Gruber and Milne, last year's finalists, meet

in Northern Counties semi-finals at Lossie

Defending champion Cara Gruber (Royal Dornoch) and No 1 seed will, tomorrow morning, meet the 2007 title-winner and No 5 qualifier, Jenny Milne (Elgin) in the semi-finals of the Northern Counties women’s county golf championship over the Moray Golf Club links at Lossiemouth.
It will be a replay of last year’s final when Gruber won the title for a third time, adding to successes in 2001 and 2008.
The other semi-final will feature the No 2 seed, Mary Smith (Tain) against the No 3 qualifier, Alison Bartlett (Royal Dornoch).
Mary, champion in 2003, should have been playing for Scotland against Ireland in a senior women’s two-day international at Portmarnock but when it was cancelled because the Scots team could not get a flight due to the volcanic dust crisis or on a fully-booked ferry, Smith quickly got a late entry into the Northern Counties championship and dashed back up north to Lossiemouth to play in Saturday’s qualifying round.
In the handicap section for the Chetham Trophy, title holder Sally Rowan from the Inverness club, in Monday morning's semi-finals plays the No 1 qualifier, Eilidh MacTavish (Elgin), the only player to have her handicap cut in Saturday's qualifying stages. Her handicap came down from 26 to 24.8.

CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH-PLAY QUALIFIERS
81 Cara Gruber (Royal Dornoch).
82 Mary Smith (Tain).
83 Alison Bartlett (Royal Dornoch).
88 Kay Vincent (Moray).
89 Jenny Milne (Elgin).
90 Marion Howieson (Inverness).
92 Susan Mackenzie (Elgin), Anne Ryan (Tain).
93 Julie Vass (Tain).
96 Dorothy Phillips (Garmouth).
97 Eilidh MacKay (Nairn Dunbar), Susan MacVicar (Gairloch).
100 Gillian Dowling (Inverness).
101 Denise McBride (Royal Dornoch), Fiona Bell (Inverness), Margot Barr (Gairloch).

MATCH-PLAY
First round – Gruber bt Barr 6 and 4, Ryan bt Vass 3 and 2, Milne bt MacVicar 5 and 4, Vincent bt Dowling 1 hole, MacKay bt Howieson 3 and 2, Mackenzie bt Phillips 1 hole, Smith bt Bell 7 and 5.
Quarter-finals – Gruber bt Ryan 4 and 3, Milne bt Vincent 4 and 2, Bartlett bt MacKay 4 and 2, Smith bt Mackenzie 5 and 4.
HANDICAP
Qualifiers
78 Eilidh McTavish (Elgin) (26).
85 Ann Harding (Royal Dornoch (26).
86 Wilma Murray (Royal Dornoch) (16), Sally Rowan (Inverness) (22), Monica Grant (Moray) (24).
90 Sheila Duncan (Royal Dornoch) (19).
91 Alison Burnett (Royal Dornoch) (21).
92 C Dingwell (Muir of Ord) (11).
MATCH-PLAY
QUARTER-FINALS - McTavish bt Dingwell 6 and 5, Rowan bt Grant 3 and 2, Murray bt Duncan 3 and 2, Burnett bt Harding 1 hole.