This Thursday saw ERGC host Bonnyton, the 2021 Champions, and a top 3 in both 2022 and 2023, but hopes were high for the home side, due to the good start to the season, a tight match was hoped for and then delivered. A true birdie fest, with eagles thrown in for good measure.
The opening few matches were tight affairs, with Neil MacKinnon stepping up again for ERGCs absent club champion, and securing the first points with a 3&2 victory over A Johnston.
Craig Watson renewed old rivalries with A Ellison, but proved to strong in winning 5&4, a match he controlled from the start. S Binning was taking the game to David Miller and in a tight game, Bonnytons first point was secured as he edged away over the final holes.
The next match was a real nip and tuck affair, with both players taking the lead at various point, BOTH having an eagle to half the 14th, all square as they played 17, Ryan McCaffrey won it to go 1 UP, but a fantastic birdie 3 from D Dickson on the 18th secured a fair draw.
Then came the clash of the ages, with Hugh Shiels Jnr taking on the older, if not wiser, Scott Douglas. Hugh went into an early lead that looked unassailable at 13th, but a clutch of birdies from the seasoned campaigner saw the match go down the 17th, where Hugh won to secure a 2&1 win.
Kyle Murdoch and R Smith fought another topsy turvy match that will be remembered for some excellent putting and short game skills from R Smith, the game ending up in with a half on the 18th.
Tom Kemp then came up against M McMillan, who was never behind and although a close game the 2nd full point went the way of Bonnyton. Chris Barron and C Lang then played a one sided match with Chris proving to strong on the night and closing it out 5&4
Due to the Captains event at Bonnyton, there was no available player for the reserve match, and in the Captains/stand-ins match, ended in a draw.
East Renfrewshire v Bonnyton
Cathcart Castle v East Renfrewshire
East Ren claimed a well deserved away win on a sunny evening at Cathcart Castle, taking the majority of narrow wins on a night where 5 of the 8 games were decided on the 18th green - and the 3 others on the 17th. Treated greens and penal rough made scoring difficult, but it was the visitors that coped best. Ross McCartney, a new joiner to the East Ren ranks, started things off with a 1up win over Grant Beaton. Craig Watson sunk a beautiful putt on the last green to edge his match with Jonny McLeish by the same score. In the champions' match, Scott Coulter and Neil MacKinnon played out a half, while Scott Glennie and Hugh Shields Jnr claimed points on the last in their games with Stuart Miller and Stuart Henderson respectively. Further points for the away side were secured by Kyle Murdoch and Chris Barron, who won 2/1 over Scott Findlay and Nick Branney respectively. Iain Wyper got a point for Cathcart, edging out Tom Kemp 2/1 in another tight encounter. Congratulations to East Ren on the win and best of luck to Scott McMillan and his team in the remaining matches.
Cowglen v Cathkin Braes
Thursday evening saw Cowglen host Cathkin Braes in the second week of Brand Putter matches.Cathkin got into a strong position early on with wins for Harry Hutchison over Chris Campbell 5/4,and Stuart Sangster defeating Kyle Haldane 4/3.The next set of matches went down the 18th hole with Cathkin’s David Gebbie holding off Philip Devine 1 up and and fellow team player David McLaren winning 18 to record a 2 up victory over Cowglen’s David Fulton.An impressive performance saw Alan Waugh pull a point back for Cowglen with a 3/2 victory of Cathkin club champion Gordon Sangster.Cathkin secured the victory with wins for Greg Brown and Ross McLeish over Alan Wilson and Derek Barnes with 6/5 and 5/4 wins,ending any chance of Cowglen taking anything from the match.Tony Doherty and Shaun Philibin,who always seem to be involved in close matches together,continued the trend,with the Cowglen player holding on for a 1 up victory.It all ended in a impressive 6-2 victory for the Cathkin Team.Well done to Cathkin Braes and all the best for the rest of the campaign.
Whitecraigs v Cowglen
Whitecraigs hosted Cowglen on an uncharacteristically warm evening to kick off the 2024 Brand Putter League season. The home side put themselves in a strong position with commanding wins from Sean Murdoch, Willie Anderson and Stephen Macnamara early on in the evening. David Fulton pulled one back for Cowglen with a solid 4&3 win over Greg Scrimgeour. Greg Nichol and Philip Devine enjoyed a close match with Greg winning on the 17th 3&1 to move the home side to 4pts. Another pair of close matches played out with Martin Myers and Jack Brown against experienced BPL players Tony Doherty and Frank Drum. Both matches went down the last with the home players dormie 1up….both held their nerves to win their points to secure a home win. Gary Murphy closed out the night by starting the back nine well to win his match 5&4.
All the best to Cowglen GC for the rest of their season.
East Renfrewshire v Williamwood
The opening game of the season saw ERGC club champion Steven McIntosh lose narrowly on the last to an in form Jack Crawford, that was as good as it got for the away team.
Craig Watson took out Crawford Burns 3&2 and the next two matches went ERGCs way with 2&1 victories for Ryan McCaffrey and Scott Glennie against Gary Hopkirk and Tom Hepburn respectively, so 3 out the first 4 points for the home side.
Neil MacKinnon's emphatic 5&4 win over Christie Gray secured the home side a draw after 5 matches concluded.
The next 3 games all went the way of the ERGC team with comfortable wins for Kyle Murdoch 3&2 over Scott McCreadie, Tom Kemp with a 4&3 win over Andrew Hunter and lastly, Chris Barron doing as he did last year and proving a strong anchor man with a 3&2 victory over Ross Anderson.
The reserve match, which had the stand in manager Paul Conacher playing, also ended at the 16th, this time Paul was 2 UP against Gavin Dodson, but lack of time and light meant the shaking of hands.
In the Captains match, Allan Hogarth took the win accompanied by Colin Graham, last years captain, standing in for Hamish Brodie against Charlie Dunlop and Iain Fell, though only by a single hole.
Cathkin Braes v Cathcart Castle
Wednesday evening saw the start of the 2024 Brand Putter season with Cathcart Castle visiting Cathkin Braes on a pleasant, but windy night. The match was fought with the usual good sportsmanship between the two teams. The first three games out, finished in hard fought home wins for Ross McLeish, Ricky Gray and David McLaren before the 4th match, between David Gebbie and Scott Findlay went to the 18th. A draw seemed a fair result for a match which had been back and forth throughout. In the match between the two team managers, Shaun Philbin had a 4/3 victory over Stuart Miller before further home wins for Stuart Sangster and Gordon Sangster. Finally Greg Brown was victorious over Jonny McLeish. As seems to be tradition, the captains match finished in a Cathkin loss with some “ball-on-a-string” action from the away Captain and Vice-Captain.