Ian Bratton's birdies top Edzell field of 104 By COLIN FARQUHARSON Newburgh professional Ian Bratton is probably the North-east Alliance's staunchest supporters among the club pro ranks so quite fitting that he should chalk up his first win of the 2009-2010 season on a beautiful day at Edzell Golf Club. A birdie at the 18th – his fifth of the day – for a two-under-par round of 69 gave him victory by a single shot from a pro, Graham Gordon, and a one-time pro, Glen Taylor. The leaders apart, the majority of the field of 104 revelled in the autumn sunshine but generally struggled on a wet course and slow, somtimes bumpy greens. Bratton was able to hole birdie putts at the short sixth, long ninth, 12th, 15th and long 18th in halves of 36 (level par) and 33 (two under). He dropped shots at the second, fourth and 16th. Joint runners-up, a shot behind Bratton on 71, were former Scottish amateur champion Graham Gordon, whose tour pro career has been hit by illness, and former Newmachar club pro Glen Taylor, now a +1 amateur and Hazlehead member. Gordon had birdies at the 15th, 16th and 18th in halves of 37 and 33. He bogeyed the third and 17th while Taylor(36-34) parred the first 10 holes before birdieing the 12th, 15th and 16th and bogeying the 11th and 13th. Scotland women's amateur international Laura Murray, playing off the men's tees, had a gross 76, which earned her joint second place prize in Class 1 of the handicap section, secretary Ron Menzies making adjustments to her +1 handicap, using the slope rating of her home course, Alford, in a comparison with Edzell. An unfortunate mishap in the car park prevented Kemnay amateur Craig Carnegie from playing. He accidentally dropped a caddie car battery on his foot and had to be taken to the local health centre for treatment. He was unable to drive his car home. Scottish men's amateur and Scottish boys' champion David Law (Hazlehead) and Peterhead's Philip McLean were both absent from the Edzell field. They are playing for Scotland in a friendly match against France at Cannes this midweek. Cannot get my hands on the results at the moment (they are not up on the French Federation website, but hopefully they will appear eventually). LEADING SCRATCH Par 71 (36-35) 69 I Bratton (Newburgh-on-Ythan). 70 G Gordon (unatt), G Taylor (Hazlehead). 71 G Mitchell jun (Braemar). 72 A Campbell (Deeside), G H Paterson (Northern), J Duff (Fraserburgh), S Chalmers (Banchory), A Dunton (McDonald Ellon). 73 S Larkin (Banchory), K Duncan (McDonald Ellon). 74 C Nelson (Mackenzie Club), A K Pirie (Hazlehead), C Stephen (Meldrum House), S Pert (Huntly). 75 B Brooks (Meldrum House). 76 F G Gray (Newmachar), J Emslie (Royal Aberdeen), P McIntosh (Bon Accord), M Jenkins (Duff House Royal), Laura Murray (Alford). 77 J Nicolson (Auchmill), D Clark (Duff House Rooyal). 78 M Forster (Cruden Bay), S Finnie (Caledonian), R Bruce (Aboyne), C Duffus (Kemnay). 79 J Duncan (Newburgh-on-Ythan), B Nicolson (Auchmill), J Forbes (Aboyne), S Davidson (Braemar). 80 M Merchant (Newmachar), F Bisset (Banchory), D Leighton (Northern). 81 B Harper (Newburgh-on-Ythan), J M Hamilton (Murcar Links), J Thomas (Craibstone), J Murray (Banchory), D Mackay (Newmachar). LEADING HANDICAP Class 1 – F G Gray (Newmachar) (6) 70; G Taylor (Hazlehead) (+1), Laura Murray (Alford) (5) 71; A Campbell (Deeside) (scr), G H Paterson (Northern) (scr), A K Pirie (Hazlehead) (2), G Mitchell jun (Braemar)( (+1), J Emslie (Royal Aberdeen) (4), S Pert (Huntly) (2), C Duffus (Kemnay) (6), P McIntosh (Bon Accord) (4) 72. Class 2 – D Randall (Banchory) (15) 70; M F R Rogers (Kemnay) (15) 71; J Scott (Peterculter) (10), G Mackie (Caledonian) (11), M Rendall (Stonehaven) (13) 72; N Parker (Murcar Links) (9), D Townsley (Peterculter) (16) 73; P Anderson (Deeside) (10) 74; L Roger (Royal Aberdeen) (9), G Allan (Newmachar) (10), I Strachan (Royal Aberdeen) (12) 75. LEADING SCORECARDS Edzell par 71 (6427yd): OUT 4-4-4-4-4-3-4-4-5-36. IN 4-4-4-4-3-4-4-3-5-35 IAN BRATTON 69 (-2) OUT: 4-5-4-5-4-2-4-4-4-36. IN: 4-4-3-4-3-3-5-3-4-33 GRAHAM GORDON 70 (-1) OUT: 4-4-5-4-4-3-4-4-5-37. IN: 4-4-4-4-3-3-3-4-4-33 GLEN TAYLOR 70 (-1) OUT: 4-4-4-4-4-3-4-4-5-36. IN: 4-5-3-5-3-3-3-3-5-34 GRAEME MITCHELL jun 71 (level par) OUT: 5-4-5-4-4-4-4-4-4-38. IN: 4-3-4-4-3-4-3-3-5-33.