Inverness Club Championship.

David Joel (35) added his name for the first time to the Inverness Golf Club club championship honours board when, in the 36 hole final last Saturday. he beat a past champion and current Culcabock course hd greenkeeper, Brian Fraser, writes Robin Wilson.

Just turned 55 this year Fraser is now eligible for the seniors but before joining in their competitions he made another strong bid for the main title and came up against his son-in-law John Forbes, a former champion and defender next week of the Four Day Open.

Forbes trailed Fraser by one after 12 holes and by two after 13 when his father in law holed out in one at the short 13h hole alongside the Diriebught Burn. 
Fraser then chipped in for birdie two at the next short hole by the Curling Pond on his way to the final with a 3 and 2 result.   

Joel (pictured above) was almost eclipsed in his semi final against Scottish curling champion Ruairidh Greenwood who took him to the final green where Joel had to hole from 10 feet to earn a half and go through with a one hole win.

The final began with Fraser taking first blood with an eagle three at the first par five hole which Joel matched at the next par five hole. After nine they were still level. Joel's three-hole lead after the first 18 holes came from a winning run from the 10^th to 13^th holes.

The second 18 holes began with Fraser birding the first and third holes but Joel's birdie on the fifth put him back in charge and he sped to a four-hole advantage from taking the 7^th hole after a Fraser three putt and following up with a birdie on the 10^th.  
Although Joel lost the difficult par four 14^th hole to go back to three in front, his first title and a 4 and 3 success was secured on the 15^th green.

Marion Howieson  regained the women's scratch championship by beating  Mairi Ross 5 and 3 in the women's final.

Bruce Thomson retains Torvean championship

In only his second year as a member of Torvean Golf Club, Bruce Thomson, a past winner of the Inverness championship and now also a member at Nairn, has won the Torvean championship for a second time.

Thomson was given a stern test in the final by a recently new Torvean member, Michael Main who has come North from the Thornton Golf Club in Fife where he had a +1 handicap.
 As a teenager Main was a beaten finalist in the Scottish boys championship of 2006 and it took Thomson until the final green to retain his title in a very good game.

Nairn starlet Sandy Scott wins East of Scotland Open by five shots.

Sixteen year old Sandy Scott from Nairn Golf Club, just a week after being called up for his first full Under-18 boys cap, had a remarkable win last weekend when playing in the East of Scotland Open amateur championship at Lundin Links, a full SGU 72-hole Order of Merit Tour event.

Scott had four sub-par rounds of 69, 67, 69 and 69, against a par of 72 and also a CSS of 72 each round, for an impressive 10-under-par aggregate of 274.

Two other North golfers were also playing, Jeff Wright (Forres) and Kyle Godsman (Moray). Wright was the halfway leader on 134 after rounds of 68 and 66 but his two-shot advantage over Scott at this stage was wiped out by a third-round 74 to Scott's 69.  
Wright closed with a final card of 71 to finish joint second while Godsman had rounds of 71 74 70 and 72.

Northern Counties escape wooden spoon place

With a final day's 6-3 win over Perth and Kinross, the Northern Counties women's golf team escaped the wooden spoon position at the inter-county jamboree at Murcar Links.

Earlier the North women lost to Angus and Aberdeen-shire. Northern Counties final team selection beat P&K in both the foursomes and singles.

Defending champions Angus were the overall winners and go forward to the Scottish finals at Stranraer in September.