South of Scotland Seniors Open at Southerness

By GORDON THOMSON

The Scottish Seniors Golfing Society circuit moves to Southerness on Thursday and Friday for the South of Scotland Seniors Open, sponsored by McCrea Financial Services.

There is a good entry for the event with a mix of ages and handicaps and all are looking forward to the challenge of playing one of the finest courses in the country.

The three events played earlier in July appear to have narrowed the battle for the Order of Merit title down to a probable contest involving five players. Two wins for the holder, Ronnie Clark (Erskine), have propelled him into the lead ahead of Graham Bell (Downfield) and Nick Robson (Meldrum House).

This trio have put some clear water ahead of David Shields (Glenearn) and Robert Smith (Nairn). However, both Clark, who has also won the last two South of Scotland events, and Bell miss this event due to work commitments and that provides an opportunity for the chasing group to get closer to them.

Ian Brotherston (Dumfries and County) will fancy his chances on a course at which he is also a member and strong challenges can be expected from Duncan Hamilton (Mortonhall), who was runner-up in the seniors' matchplay championship, David Gardner (Broomieknowe), John Fraser (Royal Burgess) and Lindsay Blair (Grangemouth).

Andrew Stracey (Denham) now leads the Handicap Order of Merit race with Ken Forrest (Lenzie) and Phil Dempsey (Tulliallan) in close pursuit. Competition is also hotting up in the Super Seniors (over-65s) Order of Merit race with Gordon MacDonald (Glenbervie) in the lead from Ken Thomson (Bramall Park), the recent winner of the Super Seniors match-play championship.