The final saw Scottish senior internationalist and host club member Paul Moultrie (Royal Troon) face the challenge of Tom Loy (Irvine).
The opening two holes of the final were halved in pars, Tom making a great recovery from a bunker at the second and holing his twenty five foot putt for a half.
A fine approach to eight feet at the third set up a winning birdie three for Tom to take the lead but after finding a difficult lie in a greenside bunker at the fourth and taking three shots to get out, Tom conceded the hole to paul and the match was square again.
With the fifth hole halved, Tom went on an impressive run over the next three holes to take a two hole lead by the turn.
At the 544 yard par five sixth, paul was safely on the green in three while Tom was in the deep gulley to the left of the green in two. Playing a blind shot up and over the edge of the green, Tom never saw his shot pitch on the green and gently run into the hole for a winning eagle three.
Tom Followed this with an approach to eight feet from the hole at the seventh to set up a winning birdie three after paul, whose own approach finished six feet away, was unable to match Tom's birdie when his effort lipped out but remained above ground.
A half in threes at the Postage Stamp gave Tom a notable run of three successive threes over these holes, and a half in fours at thre ninth left Tom two up as the players turned for home.
Paul looked to be in pole position at th tenth, his second making the rear left fringe from where he putted up to a few inches for a conceded par four. Tom had seen his approach drift right and it came to rest down the steep slope from the green, from which he pitched up to twenty feet and holed his put for an unlikely halved hole to maintain his two hole advantage.
Luck seemed to be with Tom at the eleventh when his tee shot was heading for heavy rough on the right before it struck a, thankfully uninjured, spectator, which resulted in his ball bouncuing back onto the edge of the fairway. However, with Paul finding the greeen in two, Tom pulled his second left of the greeen and after chipping over trees to twenty feet, was unable to hole his par putt, which Paul capitalised on to reduce the defecit to one hole. A par at the twelfth was enough for Paul to square the match after Tom's difficult right to left downhill par putt from three feet struck the hole but spun out.
With Tom's par attempt at the thirteenth from eighteen feet slipping just past the hole to a couple of feet after he had been short of the green in two, Paul had a great chance for a par from six feet to take the lead in the match for the first time after a good chip from the right after missing the green in two, but his effort slid past the right side of the hole and stopped a few inches closer to the hole than Tom's marker. In the sporting manner that the match was played in throughout, Paul said to Tom
"Shall we just move on?"
and a half was agreed with the players moving to the fourteenth all square.
Paul struck his tee shot at the fourteenth to six feet and when Tom missed the green to the left, thinned his chip from a poor lie to the front of the green, and failed to get close with his third, the hole was conceded and Paul went one ahead in the tie for the first time.
With the fifteenth halved, both players were well placed at the par five sixteenth in two. Playing first, Paul hit his approach to within six feet of the hole while Tom saw his effort drift short and right, and it dropped into a greenside bunker. A recovery to twelve deet above the hole was followed by a par putt that just slid past the right edge of the hole, was folloewed by Paul's putt for a birdie four was conceded, leaving him dormie two in the match.
At the par three seventeenth paul pulled his tee shot left, leaving him a difficult lie in the rough and the high side bank of the green to negotiate, while Tom hit a great tee shot to within fifteen feet of the hole. Paul's chip just failed to get up to the green and his third finished six feet away. With two for the hole Tom made no mistake, holing his putt for a birdie two to ensure the match went to the last.
Under normal circumstances the match would have proceeded to extra holes on a sudden death basis, but the darkness made this impossible on the night. Consequently both players were in agreement to arrange a mutually agreeable date to return and finish the match on the accepted sudden death basis, on a future date to be decided in due course.
The match was played in a great, sporting, spirit and the decision reached with regard to determining the eventual winner was equally well received by both players........The story continues.
