Golf: Champ takes on the captain in final of Turnhouse Open

Published on 06/07/2012 12:02

IT’S Lothians champion versus Lothians captain in tonight’s final of the Union Motors Turnhouse Open as Pumpherston’s Paul Drake takes on Silverknowes star Keith Reilly.

They are the two players left standing after an improvised format of playing the matches over nine holes allowed the quarter and semi-finals to be played last night after Wednesday’s washout.

Drake is the star man on 
the Lothians scene this season, having followed up his Lothians title triumph at Dalmahoy with wins at Uphall, Newbattle and Greenburn.

In his semi-final, Drake birdied the second and third to take the upper hand against Lewis Bain, the Turnhouse teenager who won last year’s Lothians Boys’ Championship.

Bain won the eighth to ensure the match went the ‘full’ distance, but was unable to hole a birdie putt at the ninth to get it back to all square.

That’s how the other last-four clash – between Reilly and Bathgate’s Simon Lockhart – finished after nine holes.

At the first extra hole, Reilly clinched victory in style by rolling in a 10 ft birdie putt after Lockhart had found sand with his tee shot then failed to get up and down.

Lockhart had earlier claimed the scalp of the host club’s top hope Steven Armstrong.

At Luffness New, Liberton’s Robert Jack (78) and Turnhouse’s Lindsay Gordon (79) both dropped back on a fog-affected second day in the Scottish Seniors’ Championship.

With two groups returning this morning to finish their rounds, Sunningdale’s John Baldwin held the clubhouse lead on 142, two-over-par.