Steven Armstrong and Keith Nicholson, two players with bags of experience, landed the top prizes in Lothians golf this year.
Turnhouse star Armstrong claimed the Champion of Champions title at Bruntsfield Links while Nicholson won the Championship for a fourth time at Craigielaw.
Armstrong landed his second success in the Champion of Champions – he also won in 2007 – by beating former Scotland international Stephen Easingwood at the 20^th hole in a thrilling final.
Representing the Bank of Scotland, Easingwood rolled back the years – he just missed out on a place in the 1989 Walker Cup team – as he made his opponent dig deep for victory.
It was the second time Easingwood had fallen at the final hurdle in the event, the Dunbar man having also lost in 1999, when he was beaten by Keith Reilly from Silverknowes at North Berwick.
In this year’s Handicap Match Play, John Gladwin (Bass Rock) gave eight shots to Graham Jamieson (Port Seton) but still managed to come out on top, clinching the title with a 4 and 2 win.
Earlier in the year, Nicholson used his links knowledge to great effect as he won the Championship once again, beating Marriott Dalmahoy’s Kevin Messer in the final during a wind-ravaged week on the East Lothian coast.
The victory took the Haddington player’s overall tally in the Lothians to eight ‘Majors’, having also won the Champion of Champions on four occasions.

Forrest emerges as a rising star

Craigielaw’s Grant Forrest has emerged as an outstanding young prospect on the Scottish scene this year.
He won the Scottish Under-16 Championship at Largs and then gave an excellent account of himself when reaching the last 32 in the British Boys’ Championship at Royal St George’s.
Forrest cut his golfing teeth at Bathgate before his family moved through to East Lothian, where his game has come on leaps and bounds under the watchful eye of Jonathan Porteous, the head pro at Craigielaw.
These performances were rewarded as Forrest earned his first full boys' cap in the Home Internationals at Hankley Common.

Mid-Amateur called off

The inaugural Ian MacNiven Mid Amateur event, due to be held at Turnhouse on Sunday, 27^th September, has been called off after attracting a very poor entry. “This is very disappointing and we have decided that we would rather wait a year and find the right format that will attract a lot of players before launching an event bearing Ian’s name,” said Lothians secretary Allan Shaw. “It needs to be a big event to honour a ‘big’ man.”

Prestonfield are the 'Kings of Capital' golf

Dinner Date

The Lothians Golf Association Biennial Dinner is being held at Easter Road Stadium on Friday, November 6^th, when the speakers will be former Walker Cup player Gordon Sherry and Peter Brown.

Tickets for the event cost £38 and, due to a restriction in numbers, clubs are being encouraged to get in quick so as to avoid disappointment.

Small groups and individuals are welcome. See poster on club noticeboards for more details.