Tuesday and Thursday, produced good golf in conditions where the course was playing it’s full length and the weather held up, though the rain clouds threatened to soak those of us there on the two nights, however for the semi and final games on Sunday, the sun came out and show cased Cawder G.C in all its glory.
The semis in the morning were good to watch, with Blair Dalgleish playing against John Laurie, where both players played out a contest with steady golf, which saw John taking Blair to the 17th hole before securing his spot in the final.
Gordon Sangster and Clark Nelson took part in the other semi, where the golf was equally as good, though Gordon managed to take a lead early in the round and held onto it winning 4 and 3, both semis were of a good standard, but was just a taste of what was to come in the afternoon final.
The first 9 holes were evenly played, with the lead being shared from one to the other, but on the back 9, John took the lead and managed to add to it at the difficult 15th, with the 16th being halved in pars, John now stands on the 17th tee, 2up with 2 to play, with both players pushing their drives to the right, John unfortunately found his ball right behind a tree and can only play out sideways, leaving Gordon with an empty green to aim at, where he managed to put it within 15 feet, the 2 putt was completed to reduce the deficit to 1 down going to the 18th.
Having the honour Gordon hit his 6 iron which never left the flag, finishing 3 feet from the hole, John after finishing in the bunker with his tee shot, failed to get up and down in 2, leaving the contest after 18 holes, all square, now into sudden death play off starting at the 1st, both players hit great drives leaving wedges into the green,
John played first and put it to 3 feet followed by Gordon who put his wedge to 4 feet, the hole was halved in birdies, onto the 2nd, both again played good shots to equal distance from the pin, John put his shot to 10 feet and Gordon managed to get it closer, 2 wonderful shots under pressure by both players, John’s putt just slipped by and Gordon now faced a putt to win the game, which he managed to do, having played his last 3 holes with 3 birdies this secured his second win in the Matchplay event, both players have to be congratulated in a great display of golf and a game those who were watching will remember for a while.
