Every second year counts for Robertson

GRAHAM ROBERTSON is making a habit of winning the Turnhouse Open every second year, having done so now in 2004, 2006 and 2008, writes MARTIN DEMPSTER.

The Silverknowes star maintained his winning sequence last night, beating Pumpherston’s Paul Drake by 2 and 1 in the final of the M&M Road Surfacing-sponsored event.

After the pair halved the opening two holes with pars, Drake drove the green at the 407-yard third yet still had to settle for a half in birdies.

A missed short putt from Drake at the fifth saw Robertson go in front for the first time and he also won the seventh, where a par proved good enough.

A superb tee shot at the short 11th enabled Robertson to go three up and Drake, who had been so impressive in earlier rounds, knew then he had a mountain to climb.

He was thrown a lifeline, though, when Robertson three-putted the 15th and the title looked to be back in the melting pot again when the Silverknowes man missed the green with his approach at the next and took a bogey.

However, Drake’s hopes of pulling off what would have been a tremendous fightback were killed off at the 17th, a long par-3. There, Robertson, who might even have taken a driver off the tee, knocked it in to just two feet and that tremendous shot proved to be a title clincher.

For Drake, it was the second time in 12 months that he had fallen at the final hurdle in the event, having also lost to Craig Elliot in last year’s final.

In the top flight of the handicap event, Graeme Wallace, of Turnhouse, beat Stevie Adamson, of Silverknowes, by one hole in a cracking encounter. Two down after two, Wallace got back on level terms with a birdie-2 at the ninth, where he hit an 8-iron to ten feet and holed the putt.

The home man then got his nose in front for the first time on the night with a good par-4 at the 12th and clinched his win with a solid birdie-4 at the last.

In the second flight, Peter Dryburgh, also of Turnhouse, beat Alfred Buchan (Dundas Parks) by 2 and 1.