MAITLAND SHIELD DOUBLE FOURSOMES GET UNDERWAY AT STONEHAVEN

BULLY FOR BON ACCORD! BIG 
 
WIN OVER ROYAL ABERDEEN

Bon Accord opened their defence of the Maitland Shield with a resounding 11-0 victory over Royal Aberdeen at Stonehaven this evening.

It was the only comfortable win on an evening of otherwise tight matches, several of which were decided on the last hole.

The Links side certainly prepared well for the tricky challenge Stonehaven presents, with three of their team playing a round on Sunday and

the fourth, Barrie Edmond, taking a week’s holiday for this event.

It certainly paid off for them and they only needed to be steady to see off a Royal Aberdeen team who just couldn’t get their clubbing right.

The other Links team involved, Caledonian, also went through but only after a nail-biting finish against Portlethen.

Birdies by both Caledonian pairs at the 211-yard 18th hole were needed to secure victory.

Murcar Links and Deeside were locked together almost all the way round.

There was some drama at the 17th when Deeside’s Kevin Willox, in the top match, put his tee shot into the railway but Murcar amazingly took five shots to get down from just short of the green for a half in six.

In the end, it was the local knowledge of Bryan Innes, a former Stonehaven champion, which made the difference for Murcar, with he and partner Duncan Raitt staging a strong finish

for a three-hole victory.

Peterculter just squeezed through against Craibstone, with top pair Duncan McLean and Martin Aitken holding on to win by only one hole.

FIRST-ROUND RESULTS

Bon Accord bt Royal Aberdeen 11 holes.

B Edmond and M Dunn 5, D Macandrew, junior and G Webster 0

M Greig and G Somers 6, I Middleton and G Sharp 0.

Caledonian bt Portlethen 1 hole.

B Reid and L Morrice 1, K Horne and G Innes 0

S Finnie and A Doig 0, K Dalglish and R Donaldson 0.

Murcar Links bt Deeside 3 holes.

A Bews and C Stewart 0, A Ross and K Willox 0

B Innes and D Raitt 3, J Loggie and K Ingram 0.

Peterculter bt Craibstone 1 hole

D McLean and M Aitken 1, M Carle and R Goldie 0

G Watson and J Kennedy 0, A Carle and I Still 0

TUESDAY NIGHT TIES

5pm Nigg Bay v Banchory

5.15 Stonehaven v Auchmill

5.30 Hazlehead v Newmachar