GREAT GOLF IN BAD WEATHER BY THE WINNERS

Left to right: Ewan Forbes  (Inverness), club captain Philip Thorn, Alan Cameron with scratch Trophy, sponsors representative Tom Hillis, Louis Patience with handicap trophy and Ryan Keith. 

 CAMERON AND FORBES WIN BLACK 

ISLE FOURSOMES FOR FIFTH TIME

REPORT AND PICTURE BY ROBIN WILSON

Few of the competitors in the Munro and Noble, Solicitors and Estate Agents (Inverness)-sponsored  Black Isle Foursomes at Fortrose and Rosemarkie Golf Club could remember over the competition's long history playing in such horrific conditions.

Through Saturday's qualifying rounds and Sunday's match-play ties emerged one outstanding couple who won for a fifth time and one home club member who enjoyed a double-double celebration.

From the outset in  Saturday's gale-ravaged scores the experience of local club champion Alan Cameron and his Inverness-based ex-Scotland capped player, Ewan Forbes, stood head and shoulders above all others.  

They were the only pair to break 80 twice in Saturday's 36 holes with two cards of 78 for 156. With a first round just under 80, former twice local winners Chris Gaittens and  club secretary Mike MacDonald, added a second round card of 83 for 162. 

Then, on 166 (82-84), from another local couple, Garry Moore and Steven Bassingdale, before the last scratch qualifying place went to visitors Barry Cruickshank (Spey Bay) and Neil MacWilliam (Elgin) with 83 and 89 for 172 – the highest ever qualifying figure.

Cameron and Forbes's ability to cope with the gales, plus the added ingredient of squally rain showers on Sunday morning, showed through once more when they produced five birdies in the first 12 holes to see off  the pair from the East and book themselves a place in the final once more.

Their opponents would be locals Bassingdale and Moore, both with different partners winners of the handicap trophy some years earlier, but this their first time qualifying for the scratch KO rounds. They proved worthy finalists with an upset in the semi-final when they met the last “all local” partnership to have lifted the scratch cup, Gaittens and MacDonald. 

The 2011 and 2012 winners and second seeds fought back from being three behind on the 10th tee to be level after 15 holes and by winning the 17^th hole went dormie one ahead on the final tee. But a par three saw Bassingdale and Moore extend the tie then take their place in the final with a win at the second extra hole.

In an almost repeat of their semi final golf Cameron and Forbes took control of the first nine holes and were three in front. They gave back the 12^th hole but extended their lead to four after winning the 13^th and 14^th holes  before two successive three putts allowed Bassingdale and Moore to extend the game to the difficult driving seventeenth hole. 

No further mistakes from Cameron and Forbes and the overdue halved hole allowed them win for a fifth time and match the five wins of Neil Hampton (Royal Dornoch) and Colin Taylor (Elgin) but still one win behind the record six Black Isle Foursomes titles belonging to  Brora's Jim Miller and Inverness's Jocky Thomson back in the early years of the event. 

In the early eighties (1982) local member Louis Patience and his younger brother, Sandy, won the handicap cup and successfully defended it the following year.  

Last season Louis found another young member in Ryan Keith to return to the winner's table and in a memorable repeat they retained the handicap trophy last Sunday after grabbing the last qualifying place with a nett total of 161.

In their semi-final on Sunday morning they beat the leading handicap qualifiers local Graham Godsman and his Inverness partner Eric Brown by a 4 and 3 margin. 

Local clubmates Robert Mackay and Andy Gray awaited them in the final after they had ousted a third local partnership of Arthur MacArthur and Louis MacLeman by 3 and 2.

In the keenly contested final where over the first half no more than a hole separated them, with Mackay and Gray just holding a one hole advantage, Keith and Patience fought back to level after 11 holes. 

From here the holders  forged, ahead winning the 13^th and 14^th holes which permitted  Patience to celebrate another successful retention as he had done with his brother all these years ago on the 16th green.

Miller Quaich at Royal Dornoch on Sunday

Tain Golf Club, ten times winners of the Miller Quaich since 1999, the inter-club trophy marking the golfing achievements of Brora golfing doyen, Jim Miller, have the short trip across the Dornoch Bridge on Sunday to take part in the competition alongside Brora, Golspie and the host club Royal Dornoch.

Royal Dornoch took the trophy home from Brora twelve months ago but had to return it when the Brora team demanded a recount on the scores to then be rewarded with the trophy for only the fourth time, two of these years shared with Tain.