SCRATCH AND HANDICAP WINNERS AT BLACK ISLE FOURSOMES

Picture from the Black Isle Foursomes. Left to right – Handicap winners Robert Mackay and Dods Kryzanowski alongside Chris Gaittens and Michael MacDonald.

By ROBIN WILSON
A new partnership of club secretary Michael MacDonald and club member Chris Gaittens have become first time winners of the Black Isle Foursomes at Fortrose and Rosemarkie, ending a domination of visiting couples stretching back to 1984.
In the scratch final the local duo came back from losing the first three holes to the powerful North-east pairing of Michael Buchan (+1) and Mark Christie (1) from Cruden Bay to win on the final green. The local heroes became the first club members to follow in the footsteps of Alister Tait and Tom Fraser who in 1984 prevented a hat-trick of winning years by Brora's Jim Miller and Inverness's Jocky Thomson.
Over the next 27 years Miller and Thomson, along with Morayshire's Bryce Milne and Norman Grant, Muir of Ord's Steve McIntosh and partners, Inverness's Alan Cameron and Ewan Forbes and Nairn's Neil Hampton with Colin Taylor (Forres), brushed the locals aside to dominate the winners platform.
Hampton and Taylor were again in Saturday's stroke-play rounds, hoping to qualify as holders for Sunday's match-play and add to their previous five wins, but after shooting an opening 71 slumped to a second round 77 which gave Gaittens and MacDonald the fourth qualifying place with cards of 73 and 72. Leading scratch qualifiers were Inverness pair Bruce Thomson and Bryan Fotheringham (71-71) followed by Cruden Bay's Buchan and Christie (71-73) and in third place, on count back, another first time partnership of Munro Ferries (Tain) and Thurso's Dougie Thorburn (71-73).
The handicap section qualifiers were the local club captain Arthur MacArthur and Jody Schiller (13) 141, Robert Mackay and Strathpeffer's Dods Kryzanowski (5) 144, Ken Gaittens and Strathpeffer's Kevin Bannerman (4.5) 144, Alister Tait and Philip Taylor (9) 145.
On Sunday three of the four morning semi-finals went beyond 18 holes. Buchan and Christie beat Ferries and Thorburn with a conceded birdie at the 19th, and Gaittens and MacDonald went a hole further to reach the final via Thomson and Fotheringham.
In the handicap semis Tait and Taylor beat MacArthur and Schiller 4 and 2 while Mackay and Kryzanowski, from being dormie two down, won the next three holes to beat Ken Gaittens and Bannerman at the 19th.
The Cruden Bay pair began the final against the local couple in the same way they won their semi final tie, a birdie at the first hole, and went three ahead by winning the next two holes before Gaittens and MacDonald halted the rot with a winning par at the fourth hole.
They remained two behind after nine holes but over the next nine holes were the dominant couple. They won the 11th hole with par and from a mistake from the tee at the 13th hole by the Cruden Bay pair the game was levelled.
The near drivable 14th green was won back by Buchan and Christie when they holed first for the birdie 3 and Gaittens missed from closer but the former North District boys champion redeemed himself at the next hole when he putted his approach shot to twelve feet and MacDonald holed the birdie putt to level once more.
The next two holes were halved and they went to the 18th hole all square. In all previous three rounds it was Gaitten's responsibility to find the green and at his fourth attempt he was just a few feet short of the putting surface. MacDonald putted up for a conceded par three while Christie was wide of the green from the tee. Buchan pitched pin high but several feet wide of the pin and Ritchie's putt to extend the tie missed on the low side of the hole.
The 18th hole also provided the handicap winners Mackay and Kryzanowski with their success at the expense of Tait and Taylor. From the 17th tee Mackay hit a wild drive to lose the ball and hole when one ahead.
Level playing 18, the two left-handers, Taylor and Kryzanowski, had the drives with Taylor the honour but attempting to fade the ball onto the green, as he had done in all previous rounds, caught the bushes on the left.
Kryzanowski has been around too long to make the same mistake and with an iron played safely short of the green. The penalty drop meant a certain double bogey and with no pressure local member Robert Mackay made an easy chip to win the game by one hole.
DETAILS

Scratch Qualifiers
142 B Thomson and B. Fotheringham (Inverness) 71 71.
144 M Buchan and M Christie (Cruden Bay) 71 73, M Ferries (Tain) and D Thorburn (Thurso) 71 73).
145 M MacDonald and C Gaittens (Fortrose and Rosemarkie) 73 72.
Semi -finals – MacDonald and Gaittens bt Thomson and Fotheringham at 20^th, Buchan and Christie bt Ferries and Thorburn at 19th.
Final – MacDonald and Gaittens bt Buchan and Christie (Cruden Bay) 1 hole.
Handicap Qualifiers
141 A MacArthur and J Schiller (Fortrose and Rosemarkie) (13) 69 72.
144 K Gaittens (Fortrose and Rosemarkie) and K Bannerman (Strathpeffer) (4 1/2) 72 1/2 71 1/2); R MacKay (Fortrose and Rosemarkie) and D Krzyzanowski (Strathpeffer) (5) 72 72.
145 P L Taylor and A Tait (Fortrose and Rosemarkie) (9) 75 70.
Semi-Finals – Taylor and Tait bt MacArthur and  Schiller 3 and 2, MacKay and  Krzyzanowski bt Gaittens and Bannerman at 19^th.
Final – MacKay and Krzyzanowski bt Taylor and Tait 1 hole.
ends