Dispatch Trophy R2 round-up: Harrison show their mettle

Harrison, conquerors of holders Heriot's on the opening day, had to dig deep to get the better of Lothians Juniors in the second round of the 119th Dispatch Trophy at the Braids.

Harrison's Dougie Waugh plays a shot under the eye of team-mate Donny Munro. Pic: Neil Hanna

On a day when the air was thick with reek from a gorse fire close to the course on Saturday night, Harrison eventually prevailed by 3&2 against a quartet of teenagers.

Fellow 15-year-olds Callum Robinson and Neil Canavan won at the back against two Dispatch Trophy veterans, Scott Knowles and Alan Stewart.

And, though Dougie Waugh and Donny Munro cancelled out that one-hole success by finishing four up at the front, 17-year-old Jake Edgcombe and Ciaran Paterson, the youngest member of the team at 14, were by no means pushovers.

“The boys played well and gave us a solid game,” said Waugh afterwards, admitting that his chip in for a birdie at the 12th coupled with a three-putt from Lothians Juniors had been a turning point.

Harrison, bidding for a fourth triumph in the Golfclubs4cash-sponsored event but first since 2000, now take on a Hailes team that contains three members of the 2015 winners.

Hamish Hamilton, the club champion, is the odd man out and, after receiving a walkover on Saturday due to Broomieknowe being left a man short, he made a winning debut along with Marc Cairnie, Gary Malone and Steve McCulloch against newcomers the Glen.

Hailes have a couple of representatives in the last 16 after their B team beat Turnhouse, recent winners of the Lothians Team Tournament.

“That was a good win for us as we had to get up and down a few times to keep in the match,” said Alan Crabbe, who teamed up with Steve McMahon at the front.

A day after finishing first and second in the Kingsknowe spring meeting, Craig Symington and Gavin Birrell maintained their good form to win at the back for Hailes.

Hailes B now take on Edinburgh Western after they beat Ye Monks of Ye Braids 6&5. That all-Braids clash was illuminated by a 65-yard chip in by Edinburgh Western’s David Wilson for an eagle-3 at the tenth en route to finishing six up in the company of Andrew Rennie.

“That made up for my shank at the ninth,” quipped Wilson, “and, apart from that blip, we were one-under for the holes played.”

Tantallon also have two teams still standing - in just the second year they’ve been involved following the decision to change the rules so that course-owning clubs can compete in the Edinburgh Leisure-run event.

The East Lothian club’s No 1 team beat the other batch of youngsters representing the Stephen Gallacher Foundation while the No 2 side progressed at the expense of the Merchants.

Liam Currid and Conor Currie won at the back for the Stephen Gallacher Foundation but, helped by an eagle-2 at the fourth, Jim Stewart and Gareth Pugh delivered the decisive result up ahead for Tantallon 1.

“The young lads gave us a good game and they were a pleasure to play against,” said Fraser Symon, who is hoping for a semi-final clash between the two Tantallon teams on Saturday morning.

Standing between the No 1 team and the last eight are Lochend while Bank of Scotland (Edinburgh) are next up for the No 2 side.

Lochend beat 2012 winners Caermount, with Gary Cheyne describing that as a “big scalp” for him, Graham Markey, Alan Thompson and Davie Graham.

Wearing red trousers in memory of Dispatch Trophy stalwart Ian Taylor, Bank of Scotland beat Colinton Mains at the second extra hole.

Playing with Calum Burgess in the back match, Andy Stevenson holed from 12 feet at the last to force extra holes after Colinton Mains won three out of the last four in the top clash and missed a short putt to also take the 17th.

“One of our opponents, Scott Fergus, was my best man while two others were grooms, so I definitely earned the gloating rights today,” said Burgess, who is playing in the event for the first time.

BBT, beaten finalists two years ago, dashed Harrison’s hopes of having two teams still in the mix and the Turnhouse team now take on Kilspindie.

The East Lothian club were bitterly disappointed that they didn’t make it on to the first tee after entering last year but have accounted for Dunbar Castle and Silverknowes 50+ so far this time around.

The other clubs through to the third round are Gullane, British Rugby Club of Paris, Murrayfield, Silverknowes, Carrickvale and Mortonhall, the latter having made a winning debut against Stewart’s Melville.

