The six Wayfarers schools convened at Panmure on 20/21 April for the annual event, which comprises three foursomes couples from each school. The OGGS were represented by Sandy and Ben Gray (two shades), Jim Patrick and Mike Everett, and Niall Booker and John Laird.
On the Saturday afternoon, Merchiston led the gross Stableford qualifiers with Glenalmond in second, Fettes third, and Academy fourth, which meant that Strathallan played Loretto for the Wooden Spoon.
On Sunday morning, Merchiston beat Academy 2-1, but the Glenalmond/Fettes semi was extremely close. With one match apiece, Niall and John went down extra holes against Chris Mather and Richard Philip. With Glenalmond in for par at 19, Chris missed his 12ft birdie putt.
It was agreed to play down the 18th next. As Niall faced a 6 footer for the half, Captains Jim Patrick and Andrew Soulsby agreed on a toss of a coin to decide the tie if the putt was holed. Niall holed the putt, Jim tossed the coin and Andrew guessed, wrongly.
It was debatable which school was happiest with this result! But everyone was able to enjoy their lunch without a rush.
In the final, again it was one match apiece and this time it was Sandy and Ben Gray who were in the deciding tie, against Martin Stein and Guthrie Batchelor. Two down with two to play, Two Shades won the 17th and it was down the last.
After good drives from both sides, Martin hit his approach to 20ft. With Sandy facing a putt for par, Guthrie rolled his birdie putt dead for the win.
So Merchiston won the Dornoch Cup for the third successive time, a feat only achieved previously by Glenalmond and Loretto.
Strathallan were victorious in the Wooden Spoon game so Loretto retained their Spoon!
Everyone enjoyed a good weekend and we were very well looked after by Panmure.
