NORTH GOLF ALLIANCE REPORT

Liam pips Calum on card countback at Brora

By ROBIN WILSON
Two local teenagers, Liam MacDonald-Macleod (19) and Calum Stewart (17), left the Alliance's leading player, Tain's Munro Ferries, in the shade when playing their home course in Sunday's North Golf Alliance fixture at Brora.
Each local protege returned a gross card of one-over-par 70 and with a one-under-par inward half of 33, MacDonald, pictured by Robin Wilson, pegged back Stewart's outward lead of two strokes to make it into first place, adding his name to the list of scratch winners after a handicap win at Royal Dornoch last November.

Scottish junior cap Stewart matched his rival's outward 35 shots over the next nine holes but it was at the 13th and 14th holes where MacDonald made up ground with back-to-back birdies to win the card play-off.
Tain's left-hander Ferries finished with the fourth best score of the day, a 73, which matched his two earlier scores of 73 at both Royal Dornoch and Tain. After adding a 66 at Tarbat the previous week and an opening season 70 at Durness, the +2 handicapper, now with a four scores' total of 282, has built up a six-shot aggregate lead over Thurso's Bryan Ronald whose 77 at Brora did not improve his situation.

Ferries' lead should be a sufficient to guarantee retention of the Scratch Quaich with two fixtures remaining.
Reducing his previous net aggregate total of 283 by 10 shots to 273 with a superb handicap- winning score of 64 at Brora, Seann Sutherland (Bonar-Bridge/Ardgay) is on track to retain the Mackintosh Salver. He has gone ahead of Ronald's net 276 total by three with remaining fixtures left to play this weekend at Golspie on Saturday, followed by Reay on Sunday.

Tain's Andrew Watt occupies third net place with 277, Watt unable to improve on any of his counting scores at Brora. Missing a chance to get into the mix was Durness's Billy MacBain who unfortunately along with playing partners Alister Corbet and John Morrison disqualified themselves after discovering they had played from a wrong tee.
Sutherland has had two strokes taken from his handicap (8 to 6) for the final two events but he won't grumble too much after his gross 72 (38-34) for a net 64 was six ahead of the next best score in Class 1.

This came from former Alliance secretary Robin Wilson (Brora) who has been out of the prize lists for the whole of last season and all of the current while his handicap was rising to seven. But he got back into the scene with a closing birdie 2 for a gross 77, net 70, and second place. The local member finished two ahead of Tain pair, Steve Holmes and Alec Gunn.
The overnight rain and strong wind that had even blown out several of the flag poles from the greens had abated by morning but Brora's winter tee positions toughens several holes and this was reflected with no player in the Class 2 section getting close to the net par.

Three net 72s were separated into order by inward half counts and it was local Peter Etheridge, who came home in net 34, who got first place ahead of Jim Johnstone (Thurso) and Tain's Ali Melville.
As mentioned above, the final fixture is at Reay on Sunday but Golspie are giving three hours of their members' times on Saturday morning - 8.30 to 11.30am - to get all ten fixtures completed. RESULTS
Scratch

70 L MacDonald-Macleod (Brora) 37-33, C Stewart (Brora) 35-35.

72 S R S Sutherland (Bonar-Bridge/Ardgay) 38-34.

73 M Ferries (Tain) 38-35.

74 J Sangster (Thurso) 37-37.

75 B Ferries (Tain) 39-36.

76 S Holmes (Tain) 40-36).

Handicap

Class 1 – S R S Sutherland (BBA) (8) 64; R J Wilson (Brora) (7) 70; S Holmes (Tain) (4) (bih), A Gunn (Tain) (6) 72.

Class 2 – P Etheridge (Brora) (12) (bih), J Johnstone) (Thurso) (16), A Melville (Tain) (11) 72; D A Matheson (Brora) (15) 75.