Campbell Claims One Shot Win Over Order Of Merit Leader McIntosh 

 

You'll probably see him swishing some balls in the nets during the week or putting notes through my Match Secretary door on how the website can be improved but this time it was Jim Campbell's golf that's bringing him to our attention after an excellent nett 66 in today's rescheduled event. A tricky east wind was in play today making the front nine the easier of the 2, it felt that way anyway and statistically that was the case, but only just, well by half a shot. A few thought provoking pins as well, it might be less than 6000 yards but you have to plot your way round the Fereneze Braes if you're to be successful. 

 

Jim's round was his best since July 2021 and had only 1 net bogey on the card with 2 nett eagles (at 10 and 12) and 2 nett birdies all adding up to nett 66. Fair play to second placed Stuart McIntosh, he recovered from a horror 9 at the 10th to shoot nett 67 which included a a 1 birdie 4 par finish. Stuart's been leading the Tuesday OOM by a narrow margin for the last few weeks but gets his rewards on that front for sticking at it after the 10th hole...more on that shortly. 

 

Willie Elliott is in a rich vein of form, that's now 7 of his last 9 rounds being counters for handicap and 2 consecutive 73s, one off his best ever competitive score of 72. Birdies at 1, 12 and 14 helped him to nett 68 and a BIH place over Stevie Gribben who, other than the 4th, had a really solid round of golf. 

 

Special mention to Stuart's playing partner and cousin Ryan McGraw who aced the 14th with a 6 iron. Well done Ryan! 

 

Davie Miller recorded the best scratch score with a 69, that's three consecutive scores in the 60s, not something I've done since August 2022, hoping I can extend that to 4 in a row on Saturday! 

 

Order of Merits 

 

Scratch 

 

That second consecutive scratch win and Richie Elrick's 4th spot means Davie extends his lead at the top of the Scratch OOM standings. With only 2 events left it's a straight shootout between the 2 old adversaries. 

 

Nett 

 

I've said for a few weeks that the nett OOM is wide open, but it's maybe not as wide open now as Stuart McIntosh's 2nd place finish has helped him stretch his lead to over 1200 points. Very much in Stuart's hands now but with a win or a couple of top 3 finishes I'd say that anyone inside the top 15 has a chance to catch Stuart, should he not accumulate many points the next couple of weeks. He deserves his lead for his consistent performances and especially after his bounce back tonight. 

 

Just to illustrate the point of anything being possible....Jim's win moved him from 155th to 12th and part of that chasing pack. 

 

Analytics

 

The 2 hardest holes on the course were on the back 9 and both playing into a hurting wind, the 15th (or comedy hole as my playing partner Jim Coleman described it on a way to a 7) and 10th. 

 

The 16th (be playing like a par 3 for some of the big hitting youngsters with that front pin) was the easiest hole on the course yielding 6 birdies, fair play to Jim who responded to his 7 with a 3 there. The 5th was the 2nd easiest hole with 4 birdies (I had one of those) but didn't get the honour as playing partner Richard Fowler holed out from around 70 yards for an eagle 2.  

 

Darren Kerr also made eagle at 6!