Lanarkshire beat Lothians to be crowned Team
Kings at Dalmahoy and end 18-year drought
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS! Lanarkshire's winning team and Willie Sharpe. Picture by courtesy of Kevin Kirk
SCOTTISH GOLF NEWS RELEASE
By ED HODGE
Drumpellier’s Steven
Rennie was the hero as Lanarkshire lifted the GolfKings Scottish Men’s
Area Team Championship title at Dalmahoy for the first time since 1998.
Rennie held his nerve in
the final match on the final green as the six-man Lanarkshire side
defeated home outfit Lothians to secure just their third Area Team
triumph, edging a closely-fought final
5 – 4 following three foursomes
and six singles matches.
After losing the 2014
final to Renfrewshire, there was capital joy this time for Rennie, Craig
Ross, Ed Wood, Dominic Dougan, Kenneth Gallacher and Gordon Yates at Dalmahoy Hotel and Country Club just outside Edinburgh.
Having taken the lunchtime lead on Dalmahoy’s East Course, thanks to
a 2 – 1 victory in the foursomes, Willie Sharpe’s Lanarkshire men eased
further clear with singles wins from Ross, the reigning South African
Amateur champion, and Wood.
But the Lothians, seeking
their first title since 2007, hit back with victories from Scottish
Boys champion Eric McIntosh, Broomieknowe’s Lee Morgan and Euan
McIntosh, the new Scottish Golf Men’s Order of Merit winner, to level
matters.
That meant all eyes turned to Rennie’s clash with Jordyn Rhind, attached to Kingsfield. Rennie’s birdie from 15 feet at the 16th gave him a two-hole cushion, but his bogey at the par-3
17th provided Rhind with hope. Rennie, however, stood firm to half the last and spark the celebrations.
“This is pretty special,”
said Rennie, 36. “It was a wee bit nerve wracking coming down 18 but I
got the job done. We’ve got an excellent mix of youth and experience.
Kenny is 53 and played in the Senior British Open a few years ago, Craig
Ross is excellent
and Gordon is a previous internationalist who has come back to the
amateur game.
“I didn’t realise this is only the third time we have won this
event. I was in the team that lost two years ago, so it’s excellent to
finally do it.”
A delighted Sharpe said
of his side: “We have a fantastic team and I knew we had a good chance.
When you have five or six plus handicap players in your team, you expect
to do well. It was great to get to the final and I’m so pleased now.
I’m really proud
of them all.”
For the Lothians, it was a
disappointing end after they led the strokeplay qualifying on Friday,
but Turnhouse’s McIntosh admitted the better team won.
“We came up just short,”
said the 47-year-old, who has enjoyed a superb year back in the amateur
ranks. “It was a good final and they just played that bit better. They
are deserved winners.
“I think winning the
foursomes in the morning is really important, it made it that bit easier
for them in the afternoon. I think we did really well, led the
qualifying which was fantastic and all the guys played their hearts out.
Anything could have happened
on the last, but Steven showed a lot of bottle to see it out for
Lanarkshire.”
SCROLL DOWN FOR DETAILS OF THE FINAL MATCH AND ALSO THE EARLIER MATCH-PLAY TIES
Labels: Amateur Men
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Sunday, September 04, 2016
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