Senior Tournaments - Season 2008-2009

Stableford 13 - 06 January 08
Sandy Reid wins Winter EGGS title...

A prolonged and severe frost has curtailed golf at Thurso since just before New Year.

One of the casualties was the final round of the EGGS Winter Stableford last Tuesday and so the winner of the competition was Sandy Reid with a best five round total of 180. Undoubtedly the highlight of Reid's competition was his 45 point winning effort in Round 6.

Club Captain Pat Valentine claimed second place with 175 points that included two 37 point rounds, one winning Round 8.

Third place was shared by Donald Farquhar and Dave Lyall on 173 points with Lyall paying the handicap price for winning a couple of rounds.

There will also be a handicap price to be paid in the forthcoming Winter Eclectic by Ron Ritchie and Gary Henderson who finished with totals of 170 and 167 for fifth and sixth places respectively.

Stableford 12 - 30 December 08
Henderson holds on for 1 point win...

Gary Henderson didn't make the best of starts in the penultimate round of the EGGS Winter Stableford but he still got to the turn in 20 points and another 15 on the way, was enough to see him win by a point from Donald Jack who, conversely, got off to great start with a birdie at the first but fell at the final hurdle, his eighteenth hole. Jim Buchan and Douglas McCowan both finished a further two points back.

There was no change to the leading positions as a result of last week's round so Sandy Reid takes a three point advantage over Pat Valentine going into the final round.

Stableford 11 - 16 December 08
Manson holds on to win this round...

Conditions for the latest round of the EGGS Winter Stableford were considerably poorer than Saturday's and, coupled with the undoubted counter attraction of the annual lunchtime Christmas party, resulted in a poor turn out for the golf.

Ian Manson, with 31 points, held off a spirited fight back by Bill Hossack over the inward nine to win by a point.

The competition will now be settled by the best five rounds so, with two rounds remaining, the current leader Sandy Reid can still be caught despite being three points clear of Pat Valentine, his nearest challenger.

Stableford 10 - 09 December 08
Mitchell wins by three...

There was another emphatic winner on Tuesday when George Mitchell's 36 point total was three points clear of Billy Hossack in the EGGS Winter Stableford.

The winner had 18 points for both nines and Hossack 18 points on the way in that included a spectacular approach shot holed out on the eleventh hole.

Les King finished in third place on 32 points, 21 of those coming on the opening nine holes.

Pat Valentine had birdies at the eighth and eighteenth in his 30 point round that got him a share of the overall lead on 205 points for the best six rounds.

Sandy Reid also has a share of the lead with previous leader Dave Lyall and with the poorest last counting score must be favourite to win with two rounds remaining.

Stableford 8 - 25 November 08
Captain Valentine holds it together...

Having already lost Round 4 of their Winter Stableford to an earlier snowfall in late October, Thurso's senior members were more fortunate this time around as the course had recovered remarkably to allow Tuesday's eighth round to go ahead.

Club Captain Pat Valentine was no doubt one of those particularly disappointed at Saturday's scheduled second round of the Winter League not going ahead as he won the first round.

He made up for this disappointment though with a good win on Tuesday, his 37 point total being the only one to earn the 'Buchan handicap adjustment'.

He had a fine outward nine for 19 points, four of those coming from a birdie three at the second hole. His inward nine was good too with the only dropped point coming at the short fourteenth.

Dar Sutherland also got four points at the second hole and also had a total of 19 points for the front nine. His back nine was looking pretty good as well until he fell foul of the seventeenth hole and had to settle for second place with 36 points.

George Mitchell and competition organiser Jim Buchan had similar rounds, both with 18 points on the way out and 17 on the way in, each including a blank hole, to share third place. Sandy Reid, Sandy Wright, Donald Jack, Donald Farquhar and Jim Johnston were next best on 34 points.

At this relatively early stage in the competition Dave Lyall is in the lead with 205 points for his best six rounds, one ahead of Valentine but a few people with good five round scores look set to change this position after next week's round.

Stableford 7 - 18 November 08
Ron gets handicap cut after win...

There was still a bit of wind around on Tuesday of the EGGS Winter Stableford and it ensured that there would be no repeat of last week's very high points totals.

In fact, winner Ron Ritchie was the only player to receive a handicap cut for his 37 point effort. Ritchie's halves of 18 and 19 points both contained a no scoring hole.

Donald Farquhar had a fine inward nine of 20 points on his way to a total of 36 points and second place, two ahead of third placed Pat Valentine.

Stableford 6 - 11 November 08
Sandy grabs 44 points to win...

There was some tremendous scoring in the sixth round of the EGGS Winter Stableford on Tuesday.

Pat Valentine was in good form again with 37 points but was five points behind Donald Farquhar who shared his 42 point total with Jim Hawthorn.  George Mitchell with 38 points and Dar Sutherland with 36 are both worthy of mention.

However, the outstanding round of the day was by Sandy Reid who had 22 points for both nines for a splendid total of 44 points.

Jim Buchan will be busy with handicap cuts this week!

Stableford 5 - 04 November 08
Lyall wins once again..

Lyall enjoyed better fortune in the fifth round of the EGGS Winter Stableford on Tuesday when he made it back to back wins in the competition with 38 points made up of 19 in each half.

Ron Ritchie, David Warren and Sandy Wright will also earn handicap cuts after finishing a point behind the winner.

On a day of good scoring Eclectic winner Donald Jack and Sandy Reid both scored 36 points.

Stableford 4 - 28 October 08
Cancelled...

• Bad weather cancelled play.

Stableford 3 - 21 October 08
Lyall wins by two points..

After nine holes in Tuesday's third round of the EGGS Winter Stableford Dave Lyall was among the also rans with 14 points, well behind Ian Fraser and Donald Farquhar, both with 18 points and Jim Johnston on 17 points. The inward nine yielded 20 points to Lyall however as he went on to win by two points from Johnston with a total of 34 points. Fraser and Farquhar, who had an eagle two at the eighth, both ended with 31 points with Ronald Mackay a point further back.

The senior members have already been coming to terms with the shortened winter layout but tomorrow's first round of the Winter Eclectic will be the first chance for the rest of the members to do so.

Stableford 2 - 14 October 08
Henderson wins by 2 points...

In Tuesday's second round of the EGGS Winter Stableford Gary Henderson and David Warren were drawn together and went on to have a fine contest. Both reached the turn in eighteen points and were still level after sixteen holes. The final two holes were decisive though with Warren failing to score at the last and losing out by two points to a fine total of 38 points by Henderson.

Dave Lyall, with 18 points for each half, shared second place with Warren with Ron Ritchie and last week's winner Ronald Mackay a couple of points further back.

Stableford 1 - 07 October 08
Ronnie Ratter starts off with Winter win...

On a very wet Tuesday, Ronald Mackay won the first round with a well earned total of 34 points, 20 of those on the inward nine. Bill Hossack, who had a good outward nine of 17 points, was second ahead of Dave Lyall.

End-of-Document