Scratch-time for Coburn in final

Jul 3 2009 by Gordon Bannerman, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

THE King James VI Scratch Club Championship was contested by 2007 winner Adam Taylor and Alan Coburn, who was appearing in his first final.

Alan got off to the worst possible start with a snap hook out of bounds from the first tee and, when Adam put his second shot to six feet the hole was conceded.

But Alan quickly put that behind him, covering the next six holes in level par to take a one hole lead before Adam responded by winning the 8th and 9th with pars.

Adam extended his lead to two holes when Alan was unlucky to go out of bounds through the green at the 11th but a birdie from Alan at the 12th again reduced the lead to one.

Alan had further misfortune when his tee shot at the 14th ended in a divot leading to a bogey and loss of the hole.

Adam extended his lead to four holes with a birdie at the 16th and a par at the 17th before Alan just failed with a six foot birdie putt to win at the 18th.

Needing to win some early holes in round two Alan responded with three pars and birdies at the 3rd and 5th to cut the deficit to one hole.

A win at the 6th and a birdie at the 8th put Adam three up before Alan missed a short putt at the 9th that would have reduced the gap.

Adam’s birdie at the 10th was matched at the 11th before a further birdie at the 13th left Adam four up with five to play.

Alan’s brave fight came to an end at the 14th where a pushed drive led to a lost ball and the eventual concession of the hole.

At the end of a final which was much more closely fought than the final score might suggest, Adam emerged a worthy winner of his second Club Championship in three years while Alan was left to rue a couple of bad breaks which damaged his chance of making it an even tighter match.

The Handicap Club Championship final was contested by Duncan Moon and Tom Gregerson.

In round one, Duncan struggled to find his game and, after the first two holes were halved, Tom played very steady golf to build a three hole lead by the 9th.

Duncan began to find some form but a very impressive run of eight pars and one bogey saw Tom go into lunch with a healthy five hole advantage.

Duncan clearly needed a good start to round two and he duly delivered by winning the first four holes due to some consistent golf aided by his strokes and a couple of poor holes from Tom.

The recovery was stopped in its tracks as Tom won the 5th and 6th to restore a three hole advantage but Duncan responded by using his strokes to win the 8th and 11th, which, combined with a par to win the 10th, meant the final was tied.

The next two holes were exchanged leaving the match all square with five to play.

Duncan took full advantage of his stroke to win the 14th with a nett par and won the 15th with a par.

A valiant effort to keep the match going failed when Tom’s brilliant pitch to save par from a very tricky position missed by an inch and Duncan wrapped up the title with a nett birdie.