Dunnikier Park golfers reclaim Kirkcaldy's '˜Ryder Cup'

The Millennium Cup matches, while closely fought, were played in a fantastic spirit and both golf clubs members turned out in large numbers to support the event.

Stuart Ward, match secretary at Dunnikier Park, said: “It’s great to win back the Cup and our team this year was without doubt our strongest.

“I would also like to thank Barry Logan for his excellent captaincy of the team, my match committee, our players and our sponsors West End Skoda.

“I would also pay tribute to our greenkeepers as both teams were full of praise for the excellent condition of the golf course.”

Stuart also paid tribute to the defeated Kirkcaldy team, adding: “It would have been easy after being 9-3 behind to give up after the Saturday morning matches but they fought brilliantly in the afternoon singles.”

Dunnikier won both Friday fourballs and Saturday foursomes 4.5 to 1.5 to open a 9-3 score going into the afternoon singles. They required four points from the remaining 12 matches which was achieved relatively quickly with Mike Westwater winning the vital point.

Kirkcaldy rallied to win the singles 7-5, leaving a final score of 14-10 in Dunnikier’s favour. The overall series is now level at 5-5.

The Millennium Cup was established in 2000 as a biennial competition between the town’s two golf clubs and mirrors the Ryder Cup format.

Millennium CUP Results (Dunnikier first):

Friday Fourballs: Ross McDonald & Barry Logan 0 Andy Gove & Brian Glancy 1, Mike Westwater & Steven Mackie 1 Robbie McEwan & Liam Allan 0, Colin Steffen & Andy Kelly 1 Kenny Kelly & Tom Steel 0, Liam Duncan & Greig Peden 0.5 David Watson Grant Heeles 0.5, Derek Paton & Craig Urquhart 1 Ryan Walsh & Mike Ewan 0, Graham Ballantyne & Russell Selkirk 0 Kevin Blyth & Graham Birnie 1. Total: Dunnikier Park 4.5 Kirkcaldy 1.5.

Saturday foursomes: Liam Duncan & Russell Selkirk 1 Andy Gove & Brian Glancy 0, Mike Westwater & Andy Kelly 1 Kenny Kelly & Tom Steel 0, Ross McDonald & Steven Mackie 1 Kevin Blyth & David Watson 0, Derek Paton & Greig Peden 0.5 Ryan Walsh & Mike Ewan 0.5, Colin Steffen & Craig Urquhart 1 Graham Birnie & Liam Allan 0, Graham Ballantyne & Barry Logan 0, Robbie McEwan & David Forbes 1. Total: Dunnikier Park 9 Kirkcaldy 3.

Saturday singles: Steven Mackie 0 Ryan Walsh 1, Ross McDonald 1 Kevin Blyth 0, Liam Duncan 0 Kenny Kelly 1, Barry Logan 0 Andy Gove 1, Graham Ballantyne 0 Robbie McEwan 1, Derek Paton 1 Tom Steel 0, Greig Peden 0 Liam Allan 1, Colin Steffen 1 Mike Ewan 0, Russell Selkirk 0 David Watson 1, Craig Urquhart 0.5 Brian Glancy 0.5, Mike Westwater 1 Graham Birnie 0, Andy Kelly 0.5, David Forbes 0.5.

Total: Dunnikier Park 14 Kirkcaldy 10.