Gust Buster...Deehan Tames the Braes Breeze 

 

158 players took to a very blustery Fereneze today with only 11 managing nett par or better. The course was in superb condition but despite that the good old Fereneze defence played it's usual hand in scoring. Exceptional scoring today to break par, we'll hear about more of those players shortly. 

 

Analytics

 

I can't remember the 3rd playing to as high a score as it did today, 7.31 over it's par of 5. The 6th into the teeth of the wind was 2nd toughest at 1.85 over it's par on average with the other hole directly into the wind (13) playing third toughest at 1.44 over it's par. 

 

Downwind with a front pin helped 9 play easiest on the course yielding 12 birdies and 18, directly downwind played second easiest, giving up 9 birdies and 1 eagle, J.P. Straiton canning a 25 yard pitch shot for a 2. 

 

Scratch Medal 

 

A tremendous 2 under par from Andrew Buttar gave him a comfortable victory in the Scratch medal winning by 3 shots from his Titleist counterpart Richard Elrick. 1 bogey in those conditions was superb and by all accounts a few other birdies could've been had. Richie also had a creditable 72, doing his usual with a few late birdies to tidy his scorecard. Ross Connolly took 3rd on +2. 

 

1st Class Medal

 

Remarkably 5 players tied on nett level par, J.P. Straition, Simon Leonard, Andrew Buttar, Jim Coleman and Darren Kerr. They finished in that order thanks to a combination of better inward halves, last 6 and last 3s. With a 3-2 finish J.P. can justifiably claimed to have won the medal but it was a case of what might have been for a couple of players, Jim Coleman finished 5-4-5 from a good position off the tee at 18 too and Darren Kerr finished 6-6 (ouch). 

 

2nd Class Medal

 

Only 1 player under par in 2nd Class and it was big David Ashcroft, 2 really solid nines and he was one of the 12 to take advantage of that front pin at 9 making birdie. Throw in a birdie 3 at 11 and 2 pars at 6&8 and there's some evidence of good play in there from David. By contrast second placed Ger Higgins didn't play the par 5s that well but like David had 2 birdies, starting his front and back nines with 3s. a 3,4,5,6,7 and 8 on the card tells you that it might have been a bit of a rollercoaster. John Higgins also had a 3,4,5,6,7 and 8 on his card as he took 3rd on the BIH from Steven McKeown but Steg can console himself with the £57 he got for being the solitary 2 in 2nd class. 

 

3rd Class Medal

 

Overall winner on the day Lee Deehan had a superb nett 65, he was one of 4 players in 3rd class that managed to better nett par. Lee had no worse than nett bogey at any hole and sprinkled his round with a few nett eagles and birdies. Daniel O'Hagan took 2nd with a really strong front 9, and a not so good back 9. Stevie Adam edged out Jim Johnston on the better inward half, aided by a 2 at 14, one of only 2 in 3rd Class and as it was a carry over it earned Stevie £33.50. 

 

FerEx 

 

Clark Hill remans out in front in the FerEx with a healthy lead over Simon Leonard who moves from 4th to 2nd, a man accustomed to the higher echelons of the FerEx qualifying process. Craig Shaw retains 3rd spot thanks to his top 30 spot this week. Anand Poddar, again no stranger to the FerEx top 5, moves into 4th thanks to his top 20 finish today. Muir McCluskey Jnr didn't play today but remans in the top 5. 

 

David Ashcroft moved from 131st to 25th thanks to his second place finish and Lee Deehan blasts into the top 10 (7th) thanks to his victory. Daniel O'Hagan hols onto the pivotal 30th place courtesy of his points haul today, moving from 108th to tied 29th.