Busy weekend at Dunaverty Golf Club

A fresh wind swept across the links of Dunaverty Golf Club last Saturday for the playing of the gents' September Medal.

 

Scoring proved tricky for the majority of the field but Fraser MacBrayne produced a fantastic round of nett 62 to take victory by three shots from Tom Campbell who finished second.

 

Result: 1 Fraser MacBrayne 72-10=62, 2 Tom Campbell 79-14=65 (bih), 3 Douglas Neilson 73-8=65. Lowest gross: Fraser MacBrayne 72.

 

Saturday also saw the culmination of the gents' Eclectic competition for 2023; this is where a player's lowest nett score at each of the 18 holes over the season is recorded and the lowest score takes the trophy.

 

This year, Martin Arbuckle returned a magnificent nett 38 over the period of April to September to pip Neil Barlow into second with a very decent nett 40.

 

The other finale saw veteran Sandy Watson emerge victorious in the gents' Order of Merit competition.

 

Points are awarded from the 12 monthly medals from October 2022 until September Medal 2023 from 10 points to one point each medal, and Sandy showed consistency over the period to take the trophy.

 

“Thanks as always to Jonathan Barbour and Campbell MacBrayne for giving a fantastic course for play and to The Putt Stop for looking after us all through the summer,” said a club spokesperson.

 

Dunaverty's ladies were also in action last Saturday, competing in their own September medal competition.

 

On a day that had a distinctly autumnal feel to it, starting off cloudy with a cool fresh wind but the sun coming out latterly, 12 lady members took to the course.

 

In the first group of the day, Linn Coffield played another stunning round, following her success at in the autumn meeting competition the week prior, carding a magnificent nett 60 to set the bar for the following players.

 

None of the remaining players were able to match or beat Linn's score and she again took first place with her nearest rivals, Katharine Hardman and Fiona Neilson, scoring nett 67 rounds.

 

Result: 1 Linn Coffield 84-24=60, 2 Katharine Hardman 80-13=67 (bih), 3 Fiona Neilson 96-29=67. Lowest gross: Katharine Hardman 80.

 

The following day, 38 players made up of members of the various emergency services in Kintyre, plus a small number of guests, descended on Dunaverty to compete for the chance to be crowned champions in the annual 999 Emergency Services Texas Scramble.

 

Competing in mixed service teams, each group had to put up with intermittent rain for most of their rounds but this did not seem to hamper some teams' scoring on the day.

 

Team four, consisting of John Brown, Jamie Girvan and Calum Easton, who seemed to relish the wet weather challenge, pushed on to register a winning score of 53.3, followed closely behind by Ross Sinclair, Lorna Cook and Malcolm ‘Malky’ McDonald on 54.7, with Alex Arkell, Donald Brown and Dr Roddy Jackson taking third place with 56.1.

 

Alongside the main trophy, there were a number of spot prizes for closest to the pins and straightest drive.

 

Results: 1 John Brown, Jamie Girvan and Calum Easton 53.3; 2 Ross Sinclair, Lorna Cook and Malcolm McDonald 54.7; 3 Alex Arkell, Donald Brown, Dr Roddy Jackson 56.1. Closest to the pin at... 2nd: William Young (Dunaverty club captain); 4th: Robert MacKay; 7th: Sandy Watson; 10th: Lorna Cook; 14th: Jonathan Bruce; 16th: Stevie Gorman. Straightest drive at the 18th: Ross Sinclair. Closest the pin in two shots at 18th: Alex Arkell. Killer putting: Richard Guy.

 

The organisers once again thank Dunaverty Golf Club, its committee and ground staff for their help and preparation of the course to their normal high standard.

 

Also the staff of The Putt Stop for their excellent hospitality before and after the competition, and the following local businesses who supported the competition this year by sponsoring holes and helped to make this a continued success: West Coast Motors; Tesco Metro, Campbeltown; Beinn an Tuirc Distillers; Coop, Campbeltown; Springbank Distillers; Glen Scotia Distillers; Jennie Dunn PGA Golf Professional, Machrihanish Golf Club; Machrihanish Dunes/Ugadale Hotel.