Spare a thought for Chris Gilbert who carded a coveted 59 at a shortened winter course at Ellon McDonald but finished only third.
Social media was buzzing with news of Chris’ score, but the Cruden Bay member was quick to shrug off the praise.
“It’s a bit embarrassing really,” said Chris.
“It was a winter competition on a shortened course with a couple of winter greens in play.
“To make matters even funnier, Ellon pro Sandy Aird jnr has cut me from plus-five to plus-seven, so I’ll have any even harder job winning anything now!
“I am playing well, but I’d rather record a proper 59 next season.”
Jim O’Brien was the eventual winner with a net 63 off a handicap off 11, with Scott Elmslie second on 64 off seven.
Chris was pipped on card countback for second spot after also carding 64.
Tarland pair take second chance at reaching Titleist tourney finals in Portugal
Raymond Reid and Gordon Laing made no mistake after being offered a second chance to book their place at the 10th Titleist Better-ball Pairs final in Portugal next year.
The Tarland pair had missed out at the Scottish Finals at Lanark despite finishing on the same score as the winners.
However, the unlucky teams who lost out on card countback were given another opportunity to qualify at the Sandwell Park in West Bromwich.
Raymond and Gordon went on to clinch the second of the two qualifying spots to the Grand Final at Vale do Lobo.
Raymond said: “We thought it was worth another shot as we had enjoyed the competition.
“We managed a practise round the day before and on the day we were told there were two places available.
“We carded 39 Stableford points and finished a point behind two guys from the Centurion Club.
“The third team, from Dunfermline, only totalled 34 points, so we’re delighted to be off to Portugal after all.”
Six teams had tied on 42 points at Lanark with Peterculter pair Mike and Mitch Megginson taking the second of the two qualifying spots, while Raymond and Gordon finished sixth.
Raymond and Gordon had earlier won four regional knockout matches to earn their place in the Scottish finals.
Raymond added: “We won our first match at Royal Aberdeen and we both thought it was worth the entry fee just to play there, never mind win!
“We followed that up with home wins over teams from Torphins and Monifieth, ahead of winning 2&1 at Meldrum House against home player John Elrick and Huw Owen, of McDonald Ellon.
The four north-east players are now set to enjoy flights from Scotland to Faro, five nights’ accommodation – plus one practise round – ahead the 72-hole tournament over the Royal and Ocean courses.
Philip triumphs at Newburgh
Home player Philip Johnston won the Winter Open played on summer greens at Newburgh-on-Ythan.
Philip, who plays off two, carded a level-par 72 to win by one shot from clubmate Calum Smith.
Other results: Division 1 – 66 Paul Bloomfield (Heaton Park), Grant Leslie (Newburgh); 70 Stephen Dunbar (Moray). Division 2 – 68 Alan Cruickshank (Newburgh); 71 Ian Dyker (McDonald Ellon); 72 James Whitehirst (Heaton Park).
Buckpool are staging a gents open this Saturday and there are still some tee times available.
Telephone 01542 832236 for details.
Tiger will still need all the luck in the world
It was fantastic to see the first pictures of Tiger Woods in action after his car crash in California in February.
Tiger, 45, released a three-second clip on Twitter of himself on the practise range making a smooth swing with an iron.
It was accompanied by two words: “Making progress”.
They were the first pictures of Tiger hitting balls since suffering serious leg and foot injuries in the crash.
The video of Tiger, who wore a compression sock on his injured leg, attracted three million views in the first three hours.
Tiger, who is set to host the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas in two weeks, still needs all the luck in the world, but we all know if anyone can do the impossible, it’s him.
