Reay Golf Club News Blog: The Junior Open

Thirty nine juniors turned out to contest the Reay Golf Club Junior Open last Sunday. The weather was kind but a strong southerly wind made for difficult scoring. Once again there was a good number of visitors with representatives from Lossiemouth, Brora and the local clubs as well as three international competitors from Paris.

In the main competition, 18 holes off medal tees, players fought against the wind for the prizes on offer. Ross Munro, who is also the club champion, just pipped Ruari McCartney by one shot to take the scratch prize and win the AEA Trophy with a fine gross 80. Ruari however had a two shot margin over his nearest rival in the handicap section of the competition. A nett 69 pushed young Etienne Ygorra from Golf Nationale in Paris into second place but he in turn just beat Ian A Mackay, Euan Munro, Tom Ross and Ben Graham. Ruari won the Northern Heating Supplies Trophy.

The 18 hole competition played off the junior tees resulted in some spectacular scoring with 5 competitors all under par. The winner with a handicap reducing nett 61 was Grant Ross from Brora. Second place, two shots adrift was taken by Jamie Mackay (Reay) from Benjamin Ygorra with Mark O’Brien (Reay) with James Griffiths (Brora) close behind. Grant Ross won the Beg Cup as leading player in this category.

In the girls competition Lauren Ross (Reay) defended the trophy she won last year for the best nett score with a fine nett 79. Not far behind was Sarah Meiklejohn from Thurso GC who did very well in the trying conditions.

One golfer however put in a stunning score to win the overall competition and the girls gross competition. Eleanor Tunn’s gross 75 was only 5 over par and well clear of everyone else in the race for the title of Reay Golf Club Junior Champion 2012. A busy schedule has seen her compete all over Scotland and a recent visit to St Andrews where she went round in one over par underlines her strong golfing talent. Eleanor also defended her title from last year.

A new 9 hole competition was introduced this year for the juniors moving up from 6 holes but not quite able to do 18. Three strokes covered the top 3 with Connor Ross just pipping Tom Mackenzie and Ewan Adamson with Nyomi Day just a few strokes behind.

The younger members took part in the ‘Birdie Baggers’ section played over six holes. Scoring was very tight with James Tunn (Reay) just pipping Murray Mackenzie (Reay) and George Mackenzie (Brora) . James won the Alec and Don Mackay Shield as winner of the section with Marie Ygorra (Paris) collecting the trophy for leading girl.

The ‘Fairway Ferrets’ section for the youngest players was played over both the small three hole course and the main course. On the big course scoring was close but the winner with an excellent score of 26 was Kyle Macleod by a few strokes from Machaela Mackay. On the smaller course Owen Bain held on to a slender lead to win from Emma Day, Abbey McAdie and Katy Gunn. Kyle won the Dunnett Shield for his win and Owen the 3 Hole Cup as leading player in his section.

Reay’s Head Coach, Evan Sutherland thanked all the sponsors - W & D Ross, Mrs. J Wallace, D C Mowat, O’Brien Construction, Nuvia, Inverness Golf Centre and Mr Alistair Giles for their support. As a result of this kind sponsorship every player received a prize.

Following a fine meal enjoyed by all, the prizes were presented by Graeme Dunnett, the Reay Golf Club Captain.