SCOTTISH AREA TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS - Ayrshire lose out to Perth & Kinross in quarter finals

The Ayrshire team lost out to Perth & Kinross on Saturday morning, 17th May, in the quarter finals of the 2014 Scottish Area Team Championships at Ranfurly Castle Golf Club in Renfrewshire.

Stuart Robin, Tommy McInally, Malcolm Pennycott, John Shanks, Michael Smyth, Keith Hamilton

 facing the second qualifiers and 2012 title winners, the Ayrshire side eventually lost out 4 - 1 to their opponents, who were particularly competent on the greens throughout the match which eventually proved the advantage which saw them through to the semi finals.

The four singles matches were won by the Perth & Kinross players, with the Ayrshire team pretty well matching their opponents from tee to green, though all four eventually succumbed to defeat by very similar margins.

John Shanks went behind early on to Daniel Young and by the time the players reached the sixteenth the Perth & Kinross player was dormie three. In a closing scenario which summed up Shanks' day, the Ayrshire players approach finished adjacent to the hole for a conceded three, only to see his opponent home from 15 feet for a birdie to close out the match by 3 & 2

Michael Smyth fought back from n early two hole deficit against Stuart Graham to square the match, only to see his opponent win three quick holes for a 3 & 2 win.

Stuart Robin also went down to a 3 & 2 defeat against Mark Cameron, the Perth & Kinross player covering the first nine holes of the match with only eleven putts required.

Tommy McInally always faced a difficult task against Scotland internationalist Bradley Neil but despite being two behind early on, McInally stuck to his task, taking the match to the seventeenth hole before losing by 3 & 1.

Ayrshire's only point came from the foursomes pairing of Keith Hamilton & Malcolm Pennycott who were one down with two to play against Scott Michie & Philip Scott before they finished in style by taking the final two holes for a one hole victory.

Ayrshire players & officials
Team manager Ricky Magee, John Rushbury, Malcolm Pennycott, Tommy McInally, Stuart Robin,
John Shanks, Michael Smyth, Keith Hamilton, Allan Muir, President Milton Murray

In the other quarter finals on Saturday morning, Renfrewshire beat the North area by 4 - 1 whilst Glasgow beat Lothians 3 - 2 and Lanarkshire beat Stirlingshire by the same margin.

The semi finals on Saturday afternoon resulted in Renfrewshire beating Glasgow by 3.5 - 1.5 and Lanarkshire beating Perth & Kinross 3 - 2.

The final between Renfrewshire and Lanarkshire is scheduled to take place on Sunday 18th may with three foursomes in the morning and six singles in the afternoon.