Golf: Battle Royal in prospect for Burgess

ROYAL BURGESS face an uphill task to retain the Inter Cities Cup after only managing a draw at home to Glasgow champions Sandyhills in the first leg.

Stephen Buckley gave the Barnton side the perfect start by winning the last two holes to come out on top in a cracking match against Steven Robertson.

However, things went downhill from there for the 
Edinburgh team, starting with Varun Varadharajan being well beaten by Mark Bookless.

Ian Taylor was square playing the last but hit his tee shot out of bounds to lose while John Yuille, after being one up playing the last, three-putted from 15 feet to half his match.

With John Fraser losing 2 and 1 and Grant Pollock going down 5 and 4, the Edinburgh title holders found themselves 4.5-1.5. behind.

However, good performances in the last three matches – fron Grant Pollock, Jim Thompson and Gordon Archibald – saw them all won by Royal Burgess to leave it at 4½-4½ heading into the return tie.

“Things were looking dire for a while as we shot ourselves in the foot in matches three and four,” said Royal Burgess team manager Richard Hughes. “But we managed to salvage a square match in the end. It will be a 
really tough task to win through in Glasgow.”

Match details (Royal Burgess names first): S Buckley bt S Robertson two holes; V Varadharajan lost to M Bookless 5 and 4; I Taylor lost to F Stevenson one hole; J Yuille halved with P McKay; J Fraser lost to T Martin 2 and 1; G Pollock lost to C Anderson 5 and 4; F McCluskey bt J Love 3 and 2; J Thompson bt A Quinn 2 and 1; G Archibald bt B Bryce 2 and 1.