NINETY-NINE Helensburgh golfers contested the September Breingan Medal in the autumn sunshine – some with expectation, most with hope.

Alan Drysdale, with a handicap of five, would have had both – and with three birdies and 12 pars, he finished with a score of 70, the best gross score of the day.

Alan’s excellent round was also enough to win him the first class section with a net 65, one shot better than runner-up Craig Stirling.

Two players tied for top spot in the second class section with net scores of 67, but Paul Duerden comfortably won over Joshua McCarthy by virtue of the better inward half.

Paul improved on his first nine holes by five shots, while Joshua playing off a handicap of 16, was only three shots over par at the turn but was 11 over for his second nine holes.

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Scott Kennedy, playing off a handicap of 20, won the third class prize with a net 68, scoring 44 in both halves. Runner-up Paul Strettle finished one shot behind and was left to rue the triple bogey he scored at the last hole.

A strong east wind, along with soft conditions following heavy rain, produced the most testing conditions for the September round of the Ormond Medal, but Craig McPhee overcame those difficulties to win the first class section with a net 69, despite four consecutive bogeys in the middle of the second nine holes.

Stuart Milne and Andrew Donald, with net scores of 71, occupied the next two places, with Stuart’s better inward half securing the runner-up position.

Johnny Boult won the second class honours with a net 69 playing off a handicap of 13, while long time club member Billy Trail was the runner-up, one shot adrift with a net 70.

In the third class contest, Paul Rattray had a great seven-over-par first nine holes – an excellent performance for a 23-handicapper – but either reality or the weight of expectation kicked in after he reached the turn and he dropped 13 shots to par over the second half of the course.

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Nonetheless, his net 66 was still the lowest score of the day, and saw him easily win his class, four shots ahead of runner-up Alan Armstrong.

Three players, David McCarthy, Gordon McConnell, and Ray Baird, tied with 18 stableford points in the September nine-hole medal.

Ray must have thought it was his day until a seven at the par-three 18th hole scuppered his hopes of victory; conversely, David may have thought he had blown his chance with a quadruple-bogey eight on the second, but he recovered well, and his par three at the final hole gave him first place after a countback.

Meanwhile, Gemma Canham demonstrated her recent ladies’ championship win was no fluke by winning the September medal with a net score of 75 which included three birdies.

Babs Robertson, with a net 78 was runner-up, while in the bronze section, Dorothy Mickel took top spot with a net 72, helped by a fine two at the 16th hole.

Denise Donald took second place with a net 74.

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