It was a busy weekend for Tobermory golfers with members taking part in Opens as far away as Falkirk and Campbeltown as well as closer to home at Craignure, where Paul MacKinnon was successful on Saturday (3rd), and on Sunday looking to qualify for next weeks Medal Finals through the September Medal.

There was a field of 23 and Graham Davidson was a putt away from equalling the course record as he shot 65 (net 58) to win from Peter MacCrone who scored 73 (net 59). In the process he clipped two shots from his eclectic score for the season to whisk the Brockville Quaich out of Donald Brown's hands. Donald had led this and the Order of Merit going into this last day, but it was a double whammy as he saw Ewan MacCrone leapfrog him to claim the Order of Merit Trophy.

Pictured are Graham Davidson (r) and Ewan MacCrone.

On Sunday the return leg of the Old Mull Shield match between Glencruitten and Tobermory Golf Club took place at Oban, and the home side were tackling a 3 point deficit from the first match. However Tobermory produced their best set of results ever away from home, and won 5-1 on the day (9½ - 2½ on aggregate). Oban were as always gracious in defeat, but are no doubt desperate to turn the tables next year against their island opponents.

Full results (Glencruitten First)

G MacColl & M Fraser lost to G Davidson & J Cowe 2&1
P Dunn & J Plunkett lost to D Brown snr & G Brown 2 down
A Garrett & D MacLean lost to G Chalmers & D MacLean 4&3
P Murphy & H May lost to D Brown jnr & R Laurie 3&2
A MacKenzie & M Cullen lost to T & J Nunn 3&2
G MacIntyre & M MacKillop bt A Cowe & M Kelly 2&1

The annual Lions Tournament for Gents Ladies and Juniors took place on Saturday, and a strong breeze made conditions difficult for the field. Club Captain Graham Brown was able to navigate his way to 41 pts, while Ladies Captain Olive Brown scored 28 for her win. Lewis Wilshire won the junior trophy with 40 pts as he continued his comeback from a broken arm earlier in the season.

The winners are pictured here with Lions President Ian Smith who presented the prizes.

The Junior summer challenge trophy was the idea of Greenkeeper John Wilshire who spotted a gap in the fixture list during the summer holidays.The format of best 4 rounds out of 6 allowed the boys to play competitvely and still not miss out when away on holiday.

The four Junior boys of Ross and William MacCrone,Lewis Brown and Lewis Wilshire had some really great rounds during the summer and eventually Lewis Wilshire came out on top to win the 1st Junior Summer Challenge trophy The magnificent Trophy was presented by John Wilshire and Lewis received the Trophy on Lions Day.

The Lions have just donated a cheque to the Junior section of £200.00 which will help greatly towards travel costs at future events.

On Tuesday evening six lady members played a fun round of nine holes being very fortunate to avoid the heavy rain that was due to arrive. A good time was had by all and was followed by a sociable supper in the clubhouse.

A busy seven days at Tobermory Golf Club saw the two major trophies of the season being awarded. On Sunday 31st July Donald Brown Snr completed his season-long journey towards the Club Championship, with Jamie Cowe lifting the handicap trophy.

On Saturday and Sunday 6/7 August the club hosted the MacBrayne Cup sponsored again by Belhaven Brewery, and there was the usual fierce competition for this open tournament. The MacBrayne Cup (scratch) was won by Paul MacKinnon after a playoff with Ewan MacCrone who had made good ground on the leading group on the second day of the competition, with Ross Laurie picking up the Willie MacAllister Trophy for handicap, holding off strong competition from Peter MacCrone and Tom Nunn.

Pictured above are (L to R) Ross Laurie, Paul MacKinnon & Donald Brown

Tobermory take a lead of 4 1/2 - 1 1/2 into the August return leg of this annual double-header.

Full results (Tobermory First)

D Brown Snr & D Brown Jnr bt M Tait & D MacLean 3&2
G Davidson and J Cowe bt D Fraser & D Scott 6&5
E MacCrone & A Cowe bt P Murphy & A Garrett 7&5
G Brown & R Laurie bt M Cullen & A Jamieson 7&6
G Chalmers & DA MacLean lost to N MacDougall & I McNaughton 1 down
T & J Nunn halved match with D MacIntyre & G MacColl

The Ladies Pairs was played on 15th June, on a beautiful evening. The winners of the Lone Cottage Ladies Pairs Trophy were Doris Hargreaves and Olive Brown.

In an eventful weekend, Tobermory travelled to Tiree for their annual match v Vaul GC, encompassing the Western Approaches Trophy for individuals on Saturday and the Team Fourballs on Sunday. The individual event featured some fantastic scoring, with first-time visitor Jamie Cowe returning a card of 42 stableford points only to find that both Ian Brown and Gordon Chalmers had scored an impressive 43, Ian winning the trophy on countback. On the Sunday Vaul managed to reclaim the Cadden Cup after a four year wait, by a score of 3½ to 2½. Full scores are below. There were good performances on both sides, but none gutsier than that by veteran Bill Clegg who stepped into the breach to replace an injured colleague, and was almost able to gain something out of a tough match against Neil Connor and Cameron Kennedy, only losing out on the 17th along with partner Gordon Chalmers.

Meanwhile in Tobermory, youngster William MacCrone came within a stroke of equalling the course junior record with a superb 65 in the June Medal and bringing his handicap down to single figures.

