RENFREWSHIRE WIN WEST LEAGUE TITLE FOR 10TH YEAR IN A ROW

RENFREWSHIRE GOLF UNION NEWS RELEASE

 Donbremner@ranfurly9.freeserve.co.uk

Recent wet weather had led to the postponement of the vital final match between Renfrewshire Golf Union “A” team and West League leaders Glasgow with Renfrewshire needing a win to ensure that its name went on the trophy for the tenth time in a row.   Finding a playable, quality venue for this important tussle was a problem until Ranfurly Castle stepped in to offer its course which, despite recent rain, was an excellent test for the two teams.

Team captain, Ronnie Clark, made sure that home advantage was maximised as he selected home course players Sam Binning, the County Youth Champion, Murray Stewart and Gregor Munro in his team of ten.  Matt Clark and Gordon Stephenson were recalled to the squad.

As the morning sun burned off the touch of frost on the greens, it was Sam Binning who was charged with the responsibility of getting the first point on the board after his recent trip to Florida to hone his game. 
He was up against previous Ralston Bowl winner, Gordon Miller (Cawder) and the trip proved worthwhile with a resounding 4 and 3 victory.  Next up was Kilmacolm’s Matthew Clark whose opponent was James Hendricks from Pollock.  This was a tight match of high quality and Matt more than justified his selection as he shook hands on the 17^th green to add another point. 

Glasgow fought back with two solid wins from Cathkin’s Gordon Sangster and Stephen Machin (Cowglen) and with the match square and Glasgow needing only a draw to take the trophy, there was much relief in the Renfrewshire camp as Michael Daily (Erskine), Alan Kelly (Cochrane Castle) and home player Murray Stewart all recorded convincing wins.  John Mathers from Haggs Castle delayed the celebrations with a narrow win but the champagne cork flew from the bottle as first Paisley’s Davy Ferguson then, making it a hat trick of wins for Ranfurly Castle players, Gregor Munro added the wins for a 7-3 victory.

Captain Ronnie Clark said that he was very proud of the squad of players who had played in the series of matches and that eleven in a row was now the target.

RESULTS  
RENFREWSHIRE 7, GLASGOW 3

Renfrewshire names first:

Sam Binning (Ranfurly Castle) bt Gordon Miller (Cawder) 4 and 3.
Matthew Clark (Kilmacolm) bt James Hendricks (Pollock) 2 and 1.
Gordon Stevenson (Whitecraigs) lost to Gordon Sangster (Cathkin Braes) 3 and 2.
Kenny Fairbrother (Cochrane Castle) lost to Steven Machin (Cowglen) 3 and 2.
Michael Dailly (Erskine) bt Steven Robertson (Sandyhills) 2 and 1.
Alan Kelly (Cochrane Castle) bt John Lawrie (Cowglen) 3 and 2.
Murray Stewart (Ranfurly Castle) bt Alan Welsh (Cathkin Braes) 5 and 3.
Willie McMillan (Eastwood) lost to John Mathers (Haggs Castle) 1 hole.
David Ferguson (Paisley) bt Martin Lamb (Cawder) 3 and 2.
Gregor Munro (Ranfurly Castle) bt Stuart Black (Cathcart Castle) 2 and 1.