Cliad Golf
Once again, with a ‘Brigadoon’ like quality, the golf course at Cliad awakened from its winter slumber, emerging from the mist to present itself as a sporting arena and venue for the four major golf competitions which comprise the Coll Golf Club season.
Unlike ‘Brigadoon’ this annual appearance of the fairways and greens at Cliad is not shrouded in mystery. It is due to the sterling efforts of a small band of visitors and locals who give of their time, labour and vehicles to reclaim the course from the all pervasive machair. (never in the annals of golf has so much been owed by so many to so few….)
The scene was set, the arena was prepared and the contestants had arrived from far and wide to attend the annual gathering. Let battle commence!
First up was the Members Cup. A 27 hole competition with 9 holes played on the Thursday, Friday or Saturday and the concluding holes on the Sunday. A stroke by stroke account of the proceedings could prove tedious, so suffice to report that two new names appeared on both the gents and ladies cups this year.
Brian (Pancho) McIntyre, a local 24 handicapper, tamed the course with all the style and confidence of a single figure player and firmly put his name on the trophy. (Needless to say he has been cut).
In the ladies arena Rosemary Griffiths also emerged as a first time winner by storming through the field leaving more experienced lady golfers in her wake. Indeed what both our members cups winners have in common is a claim not to have swung a golf club since last year! A salutary lesson for all golfers.
Next up was the Coll Open. 30 competitors took part in this year’s event. 6 juniors, 4 ladies and 20 gents. As with the members cup, the weather was extremely kind, the sun shining on the righteous once again. Unlike the members cups the usual suspects emerged triumphant to claim the trophies. Young David Moore (though middle aged would be a more accurate description) shot an impressive 61 to lead the field, while Cath Stevenson posted a par-bursting 58 to claim the Ladies prize. It was very apt that Campbell Millar should win the scratch competition trophy, the cup having been donated by his father-in-law. Ben Maitland proved successful in the hotly-contested Junior Open.
Next on the agenda was the ‘fun’ competition. The Campbell Scramble. 5 teams of 4 players competed for this trophy. The format is simple. Everybody drives off, the best drive is chosen then the four team members play their second shots from within a club length of the elected drive. The best second shot is then chosen and the team members play their third shots etc. etc. This continues until the ball is in the hole. The only proviso is that during the eighteen holes every player contributes a minimum of three drives. The winning team this year was captained by Crawford Stevenson and included Neil McFadyen, Rosemary Griffiths and Derek Griffiths. Level par was good enough to win which was surprising, but perhaps understandable given that a strong wind played a part in the proceedings. However the strength of the wind could not be used as an excuse to explain the 4 attempts required to sink an 18 inch putt on the final green by the winning team!
Finally the Coll Golf season was brought to a close by the Vita Stableford competition.
A reduced field took part in this event, not in terms of quality but quantity. Many holidaymaker/golfers had reached the end of their annual leave and had begun the weary trek back to the mainland and return to work.
Nevertheless, those lucky enough to remain, took part in a very enjoyable afternoon of golf with an eventual winner emerging, Ian Moore. Ian had only just arrived on the island a couple of days before and did very well to win on the course, playing it for the first time this season. I must confess that I can’t remember what Ian’s score was, but in mitigation I am one of the unlucky ones who have returned to the mainland and back at work. As a result my memory of this summer’s events, like the golf course at Cliad, is already slipping back into the mists of time.
Crawford R. Stevenson
