Winter Eclectic Round 3 & WLS 6

Bright skies and calm conditions at Reay provided the perfect platform for several golfers to post excellent scores over the weekend. On Saturday players were looking to improve their scores in the third round of the Winter Eclectic. Star performer on the day was Kenny Farmer whose round of nett 62 belied his handicap of 20. After an unspectacular start over the tricky first four holes, he soon found his form to reach the turn in 39. A steady back nine of 43 was blighted by a double bogey five at the final hole, but he did just enough to take the win by a single shot.

Taking the runners up spot following a nett 63 was Leslie Malcolm, whose fine winter form has not escaped the attention of the handicap secretary. Malcolm, aided by a birdie at the short 9th hole, reached the turn in a magnificent 38 strokes, and continued to play steady golf for an inward half of 41. Richard McDonald took third place after recording the lowest gross score of the day, 74. After an outward half of 37, his round was boosted by a pair of birdies at the 10th and 14th holes, helping him to come home in 37, for a nett score of 66.

In the overall Eclectic standings, McDonald remains head and shoulders above the rest on a score of 63. However, with three rounds remaining there are a number of players, including Malcolm, Ian Ross and Sandy Chisholm, who will fancy their chances of overhauling the leader.

Sunday saw round 6 of the Winter League Stableford held, with players looking to make inroads on Malcolm’s handsome lead in the overall standings. However, they were left disappointed as Malcolm once again proved to be the star performer with a best of the day haul of 38 points. Farmer had to settle for second place on 35 points, with Chisholm and Willie Allan a further 2 points back. At the halfway stage it is going to take something special for anyone to overhaul the leader.

A number of players have received handicap reductions following the weekend action, and all should check the handicap list prior to their next competition.