Full second-round Dispatch Trophy results:

Stephen Gallacher Foundation (Cameron Adam and Conor Wilson 5; Liam Currid and Conor Currie 0); Tantallon 1 (Jim Stewart and Gareth Pugh 0; Fraser Henderson and Fraser Symon 1).

Tantallon 1 won 4&2

Lochend (Gary Cheyne and Graham Markey 2; Alan Thompson and Davie Graham 1); Caermount (Iain Parrish and Gary Henshaw 0; Rob Ainsworth and Martin Hopley 0).

Lochend won 3&2

Kilspindie (Aaron Hall and Chris Stirling 6; Gary Porteous and Rob Green 2); Silverknowes 50+ (Ian Lamb and Kevin Reilly 0; Ian Connolly and Davie Fraser 0).

Kilspindie won 8&6

BBT (Neil Anderson and Andy Williamson 0; Mark Scoular and Scott McPherson 5); Harrison B (Stuart More and Bryan Byers 3; Cammy Bruce and Ian Ashley 0).

BBT won 2&1

Royal Bank of Scotland (Michael Wilson and Stuart Cochrane 0; John Pow and Steve Jamieson 0); Gullane (Stephen Marshall and Scott Walker 0; Robert Jack and Kenny Wright 2).

Gullane won 2&1

Kilgour Wealth Management (Fraser McCallum and Stevie Robertson 0; Mark Roberts and Stuart Beck 1); British Rugby Club of Paris (Gavin Hastings and Robin Carmichael 6; Charlie Maran and Chris Patterson-Brown 0).

British Rugby Club of Paris won 5&4

Tantallon 2 (Richard Gill and Chris Low 7; Steve Govenlock and Duncan Searle 1); Merchants of Edinburgh (Fraser Smith and John Hunter 0; Mike Leitch and Gary Stevenson 0).

Tantallon 2 won 8&7

Colinton Mains (Mark Evans and Ross Fergus 4; Callum McKinnon and Scott Fergus 0); Bank of Scotland (Edinburgh) (Bill Buchan and Graham Lundie 0; Callum Burgess and Andy Stevenson 4).

Bank of Scotland (Edinburgh) won at 20th

Hailes B (Alan Crabbe and Steve McMahon 0; Craig Symington and Gavin Birrell 3) ; Turnhouse (Rory Henderson and Lee McCathie 1; Olly McCrone and Ricky Moffat 0),

Hailes B won 2&1

Ye Monks of Ye Braids (Gordon Brown and Mark Robertson 0; Glenn Marsters and Alan McIntosh 0); Edinburgh Western (David Wilson and Andrew Rennie 6; Robert Kay and James Cunningham 0).

Edinburgh Western won 6&5

Mortonhall (Duncan Hamilton and Ian Dickson 0; Steve Scott and Graeme Clark 3); Stewart’s Melville (Ally Ritchie and Stuart McLaren 0; Drew McIntosh and Kevin Cattanach 0).

Mortonhall won 3&2

Murrayfield (Ali Thurlow and Bobby Gibson 4; Lloyd Dunlop and Stuart MacRae 2); Munro Heating (Troy O’Connor and Marc McAdam 0; Daniel Eardley and Clark Munro 0).

Murrayfield won 6&4

LGA Juniors (Ciaran Paterson and Jake Edgecombe 0; Callum Robinson and Neil Canavan 1); Harrison A (Donny Munro and Dougie Waugh 4; Scott Knowles and Alan Stewart 1).

Harrison A won 3&2

The Glen (Sam Hall and Finlay Goodlad 0; Arran Darrie and Michael Hagan 0); Hailes A (Mark Cairnie and Steven McCulloch 2; Hamish Hamilton and Gary Malone 4).

Hailes A won 6&4

Edinburgh Thistle (Gareth Bridgeman and Donald Anderson 0; Barry Anderson and Ian Cropley 0); Silverknowes (Tam Caldwell and Graham Robertson 3; Murray Paterson and Keith Reilly 7).

Silverknowes won 10&8

Johnston Carmichael Wealth (Steven Titterington and Gregor Munro 0; Neil Steven and David Watson 0); Carrickvale (Craig Deerness and Allyn Dick 3; James Kerr and Paul Cunningham 0).

Carrickvale won 3&2