The final day and hopes were high.  Stirling & Clackmannan were to play Midlothian in the first match. S&C had won one match and halved another and a win against Midlothian might give them the title depending on the outcome of the other match. A Midlothian win would give them a clean sweep on their way to retaining the title.

The morning foursome gave Midlothian the edge with a 2-1 lead. The afternoon singles however were a clean sweep for Midlothian.

Meanwhile in the second match East Lothian played Fife. Having lost their first two matches Fife were keen to avoid the wooden spoon. East Lothian hoped for a win to perhaps secure second place or even a three way count back for first if S&C won! Those hopes were dampened as all three of the morning foursomes games went to Fife.

As the afternoon play got under way, the mist which had been hanging around over the water all morning started to roll in and  jackets and waterproofs were donned as protection  from the cold east wind.

It was soon clear that it was going to be difficult to secure the five games in the singles needed to win the match and indeed the Fife team came good for their captain on the final day. East Lothian’s hopes for points as the players played to the gallery at the 13th rested with three games.  Joanne Free went on to win 4&3 over Jocelyn Mackie. Jill McNicoll must have hoped to win a the hole when Hannah Braidwood pushed her drive way right onto the middle of the 14 fairway. Hannah played a wonderful long shot over the edge of the hill to the left hand side of the green. A long straight put and a tap in gave her a par. Jill’s ball lay just off the green on the right between the bunkers. An awkward putt uphill over the edge of the bunker came up short and the second wandered off leaving Jill with a 5. Jill fought on but went down 3&1.

In the last match Kay Lannin and Brogan Clark went dormie 5 in Kay’s favour at the 13th. As the sun eventually burst forth the 14th and 15th both went to Brogan. Although her first putt on 16 rattled the pole as it went past a half in par was enough to ensure a win for Kay.

Midlothian retained the title and will go forward to represent the East Division in the Scottish finals at Kilmacolm in September and we wish them luck.

Dunbar was in great condition but sadly East Lothian could not convert home advantage into a home win but we will be back next year at Ladybank keen for a better outcome.

Midlothian retain the East Division County Championship with a resounding 8 to 1 victory against Stirling and Clackmannan

Stirling and Clackmannan 1 vs Midlothian 8

Match 1 Alison Goodwin lost 4 and 3 vs Gabrielle MacDonald

Match 2 Laura Bisset lost 5 and 3 vs Kate McIntosh

Match 3 Fiona Wait lost 6and 5 vs Karen Marshall

Match 4 Alison Davidson lost 5 and 4 vs Alison McBride

Match 5 Louise Macgregor lost 2 and 1 vs Louise Fraser

Match 6 Jennie Allan lost 4 and 3 vs Hannah Darling

Match Score

East Lothian 2 vs Fife 7

Afternoon Singles

Match 1 Lesley Atkins lost 7 and 5 vs Gillian Paton

Match 2 Annabel Hosie lost 6 and 4 vs Susan Jackson

Match 3 Joanne Free won 4 and 3 vs Jocelyn Mackie

Match 4 Alyssa Balding lost 8 and 7 vs Lynn Newton

Match 5 Jill McNicoll 3 and 1 lost vs Hannah Braidwood

Match 6 Kay Lannin won 3 and 2 vs Brogan Clark

Not so Sunny Dunny for the second day of competition.

Joanne and Lesley lining up a crucial putt

The scores for the day are posted.

And just for Jenny

The First Match of the day was the match between Stirling & Clackmanan and Fife. S&C got off to a racing starting the Foursomes claiming all three games.  In the afternoon singles games a few more bounces went Fife’s way and they managed to win three and half a fourth.

Jill’s dad George McNicoll obviously thought Jenni needed L plates too and arrived with one this morning for the buggy.

East Lothian took on Midlothian in the second match.  The first two matches were tight and could have gone either way but Louise Fraser & Hannah Darling proved the steadier pair taking the first point 3&2 from Jill McNicoll & Alyssa Balding.

