Club Championship & Monthly Medals - Season 2009-2010

Club Championships Finals - 31 July 09
This years champions have been decided

Scratch Winner, Bryan Ronald (left) & Alan Swanson

Bryan Ronald set the seal on an already excellent season with an emphatic victory in the rain delayed final of Thurso Golf Club's scratch championship on Friday against former champion Alan Swanson.

Swanson was the first to take the lead. After sharing pars at the first, he got up and down for par at the second before going one up after Ronald took three putts at the third.

Ronald soon gave evidence of his pedigree by drawing level with a fine birdie at the fourth where Swanson did well to get a par after finding the trees.

After sharing the fifth with pars Ronald went one up after Swanson found trees again at the sixth.

The seventh was shared with scrappy bogeys and the eighth in pars before Ronald went further ahead after a poor tee shot by his opponent at the ninth.

Swanson found trees again at the tenth but escaped with a half after both players scored bogeys.

A poor second shot proved costly for Swanson at the eleventh that was won in par by Ronald.

Handicap Winner, Stephen Bremner (left) & Keith Dreaves

Another fine tee shot by Ronald at the twelfth prompted a poor reply by Swanson who went to four down and shared pars at the next hole, where Ronald had a very good putt for a half, only delayed the end for the former champion.

Another fine tee shot into the wind earned a winning par for Ronald and victory by 5&3.

Ronald was certainly the better man on the night and a worthy champion after covering the fourteen holes in two over par in demanding conditions.

After a nervous start by his opponent Keith Dreaves, Stephen Bremner was never behind in winning the handicap championship.

Despite going to three down a couple of times Dreaves kept the margin to two down at the turn.

Bremner had a fine par at the tenth to go to three up and increased the margin to four with an unanswered par at the thirteenth.

The next two holes were shared in fours and so Bremner became handicap champion by 4&3 in his first full competitive year and played some very good golf in the process.

Senior Winner, Donald Jack (left) & Ali Simpson

The senior championship between former club champion Donald Jack and club vice-captain Ali Simpson turned out to be the closest contest of all.

Simpson went into an early lead and was two up after four holes only to be pegged back to level after six.

After the next two holes were shared Jack parred the ninth to be one up at the turn.

The margin was increased to two after a fine par at the tenth but Simpson showed his metal by winning the next two to get back to level.

Pars by Jack at the thirteenth and fifteenth saw him back to two up but a five at the sixteenth by Simpson cut the deficit to one.

The seventeenth was shared with bogeys so Simpson needed to win the last to keep the match alive. It looked odds on that he would do that after getting it close after three shots with Jack in the green side bunker. It was not to be though as a tremendous putt for a par got a half for Jack and victory over a valiant opponent by one hole.

LtoR:- Bryan Ronald, Pat Valentine (Chairman), Stephen Bremner & Donald Jack

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