Route 66 For Ross To Bag Scratch & Nett Win

 

Two time club champion Ross Connolly took advantage of the near perfect conditions on Saturday to shoot his best score since September 2021 with a birdie filled 66. Not only was this the best gross score on the day but it also took top spot in the nett scores and earned Ross the Scratch Medal, First Class Medal and the top award of 200 FerEx points moving him from outside the top 30 in 34th to tied for 10th. 

 

 

Course Analysis 

 

  • Despite it being arguably the best day for golf this year the average scoring wasn't the lowest of the year, 2 Saturday events have had lower average scoring so far in 2025.
  • The 3rd (yawn) was the hardest hole on the course but interestingly the average score was down a good bit at "only" 1.57 over it's par. 
  • 15 playing into what breeze there was played 2nd hardest at 1.53 over it's par with zero birdies recorded there. 15 and 10 were the only 2 holes with no birdies. 
  • 16 was the easiest hole on the course playing 0.6 over it's par of 4. 
  • The 5th was the 2nd easiest at 0.69 over it's par. 
  • Despite being the 4th hardest hole on the course the 8th gave up comfortably the most birdies with 15 members making a 4 there. 

 

Scratch Medal 

 

It's not often you shoot 67 in a medal at Fereneze and don't win but that was the scenario for Callum Macaulay on Saturday who was pipped by Ross. I had the pleasure of watching 6 birdies offset by 2 bogies at 2 and 14 adding up to a -4 total. All 4's and 3's on Callum's card with the exception of his par 5 at 6. Let me just copy and paste....Michael Hart Jnr finished in the top 3 for the 647th consecutive medal with a 1 under par 70 with 3 birdies and 1 bogey. 

 

First Class

 

Martin Lynagh was the nearest to Ross in 1st class with a nett 68. His round built on a superb back 9 of level par which included a double bogey at 15 but birdies at 13 and 17. Martin's having an excellent season and he's followed up his gross 75 in Medal No.3 with this gross 77. Christopher McEwan, who joined us at the start of the season, took 3rd spot matching his best gross score of 78, like Martin in Medal No.3 at the start of June. Jim Bulloch finished on nett 2 under but missed out on 3rd place sweep money courtesy of Chris having the BIH. 

 

Second Class 

 

Not content with winning the best dressed golfer (ever week) David Young styled his way to a second class medal victory but by the narrowest of margins, pipping Arran Sudding in 3rd courtesy of the better last 6 and John Higgins in 2nd courtesy of the better last 3 holes. David responded well to his 8 at the 3rd bouncing straight back with back to back birdies at 4 & 5 and from then on playing some fairly solid stuff to the house. Like David, John had an 8 at the 3rd but recorded solid scores from then on including pars at both the 6th and 8th. Arran's card was not so solid, 9 nett birdies and a nett eagle were countered by 2 triples and a quadruple bogey. If Arran can cut those out further handicap cuts are on the way. 

 

Third Class

 

Newly crowned Renfrewshire 12-28 Handicap champion Graeme Lester had 2 reasons to celebrate this weekend, recording his first medal victory on Saturday and taking the RGU title on Sunday at Erskine. Graeme finished on nett level par alongside Bradley Campbell but took the medal courtesy of the better inward half. Both players recorded good front nines but poorer back nines but Graeme did enough to secure the win. 5 players finished on nett 72, James Johnston sneaked 3rd but boy could it have been so much better if Jimmy had just skipped the par 5s!!! 

 

Special mention for Past Captain and my old Rosebowl and Hugh Ross partner Tony McCarthy who was one of those players on 72, great to see Tony playing in medals again and competing! 

 

FerEx

 

Vice Captain and FerEx leader Clark Hill decided to take himself off to a mid season summer camp giving the chasing pack an opportunity to close in on his first position. Nearest challenger Simon Leonard has closed the gap but not as well as he may have liked, his 78th placed finish earning him 27 points but definitely within striking distance. FerEx specialist Anand Poddar moves into 3rd spot despite his 2nd lowest finish of the season in 47th. Ultra consistent Michael Hart Jnr moves from 7th to 4th with his 2nd highest place finishing of 10th this week. Craig Shaw had a DNF (Did Not Finish or more commonly known as NR) but remains in the top 5 dropping from 3rd. 

 

Significant movers were Martin Lynagh (7th to 6th) Ross Connolly (34th to 10th) David Young (36th to 14th) and Arran Sudding (27th to 17th)

 

Next weekend is a Double FerEx weekend as we hit the half way mark on Saturday with the 8th of 15 qualifying events and start the countdown on Sunday with the rescheduled Summer Meeting.