Kay Lannin and Dawn Young in the last game struggled against Karen Fergusson Sneddon & Caroline Steedman.

The middle game between Alison McBride & Kate McIntosh and Joanne Free & Lesley Atkins kept us in suspense all the way to the 18th and a halved match.

First game in the afternoon was between the two  “Juniors” Hannah Darling and Annabel Hosie. An on form Hannah quickly took the upper hand.

Joanne Free bounced back from the morning with some great golf to secured the first win of the afternoon  for East Lothian.

The third game could have gone either way but the very steady Karen Marshall payed a great short game to see off the challenge of Lesley Atkins.

Jill McNicoll fell victim to too many bunkers in her defeat at the hands of Caroline Steedman.

In an up and down game Alyssa Balding  nudged ahead of Alison McBride again in the closing holes and a par on the last hole was sufficient to secure the game and another point for East Lothian.

In the final game Kay Lannin was up against Louise Fraser. This time it was the turn of Louise to find a series is hole allowing Kay to stretch her lead to 4 at the turn before being pegged back to 1. Leaving the 13th green her caddy, Dawn Young decided to take out your captain with a runaway trolley but your captain is made of stronger stuff and the trolley came off worst landing  on its side, shed its bag and battery and Kay’s snack.  Kay kept her calm and a birdie put her to 2 up playing the 16th. A mass of supporters and a buggy may or not have influenced Kay in taking a slightly left approach to the green but a well judged bounce of the perimeter wall gave her the chance for a birdie 2 and a 3&2 win. Dawn may get the L plate tomorrow!

Full results below.    See also our face book page for other photo

Morning Foursomes

Midlothian 2 1/2 vs East Lothian 1/2

Match 1

Louise Fraser and Hannah Darling won 3 and 2 vs Jill McNicoll and Alyssa Balding

Match2

Alison McBride and Kate McIntosh halved match vs Joanne Free and Lesley Atkins

Match3

Karen Ferguson-Snedden and Caroline Steedman won 5 and 4 vs Kay Lannin and Dawn Young

Stirling and Clackmannan 3 vs Fife 0

Match 1

Alison Davidson and Laura Bisset won 5 and 4 vs Gillian Patton and Karin Sharp

Match 2

Louise Macgregor and Alison Goodwin won 7 and 6 vs Lynn Newton and Brogan Clark

Match 3

Jennie Allan and Alexis Hutton won 2 up vs Jocelyn Mackie and Hannah Braidwood

Morning pairings:

East Lothian vs Stirling & Clackmannan

East Lothian lead 2 matches to 1

Match 1

Joanne Free and Lesley Atkins won 3 and 2 vs Louise Macgregor and Mhairi Hall

Match 2

Kay Lannin and Annabel Hosie  won 2 up vs Alexis Hutton and Jennie Allan

Match 3

Jill McNicoll and Alyssa Balding lost 2 and 1 vs Laura Bissett and Alison Davidson

Fife vs Midlothian

Midlothian lead by 2 1/2 to 1/2

Match 1

Gillian Paton and Karin Sharp lost 4 and 3 vs Gabrielle MacDonald and Hannah Darling

Match 2

Jocelyn Mackie and Susan Jackson halved with Karen Marshall and Kate McIntosh

Match 3

Lynn Newton and Brogan Clark lost 2 and 1 vs Louise Fraser and Alison McBride

We hope that we will see some of our members at Dunbar to support the Team.

The Morning Foursomes start each day at 9.30am and the afternoon singles at 2.27pm

Day 1 – Monday 25^th June 2018

Match 1                      East Lothian v Stirling and Clackmannan

Match 2                      Fife v Midlothian

Day 2 – Tuesday 26^th June 2018

Match 1                      Stirling and Clackmannan v Fife

Match 2                      Midlothian v East Lothian

Day 3 – Wednesday 27^th June 2018

.

Match 1                      Stirling and Clackmannan v Midlothian

Match 2                      East Lothian v Fife