Results (Vaul first)

N Connor & C Kennedy bt WH Clegg and G Chalmers 2&1
A Straker & A Jones lost to J Weir & P Langhorn 1 down
F Sweeney & D MacKinnon halved with G Brown & A MacLeod
I Brown & I MacLeod bt J & I Wilshire 2&1
E Crookston & B Findlater bt D & D Brown 2&1
J MacCaskill & J Tyrer lost to G Davidson & J Cowe 5&4

On Saturday 14th May Tobermory played hosts to Taynuilt in their annual fixture, but the home club's hospitality extended only as far as supplying food and drink for the visitors as the golf ended with a 5-1 victory for the islanders. No less than four of the six matches went to the last green, but home advantage proved to be decisive with Taynuilt being unable to record a win in any of them.

Results (Tobermory first)

M Campbell and J Wilshire bt M Cringent and K Mills 2up
P MacKinnon and R Inglis bt A Diggorr and E MacGillivry 6&5
G Chalmers and J Cowe bt D Howie and C Stanners 2&1
J Weir and P Langhorn   bt M Grant and M Wardrop 2up
G Davidson and A Cowe halved match with D Cattanach and M Hendriksen
D & D MacLean halved match with A Stewart and R McLarty

Thursday 28th October saw the third annual Invitational Tournament sponsored by the Mishnish Hotel, Belhaven Brewery, Wallace's Express and Northern Marine Management, and although poor weather restricted play to 9 holes there was a good turnout. Although the social element was not forgotten, there was keen competition for the many fabulous prizes on offer.

Home player Mike Campbell showed the rest of the field a clean pair of heels with an impressive 20 Stableford Points. Some of the competitors are pictured with sponsors below after the prizegiving held at the Mishnish in the evening where they were treated to the best wines and ales and a fantastic seafood buffet provided by Mishdish, Mull's newest seafood restaurant

Margaret Ingram (Midge) won all six monthly medals and the Medal Final, then completed her most successful season by winning the Ladies Stableford Final.

The pictures show Midge with the Medal Final Trophy (glass bowl) and the Stableford Trophy (quaich).

A blustery day saw the field compete against both course and elements. The format was "Tombstone" , and the object was to get as far round the course with the par plus the individual player's handicap giving the total number of shots which could be played. Early leader Ian McNaughton managed a putt on the last green, and then watched as his competitors fell by the wayside on their way home. Graham Davidson played well in the conditions but his short 6 handicap was insufficient to get him to the eighteenth. Vice Captain Ian Wilshire thanked those who braved the autumnal breezes as he awarded the trophy to "Chaz" who can congratulate himself on continuing his recent fine run of form.

This was the most closely contested match between these old rivals for some time, with Tobermory recording their best result ever in Oban. Highlights included a dramatic comeback by Dodo MacLean and Ian McNaughton from 3 holes down at one stage to record a 1-hole victory. The overall match result ends with Tobermory retaining the Old Mull Shield by 7½ - 4½ .

Results (Oban first)

R Blair & B McGleish bt G Davidson and D Brown Jnr 4&3
J Anderson & F O'Rourke bt T Nunn & JS MacPhail 3&2
D Panayotou & G MacColl lost to A & J Cowe 3&2
A Garrett & S Bratton bt G Chalmers & M Campbell 4&3
W McCallum & N MacDougall lost to P MacKinnon & J Weir 3&2
C Nicholson & P Dunn lost to DA MacLean & I McNaughton 1 down

The MacBrayne Cup at Tobermory Golf Club, sponsored again this year by Belhaven Brewery took place on one of the fairest weekends of the summer, and a field of 35 participated over the two days. The scratch trophy was won by David Brown, native Muileach now based in Surrey, with back to back 70s to record his 5th win nearly 20 years after his first. Graham Davidson was second 4 shots back.

The Willie MacAllister Trophy for handicap was won by Lewis MacLennan from Druimnadrochit. The trophy is dedicated to the memory of the young Tobermory golfer lost in the Lockerbie Disaster of December 1988, when Lewis was less than a month old. The Scotland shinty internationalist just edged local postie Tom Nunn for the prize.

Picture left to right are Lewis MacLennan, Graham Brown TGC Captain, and David Brown.

Vaul Golf Club Tiree visited Tobermory on Saturday and Sunday 5th and 6th June, playing the Western Approaches Trophy on Saturday which was won by Donald Brown jnr. 41 points, 2nd John Weir 36 points, 3rd Ewan MacCrone 34 points   (all Tobermory Golf Club). On Sunday the team trophy ( Cadden Cup) was played and Tobermory won retaining the trophy, a grand weekend  with glorious weather enjoyed by all and we look forward to visiting Tiree next year. 

The picture shows the Tiree team dressed in Pink shirts at the back with the victorious Tobermory team in the foreground. 

Tobermory Golf Club played the Captain versus Vice Captain Matchplay trophy on Sunday 11th April with the Vice Captains team, Iain Wilshire victorious over the Captain, Graham Brown. The match was somewhat disrupted when two volunteer Firemen answered a service call, however another game of Golf played in Brilliant weather.

So.....that was the winter, was it? It seems like yesterday your correspondent was writing up the 2009 season's report.

The Winter Fourball competions were won by Father and Son team Donald Brown Snr and Jnr, and the Winter Medal Final won by Donald Brown Snr.