Scottish Vets Lose to Irish at Hilton Templepatrick

This blog, written on Sunday seems to have got permanently delayed over the Irish Sea which is all the more unfortunate since at that time there was all to play for, and with a two all draw after the first day's fourball foursomes, the singles matches on day two were eagerly awaited. Unfortunate was indeed the correct term, because the singles matches were to prove a massive disappointment. The previous year at Craigielaw, the foursomes were the disappointment with only half a point coming to Scotland but in the singles, the team rallied to produce the most creditable and exciting fightback, just failing to grab back the Mary McKenna Perpetual Trophy. At Hilton Templepatrick, Scotland only managed to get one halved match on Day Two, resulting in possibly one of their worst ever results in the Tournament - 9 1/2 to 2 1/2.

Having said that the games were, on the whole, very close and almost all finished on the 16th, 17th or 18th holes. The singles are of course almost a lottery as the couples doing battle are not drawn on a skill basis but literally "out of the hat" which is always exciting and generally causes much hilarity. There is no question that each match is treated with the utmost focus and determination, on both sides.

Results (Scotland first)
Day One 4 ball Foursomes
Lorna Bennett and Mary Smith beat Sheena McElroy and Carol Wickham 4 and 3
Heather Anderson and May Hughes lost to Helen Jones and Pat Doran 2 and 1
Elaine Allison and Linda Urquhart beat Mairead MacNamara and Suzanne Corcoran 2 and 1
Karen Ballantyne and Alison Bartlett lost to Pauline Walsh and Gertie McMullen 2 and 1
Result Scottish Vets 2 Irish Senior Select 2

Singles (Day 2)
May Hughes lost to Sheena McElroy 3 and 2
Alison Bartlett lost to Pat Doran 3 and 2
Linda Urquhart lost to Gertie mcMullen 2 and 1
Heather Anderson lost to Pauline Walsh 2 holes
Mary Smith halved with Carol Wickham
Elaine Allison lost to Mairead Macnamara 2 and 1
Lorna Bennett lost to Suzanne Corcoran 2 holes
Karen Ballantyne lost to Helen Jones 4 and 3
Scottish vets 1/2 Irish Select 7 1/2

Total Scottish Vets 2 1/2 Irish Senior Select 9 1/2