STRIKING a blow for the old guard at a time when more and more young guns are making their mark, John Archibald stretched his title haul in the Merchants club championship to four different decades.
The 51-year-old claimed the crown at the Capital club for the fifth time in total after beating Paul Francis by 2 and 1 in the 36-hole final.
"This means I've now won it in my 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s," said Archibald, the former Edinburgh Summer Le
ague secretary, who now holds that post at Dunbar Golf Club.
Archibald, a Dispatch Trophy winner with Westermont, admitted his victory over Francis had been ironic, as he had lost to Paul's father, Don, in a previous final.
The pair met again in the first round this year, Archibald winning 5 and 4 before surviving a scare in his next match against Derek Hall.
Archibald was five up after seven in that one but, in the end, just scraped through at the 20th before beating David Montgomery 6 and 5 in the semi-finals.
In the other half of the draw, Richard Craig suffered a shock first-round defeat at the hands of Graeme Erskine, who was then knocked out himself by Francis in the quarter-finals.
Francis then beat Alan Laing, who'd produced a barrage of birdies in getting the better of Andrew Helm in the previous round.
"I lost the first two holes in the morning but won the third and fifth to repair that damage and was one up at lunch," said Archibald of his win in the final.
At Musselburgh, Fraser Syme earned a place in the record books as he claimed the crown for a seventh time with a fourth-straight successful title defence. Syme, whose first win at Monktonhall came in 1999, beat Kenny Wright by 3 and 2 over 36 holes in a game played in blustery conditions.
"Fraser and Kenny grew up together and have played golf with each other for more than 25 years," said Musselburgh match secretary Ian Shaw.
"They have developed an excellent reputation for being among the best foursomes partnerships in Lothians golf and the final was played in great spirit and friendship without losing its competitive edge."
Syme reached the final by beating Gary Grigg, junior champion Cameron Marr and leading qualifier Brian Henderson. He beat Henderson at the 20th, having played excellent golf to overcome an early three-hole deficit due to three birdies from his opponent in the opening four holes.
In the final, Syme was two up after the first round after going round in 69, two-under.
He then holed a 35-foot birdie putt on the opening hole in the afternoon and quickly went four up when Wright bogeyed the 21st.
Wright won the next three holes only for Syme to steady the ship with an excellent 7-iron to eight feet for a hole-winning birdie at the 26th.
Wright was unlucky at the 31st when his approach to the back right pin hit the downslope of the green to bounce into the trees and, despite an excellent recovery to 15 feet, his missed putt led to a concession birdie from six feet for Syme to extend his lead to three holes once more.
He duly closed out his record-breaking victory with a birdie at the 33rd, covering the holes played in approximately three-under-par.
In the ladies' final, Ruth Carroll beat Linda Grieve, while Marr claimed his title with a 2 and 1 victory over Greg Smail.
At Liberton, Robert Jack fell at the final hurdle in his brave bid to claim the title for a 12th time. Jack, whose first win came back in 1976, lost in the final to Iain Neilson, who, by contrast, put his name up on the main honours' board for the first time.
