scored the Lanarkshire points.
Saturday's semi-finals were first suspended and then abandoned because of high winds. Both the semi-finals and final were rescheduled for today under a condensed format of one foursome and four singles in each tie.
This is the last Scottish area championship under its present format. Next year it will be condensed into one weekend with all the areas sending teams to compete in the Saturday stroke-play after which four teams will qualify for Sunday's semi-finals and final.
Sunday results:
SEMI-FINALS
LANARKSHIRE 2, DUNBARTONSHIRE 3
Foursome:
Andy Fairbairn & Grant Beaton (Lanarkshire) lost to Colin Peddie & Grant Minnes (Dunbartonshire) 3 and 2.
Singles:
Ross Kellett (Lanarkshire) bt Gordon Yates (Dunbartonshire) 4 and 3.
Ed Wood (Lanarkshire) lost to Paul Betty (Dunbartonshire) 4 and 3
Stewart Henderson (Lanarkshire) lost to Kevin Smyth (Dunbartonshire) 4 and 3.
Steven Rennie (Lanarkshire) bt Andrew Campbell (Dunbartonshire) 3 and 2.

NORTH-EAST 2, RENFREWSHIRE 3
Foursome:
Bryan Innes & Anthony Bews (North East) lost to Bryan Adam & Gordon Stevenson (Renfrewshire) 4 and 3.
Singles:
David Law (North East) bt Craig Watson (Renfrewshire) at 19th.
Mark Halliday (North East) lost to Matthew Clark (Renfrewshire) 5 and 3.
Philip McLean (North East) lost to Andrew Farmer (Renfrewshire) 1 hole.
Kris Nicol (North East) bt Ronnie Clark (Renfrewshire) 2 and 1.
FINAL
RENFREWSHIRE 4, DUNBARTONSHIRE 1
Foursome:
Adam & Stevenson bt Peddie & Minnes 6 and 4.
Singles:
Watson bt Yates 6 and 5.
M Clark bt Betty 1 hole.
R Clark halved with Campbell
K Smith halved with Farmer
+Last two games halved by mutual consent, the overall result of the match having been decided, i.e. a lead of 3-0.