SHEY DONALD ended Peter Haggarty’s six-year stranglehold on the Helensburgh Golf Club gents’ championship title in memorable fashion on Sunday.

Haggarty was aiming for his 14th gents’ title at Helensburgh, but knew he would have it tough against his young opponent Donald, who had topped the standings in the gents’ qualifying competition.

Haggarty started strongly, winning the first two holes, and he remained one up as the players broke for lunch halfway through the 36-hole final.

Donald, however, refused to lie down to Peter’s consistent game, and fought back in the afternoon round, playing some excellent golf to overtake the reigning champion and win the match on the 35th hole by a margin of 2 and 1.

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The title is Donald’s first, and fittingly, three generations of the Donald family were there to watch and to celebrate with him.

Haggarty was not the only player out to defend their 2020 title: the same applied to the reigning ladies’ champion, Gemma Canham, and junior champion Arthur Tynan.

In the ladies’ final, Canham proved too strong for lady captain Jackie Lightfoot, taking her third championship in a row and her seventh overall by a margin of 5 and 3 and receiving her trophy from the beaten finalist.

The junior final was a family affair, with Arthur taking on younger brother Lewis and hoping to retain the title he won in both 2019 and 2020; this time, though, Lewis prevented a hat-trick, taking the crown by a convincing margin of 5 and 4 and giving him the bragging rights in the Tynan household.

In the gents’ second class championship final, Graham Crowhurst narrowly defeated Russell Makeham to lift the Peel Trophy, while John Craig ran out a convincing winner in the third class final to lift the 1963 Trophy.