John and Bill's efforts over the winter earned them a prize of £70 and a litre bottle of spirits each, while second place, and a prize of £65 and a bottle of spirits each went to runners-up Gordon Haig and Gordon McClean.
Last year's champions, Ge
orge Reynolds and Allan Smith, were unable to hold on to their title, finishing in third place overall, also on 352 points, with a prize of £55 and a half bottle of spirits each.
None of the top three finishers, though, were able to claim the top spot in the final round, which saw 51 players take part after an 11.30am shotgun start, in sunny but cold conditions which were ideal for winter golf.
Michael Murty and Ivan Cowie topped the final week's standings with 47 points, with Jim Ewing and Ewan McTaggart taking second place on 44 points thanks to a better inward half.
All the players were back in the clubhouse by 3pm in plenty of time
for the traditional final day dinner and the presentation of prizes by Jimmy Duncan of local garage W. & J. Duncan, who sponsored the tournament.
League organiser Donald Craig told the players: "Thank you to all who participated this year - we hope you all got great pleasure from taking playing in the league, and we hope to see you all next year.
"New members to the league next year will be very welcome - in the meantime, have a great golfing summer."
Meanwhile, at Port Bannatyne, Donald Standaloft and Francois Lintermans will complete a remarkable turnaround in form when they line up against John Black and Bobby Pedder in the final of the Port Inn Winter League at Port Bannatyne on Sunday.
Standaloft and Lintermans, who contested the wooden spoon final 12 months ago, defeated Iain MacLeod and John Preston by the huge margin of 8 and 7 in Sunday's semi-final, though Preston's groin injury was undoubtedly a factor in the end result.
They will line up in the final against John Black and Bobby Pedder,who sprung a semi-final surprise with a last-green victory over David Beattie and Robert Jardine, inflicting on the latter pair their first defeat of the winter league season.
Kevin Queen and Donnie McDermid's decision to withdraw from the league at a very late stage left three pairs to do battle in a bid to avoid the wooden spoon final.
The three pairings in question played off in a greensome, and in a tense affair Jim Bicker and Robert Cassidy shot a 64 to avoid the ignominy of a place in the final at the expense of Graham Dunn and David Whitelaw. The latter pair will face off for the wooden spoon against Gordon Hillis and Bob Sutherland, who scored a 73.
Still on the Port Bannatyne course, Jimmy Dunn scooped the scratch and first class medals for March with a gross 74 which, playing off ten, gave him a net 64. Tommy Howat won the second classmedal with a net 68; the CSS was 67.
Bobby Pedder won the Winter Trophy for this season with a total score of 281 for the best four rounds of six. Jim Bicker took the runner-up spot on 283, with Jimmy Gordon third on 286.
Members of Bute Golf Club have waved goodbye to winter altogether, Sandy Renfrew posting a net 63 to win the first medal competition of the summer season at Kingarth on Saturday.
The 16-handicapper finished a comfortable five shots clear of joint runners- up Gordon Little (16) and John Kernaghan (12), both scoring 68, with Bobby Speirs (12) fourth on 70.
The full article contains 651 words and appears in The Buteman newspaper.
