Golf: It's senior service who light Royal Burgess up

The Barnton men joined Duddingston in the record books after completing a second successive defence of the title with a 6…-2… success over Glencorse in yesterday's final at Baberton.

Remarkably, Royal Burgess had failed to win the event until the first of their triumphs two years ago but this latest success saw them become the first club to go through a whole a campaign with a 100 per cent record - a remarkable achievement.

"It's been another great team effort," said club captain Neil Scott, the acting team manager in the absence of both Richard Hughes and Derek Reilly. "We have a fantastic team spirit - all the players get on so well - and it's nice to be taking the trophy back to the Burgess again."

Scott spoke jokingly about the side's "youth policy" - a reference to the fact MacDonald, Taylor and Fraser have all represented Scotland Seniors in the last couple of years.

MacDonald and Taylor, in fact, were on duty last week in the Home Internationals at Crail and bounced back from the disappointment of being wooden spoonists in Fife to win vital points.

On greens that had been cored and heavily sanded earlier in the week, both teams found it difficult to hole putts from any range and, so as to avoid a repeat, the final really has to be played much earlier in the future.

Making their first appearance in the final for 20 years, the scoreline suggests Glencorse suffered a bit of a doing but, in actual fact, Royal Burgess had to dig deep to hang on to their crown.

Former Scottish Boys' champion Stephen Buckley got off to a shaky start when his opening tee shot in the top match against Keith Young found the trees.

But, after escaping sideways, he holed from 20 feet for a half and then hit his opponent with some sparkling golf to put the first point on the board for Royal Burgess with a 5 and 3 win.

Buckley, who pitched in twice on the front nine - the first for an eagle at the second - was approximately four-under for the 15 holes played.

The win saw the 26-year-old complete the campaign unbeaten - winning nine of his matches and halving the other one.

Grant Pollock, who started with a birdie, then made it 2-0, producing "steady golf" as he beat Ian Shanks 5 and 4 at No. 3 before Sean McGarvey put a first point on the board for Glencorse.

Two down at the turn against Grant Hill, 20-year-old McGarvey won the tenth and 13th to square matters before edging ahead thanks to an eagle-3 at the 15th, where he smacked a drive and 6-iron to eight feet.

He went on to win 2 and 1, with Neil Shillinglaw making it 2-2 soon afterwards as he came out on top by 3 and 2 against Doug Ross. Shillinglaw, who also played in the team that reached the final in 1990, birdied the ninth to go in front before his opponent paid the price for two three-putts on the back nine to go down 3 and 2.

The pivotal match was the next one to finish - Fraser winning the last to come out on top against Derek Thomson.

The Glencorse man squandered a chance to get his nose in front at the 16th before watching his opponent get up and down from a bunker for a half in pars at the 17th. Thomson then missed the green on the left at the 18th and ended up losing a game that could easily have gone the other way.

"My putt on the 17th, which was a curler, was crucial," admitted Fraser as he headed back out to see if his team-mates could finish off the job.

Taylor edged them to the brink of victory when he hit top form to take care of Justin Lamb, the Royal Burgess man covering 16 holes in three-under as he won that one 3 and 2.

After winning three holes in a row from the 11th to take control, Taylor sealed his success in style with a glorious 6-iron second shot into the 16th.

Sandy Gray missed shortish putts at both the 16th and 17th to seal the victory before going on to beat Andrew Wight on the home green.

By then, though, he'd been beaten to the glory by MacDonald, the former Walker Cup player clinching the title as he produced a polished performance to beat Alistair Shanks by 3 and 2 in the anchor match.

A Royal Burgess member for 20 years, MacDonald didn't play in the two previous finals but, with both John Yuille and Brian Tait unavailable on this occasion, the Scottish Seniors' champion was a pretty handy man to have "on the fringes".

With the match won, the remaining match between Iain Melville and Fraser McCluskey was declared a half, though Melville, in fairness, was one up with one to play after holing a good putt for a half at the 17th.

"It is obviously disappointing to lose but, on the day, we were beaten by the better team," said Glencorse team manager Shanks.

"It's still been a tremendous season for us and hopefully it won't be another 20 years before we are back in the final again."