Royal Dornoch Winter Newsletter 2024
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Match & Handicap Report<br />
The <strong>2024</strong> season proved to be one with<br />
outstanding performances, closely fought matches<br />
and an exciting mix of new and existing talent<br />
coming to the fore.<br />
The Ladies, Men, Juniors and Senior Champions<br />
are respectively: Cara Thompson, Alan Murphy,<br />
Alex Innes (boys), Rhianna MacKay (girls) and Paul<br />
Dolton. Congratulations to them all and it is<br />
encouraging to see Alan Murphy triumph as he is<br />
the first to do so whilst studying through the<br />
University of the Highlands and Islands BA (Hons)<br />
Professional Golf degree.<br />
Special mention should also be made of Chris<br />
Mailley who made it through the tough qualifying<br />
rounds of the Scottish Amateur Championship<br />
and only succumbing in the semi-final. Given the<br />
full-time golfing status of many of his competitors<br />
this was an outstanding achievement. For those of<br />
us lucky enough to watch the amateurs battling it<br />
out, we were treated to some outstanding play and<br />
Cameron Adam of The <strong>Royal</strong> Burgess Golfing<br />
Society was a worthy winner securing course<br />
records on both the Championship Course and<br />
Tain on route to his success. I’m sure we will see<br />
his name feature in the Professional ranks in the<br />
not too distant future.<br />
The Carnegie Shield too provided some fine<br />
matches and a high standard of golf. Well done to<br />
Inverness’s Ewan Cuthbert in winning The Shield<br />
for the first time – another emerging talent from<br />
the University of the Highlands and Islands BA<br />
(Hons) Professional Golf degree. Congratulations<br />
too to Graeme Bethune for triumphing in the<br />
Davidson Trophy and Lee Finn in the EC Fraser.<br />
All three winners are <strong>Royal</strong> <strong>Dornoch</strong> members.<br />
The year wasn’t without its challenges too,<br />
particularly from the weather. Fog delayed the<br />
Fraser Gardner with lack of daylight being a real<br />
concern. Thankfully the last group made it in<br />
without recourse to torches. Lightning featured<br />
during the Sinclair Cup but, again, everyone was<br />
able to complete their rounds. Horrendous<br />
weather also curtailed the Captain’s Weekend<br />
which was reduced to one round rather than the<br />
normal three but still proved a very enjoyable<br />
experience, albeit convivial activities had to be<br />
undertaken indoors. Sadly, the David Urquhart<br />
Memorial had to be cancelled completely due to<br />
the storm. On a positive note we had no plague and<br />
have so far avoided locusts.<br />
The success of our Juniors and particularly the<br />
Junior Team are elaborated on in the Junior<br />
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