Golf: Gullane into final despite rules hiccup

GULLANE and Royal Musselburgh will fight out the final in golf’s inaugural East Lothian Winter League Cup after both teams recorded away wins in the last four.

The tie at Kilspindie, where Gullane were the visitors, produced an element of controversy due to a misunderstanding over the rules.

With Kilspindie already 2-0 down, and trailing by a hole in his own match, the home team’s Grant Robertson holed from 20 yards for an eagle two on the 18th to go all square against Murray Saunders and Alan Smith.

News then filtered through that Gullane’s final pair, Lawrie Main and Colin Sinclair, were two up with two to play. Unaware of the competition rule that each match must play to a finish, the visiting duo insisted that two wins, plus a worst-case scenario of two halved matches, meant an unassailable lead.

Saunders and Smith insisted there was no need to proceed down extra holes but they should have, as should the players in the fourth tie after it also came off the 18th all square. In the end, Main and Sinclair held on for a one-hole win to secure a 4-1 overall victory.

Royal Musselburgh prevailed in a closer match at Haddington, where it ended 3-2 for the visitors, with Royal stalwarts Jamie Ramsay and Chris Mackie sealing a the decisive win at the 19th in the third match.