Old and new faces claim club titles across the Lothians

In the main men’s event, it was the former as Steven Armstrong beat Lewis Bain 9&8 in the final to claim the title for an eighth time, having been seven-under-par for 28 holes.

The new, meanwhile, came in the junior event as 11-year-old Andrew Hendry secured victory at the 38th hole over Connor Currie, who is 12.

“As well as winning the Club Championship, Andrew also won the qualifying salver,” said junior convenor Neil Anderson.

“I was refereeing the match and a crowd of over 60 suddenly appeared after watching the Club Championship between Steven Armstrong and Lewis Bain.

“Neither of the boys were fazed, though, and they appeared to enjoy playing in front of a large crowd.”

Other winners on the club’s finals’ day were Iain Oliphant (10+ handicap), John McWhirter (10+ scratch), Jen Dick (ladies) and Eileen Stevenson (ladies’ bronze).

Gus Santana staged a remarkable second-round fightback to retain his Duddingston men’s title.

The MVP in last season’s Edinburgh Summer League was four down at the halfway stage to 23-year-old Conor Scott in the 36-hole final.

But, as he rolled back the years, Santana then won eight of the first ten holes in the afternoon en route to a 4&2 victory.

Other title winners were Evan Mill (B section), Keith Millar (seniors), Paul Swan (juniors) and Dee Williams (ladies).

Scott Fergus completed a family hat-trick as he was crowned as the Swanston New champion for the first time.

His victory at the 38th hole against Calum Mackinnon saw Fergus follow in the footsteps of both his father Kenny and brother Scott, winners in 1975 and 2014.

In the qualifying rounds, Fergus set a new course record for the layout incorporating the two old Lothianburn holes with a 63.

Stuart McLaren came out on top in a ding-dong battle with Alan Anderson to win the Bruntsfield Links club championship for the first time.

Anderson, a former winner, holed a six-foot birdie putt at the 36th hole to extend the final before McLaren claimed the crown by almost holing his tee shot at the second extra hole, the seventh.

In two keenly-contested semi-finals, McLaren beat Derek Miller at the 20th while Anderson needed a birdie at the last to come out on top over Michael Rolland.

Stuart Blair retained the Royal Musselburgh title with a 6&5 success over Craig Johnstone in the 36-hole final.

“It was a case of Stuart making the least mistakes between the two of us,” admitted the runner-up.

There were first-time winners in every section in the Braid United championship finals.

Mark Robertson claimed the main prize with a 5&4 victory over Sandy Myles in the final while Michael Ahern and Mark Robertson are also new B and C champions respectively.

Michael Bacigalupo was a worthy winner of the Longniddry club championship after justifying his top seeding to make a successful defence of the title.

Bacigalupo beat reinstated amateur Nathan Free in the semi-finals before coming out on top against an on-form David Connolly in the title showdown.

The win means Bacigalupo will now be going for three-in-a-row next year.

Murrayfield’s investment in youth golf has produced the Capital club’s youngest champion.

At 16 and one month old, Patrick Lawrence claimed that tag from Andrew Ni with a one-hole victory over Alan Daley.

The quality of the club’s current young crop was further illustrated as Stewart Thurlow beat Rob Hawthorn in a junior final in which the pair produced 11 birdies over 18 holes.

Karen Marshall has taken her Baberton women’s title haul to a dazzling dozen after beating Wendy Nicholson in this year’s final.

The men’s crown at the Juniper Green club was claimed for a third time by Dougie Waugh, who beat Colin Malone 6&5 in the 36-hole title showdown.

And it was junior title No.2 for Jake Edgcombe as he beat Carys Irvine, the first girl ever to reach the final of that event.

Rory Smith beat Murray Naysmith in a high-quality contest to be crowned as Dalmahoy champion for the second year running.

The pair shared seven birdies – Smith with four and his opponent with three – over the first five holes before the defending champion eventually held off a late fightback from Naysmith to prevail in a match that went the full 36-hole distance.

Joe Lockie completed a family double by winning the Royal Burgess title, exactly 40 years after his dad, Jock, claimed the crown.

With Jock on the bag, Lockie beat Varun Varadharajan 4&3 after the pair had sat down for lunch with the match all square.

It is the first father-and-son title triumph in the Barnton club’s history.