A superb one under par 69 in the second round saw Alan Connery (Irvine GC) take the 2017 Ayrshire Strokeplay Championship title for the first time, as a sunny Western Gailes GC on Sunday 7th May, by a single shot.The defending champion Greg Telfer (Prestwick St Cuthbert), bidding to be the first player to win successive titles in the history of the championship, set the pace after the first round with a best of the day 68, two under par. Unfortunately for Telfer, some wayward play in the second round culminated in a no return at the seventeenth hole as he finally relinquished his title.
Closest to Telfer after the opening round was Paul Denim (Loudoun) with a one under par 70, but he too faded away in the afternoon, returning a second round of 80 for a 150 total.
The ultimate champion, Alan Connery, had an opening round of 76 to put him an a large chasing group on 76 or less going into the second round, but whilst many challenges faded away, Connery set up his title bid with an excellent two under par total of 34 on the outward half in the afternoon, which included a single bogey at the par four second and birdies at the fifth, sixth and eighth holes.
In the inward half, bogeys at the fifteenth and seventeenth were offset by birdies at the twelfth and fourteenth to give Connery an inward half of level par 35 and a second round of 69.
Iain Brown (West Kilbride) took the runners up place, his opening 74 being bettered by two shots in the afternoon for a total of 146, whilst Steven Spence (Royal Troon) was third on 147 following rounds of 72 and 75.
Keith Hamilton (Ayr Belleisle) was fourth on 148, by virtue of the better second round, ahead of clubmate Jim Johnston, whilst Sandy Buchanan (Prestwick St Nicholas) filled the final place on the prize list, also by virtue of the better second round, again on 148.
The CSS for both rounds was 75 (+1)
Final totals :-
1 Alan Connery 76 69 145
2 IAIN BROWN 74 72 146
3 Stephen Alan Spence 72 75 147
4 Keith Hamilton 75 73 148
5 Jim Johnston 74 74 148
6 Sandy Buchanan 73 75 148
7 Craig Hamilton 72 76 148
8 Darren Mallinson 76 74 150
9 P Denim 70 80 150
10 Alyx Murray 77 74 151
11 Robbie Muir 76 75 151
12 ANDY BROWN 79 73 152
13 SHAUN HEDGER 77 75 152
14 Ben Gibson 76 76 152
15 A Gibson 75 77 152
16 J Shanks 82 71 153
17 Andrew Farmer 80 73 153
18 Greg Watson 78 75 153
19 Michael Smyth 77 76 153
20 Sandy Walker 75 78 153
21 James B McMurdo 79 75 154
22 Scott BROWN 78 76 154
23 Stuart Robin 77 77 154
24 Andrew Wright 77 77 154
25 Barrie McDonnell 76 78 154
26 Alan McLean 78 77 155
27 Tommy McInally 80 76 156
28 Mr Mark Gallagher 80 76 156
29 Greg Cathie 79 77 156
30 E J Milligan (Jnr) 78 78 156
31 Eddie Gilligan 78 78 156
32 Scott Gilchrist 78 78 156
33 Barry O'Rourke 76 80 156
34 Graeme Gimson 75 81 156
35 Calum McKirdy 83 74 157
36 Mark Stewart 83 74 157
37 S Miller 80 77 157
38 C Adams 77 80 157
39 Simon Berrie 76 81 157
40 Dominic BOOTH 78 80 158
41 Jack Thomas 78 80 158
42 George J Robertson 76 82 158
43 David A MacDonald 75 83 158
44 John Haggarty 82 77 159
45 Craig Telfer 81 78 159
46 C Gray 80 79 159
47 Scott Cairns 83 77 160
48 GARY VOGWELL 83 79 162
49 C McGowan 84 79 163
50 B Travers 79 85 164
51 L Murray 83 82 165
52 Craig O'connell 85 81 166
53 Daniel Forbes 84 82 166
54 Kevin Thomas 84 83 167
55 I Fraser 84 83 167
56 Shaun Ryan 79 88 167
57 S McClements 82 86 168
58 Andrew Irvine 89 82 171
59 Gordon K. Johnston 77 -- 77
60 John Sloan 78 -- 78
- Christopher Bone 75 NR NR
- Bruce Caldow NR -- NR
- William H Fleming NR 79 NR
- Iain MacDonald (1) NR 77 NR
- Scott McCahill 79 NR NR
- Steven McEwan NR -- NR
- Gavin Nimmo NR -- NR
- A Orton 79 NR NR
- Steven STAMPER 84 NR NR
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Greg Telfer 68 NR NR
At the conclusion of play, Ayrshire Golf Association President John Rushbury presented the Ayrshire Strokeplay Championship trophy to a delighted Alan Connery.
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