Date:- 16/05/2008
Time:- 11:07:51
Time:- 11:07:51
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 Ulbster Cup (Reay) - 03 & 04 September 05 The Ulbster Cup is a Tournament that is now 80 years old and in 1925 Sir AHM Sinclair, Barr CMC, the MP for Caithness and Sutherland presented the trophy to the Golf Clubs of Caithness. Each year the four Caithness Clubs compete for the Trophy. This year saw the introduction of a new format which has proved to be extremely successful and very popular with those that played. It mirrors the highly successful Wilson Cup format. Each Club provides two teams of four and golf is played in the foursome's format. The draw took place on Friday Evening in the Reay Clubhouse and this year there were no seeded teams with everybody going into the pot.
In Group A the teams drawn were Lybster B, Thurso B, Wick A and Reay A and in Group B we had Lybster A, Thurso A , Reay B and Wick B. Jock Eunson the Reay Vice Captain conducted the draw and Ewan Mackenzie of Thurso and Eric Larnach of Lybster drew the Teams. The weather could not have been better over the two days of Competition and the course was beautifully presented as always. The Thurso team arrived looking well prepared and very much a team, with a serious warm up and making their intentions very clear and eventually proving the right attitude, team spirit and preparation wins trophies. The first clash of the morning rounds saw the Lybster B pair of Alan Larnach and John Mackay beat the much fancied pairing of Ewan Mackenzie and Stephen Williamson of Thurso B by 1up. Fortunately Fraser Sparling and Jim McLeod came to the rescue as the second pairing beat the Lybster duo of Calum MacDonald and John Munro 5 up to give Thurso B a 4up victory. The next match was Lybster A meeting Thurso A and after the Wilson Cup defeat earlier in the year Thurso needed revenge. The first pairing of Dougie Thorburn and Alan Swanson set about the task in hand tenaciously beating Lybster's pair of Alistair Young and Ellis Newman very convincingly 8 up. David Nicolson and Eric Larnach fought back for Lybster and won handsomely 5up against the Thurso second pair Jim Sangster and Brent Munro reducing the Thurso margin to 3up. Munro was making his debut in the Ulbster cup at only 16 years old and is definitely one to watch for the future. The third match out was Wick A and Reay A who the pre tournament favourites but both teams were missing key players yet still had strength in depth and produced strong teams. Nicky Klimas and John Harper got Wick off to a great start with a 5 up victory over James Henderson and Lee Parnell. Another 16 year old making his debut was Gavin Sutherland of Reay partnering the newly crowned Club Champion David Dunbar and gaining a 1up win over John Hunter and Aly Mackay who joined Wick this season from Reay reducing the Wick team margin to a 4up win. The last match was Reay B and Wick B. Gordon Steven and Alan Forbes a young pairing for Wick managed a nice 2up win over the more seasoned campaigners from Reay in Alistair Gunn and Richard McDonald. Thrown in at the deep end were David Mackay and Donald Mowat of Reay who really came good and had a 5up winning margin over Andy Simpson and George Calder from Wick who were also in the deep end. Reay secured a three up victory. With lunch over and the breeze getting up conditions were a lot trickier for the afternoon matches. The strong Wick A team amassed a big hole advantage in the match against Lybster B with both pairings getting secure 8 up wins and an overall 16 up margin for Wick A to look strong contenders for the final. Lybster A team were doing the same to Reay B as both pairings won 3 up to give Lybster B a 6 up victory. Match 3 saw Thurso B meet Reay A and Mackenzie and Williamson set up a 3 up win over Henderson and Parnell who were not playing at their best. The young partnership of Dunbar and Sutherland saved the day with a strong 5 up win over Sparling and McLeod to get the Reay team a 2up win. Thurso A were in bullish mood taking no prisoners and gave the Wick B team a bit of a hiding to get a 13 hole win and a strong tilt at the final. The end of day one and Wick A and Thurso A were looking favourites for the final with one round of matches to go. On the morning of day two and it was a dull start, the midges were biting but the skies soon cleared and the final jousting took place. Reay A started the day against Lybster B and were just too strong as Henderson and Parnell got their first win with 3 up over Larnach and Mackay. Unbeaten in all their matches were Dunbar and Sutherland the young Reay partnership sending out a clear message to Club mates they will be in serious contention for places in the Wilson Cup and Ulbster cup Reay teams next year. They secured a five up victory over MacDonald and Munro for an eight up win for Reay A. Wick B succumbed to Lybster A losing by 13 holes. Larnach and Nicolson beat Simpson and Calder 6 up and Young and Newman beat Steven and Forbes 7 up. The Wick B team whilst not getting a win showed a lot of grit and courage and didn't let their Club down