Date:- 16/05/2008
Time:- 11:03:52
Time:- 11:03:52
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 Club Championship & Monthly Medals - Season 2005-2006 Club Championships & Medal Finals - 21 August 05
Getting to the finals of a Golf Club Championship is no mean feat and once qualified through three rounds of Strokeplay its into the Matchplay rounds where anything can happen, form goes out the window and strategy changes as scores become irrelevant as its all about winning holes. This is where nerve and experience can get you a long way and digging in when the chips are down. What ever happened in the Final of the Club Championship there would be a new name on the trophy. It was the wily old fox in Don C.Mackay who has seen it all before up against the rookie in David Dunbar playing in his first final. All the finalists had to contend with the added problem of fatigue having played 36 holes in the Reay Safari the day before. The rain thankfully stopped as they went to the first tee and it stayed dry all afternoon. David drew first blood as both missed the first green with David sinking his putt for par and Don sadly missing his. Don immediately recovered with an excellent par at the second and David missed the fairway and couldn't get up and down to go all square. Don put himself into trouble off the third and gave the initiative back to David who gratefully took the hole with a par and went one up. Hitting it big off the tee as expected David had a problem with accuracy but Don was steady off the tee and they had a half at the 4th. A par at the 5th was good enough for David to go two up. The 6th was halved with pars and Don again the straighter off the tee. Don lost his ball at the 7th and conceded the hole. A magical long putt from the fringe of the green gave David a birdie at the 8th and he went four up for a commanding lead with life looking tough for Don. Years of experience for Don began to kick in and finding the green at the 9th made a very nice par to win the hole and claw one back. Don let the young fellow back in on the 10th and didn't take advantage of a very poor short drive by David. Don played a very uncharacteristic shot short as David scrambled well and was very lucky to end up winning the hole with a par. This stung Don into action and he pulled back two winning the 11th and 12th with comfortable pars as he exerted pressure and started to get to David who was now erratic off the tee and finding the wrong fairways.
Don hit a great long straight drive down the 13th and David was in trouble again on the edge but recovered well. The putting Gods were very cruel to Don as faced with one of those putts his putt horseshoed out and David really stole the hole to get back to that 3 hole cushion. This was a turning point in the match and it could so easily have been a one hole margin instead and game on. Big off the tee again at the 14th David was in trouble and could only chip out the rough whilst Don hit two majestic shots to win the hole with a classic par and peg it back to two down. The 15th was halved in three with both finding the green from the tee. Don found the fairway bunker at 16 and hit an incredible recovery from an impossible lie to the fringe to halve in par. Fate was against Don on the 17th tee as his first two attempts hit the overhead cables and his third screamed up the fairway for a chance to win the hole and keep the match going. David found the green in regulation and Don very sportingly conceded the half to give David Dunbar his first Club Championship win and his name on the trophy as the 2005 Reay Golf Club Champion. This had been a very good final and midway through the back nine Don looked like he was going to make a great comeback but David always had a lead and clung on for the title and a tight 2&1 win. The Handicap Final had to be conceded and was awarded to Steve Efemey as Andy Whitelaw was called back to his job offshore and couldn't contest his first final and under the Competition Rules sadly had to forfeit the chance to win the trophy.
The Senior Club Championship saw Evan Sutherland take on Fred Groves who was a previous winner in the Club Championship and past winner of the Senior Title. Evan made a good start with a par at the first and drew first blood. Both were nervous and not concentrating as Fred won the second and third with bogeys to go one up proving the point this game is all about matching your opponent or getting down one shot better. It doesn't have to be pretty and this wasn't. Evan failed to take advantage of his shot at the 4th and indeed lost the hole. Halves followed and when Evan went out of bounds at the 7th losing his shot advantage again it was looking a bit gloomy as he was now three down. Clearly this was the spur needed as Evan calmly took the 8th and with Fred in a lot of trouble on the 10th Evan had pegged him back to one down. Evan just could not convert his shot advantage at the 11th but scraped the half to stay in the match. At the 13th Evan gave Fred a very generous and sporting putt for a half which Fred later confessed was far too generous. Fred won the 14th with a par to go two up. Going down the 16th Fred blasted it into the fairway bunker which Don Mackay had found in the earlier match and was faced with an equally difficult shot. Closing his eyes Fred got his sand wedge out and with a great heave hit a magnificent shot to the green fringe. Fred sank his putt for a birdie three and a great way to win the Senior Club Championship closing out the match for a 3&2 win. Thanks to Alistair Gunn and Graeme Dunnett who officiated as match referees and were not called upon to rule as both finals were played in the best golfing traditions with excellent sportsmanship all round. The Ladies host the Inter County on Saturday with the Gents going to the Wick Open. Sunday sees the McVitie and Price Foursomes with Ladies able to play and mixed teams allowed.
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