GOLF — Close Final For Whinhill’s Junior Championship
From left, Lee Gillan, runner-up, Jamie Black, Whinhill Golf Club vice-captain, and Aaron McCue, 2017 Junior Champion
AARON McCue was crowned Junior Champion of Whinhill Golf Club for the first time after defeating Lee Gillan by the score of 2&1 in an excellent final.
The Junior Championship was plagued by poor weather throughout the season.The usual format of it being played over the course of a week was not possible with the qualifier being played at the third time of asking and at a later stage in the season which ran into the school holidays.
However all matches that were played, between some really difficult periods of weather, contained some great golf.
The qualifier started off with the club’s junior golfers battling it out over 18 holes to try and grasp one of the eight spaces for the knock-out stages of the event. The quarter-finals, semi-finals and 36-hole final were then played over the course of the summer season.
Great credit should be given to Ewan Daisley and the ever-improving Darren Church on getting to the semi-final stages (Ewan for the second year running) before being defeated despite putting up brave performances against Lee Gillan and Aaron McCue respectively.
This meant the final was between Lee and Aaron who was in his second final in a row, and was the number one qualifier. The finalists were the two lowest handicap junior golfers at the club.
They faced a horrendous day of weather which pretty much summed up the summer season. The expectation for a good standard of play in the final was pretty low given the conditions and the fact that both boys had not been able to play much golf this season because of other commitments such as work and school exams. Their time on the golf course had also been limited by the poor weather experienced in the lead up to the final.
However that proved to be unfounded from pretty early on in the contest as the standard was, for the most part, excellent.
Aaron took a two-hole lead after two holes, helped with a birdie at the second, before Lee won four holes in a row in a run that contained three threes and a four to develop a two-hole lead of his own after the seventh. Holes were then be traded with solid pars before pars from both boys at the 12th hole resulted in the first halved hole of the contest.
Aaron then birdied both the 13th and 14th holes to go two-up with Lee getting one back at the 16th with a birdie of his own to reduce the deficit to one which remained the score after the first 18 holes.
Both boys had three birdies each in the morning round and fought very well against the weather conditions, as the first six holes, in particular, were played in heavy rain.
The start of the afternoon round saw Aaron extend his lead to three holes with two solid pars at the first and second holes before Lee holed a long-range birdie putt at the third hole (his second-long range birdie putt on that hole that day) to get one back. The first of two major turning points in the afternoon round saw Aaron chip in at the fourth for a birdie-two from all of 40 yards with Lee looking the more likely of the two players to win the hole.
Lee got a hole back before Aaron regained his three-hole lead courtesy of an excellent birdie-three at the 10th hole with Lee unlucky not to make a three himself with his birdie putt defying gravity to stay out. Both players then birdied the 12th hole with Aaron bravely following Lee in for a three, while under pressure, with Lee looking like bringing the game back to one.
Lee then knocked his approach shot at the 14th stiff for a certain birdie-three before the second major turning point of the match with Aaron producing his second chip-in of the afternoon round, from again roughly 40 yards, to halve the hole. Lee showed tremendous courage in fighting back right away, winning the tough 15th hole with a solid par with a stunning tee shot onto the green despite playing into a gale force wind.
Lee missed a makeable but tricky birdie putt at the 16th to get the match back to all-square. Lee marginally missed his 10-foot birdie attempt at the 17th and, when Aaron converted from about nine feet for a three, the match was over and Aaron was crowned the 2017 Greenock Whinhill Golf Club Junior Champion.
This was a cracking Junior Championship final. The last eight holes of the final saw the boys get four birdies apiece. There was not alot between them with perhaps just the two chip-ins from Aaron deciding the outcome.
Lee can be very proud of his efforts in reaching the final. Despite not playing much for the past couple of years because of work commitments, the little bit of practice he put in before the final showed just how good a golfer he can be when playing regularly. He produced a brave performance and showed class he showed in defeat.
He is one of the most liked and respected Junior members at the club given the way he conducts himself both on and off the golf course which is far more important than the winning of any golf competitions.
This is Lee’s last year as a Junior member and the Junior Section wish him well in both his future golfing and professional career and thank him for his efforts in representing the section so well over many years.
Aaron’s first Junior Championship is a fitting reward for the effort he has put into his golf game in the past few years. He is the lowest handicap Junior member at the club largely thanks to the amount of effort and practice he puts into his game. All aspects of his golf are sound especially his short game which is evident given the two major chip-ins he produced in the final.
He will be a great representative for the club next year in both the Inverclyde and Renfrewshire Junior Champion of Champions events.
The final was a fitting end to good Junior competition golf at the club. Matches were followed by large crowds (with an excellent crowd on display for the final in particular), played on a course in great condition despite the weather conditions and played in a tremendous spirit. The club congratulates Aaron, Lee and all who took part in the Junior Championship.
