AYRSHIRE BOYS CHAMPIONSHIP - Ferguson remains on course for matchplay hat trick

Euan Ferguson (Turnberry) remains on course for a hat trick of Ayrshire Boys Matchplay Championship wins after an extra holes victory in his semi final match against Ewan Milligan (Kilmarnock Barassie) at Prestwick Golf Club on Wednesday evening, 8th August.

Euan Ferguson

Ewan Milligan took the early initiative in the match taking the second, third and fourth holes with birdies to establish a three hole lead after four. Ferguson reduced the deficit to two when Milligan bogeyed the seventh hole and pars from both players over the next two holes saw the match turn for home with Milligan two holes up.

The match score was reduced to one hole when Ferguson took the tenth with a bogey five, but Milligan restored his two hole lead by winning the eleventh, though a par was good enough to win the hole on this occasion, following his hole in one there in the previous round.

A par five at the twelfth was enough to put Milligan three up with six to play but a run of three holes from the thirteenth which included a bogey and two double bogeys  from Milligan saw Ferguson take full advantage and square the match after seventeen.

The players halved the final hole in fours and the tie progressed into extra holes. As at the start of the tie, the first hole of the extra holes was halved in par fours but on this occasion the roles were reversed at the second, with Ferguson securing a winning par three to Milligan's bogey four, to progress to the final for the third successive year.

Sean Addie 

In the final, Ayrshire Boys Champion Sean Addie (Ayr Belleisle) stands in the way of Ferguson's third title bid following a final hole victory over Ross McDonald (Kilmarnock Barassie) in the semi final.

Addie opened his semi final by winning the first with a birdie three, only to see McDonald square the match with a birdie two at the second.

A second successive birdie was enough to give McDonald the lead after three holes and he extended his advantage to three hoples after five played, with a par four at the fourth and a winning bogey four at the fifth after Addie struggled to a double bogey five.

Addie hit back at the sixth, winning with a par four to reduce the deficit to two holes  and when McDonald struggled at the ninth, Addie further reduced the deficit to one hole at the turn.

At the par five twelfth, Addie birdied the hole to square the match overall and the match remained level through fourteen before McDonald again went ahead after Addie couldn't match his bogey five there.

Par fours at both the sixteenth and seventeenth were sufficient for Addie to take both holes and turn one hole deficit into a single hole lead with just the final hole to play.

At the eighteenth, a short par four, McDonald closed with a birdie three but Addie held his nerve to match McDonald's three and take the tie, and the place in the final with a one hole victory.

The final tees off at Prestwick Golf Club on Thursday evening, 9th August, at 4.30 p.m.