Four golfers remain to battle for Inverness Four Day Open title on Thursday

Four golfers remain in contention for the Inverness Four Day Open title as the semi-final line ups are now confirmed.

Leading qualifier Jonathon Keith of Inverness Golf Club will face Lewis Reid of Fortrose & Rosemarkie.

Keith defeated Connor Hall (Brora) 3&2 in the quarter final and Reid progressed with a 4&3 win over Ruairidh Greenwood.

In a repeat of the 2016 and 2018 finals, home club players David Joel and Kieran Mackay face off in the second semi-final after Joel defeated John Forbes 4&3 and Mackay beat Bruce Thomson of Nairn 2&1.

In Section 1 James Fraser of Fortrose & Rosemarkie defeated Dougie Gordon 3&2 and will play Andrew Hutchison who finally saw off Graham Gunn at the 3rd playoff hole. The other semi-final sees recent handicap club champion Billy Mackay face clubmate James Greenwood after wins over John Fox and Stephen Davidson respectively.

Two quarter finals in Section 2 went to the wire with last hole wins for Stewart Lyle over Ian Patience and Brian Martin over Ruari Benson.

Lyle now faces Nick England, a 2&1 winner over Robert McIntosh and Martin plays Alan Kerr who beat John Clarke 5&4. Consolation for Clarke was his win in the inaugural putting competition and progression to the national final.

All ties in Section 3 were closely fought with wins for Danny Cowan over Luke Mackay (2&1) and Michael Martin over Allan Peachey (3&2).

In the bottom half of the draw Blair France progressed with a 3&2 win over Thomas Purves and will play Alex Elliott after his 2&1 win over John M Forbes.

This year sees the first playing of the consolation competition for the Stewart Coghill Trophy and the four semi-finalists progressing from Wednesday’s qualifier are Graham Nicolson, Ewen Sneddon, Jordan Youngson and Ivan Reid.

Updates on the final day’s play can be found at the club website.

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