and Simpson and Calder in particular displayed real spirit always battling against heavy odds and go back to Wick with heads up having acquitted themselves well. Wick A and Thurso B produced a nail biter of a contest. Klimas and Harper managed a 2 up win over a testy Mackenzie and Williamson who took them all the way. In the second pairings it was a lot tighter as Sparling and McLeod beat Mackay and Hunter 1up and Wick scraped a narrow win by 1 hole to get a place in the final. Thurso B were naturally disappointed at coming so close to claiming an A team scalp. The last match was Reay B and Thurso A with Thurso again in buoyant mood as Swanson and Thorburn secured a nice 5 up lead over Gunn and McDonald. Sangster and Munro didn't have it just quite so easy against Mackay and Mowat who made them work very hard but eventually ran out winners 2 up and put Thurso into the Final against Wick A. The Final was Wick A against Thurso A and the first match refereed by Evan Sutherland of Reay saw Nicky Klimas and John Harper of Wick take on Dougie Thorburn and Alan Swanson of Thurso. The Thurso pair were full of confidence and raced to a half way lead of 4 up sinking a couple of birdies on the way. Wick were reeling and struggling off the tee but cant argue if you lose holes to birdies. At the 11th Klimas and Harper struck back for Wick but immediately lost the momentum as Thurso kept turning the screws and won the 12th and the 13th to get to 5 up. At the 14th Klimas and Harper manufactured a birdie to pull it back to 4 down but no sooner had they celebrated than Thorburn and Swanson combined well to birdie the 15th and get the match back to 5 up for Thurso. The last three holes were halved in par and Dougie Thorburn and Alan Swanson finished 5up to give the second pair a great lead and a target to aim for. The second match refereed by Bill McIntosh of Reay saw John Hunter and Aly Mackay of Wick lock horns with Jim Sangster and Brent Munro of Thurso. John and Aly made par at the first to win and get an early 1 up lead. Nerves were getting to young Brent Munro in his first final and Jim Sangster was also uncharacteristically unsettled allowing Wick to build up a 5 hole lead simply notching up steady pars by the turn with neat golf. At this stage the Thurso Club Captain David Lyall didn't know which match to follow in this thrilling final as one team was 5 up and one team was 5 down. Scores were being relayed between the matches and it was very exciting as the Cup was in the grasp of both teams and building up to an enthralling climax. Brent Munro and Jim Sangster combined for the only birdie of this match at the 10th and cut the deficit to four turning the match in favour of Thurso. The Thurso first pair were 5 up and the aggregate now favoured Thurso. The next two holes were halved. Disaster struck for Thurso at the 13th as Sangster pulled his drive short and into deep trouble in the left hand banking. Munro couldn't play the ball and showing great maturity for one so young opted for a penalty drop and it nearly paid a dividend as Thurso nearly got a half, however Wick won the hole and got back to 5 up and the aggregate was back to all square. David Lyall now had no fingernails left as the pressure was on and the lead see sawed between the Clubs and it was not a place for the faint hearted. With a lot at stake at the 14th Jim Sangster went for a big second shot in an effort to make the green but nearly snapped his club with a fearsome shot which ploughed into the rough on the left. Thurso were only able to chip out and Wick took advantage and were now 6 up with the first match on the 18th and the advantage now swinging towards Wick. John Hunter found the bunker at the 15th and it was a nasty lie so Thurso were able to claw one back and it was all square again in the match. The 16th was halved in par and the game was now finely balanced with Thurso 5 up and finished in the first pairing and Wick 5 up in the second pairing but standing on the dreaded 17th tee. The match was all square. John Hunter was playing a Captains role and had a chance to close it out on the 17th but unfortunately came up short with his chip. Jim Sangster was stone dead for Thurso and eventually won the hole to give Thurso the advantage on the 18th cutting the deficit to 4 down. Brent Munro and Aly Mackay both missed the green at 18. John Hunter was first to play and his chip shaved the hole when a two could have saved the day and forced a sudden death play off. Jim Sangster chipped up for Thurso and unfortunately Aly Mackay shaved the hole with the return putt and Wick generously conceded although Mackay and Hunter were three up it was not enough to do the Wilson Cup / Ulbster cup double and the Trophy went to Thurso and a winning margin of two holes. Thurso thoroughly deserved their win and all the congratulations for an excellent performance over the two days and team captain Dougie Thorburn was delighted to accept the Ulbster Cup trophy presented by Jock Eunson. Next year the Cup will be contested at Lybster.
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