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| Triple winner of the Ayrshire Boys Matchplay Championship Euan Ferguson |
The final was played in fine conditions with a good breeze making the course testing.
Both players had produced some excellent golf throughout the week en route to the final and this continued from the start of Thursday's final match, with Addie having a tap in at the opening hole for a birdie three to go one up, only to see Ferguson hole from eight feet for a birdie two at the second to square the match.
The next two holes were halved in par before a tee shot to 20 feet at the fifth set up fFerguson for a winning par three to go one ahead.
The sixth was halved in fours and when Ferguson bunkered his approach to the green at the seventh and could only manage a five, Addie secured a par four to square the match again.
At the eighth, Ferguson did well to get down in two putts for par from 60 feet and took the hole to restore his one hole advantage, which he maintained to the turn when the ninth was halved in fours.
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| The 2018 finalists Euan Ferguson & Sean Addie |
Both players displayed an excellent short game, which was evident at the tenth when both got up and down for pars from difficult positions after missing the green in two.
Ferguson maintained his lead with the eleventh halved in par threes and went two ahead at the twelfth when he birdied the par five hole.
At the thirteenth hole Addie looked to have a chance to reduce the deficit when he played an excellent second shot from a difficult lie which found the front fringe of the green, whilst Ferguson's second went through the green to leave him an extremely difficult shot to the narrowest part of the steeply undulating putting surface. In what proved to be a definitive point in the match, Ferguson played an outstanding soft lob which came to rest just eighteen inches from the hole, whilst Addie's approach, across the steeply sloped side of the green, ran five feet past. Despite a good putt, Addie's attempt for a par four slipped past and Ferguson secured his par to go three up in the match.
The fourteenth hole was halved in pars and at the fifteenth Addie's putt for a three pulled up three feet short of the hole whilst Ferguson's third ran five feet past. Putting first, Ferguson's par effort pulled up inches short of the hole and Addie bravely holed his three foot par put to reduce the deficit to two holes, with three to play.
Both payers tried to reach the green of the short par four sixteenth from the tee, Addie's ball coming to rest on the grass upslope of the Cardinal Bunker, below the railway sleepered face whilst Ferguson's effort was cut wide of the green and came to rest in long grass at the edge of the vast Cardinal Bunker.
Playing first, Ferguson produced another outstanding recovery shot with his ball coming to rest within ten feet of the hole and Addie followed with a good chip which came to rest just a little closer. The defending champion then capitalised on his good recovery shot by holing his put for an excellent birdie three, leaving Addie needing to hole his putt to avoid defeat. Despite his best effort, Addie's putt remained above ground and Euan Ferguson was declared the winner with a 3&2 victory.
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| Euan Ferguson and Prestwick GC Captain Keith Macintosh |
At the conclusion of the final, match referee Scott Gilchrist paid tribute to both players, not only for their excellent play but also for the manner in which both players conducted themselves and the sporting nature in which the final was contested.
Prestwick Golf Club captain Keith Macintosh, who was present throughout the final match, presented prizes to both finalists at the end of the match before presenting the trophy once again to the 2018 winner and three times champion Euan Ferguson.
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