Fortrose and Rosemarkie beaten in final
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FORTROSE and Rosemarkie succumbed to a five hole defeat in the final of the Northern Counties Cup to McDonald-Ellon at Royal Aberdeen.
The North East club has always sat in the shadows of their more illustrious Aberdeenshire neighbours and their sporadic entry into the competition rarely saw them progress past the quarter-final stage until last year at Moray when they made a breakthrough by reaching the last four.
The McDonald team retuned to this year’s competition with three of the same players — new Scottish cap Adam Dunton, ex-professional Chris Gilbert and Kevin Duncan — while adding in another full-time amateur tour player Ross McKen.
When they put out Newmachar, the winners for the past two years in the semi-finals, their names were all but on the cup for the first time.
Facing McDonald in the final were Fortrose and Rosemarkie, who had fond memories of their last visit to Royal Aberdeen when the competition was last played there in 2006 by winning the cup for a second time, their first success having come at Tain four years earlier.
Club secretary Michael MacDonald, Chris Gaittens, Alan Cameron and Lewis Reid reached the final after thrashing a highly-rated Nairn quartet with a display of golf that ended in a nine hole romp in the double foursomes match play event.
MacDonald and Gaittens racked up a staggering 10 holes against Fraser Fotheringham and teenager Andrew Burgess and only Bruce Thomson and Robert Smith saved a complete Nairn whitewash by finishing one hole to the good against Cameron and Reid. McDonald-Ellon will now hope to defend their trophy when the competition takes place over the links course ay Nairn Golf Club.
THE three links golf courses at Castle Stuart, Nairn and Royal Dornoch will be in use on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday next week for a three day Pro-Am event, sponsored by the Tomatin Single Malt whisky.
There is a £50,000 professional prize fund with around £7000 earmarked for the winner of the individual event.
