CARA THOMPSON'S FIRST NORTHERN COUNTIES TITLE SINCE MARRIAGE

 Prizewinning line-up at Nairn Dunbar. L to R:  Mary Smith (Tain), June Nicol (Inverness), Barbara Grant (Forres), Sandy Macrae (Nairn Dunbar GC vice-president),Cara Thompson (Royal Dornoch), Abbie Cruden (Nairn Dunbar), Alison Bartlett (Royal Dornoch) 

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By ROBIN WILSON

Royal Dornoch Golf Club enjoyed a very successful weekend. Their men's team won the Dornoch Firth League targue before 
a second trophy found its way back to Dornoch last Sunday when Cara Thompson regained the Northern Counties women's championship at Nairn Dunbar.

As Cara Gruber she had won the championship on four previous occasions but, recently married, she collected her first as Cara Thompson when she beat clubmate Alison Bartlett on the 17th green in the final.

In the Tain v Royal Dornoch scratch semi-finals, Thompson came back from three down to beat Tain's Mary Smith with a birdie on the 17^th green.
In a similar fight back Bartlett recovered from an early three-hole deficit by winning five holes on the bounce from the 12^th to the 16^th for her her 2 and 1 success over Mary Smith's sister, Anne Ryan.

In the final nothing separated the Dornoch pair over the first ten holes. 
Bartlett won the opening hole with par and Thompson levelled with birdie at the next and the next eight holes were halved mostly with scrappy par figures. 
On the 11^th green Bartlett saved a half with a long putt but on the next hole she showed her unease on shorter length putts and it would prove to be her downfall.

The Scottish senior international three-putted the par three 11^th green  but won back the next hole when Thompson drove out of bounds. 
The par-5 13^th hole was halved in par  and Bartlett should have gone ahead at the next but again missed from three feet. It was a turning point in the tie.
From the escape Thompson all but holed her bunker shot at the short 15^th hole while Bartlett, putting for a wining birdie, left her attempt short and missed the next one to go one behind.

The long 16th was halved after Bartlett, happier on the longer putts, holed from her bunker recovery, but when Thompson missed a putt  for the game on the 17^th green and the spectators were moving to the final tee for the match to continue the final came to a sudden if not surprising end when Bartlett's nemesis struck again and she missed another short putt for a half, allowing Thom'son emerge with the Mary Benton Trophy as a 2 and 1 victor.
In  the final of the handicap Chetham Trophy, Inverness's June Nicol had to give 12 shots to her Forres opponent, Barbara Grant. It was too much of a burden and the Forres member emerged the winner on the same hole the scratch final ended.

Tain's Mary Smith won the prize for the leading scratch qualifier, with a card of 77, the only player to brake 80 over the long Nairn Dunbar test.
From the encouraging entry of five teenagers, 15-year-old Abbie Cruden from the home club shaped up like the next Kelsey MacDonald with a three below net par 72 to lead the handicap qualifiers and then make it through to the semi-finals. 
Royal Dornoch's Claire Riddell and daughter Rebecca  both made it through to the match-play stages.
Claire was beaten by Anne Ryan (Tain) and Rebecca can't wait for next year's competition to get another crack at Abbie Cruden when the championship returns to Royal Dornoch.