Golf: Glencorse show no mercy to depleted Turnhouse

The home side were missing four top players due to BBT's involvement in the Dispatch Trophy but it was a great effort from Glencorse nonetheless.

They got off to the best possible start by winning the top three matches thanks to the splendid efforts of Sean McGarvey, Derek Thomson and Neil Shillinglaw.

The latter sealed his one-hole success over Tommy Cadger with an eagle-3 at the last, while the other crucial contributions for the visitors came from Andrew Wight, who beat Scott Young, and Alastair Shanks, who finished all square in the anchor match against Gordon Leitch.

"There was some excellent golf played by the Glencorse team to win a hard-fought match," said a delighted Shanks.

Even at this early stage, Royal Burgess look to be in ominous form, the defending champions having made it four away wins in a row and five in total with a 6-2 success at Lothianburn.

James Ross marked his first match of the campaign with a win over Paul Logan, while dad Doug was also among the other victors on the night for the Barnton men.

"We set a Summer League record last year in qualifying for the quarter-finals with a total of 18 points from a possible 20," said Royal Burgess team manager Richard Hughes.

"We now have a tough match away to Baberton followed by some home matches and are hoping to get close to the standard we set last year."

Giving the Lothianburn account, Chris Hughes said: "At 1-1 after the first three games in, we seemed to be holding our own but then we took only a half point from the remaining games.

"Alex McKenzie finished birdie-birdie to half with John Yuille."

The spoils were shared at Mortonhall, where Dalmahoy were the visitors. Mark Dickson, Martin Fitheridge, Andrew Hogg and Scott James won for the home side, with Graham Lovie, Dougie Hunter, Tom Blennerhasset and Stuart George replying.

"It was a close match that edged in Dalmahoy's favour at the turn and midway through the back nine but we managed to hold out for a draw and it could have gone either way in the end," said Mortonhall's Graeme Stark.

Like Turnhouse, Kingsknowe were understrength due to the Dispatch Trophy for their trip to West Linton, who cashed in with a 6-1 win.

Colin Taylor, who won the last two holes with great up and downs, Nick Barr, who got up and down out of the bunker at the 18th, Grant Douglas, who had a good up and down at the last, and Graham Turner, likewise at the 17th, provided the key points for the home side.

"The match was tighter than the result showed," said Simon Mackenzie, a 6 and 5 winner over Scott Knowles at the top of the order. "Indeed, if these holes had gone the other way, the result would have been different."

Kingsknowe's Bill Buchan added: "It was a desperately disappointing defeat after we got off to a very poor start."

Prestonfield followed up their recent win at Lothianburn by making home advantage count against Musselburgh.

Scott Johnston and Arran McHardy laid the foundations with wins in the top two games, while other successes came from Neilson Rutherford and Jimmy Moran. Equally important were the half points delivered by Murray Fraser and Ivor Highley.

Duddingston's stuttering campaign continued as they lost 5-3 at Murrayfield, where the 100 per cent records held this season by Murrayfield's Derek Miller and his son, David, were on the line.

Derek, square with two to play, sneaked home by one hole against Neil Hamilton, whereas David, one up with two to play, lost the final two holes to Mike Horne.

Murrayfield's other points came from Colin Dick, Alistair Howie and Lindsay Grant.

In the same section, Silverknowes chalked up a whitewash over Ratho Park and will be looking to cement their position at the top of the table when Duddingston pay a visit to the shores of the Forth this week.

Liberton picked up a point up at Torphin Hill, although the visitors might have been disappointed not to have gained a greater reward after winning the top three games through John Hunter, Robert Jack and Anthony Blaney.

Baberton were without five players – Stephen Marshall, Dougie Waugh, Grant McCall, Ian Gourlay and John Nisbet – due to the Dispatch Trophy for the short trip to Swanston New and went down 5-2.

A plus point for the visitors was a 4 and 3 win by youngster Gavin Young, while Jim Downie, another of the replacements, came from three down with three to play for a half.

Baberton will be glad to be back to full strength this week as they entertain Royal Burgess.