Karen Ballantyne Wins East Vets Championship

Karen Ballantyne (Craigmillar Park) a former Senior Internationalist and Scottish Strokeplay Champion has won the East Vets Championship at Haddington today, for the first time. She beat Noreen Fenton (Dunbar) by one hole after a very exciting but exhausting game battling constantly against a 30mph wind, with intermittent unpredictable gusts which were sometimes kind and sometimes not.

Karen won the first hole with a par. The second hole was halved, both having birdies and then Noreen squared the match with another birdie at the third. Karen three-putted the very tricky fourth green to go one down. The fifth was again halved when Noreen sank a six footer. Both drove well at the sixth but Noreen's ball hit the overhead telegraph wires with her second and although the ball was just short of the green the shot had to be replayed (local rule?). Probably slightly annoyed at the absurdity of this rule (it would seem fairer for the player to accept where the ball had landed or have the option of replaying the shot) Noreen accordingly played a second ball which seemed initially to have been carried over the boundary wall by the fierce sideways wind. Expecting it to be out of bounds, Noreen played a third ball, stupidly without saying the magic word "provisional" the penalty for which, on actually finding that ball miraculously still in play, was obvious! The game was now all square.

The seventh hole was halved so they proceeded to the short eighth where the clouds were coming from the right, the wind seemed to be in the face and any grass thrown up to guage the wind, flew forward! Both balls were equidistant, just on the apron at the back of the green with a nasty sloping putt of approximately 30 feet. Noreen left hers cautiously short to prevent it running off the green and Karen putted hers in for a two! One up.

Karen drove into the gale at the ninth sliding into the rough on the left, Noreen drove straight. The wind took Karen's ball over to the right into the greenside bunker. Noreen hit a 5 wood into the tooth of the same gale which was on the pin all the way till the last minute when it bounced off the green into the bunker on the left! Karen executed a lovely little bunker shot to within three-four feet, Noreen was a little clean and ended up at least forty feet away. Noreen sank her putt and Karen must have been so shocked, she missed! All square at the turn.

The next three holes were halved although Noreen might have been forgiven for thinking the long eleventh was hers when she was just over the back in two but Karen sank her chip for a half. Two good drives at the 13th, Karen hitting a dream of a second shot from the semi to 30 yards short of the green, chipped and putted for a birdie (Noreen's ball decided not to fall in). One up.

Straight into the wind again at the 14th. The meagre 126yard required (shssh don't tell anyone) a five wood from Karen onto the green and a seven wood from Noreen. Both were safely at the back of the green (grave trouble in the front) but with the prospect of yet another hugely sloping putt of forty-five feet, still with that helpful wind aiding and abetting the degree of difficulty. Noreen dribbled hers down to within 6 inches, kindly conceded by Karen. Karen left her first very short and three putted. All square.

The next three holes were halved, two in par (one in a bogey) and then to the eighteenth. A rather inglorious finish when the putting that had been the mainstay of the game failed both . Karen had chipped very nicely to a distance where she would ordinarily have put the ball away. She two-putted and Noreen three-putted. Karen was the champion and is, this very minute, booking her accommodation to Blairgowrie

It is fair to say both players were fairly tired. The same gale-force conditions had high-lighted the morning semi-finals which were both fiercely contested to the 19th hole. Karen played Anne Brownie of Lothianburn where there was never more than two holes in it. Karen had been two holes up with five to play when she managed to four-putt the 14th (who put that pin in that dreadful place?). She also lost the 15th where she missed a "tiddler" (Noreen never asked her to play tiddlers!) She then lost the seventeenth to go one down but won the eighteenth to encourage a jaunt down the 19th where she sank a really difficult downhill putt to secure her place in the final.

In the other semi-final, Noreen got revenge on Moira Thomson of Gullane with whom she had had a marathon of 23 holes the previous year. This on paper looked rather a boring game in that neither player was ever more than one up, there being ten holes halved and eight swapped, time about. Unlike the previous day birdies were perhaps not flying all over the place although the 17th was conceded to Noreen for a two. Both players played good thoughtful golf and under the conditions were mighty glad to get pars.

Results
Moira Thomson (Gullane) lost to Noreen Fenton (Dunbar) at the 19th
Karen Ballantyne(Craigmillar Park) beat Anne Brownie(Lothianburn) at the 19th