The Split Stane Challenge

On Saturday players gathered at Reay for the annual Split Stone Challenge which pits players from the east against players from the west in a team event. Sunny skies and a strong wind from the south-east made for pleasant but tricky playing conditions. 

In the first tie, youngster Ruari McCartney was paired with Bill Budding for the east and they took on Fred Groves and Danny O’Hagan of the west. The pair from the east roared in to an early lead with McCartney performing well under the guidance of Budding. Groves and O’Hagan fought back over the closing holes, but eventually lost out by a single hole.

The second tie was a very close affair with Colin Munro and John O’Brien of the west paired against Sandy Chisholm and George Macdonald of the east. There was never more than one hole between the sides for the entire round, with Chisholm holing a testing 5-footer on the final green to secure half a point for his team.

Jock Eunson was the star performer in the third tie and he combined well with Grant Coghill to secure a further point for the east, seeing off a determined challenge from John Disbury and Pete McCartney in the process. The final tie pitted October medal winner Stuart Grieg and recently married Simon Harper, against the father and son combination of Alex and Ian Mackay. Grieg and Mackay prevailed in a tight match to secure a point for the west, but it was all in vain as the east secured overall victory by 2.5 to 1.5. 

Following the tie, competitors were set a putting skills challenge by Evan Sutherland. The irrepressible Budding showed some finesse to claim victory ahead of Ian Mackay.

On Sunday players enjoyed calm, bright conditions for the 3-club Stableford event. Despite the handicap of using 11 clubs less than normal, some very respectable scores were posted. Winner on the day was Sandy Chisholm with an impressive haul of 37 points. Chisholm’s round of gross 79 was made up of halves of 40 and 39. Taking second place was George MacDonald on 34, with the final podium place being occupied by Donald Mowat with a score of 29.