FERRIES PIPS THORBURN FOR NORTH ALLIANCE SCRATCH QUAICH

Left to right: Munro Ferries, Fraser Sparling, Malcolm Morrison, Angus Cameron, Bryan Ronald and club captain Alister Simpson. Image by Robin Wilson.
By ROBIN WILSON
Even though he had to miss the weekend's final North Golf Alliance fixture at Tain, Thurso's Dougie Thorburn must still have thought his first Alliance Trophy was in the bag with a six-shot lead.

But local champion Munro Ferries returned a course record equalling card of 64 to pip him by one stroke on the final day for the Scratch Quaich. Although it was put forward as a tempting goal in the event preview that a 64 from Ferries would turn the result around, it was not really expected, allowing for the fact that Thorburn had a six-shot lead.

But by matching his own course record of 64 over Tain the stunning card from Ferries enabled him discard one of the 71s that went up to make his trailing aggregate of 281 and reduce it by seven to 274 so getting ahead of Thorburn's 275 by a shot.

The Tain player's other three counting scores to retain the trophy were recorded at Wick 69, Tarbat 70, and Brora 71.
Ferries's 64 won the Scratch Quaich for a third year, so matching the record winning hat-trick of Wick's Ron Taylor some years ago. Munro Ferries is pictured above with his daughter Iona (5) and the trophy. Image by Robin Wilson.
The winner's course record of 64 is six below the Tain normal par (35-35), and Sunday's 64 was five below the Tain winter par (34-35), where the second hole is played as a par-3.
There was no indication from his opening four holes of the score that was to come. Indeed the local lefty was over par after a three-putt bogey 6 on the fourth hole before miserly using his putter only seven more times before reaching the turn in 32 after birdies at the sixth, eighth and ninth holes.His inward half swung into action with a birdie on the 12th green followed by another single putt on the 14th green. Par threes were made at 16th and 17th holes before the winning birdie 3 was made in front of the clubhouse for another 32.

Softening the blow to Thorburn was that his gross 275 also ended up as the leading net aggregate to win the Mackintosh Salver from Fraser Sparling and being able to look forward to making up a formidable partnership with Ferries in next month's prestigious Black Isle Foursomes at Fortrose and Rosemarkie.

Reay's Gavin Gunn, for a short, while thought he had caught Thurso's Fraser Sparling in the challenge for second place to Thorburn's Mackintosh Salver success after the Reay member carded a net 70 at Tain to rid his net 74 at Reay from his counting total.
However his Reay 74 had to remain to comply with the rule that not all scores are from the same area and he had to have a North score in his total. Sparling did not improve at Tain and his 279 remained in second place, four behind Thorburn. However the Gunn family did have something to celebrate, Gavin's father Alister holing out in one at Tain's 181 yard fifth hole with a five iron.

Thurso captain Alister Simpson, second in the Class 2 handicap section with net 68, off 17, led his club members the Team Shield, backed up by a net 67 from Brian Ronald (handicap 2), winner of Class 1 on count back, Alan Swanson (2) 68, and Jim Gangster's net 72 , off one.
Thurso's total of 275 was one less than the the hosts: Munro Ferries (+1) 65, Ali Melville (12) 69, Billy Ferries (3) 69 and Steve Holmes (5) 73.
Sunday's leading scores
SCRATCH
64 M Ferries (Tain).
68 B Ronald (Thurso).
70 A Swanson (Thurso).
72 B Ferries (Tain), R W Taylor (Wick).
73 J Sangster (Thurso).
HANDICAP
Class 1 – B Ronald (Thurso) (1), H Skinner (Tarbat) (9) 67; B Ferries (Tain) (3) 69; M Keay (Tarbat) (8), B Murray (Wick) (5) 71.
Class 2 – W MacLean (Wick) (17) 66; A Simpson (Thurso) (17) 68; A Melville (Tain) (12) 69; J Morrison (Durness) (18), A Gunn (Reay) (11) 70.