Turnhouse put perfect record on line in Summer League final

Bidding to land the title for the first time in the event’s 42-year history, Turnhouse head into the decider on the back of a perfect record so far in this season’s campaign.

They topped their round-robin section with ten wins out of ten before beating Craigmillar Park and Bruntsfield Links in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively.

“It is a great achievement that we have reached the final of the Summer League and everyone at the club is really looking forward to the day,” said Turnhouse team manager Moray Hanson.

“I believe we will have quite a few supporters out watching, which is a trend that we have seen throughout the whole season.

“With their backing and the excellent team that we will put out on the day, I am sure that it will be a fantastic final and one that we will be giving 100 per cent to win for the first time in the club’s history.”

The Turnhouse team is a mix of youth and experience, with young guns like Lewis Bain, Mark Napier and Jack McVey helping to bring out the best in old warhorses such as Euan McIntosh, Lindsay Gordon, Steven Armstrong and Olly McCrone.

“The team will be at full strength after a few of our best players were unavailable for the previous match against Bruntsfield in the semi-final,” added Hanson, a former Edinburgh Racers ice hockey star.

“We are extremely lucky to have a full squad to pick from and obviously there will be some very good golfers who will be disappointed not to get the call, but I am sure they will also be out supporting our team to watch what will be a fantastic match played in a great spirit by both teams.

“The two teams that are in the final have the best record for all the matches played throughout the season and are both worthy finalists.”

Longniddry are one win away from claiming the title at just the second attempt after joining the league last season.

The East Lothian club were also impressive section winners, dropping just two points, before beating Baberton in the last eight then defending champions Royal Burgess in the second semi-final.

“We have a full-strength team for the final, with one of our top players Jonny Watt coming back into the team after missing the Burgess,” said team manager Alistair Robertson.

“Jonny was an England Boys internationalist and won the English County Team Championships with Hampshire in 2008. We are fortunate he chose Longniddry when he moved to Edinburgh for work reasons and has been one of our top performers over the last two years.

“Another recent addition – his first match was against Burgess – is Nathan Free, who has just got back his amateur status. Nathan, a previous Lothians Championship runner-up, was training to be a PGA pro at Longniddry but decided this career was not for him and he missed the amateur golf competition.

“Our team will be led by Michael Bacigalupo, our club champion and one of the top players in the Lothains.

“With our strong line up, we are sure it will be a close-fought final, in which we hope to come out on top and win the league for the first time at only the second attempt.”