AYRSHIRE FINALS DAY - Brunston Castle, Royal Troon and Ballochmyle enjoy finals success

Brunston Castle, Royal Troon and Ballochmyle enjoyed final success when the Ayrshire Golf Association finals day was held at Brunston Castle GC on Sunday 2nd September.

In testing conditions with periods of fine drizzle and a strong breeze, the finals of the President's Putter competition, The Gary Bryden Memorial Salver and the Ayrshire handicap League Championship took place in the afternoon, whilst the Ayrshire Fourball Championship final was held over to a later date due to players involvement in other finals on the day.

The first final to tee off was the handicap club team knockout competiton for The President's Putter which matched Brunston Castle against West Kilbride.

Though by luck they enjoyed home advantage, the Brunston Castle team were in devastating form regardless, taking both singles ties and the foursomes tie comfortable for a 3 - 0 win and custodt of The President's Putter for the second time in three years.

Match details (Brunston Castle names first):-

David McCulloch (12) beat Peter McPike (7) by 8&7
George Scobie (6) beat Bert Grayston (9) by 8&7
George McCulloch & Gary McCulloch) 6) beat Jim O'Dwyer & John Auld (12) by 7&6

BRUNSTON CASTLE 3 WEST KILBRIDE 0

The President's Putter winners from Brunston Castle
George Scobie, Gary McCulloch, David McCulloch, George McCulloch

The scratch club team knockout competition final for The Gary Bryden Memorial Salver pitched Ballochmyle against Royal Troon in a match which looked likely to be very close on paper and ultimately proved to be so.

The two singles ties were shared, Craig Hamilton putting Ballochmyne ahead with a win over Robert Jenkins and Ian Walker leveling for Royal Troon with a win over Declan Chalmers, which left the destination of the trophy resting with the foursomes tie between Callum McCurdie and William Fleming of Ballochmyle and the Royal Troon duo of Blair Morton & Steven Machin

All square playing the last, both pairs secured par fours to take the tie into extra holes.

At the first extra hole, the Ballochmyle pair were just off the green in two, but closer to the hole that the Royal Troon side who were putting. Blair Morton's approach putt ran nine feet past the hole whilst Calum McCurdie's chip finished three feet short of the cup. Putting first, Steven Machin bravely holed his putt for a par four and William Fleming followe him in with his putt to take the match to the second extra hole.

Whilst Steven Machin was perfectly placed in the centre of the fairway from the tee at the 20th hole of the match, William Fleming's tee shot cruely finished just outside the edge of the left fairway bunker. McCurdie's attempt to progress the ball forward towards the green saw the Ballochmyle team's ball fly high and right into long grass adjacent to the river Girvan.

Blair Morton played a good approach shot for Royal Troon, safely finding the putting surface and following an unsuccesful search for the Ballochmlye pair's ball in the heavy rough, the hole and the match was conceded to the Royal Troon team who recorded their first win in the competition, to add to their Scratch league Division 4 title which was won last week.

Match details (Ballochmyle names first):-

Craig Hamilton beat Robert Jenkins by 2&1
Declan Chalmers lost to Ian walker by 6&5
Callum McCurdie & William Fleming lost to Blair Morton & Steven Machin at the 20th

BALLOCHMYLE   1   ROYAL TROON  2

The winners of The Gary Bryden Memorial Salver from Royal Troon
Robert Jenkins, Ian Walker, Steven Machin, Blair Morton

The remaining final to be decided on Finals day was the Ayrshire Handicap League Championship between Moorpark and Ballochmyle.

The match was fairly even on handicaps, with just a few shots being exchanged throughout the six ties.

The opening ties went in favour of the Ballochmyle team who established a 3 - 0 lead from the first three ties, leaving them needing just another half point to secure a clear victory in the match.

That final half point proved increasingly elusive however, as Moorpark fought back to take the final tree ties over the closing two holes to give a final match score of 3 - 3.

As a result of the match being drawn 3 - 3 the dstinatio of the trophy and the championship was decided by a countback over the individual tie scores, which resulted in a 19 - 8 countback in favour of the Ballochmyle team, who became the 2018 Ayrshire Handicap League Champions.

Match details (Moorpark names first):-

James McIntyre (5) lost to John Murdoch (6) by 4&3
Hamish Gaffney (6) lost to Billy Hamilton (7) by 5&4
Brian King (9) lost to Jamie Miller (7) by 2&1
Andrew Armstrong (9) beat Robet Mason (9) by 1 hole
Alan Burns (12) beat Ian Ramsay (10) by 271
William Brodie (14) beat Ian Murray (15) by 3&1

MOORPARK   3    BALLOCHMYLE    3
Ballochmyle win 19 - 8 on countback

The Handicap League Champions from Ballochmyle
John Murdoch, Billy Hamilton, Jamie Miller,
Robert Mason, Ian Ramsay, Ian Murray

At the conclusion of the three finals the Ayrshire Golf Association Secretary Alasdair Malcolm thanked Brunston Castle GC for hosting the finals, as well as the greens staff and catering staff for ensuring that the players had an enjoyable day, before presenting the three contested trophuies to the winning teams for 2018.