Mens Tournaments - Season 2008-2009

Winter League 7 - 28 March 09
Bob Robertson holds nerve to win

Low temperatures, low entry, low-key end to the winter season. That was the story at Thurso Golf Club at the weekend when there was a noticeable lack of enthusiasm for venturing onto the golf course.

Stuart Bell showed that scoring was not impossible with 31 points in the final round of the Winter League on Saturday.

Saturday's scores had no impact on the outcome of the Winter League that was won by Bob Robertson with a best three round total of 109 points with Harvey Cowe and Bryan Ronald a point behind.

Winter League 6 - 14 March 09
Bob does well on the way in for victory

As Thurso Golf Club's winter competitions draw to a close it is clear that all of them are going down to the wire as new leaders emerged from the latest rounds of the Winter League and EGGS Winter Eclectic.

Bob Robertson recovered from a modest front nine that yielded only 14 points to come home in level par for 21 points and a winning total of 35 points in Saturday's sixth round of the Winter League.

His inward nine that contained birdies at the thirteenth and seventeenth holes enabled him to relegate Stephen Spargo into second place, Mick Ross into third and Allyn Sutherland into fourth after they too returned 35 points.

Sandy Stewart, Walter Rutherford and Bryan Ronald all finished three shots further back.

Robertson's round also saw him take the lead in the competition as he now has a best three round total of 109 points, one better than previous leaders Ronald and Harvey Cowe.

With one round still to be played, tomorrow week, it looks as if the winner will come from those three.

Winter League 5 - 31 January 09
Jack Johnstone has steady round for win

There was a reasonable turn out on a pretty stormy day for Saturday's fifth round of the Winter League at Thurso Golf Club.

A notable feature of the top two cards by Jack Johnstone and John Morrison was that at least one point was scored on every hole. Johnstone emerged as the day's top scorer with 34 points, 17 for each half, to beat Morrison by a point.

It was a good day for third placed Harvey Cowe as his 32 point return improved his best three round total by four points and he now shares the lead with Bryan Ronald, both with 108 points.

Stuart Bell and Ronnie Williamson were the only others to make the 30 point mark and shared fourth place.

Winter League 4 - 17 January 09
Harvey leads the way in tough conditions

The Thurso players who entered the Winter League on Saturday were the lucky ones as Sunday's Alliance had to be postponed because of snow at Tain and Tuesday's EGGS competition did not take place because of a severe overnight frost.

Conditions on Saturday were fine and encouraged a few players to have their first round of the year. By and large though, it was the winter regulars who claimed the spoils with regular partners Harvey Cowe and Walter Rutherford showing the others the way with scores of 37 and 36 Stableford points for first and second places respectively.

A feature of Thurso's winter layout is that three holes on the front nine have been shortened, had their pars reduced, and are subsequently more difficult for Stableford scoring. This was well demonstrated on Saturday when Angus Cameron was the only player to achieve 18 points on the outward nine.

Cowe was only one behind this mark, two points clear of Rutherford, but both set about the inward nine with relish and Rutherford had the day's best inward total of 21 points. Not that this bothered Cowe however as he was only a point lower and so emerged the winner.

Lachie Sutherland and Davie Calder both had 19 points on the back nine to claim the next two places with 35 and 34 points respectively. Bryan Ronald had 17 points for both nines and finished a point clear of Keith Dreaves who bucked the trend with a poorer back nine in his 33 point effort.

Cowe's win on Saturday took him to second place in the League with a best three round total of 104 points, four behind the leader, Ronald. Alf Williamson(101) and Pat Valentine(100) are next best but they all need to look out for Bob Robertson who has a two round totals of 74 and is showing good form this winter.

Winter League 3 - 27 December 08
Robertson wins with 38 points

Saturday's delayed start probably limited the field for the third round of the Winter League but it didn't bother Bob Robertson who recorded the best round of the weekend, a gross 71, for 38 points and a three point victory. Robertson made an excellent start that included a birdie two at the third and didn't allow a slip at the sixth to deter him as he went to the turn in 20 points and played consistently on the way home to secure the win.

Traditionally a winter specialist, Alf Williamson earned second place with 35 points. His round was of the roller coaster variety with birdies at the eighth and twelfth holes balanced by big numbers at the second and sixteenth holes. Alistair Bell was the only other player to beat the 30 point mark with 32 points.

Williamson is the current leader of the League with 101 points for the three rounds played but he can expect a significant challenge, especially from Ronald and Robertson who both have two round totals of 74.

Winter League 2 - 13 December 08
Ronald Ratter just wins

Players in the second round of Thurso Golf Club's Winter League took advantage of a fine calm Saturday morning to return some excellent scores at the weekend.

Bryan Ronald added to his considerable list of successes this winter with another win when his return of 40 points earned victory after count back comparison with Harvey Cowe who also had 40 points.

Ronald was two over par at the turn for 18 points with a two at the ninth apparently getting him into good fettle for the back nine. With birdies at the thirteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth holes he was two under par on the way in for 22 points.

In hindsight, the seventeenth hole proved crucial to settling first place.

Cowe was consistency itself with 20 points for both nines but as Ronald birdied the seventeenth, Cowe ran up a double bogey to miss his chance.

Just like the winner, Gary Calder birdied the ninth and had three birdies, at the tenth, fifteenth and last holes, on the way in but, having started his round with four bogeys, had to settle for third place with 39 points.

Jack Johnstone and Willie 'WJ' Shearer both had 37 points, one better than Davie Calder and Bob Robertson, who had two birdies in the opening three holes.

Winter League 1 - 08 November 08
Valentine beats partner for strong win

A lot of golf shots appear to have been wide of the mark as well as only the winner of the first round of the Winter League managed to beat the 36 point barrier.

That honour fell to Club Captain Pat Valentine who got the better of playing partner Donald Farquhar to win with a 38 point total.

Farquhar was two points in front at the turn with a nineteen point effort but Valentine immediately made up the deficit with a four point birdie at the tenth. He added a further birdie at the eighteenth for a one over par inward nine that yielded 21 points for a two point victory over Farquhar who got the nod over Billy Sutherland on count back after he too had 36 points after a pretty topsy turvy round that included a couple of blanks.

The lower handicap brigade in the form of Alistair Bell and Bryan Ronald were next best on 34 points

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