NORTHERN COUNTIES WOMEN'S COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPMoray Golf Club Old Course, Lossiemouth, May 4 to 6, 2002FORMER New Zealand Under-21 champion Liz McKinnon from Auckland, who has lived and worked near Inverness for the past year or so, has won the Northern Counties women's county championship at the first attempt. In the final over the Moray Golf Club, Mrs McKinnon, playing out of Nairn Golf Club, where she was the 2001 women's club champion, beat leading qualifier Cara Gruber (Royal Dornoch), a Stirling University student who has done much to reorganise Scottish women's university golf over the past year. Cara Gruber came back from three down in the semi-finals to beat county team-mate Jenny Milne (Elgin) on the 18th green while Liz McKinnon eliminated the No 2 qualifier, Christine McAndrew (Nairn Dunbar) by 3 and 1. Cara, with an advantage of up to 40yd off the tee, had much the better of the opening 10 holes, over which she was twice two up, a lead which would have been doubled had Miss Gruber been able to keep all of her drives out of the yellow blooming gorse bushes which line most of the Lossiemouth fairways. From the 11th hole, the balance of power swung towards the New Zealander whose textbook swing served her better when the cold easterly wind was behind her. Liz McKinnon started her revival with a pitch-and-putt birdie 4 to win the 11th and then wiped out the deficit with a par 4 at the 12th to be all square for the first time since the first tee. Cara missed a couple of short putts to allow her opponent to escape with halves at the 13th and 14th - and Mrs McKinnon then moved in for the kill with a pitch-and-putt par 3 to win the short 15th and also the 16th where Miss Gruber cleared the green with her recovery from a bunker and eventually conceded the hole. Two down with two to play, Cara looked favourite to win back the 17th. She was safely on the green in two while her opponent, who topped her second shot was up in the dunes after three shots, looking down on the green. But Liz played a good recovery and holed her best putt of the final, a 20-footer, to salvage a par 4 which Cara could not beat and the match was all over. As Liz Aitken, the new champion played for Northern Counties' winning division team last year and also in the Scottish county finals. Four weeks ago, she returned to her native New Zealand with her fiancee, Inverness-born Roy McKinnon, whom she met in New Zealand a couple of years ago, so that they could be married "at home." Roy caddies for Liz in every round she plays. Qualifiers (CSS 73) 78 C Gruber (Royal Dornoch). 80 C McAndrew (Nairn Dunbar). 81 L McKinnon (Nairn). 83 J Louden (Nairn), J Milne (Elgin). 85 L Clark (Nairn Dunbar), P McLennan (Forres). 87 G Hutcheon (Inverness), R Hay (Nairn Dunbar). 88 R Manson (Thurso). 90 S McKenzie (Elgin). 91 J Buist (Forres), T Weeks (Royal Dornoch). 92 K Harper (Inverness). 93 D McKay (Muir of Ord), S Main (Moray). Match-play First round - Gruber beat Main 6 and 4, Hay beat Hutcheon 4 and 2, Milne beat Buist 8 and 7, Louden beat Weeks 7 and 5, McKinnon beat Harper at 19th, Clark beat McKenzie at 19th, McLennan beat Manson 1 hole, McAndrew beat McKay 7 and 6. Quarter-finals - Gruber beat Hay 6 and 5, Milne beat Louden 7 and 5, McKinnon beat Clark 5 and 4, McAndrew beat McLennan 5 and 4. Semi-finals - Gruber beat Milne 1 hole, McKinnon beat McAndrew 3 and 1. Final - McKinnon beat Gruber 2 and 1. Handicap Match-play First round - E Rattray (Moray) (16) beat A McKay (Moray) (26) 3 and 2, L Davidson (Elgin) (11) beat L Mackintosh (Forres) (14) 3 and 2, S MacDonell (Inverness) (21) beat F Bell (Inverness) (12) 4 and 3, A Allen (Royal Dornoch) (28) beat K Sinclair (Strathpeffer) (19) 1 hole, A Park (Moray) (22) beat M Grant (Moray) (24) 4 and 3, D McBride(Royal Dornoch) (15) beat M MacDonald (Buckpool) (15) 4 and 3, R Bruce (Muir of Ord) (18) beat M Baggot (Royal Dornoch) (13) 5 and 4, J Macpherson (Moray) (20) beat M Orr (Royal Dornoch) (19) 1 hole. Quarter-finals - Rattray beat Davidson 2 and 1, MacDonell beat Allen 5 and 3, McBride beat Park at 19th, Macpherson beat Bruce 2 and 1. Semi-finals - MacDonell beat Rattray 1 hole, McBride beat Macpherson 4 and 3. Final - MacDonell beat McBride 3 and 1. |
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