ROBIN WILSON'S ROUND-UP OF NORTH COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS

After an eight-year gap, Wick's Nicky Klimas regained the Caithness title at Reay with his rounds of 71 and 74 to win by four from local Lee Parnell.
Parnell took the same position as he did when the championship last visited Reay in 2008 after slipping back to second place with second round 77 from being just one off the lead with his first round 72.
Third placed local, Gavin Sutherland also opened with a 72 but took six more in round two. The Caithness entry was similar to the low turn-out at Alness. Handicap winners at Reay were locals Tom Ross (15) 133, and Ross Munro (10) 134.

Inverness at Kingussie.

North District golf champion for the past two years, Brian Fotheringham, a relatively new member of Inverness Golf Club, added the Inverness County Championship cup to his impressive collection of wins for the first time last weekend.

Played over the Kingussie Golf Course, a layout that Fotheringham is no stranger to for he has won the Badenoch Open for the past two years, the Inverness County win was surprisingly his first north County Title. 

Despite his three previous wins in the District championship and the North's flagship David Blair 72 holer,  because of his appearences in Scottish national golf events which brought him a national cap in the middle nineties Fotheringham was always deprived from entering the Moray County championship when a member of Forres Golf Club because of event clashing dates.

Last Saturday he renewed his association with Kingussie  with an opening four over par 71 from halves of 35 and 36, taking a double bogey at the closing hole. But his second round one under par 66 which featured one birdie, the 3^rd, and one bogey the 4^th, in an outward count of 34 was followed by a one under inward card of 32 for 66  to sweep to the top of the leader board on gross 137 and leaving local talented teenager, Jordan Shaw,with the runners up medal.

Shaw (17) who took a fourth place in the North of Scotland's Boys' championship last month was the first round leader with a one under par 66  before slipping back to a second round 72 for 138 but staying ahead of Inverness's Graeme Daun who had cards of 71 and 68.

Local member Rennie Spence finished fourth on 143 (71/72) and his club mate Brian Shaw led the nett returns from a handicap of four with nett 131 ( 69/62). Other nett score winners were Willie Fraser (Kingussie) (3) 135, Cameron Franssen (Inverness) (7) 135 and Carl Justice (Kingussie) (14) 137.  The CSS was 68 for both rounds.

Nairn at Nairn Dunbar.

The Nairn County Championship went to a four hole play-off between , the local defending champion ,William Barron and rising youth star Tom Dingwall with Dingwall emerging with the cup for the first time despite a nervy three putt on the final play off green.

A comeback score in the second round of three under par 69, five better than his first effort, by  the holder brought him level with Dingwall's 70 and 73 on 143. At the first extra hole of the play-off teenager Dingwall (19) who helps out in the local Professionals shop,  holed a forty foot putt for birdie three to go two ahead after Barron missed the green with his approach.

The next two holes were halved in par figures and still two shots ahead on the final par five hole Dingwall's three putt bogey six for 16 left him with the title against Barron's par five.

The host club doubled up when six handicapper Brian Taylor provided Nairn Dunbar with the handicap winner after two nett scores of 71 and 70.

The Moray championship was played the previous weekend at Grantown on Spey where local member John Campbell won at the third extra hole of a play-off against ex District champion Neil MacWilliam (Elgin). They had tied on a score of 135.

Further North, Scottish Youths Champion Lyle McAlpine (Invergordon) retained the Ross shire championship for a second year after equalling the Alness course record of 62 in his first round and adding a second round level par 67 for 129 to win  by eight shots from local member Ross Jack (69/68) . Fortrose and Rosmarkie's Andrew Brown was third on 138 (66/72)

There was also a play-off to separate the leading 36 hole scores at Royal Dornoch in the Sutherland championship. After three times a brides-made local Kevin Matheson (73/75) got an easy run in the three hole play-off to beat his club mate Brian Urquhart (75/73) when Urquhart went out of bounds with his first drive then double bogeyed the par three second hole. With Matheson getting a birdie on the first hole and a four on the second the 18^th was just a procession down the fairway to be crowned champion for he first time.