HELENSBURGH Golf Club’s senior players secured their first McIntyre Seniors League title since 2010 last week – sharing the title with perennial favourites Milngavie.
After 16 matches throughout the course of the season, Helensburgh, under the guidance of Bill McKeirnan, finished with 10 wins and three draws – an identical record to Milngavie, right down to both teams having the same number of games won and lost, giving Helensburgh their sixth win since the tournament’s inception in 1979.
Also celebrating this week was Gary Stillwell, who triumphed in the McDonald Medal final – despite experiencing more than a slight touch of pre-match nerves.
Drawn to play against newly-crowned Dunbartonshire champion Peter Haggarty, Stillwell responded superbly to the daunting challenge, recording his best ever round in the form of a gross 72 which included 13 pars and one birdie.
He would still have been in awe of his playing partner, who recorded a four-under-par 65, including six birdies, though Haggarty’s net score still saw him finish four shots behind the winner, with Stillwell receiving his trophy from vice-captain Dave Lutwyche.
Meanwhile, John Friel, one of the club’s youngest senior golfers, made the most of his (comparative) youth to win the senior Midweek Medal final.
The recently retired Post Office worker’s gross score of 81 was truly a first-class performance, earning him 39 stableford points as he saw off the competition.
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