Golf: East girls defend their silverware

EAST LOTHIAN waited a long time to get their hands back on the Cuthbertson Cup – 18 years to be exact – but the Garden County’s girls have certainly regained their winning touch by coming out on top for the second season running against Midlothian, Fife and Stirling & Clackmannanshire.

This year’s event was played at Whitekirk, where Gullane Ladies’ duo Lesley Atkins and Charlotte Munro joined forces with Clara Young (North Berwick) and Keren Ward (The Glen) to stage a successful defence of the small, but nonetheless prestigious trophy.

In a re-match of last year’s first-round encounter, East Lothian halved with Fife 2-2 but progressed to the final courtesy of the holes-won ruling in the tournament. It was also needed to split Midlothian and Stirling & Clackmannanshire in the other match, with Midlothian edging that to set up a repeat of last year’s final.

And, though East Lothian won 4-0 in the end, it was a much closer contest than the scoreline suggested as a Mid team made up of Glencorse sisters Emily and Jessica Dalgetty, Broomieknowe’s Hannah Scott and Kirsty Burgess of Silverknowes, went down fighting.

Fife finished third after beating Stirling & Clackmannanshire 2-0 in the consolation play-off.