Stonehaven Golf Club’s elite congregate outside the clubhouse to scratch their backsides and share banalities while waiting for the haar to shift. It didn’t.
A veritable pea souper rolled in from the North Sea to scupper this week’s clubber third round which will now take place on Friday 26th June, the final round scheduled for Monday 29th June.
It was a shame given many players had already commenced their rounds, the course in fine fettle and seemingly the weather too. But within a half hour, the mist turned to fog and you could barely see the 18th green from the first tee so the hooter was sounded and the players forced to traipse in from the course. The final three groups had yet to begin their rounds whilst the early starters had reached the 5th hole before play was halted, a real pity for those performing well. Russon for example had opened with three exemplary pars in an attempt to reduce his thirty shot deficit and McGillivary’s chip-in on the 3rd was sadly now rendered futile. Cameron had also commenced his round, but the klaxon’s din proved something of a blessing in his case given he’d been stinking out the opening holes with gusto in the ever increasing gloom.
So back to the first tee on Friday in the hope that the weather isn’t unkind again. Not everyone can make it though, this isn’t professional golf with players dedicating their every waking moment to golf. Here in the real world other commitments preclude certain individuals from playing thanks chiefly to family responsibilities, work events and for one individual, the end of season Cowie Thistle Benidorm bender.