Golf: Glencorse hoping to put an end to title itch

A win will see the Barnton side equal Duddingston's achievement of lifting the title three years in a row and they are heading into Sunday's showdown on the back of a 100 per cent record in this season's campaign.

But Glencorse have been equally impressive and team manager Alastair Shanks is hoping a blend of youth and experience will see them claim the Capital crown in Juniper Green.

"This is the first time the majority of the team will have been in a final," said Shanks. "The last time Glencorse reached the final was 20 years ago - when we lost - and some of our current team were just born and still learning to walk let alone play golf, others like Andrew Wight and Neil Shillinglaw were playing."

Glencorse earned their latest title tilt after beating Duddingston in the semi- finals at Liberton, where Royal Burgess edged a step closer to that record-equalling hat-trick with a hard-earned win over Kingsknowe.

"The campaign has been tremendous so far," added Shanks.

"We have always said the key to doing well in the Summer League is to win your group and give yourself a home tie in the quarter-final, which we did with two very good away wins against Turnhouse and Mortonhall, backed up with solid home victories in the group stages.

"The highlight for me so far is the team spirit shown by our players, which was evident in the semi-final with players like Andrew Wight putting the Glencorse team ahead of his own personal goals by not playing in the Archerfield club championship, Sean McGarvey also not playing in a ranking event, Derek Thomson and Justin Lamb travelling back down from the Eden Trophy at St Andrews.

"Neil Shillinglaw - and his wife - also came home early from holiday and Iain Melville arranged time off his work, all to be available to play.

"We are all looking forward to the final against Royal Burgess knowing fine well we will all have to be at our best to try and win the trophy away from them.

"They have been worthy champions for the last two years and this year have been in incredible form, winning 12 out of 12 - hopefully it will be unlucky 13!"

Burgess team manager Richard Hughes doesn't have a full squad available but is able to dip into a strong pool of players as they bid to finish the job off for the third year running.

"We have not fielded our strongest team in any match this year and we have yet to lose a match," he noted. "We have had a look at Glencorse this year and we also played them in the quarter-final last year, so we know their team and how they line up.

"But, most importantly, our boys have to focus on their own game and produce what they are capable of on the day. If they do, then we can be the second team to win three titles in succession, equalling Duddingston's achievement in the mid-1990s."

Bitterly disappointed that he'll be missing the encounter along with right-hand man Derek Reilly, Hughes added: "I think the players this season have performed superbly as a unit, which is vital in a long campaign.

"We have this reputation of having great strength in depth but we have actually played with a smaller squad this year using only 13 players in the season.

"We have the likes of James Ross who is at Michigan State, so we now only get him for half the season as he heads back to the States to college. We have also lost John Miller (+2) through business commitments and Joe Lockie (+2) through university over the last couple of years, so, on paper, we are not getting stronger.

"However, we are now very proud of our three senior international players, John Fraser being capped last year and Ian Taylor and Scott MacDonald being picked this year. The experience and confidence they have gained is invaluable to our team.

"I am sure this year's final will be as tight as the last two we have played in and I hope the result is the same."