Newmachar member wins Gardner Trophy at Royal Dornoch

Left to right: Graham Cox, Royal Dornoch GC captain Alan Ramsey and Kevin Matheson.

By ROBIN WILSON

Newmachar golfer Graham Cox went to Royal Dornoch at the weekend with a handicap of three and after returning two gross cards of 71, he returned to the North-east with the Gardner Trophy, a 400 Year Dornoch Anniversary-commissioned hickory putter, a £210 voucher - and a reduced handicap

On both the Dornoch championship and Struie courses Cox beat the competition standard scratch which rose by two to 72 for the Struie and by three to 75 for the championship course.

It was his first Gardner Trophy success after several attempts.

Cox triumphed by six shots from local member Kevin Matheson, a three-time Gardner Trophy winner. Matheson, despite running up a triple bogey 6 at the short sixth, where he had to play out backwards from a bunker, claimed second scratch place with halves of 37 and 36 for 73 and a total of 148.

Matheson's one handicap gave him a net total of 146 which won him the Fraser Shield, confined to local members, by two strokes from Craig Sutherland.

 

A gross card of 70, one below the par, was the best score returned over the Struie course by American Robert Cunningham of Overbrook Golf Club, Pennsylvania.

Results

CSS: Struie (members and visitors) 72, Championship (members and  visitors) 75

Scratch

Gardner Trophy

(Struie scores first)

142 G Cox (Newmachar) 71 71.

148 K Matheson (Royal Dornoch) 75 73, N Main (Buckpool) 71 77.

151 P Robb (Peterculter) 77 74.

Handicap

L Wood (Haggs Castle) (6) 144; C MacKinnon (Swanston) (3) 145; C Sutherland (Royal Dornoch) (4), D Horrocks (The Nairn) (5) 146.

Fraser Shield

K Matheson (Royal Dornoh) (1) 148.

Best rounds outwith main prizes:

Championship course - Scratch- B Hunter Pitreavie) 74. Handicap - C Murray (Royal Dornoch) (5) 71.

Struie course - Scratch - R Cunningham (Overbrook) 70.  Handicap - S McIntosh (Blairgowrie (3) 70.