By David Ferguson
Golf sometimes gets a bad press, especially within the "Green" activist fraternity. It is often held to be a waste of useful land, greedy of resources like water, and a form of expropriation by the wealthy of the birthright of the poor. Certainly, in developing countries the game's positive benefits might on occasion be held to be of ambiguous worth.
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| Just a perfect day... the loch with Ben Lomond as a backdrop. [China.org.cn] |
The Loch Lomond Club does its best to answer these charges. Spreading over hundreds of acres on the shores of the loch, the founders could easily have fitted three or perhaps even four 18-hole courses into the space available. Instead they have chosen to lay out only eighteen holes that meander over hill and down dale. The rest of the acreage is given over to deciduous and conifer woodland, and wetland marshes that defend and even enhance nature's bounty.
Much of the area is protected from the marauding golfer in search of a missing ball after a wayward tee-shot. The results are twofold: wild flora and fauna prosper in the grounds banned to the golfers, and the individual holes themselves as they wander through the woods are often secluded from each other and offer a series of small and self-sufficient worlds.
Some rain had been predicted for Friday's play. Mercifully the forecasts were wrong, and the day offered weather as perfect as you are ever likely to find in Scotland – a paradise for the player and the spectator alike.
At the top of the leaderboard, it was all change. The day's play followed the pattern of the first – all the best scores came from the morning starters, while the afternoon groups struggled to make headway. This meant that those who had posted a decent score on Thursday afternoon were best-placed to take advantage of the morning conditions on Friday, while those who had taken the lead on Thursday morning had to fight hard to hold their advantage.
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| Game on... a plate! Pheasant and hare - two for the price of one. [China.org.cn] |
The leadership seemed to have been taken over by Australians after the early holes. Starting at five-under, Adam Scott quickly made progress with two early birdies to join overnight leader Richard Green on seven-under. From three-under Marcus Fraser was coming from a lot further back, but he too was on seven-under by the 10th. Another birdie on 12 followed by an eagle on 13 took him to ten-under and a commanding lead, but bogeys on 15 and 16 spoiled a good day. Nevertheless he will be well-satisfied with a share of third place on eight-under.
Scott too found his progress halted with a double-bogey on the par-3 5th, but he came back strongly with three more birdies to end the day on nine-under on his own in second place.
"It's a beautiful place, and the golf course is great," said Scott. "Especially on days like today! They can be a bit few and far between here, but it would be nice to have a good weekend. I feel really comfortable out here – it's quite generous off the tee, which can actually improve your driving. You know you're going to hit a lot of fairways, so you go into your tee-shots with that much more confidence."
