MIDLOTHIAN WIN THREE-WAY COUNTBACK TO TAKE COUNTY TITLE

           HOW ARE MIDLOTHIAN FEELING? JUST CHAMPION!

     Image by courtesy of Claire Hargan of the SLGA at the conclusion of one of the most exciting finishes in recent years to the Scottish county finals

Midlothian, title-winners in 2007 but pipped on a countback in 2009 and 2010 for the Scottish women's county championship, finally prevailed on a three-way countback after the closest finish for years to the tournament hosted by Dumfries and County Golf Club.

Midlothian, Ayrshire and Dumfries-shire all finished with two wins and one defeat while Perth and Kinross lost all three of their matches.

Because rain caused a long suspension of play on Saturday, there was no time to play the Day 2 singles until Sunday morning. That forced the SLGA organisers to rule that the final matches - Ayrshire v Perth and Kinross, and Dumfries-shire v Midlothian - would be decided on six singles alone, instead of the usual foursomes-singles format.

Midlothian went into the final session of play with a 100 per cent record but they lost 4-2 to Dumfries-shire in their singles-only clash. Midlothian's Kate McIntosh, the SLGA junior champion of champions, put a point on the board for them very early on but at one stage Dumfries-shire led in all the other five singles with only a few holes to play.

If Dumfries-shire had manage to maintain that position and win the match 5-1, they would have won the championship for the first time. As it was, Wendy Nicholson and Karen Marshall, playing Nos 4 and 6 in the "batting order" were able to rally and halve their ties against Katie McCracken and Rachel Walker respectively.

Wendy, astonishingly, rallied from five down at one stage to be "only" one down on the 18th tee. And she kept it up to win the last hole for a vital square match. 

Karen was three down with seven to play but again never gave up and salvaged a square game. There is no subsitute for experience in situations such as though faced by Wendy and Karen.

Wendy Nicholson and Kate McIntosh were Midlothian's most successful players over the three days with 4pt apiece.

Emma Greenlees was tops for Dumfries-shire with 4pt.

Ayrshire won their last singles-only match 3 1/2-2 1/2 against Perth and Kinross. Here again, Ayrshire could have been champions for the first time since 1970 had they been able to beat P and K by a bigger margin.

Jenny Linklater won all five times for Ayrshire.

RESULTS:

PERTH and KINROSS 2 1/2, MIDLOTHIAN 6 1/2

Foursomes (0-3)

Laura Walker and Eilidh Watson lost to Karen Marshall and Wendy Nicholson 2 and 1.

Stephen Crolla and Nicola Robertson lost to Kate McIntosh and Linda Bain 2 holes.

Nicola Robertson halved with Sally Shepherd.

Jill Milne and Eve Macdonad lost to Gabrielle Macdonald and Kirsten Blackwood 5 and 4.

Singles (2 1/2-3 1/2)

Walker lost to Turner 4 and 2.

Fiona Ramsay lost to McIntosh 3 and 2.

Crolla halved with Nicholson.

Robertson halved halved with Shepherd.

Watson bt Bain 5 and 4.

Milne halved with Macdonald

DUMFRIES-SHIRE 2 1/2, AYRSHIRE 6 1/2

Foursomes (1/2-2 1/2)

Jordana Graham and Emma Greenlees lost to Lesley Hendry and Jenny Linklater 3 and 2.

Diane Macdonald and Lindsay Kirkwood halved with Gillian Arnott and Debbie Watt.

Rachel Walker and Katie McCracken lost to Connie Jaffrey and Audrey Thompson 7 and 5.

Singles (2-4)

Macdonald bt Jaffrey 6 and 4.

Graham lost to Linlater 5 and 4.

Greenlees bt Watt 2 and 1.

McCracken lost to Gillian Arnott 4 and 3.

Kirkwood lost to Hendry 5 and 3.

Walker lost to Thompson 2 holes

FINAL MATCHES DECIDED ON SINGLES ONLY:

AYRSHIRE 3 1/2, PERTH and KINROSS 2 1/2

Catherine Malcolm lost to Jill Milne 3 and 2.

Jenny Linklater bt Fiona Ramsay 4 and 3.

Gillian Arnott halved with Steph Crolla.

Lesley Hendry bt Nicola Robertson 4 and 3.

Audrey Thompson lost to  Eilidh Watson 4 and 3.

Connie Jaffrey bt Emily Ogilvy 2 holes.

DUMFRIES-SHIRE 4, MIDLOTHIAN 2

Diane Macdonald bt Jane Turner 2 and 1.

Jordana Graham lost to Kate McIntosh 5 and 3.

Lindsay Kirkwood bt Gabrielle Macdonald 3 and 2.

Katie McCracken halved with Wendy Nicholson.

Emma Greenlees bt Kirsten Blackwood 3 and 2.

Rachel Walker halved with Karen Marshall.

HOW THEY FINISHED

1 Midlothian 2 pt (14 1/2-9 1/2)

2 Ayrshire 2pt (13-11), Dumfries-shire 2pt (13-11)

4 Perth and Kinross 0pt (7 1/2-16 1/2)