Stornoway Golf Club

March 8th 2008

JOHNSONS PROVE IMPOSSIBLE TO CATCH

Checking back over previous notes, I find the headline that immediately sprang to mind after the last weekend of the Winter League had already adorned the sports pages of the “Gazette”.( golf notes 2006) Nevertheless, the fantastic consistency of the Johnson twins, Murdo & Magnus, since they began their participation in our “close season” flagship competition, can only be described as “Magic”. I’m sure with a spot of digging, the records will reveal the true measure of, not only their consistency, but domination of the league over the past 10-15 years; but there is one thing we all take to be a “truism” as October approaches. The team that finishes above the Johnsons will probably win the league.

Since moving to the top of the league last November, they have seldom looked like losing the title, and the impression was always there that if another” gear” was going to be required to separate them from their nearest challengers, they would have found it.

As it turned out, no-one managed to overtake them, and such was the standard of their play over the closing weeks that they missed out on the Onetel/TalkTalk Trophy by just a single shot. Winners of that particular competition (played for over the last 4 weeks) were Arthur & Douggie MacIntosh whose strong finish also saw them claim runners up spot in the league.

Winners on the day,and in the process managing to claim fourth spot in the table, were David “Kiwi” MacLeod and Stephen“Tucky”Moar. Their gross 40 (four under par) less 2 for a nett 38 was the best score on the day by a handsome three shots.

Having played Winter League for several years, and witnessed some excellent golf over this time, “Kiwi” & “Tucky” produced as fine a team display as has been my pleasure to witness. They seldom looked like dropping any shots, and could have improved their score further had a couple more putts dropped. Only on the last hole did a bogey look likely when both had 20-25 footers for par. With partner Stephen having agonisingly left his attempt no more than a centimetre short, and not knowing what would be required to win on the day, David confidently stroked his putt into the hole for par, and they knew that had posted a score which would take some beating.

As it turned out he could have three-putted and won, but not knowing this at the time took nothing away from the importance of the putt, and capped off a very fine round of golf.

Only the swift intervention on Saturday morning by head greenkeeper Alasdair MacLeod and new greens convenor Alan “Biddley”MacLeod made play possible at all. With several of the greens flooded; a change of course and the moving of several flag positions were necessary to ensure that rain didn’t stop play. Our thanks to the pair of them for ensuring the rest of us got our weekend relief from the stresses of modern day living.( Dealing with folk who don’t understand the concept of giving way to traffic from the right at a roundabout, and the plethora of cars with one working headlight which dazzle and confuse the bulk of the motoring population.)

If it wasn’t for golf, think of the swearing that would damage the ozone layer.

Next week sees the start of the “Winter Thaw” competitions with a Texas Scramble. With everyone parting with their 2008/9 fees (chop-chop, let’s have them) Summer Golf is nearly (yes I know it doesn’t feel like it) upon us again.

Ok, let’s just call it 18 hole, or “proper” golf; either way we are en masse anticipating bringing our handicaps down. There will not be a single golfer in the club who doesn’t intend to reduce their allowance over the next six months.

With many new and returning members, hopefully we will see some new names and faces in the golf notes.

Come and join us…….if anyone fancies a round of golf, or just an introduction to the game with a few members, then we are always willing to accommodate anyone keen to start.

Call us on 702240, or simply enquire at the club.

From my Senior correspondent.

About half a dozen players found a decent weather window on Tuesday, unfortunately the scores didn’t match the weather. John MacKinnon had the week’s best score with 22 points, followed by Harris MacKenzie with 21. The rest were nowhere.

Dennis and Zebo ventured out on Wednesday – their scorecards were still damp when collected from the box on Friday. There were also reports that Norrie MacKenzie had been seen on the course late in the week, but by all accounts it was a very brief appearance.

Once again, there are no changes to report at the top of the League Table. Everyone seems to be having great difficulty putting a good score together at the moment. Perhaps a change of course in the coming week will provide a bit more excitement in the final four weeks of the winter season.

Scores Saturday 08.03.08 Gross H/C Nett Points

DK Macleod & S Moar 40 2 38 15

P Grant & P Aird 52 11 41 12

DJ Macleod & A Reeves 45 3 42 8

A Morrison & JR Gillies 53 11 42 8

H Lloyd & M James 46 4 42 8

A Henderson & D Gilmour 46 3 43 6

W Macaulay & C Macaulay 52 9 43 6

R Martin & N Mackenzie 48 4 44 2

N Munro & J Mackinnon 51 7 44 2

M Smith & Coi Macaulay 46 2 44 2

J A Macleod & KW Galloway 46 2 44 2

A Macintosh & JD Macintosh 45 1 44 2

Ali Maclennan & Neil Macleod 55 11 44 2

League Leaders Points

Murdo & Magnus Johnston 93

Arthur & Douggie MacIntosh 89

Ian Tood & Zebo 87

D.K. MacLeod & S. Moar 86

C Robertson & R Galloway 85

Senior -Top Scores

John MacKinnon 22

Harris MacKenzie 21

Senior’s League Table

Norrie Munro 245

Dennis Hall 243

Norrie MacLean 233

‘Bronco’ MacArthur 230

Duncan MacLean 230

Norrie Mackenzie 230

John MacKinnon 230

Onetel/TalkTalk Trophy Score

A Macintosh & JD Macintosh -13

Mag Johnson & Mur Johnson -12

I Todd & Zebo -12

DK Macleod & S Moar -10

C Robertson & R Galloway -10

D Black & M Maclennan -10