During turbulent days on the links, those who manage to keep their heads while others around them are losing theirs tend to thrive.
As the wind caused all sorts of mischief on the Solway Firth, the second round of the Carrick Neill Scottish Open Amateur Strokeplay Championship at Southerness became an exercise in damage limitation.
"You know everyone is going to struggle and if you don't watch, your round can quickly unravel," said Adam Dunton, after emerging relatively unscathed with a one-over 70 which hoisted him into a tie for fifth with a four-over 142. That left the Scot five behind English Walker Cup contender Garrick Porteous, who salvaged a level-par 69 with an eagle on the last, following a bogey, double-bogey start, to lead on a one-under 137.
As Porteous prospered and ended up as the only player under par after 36 holes, Dunton's harnessing of the conditions was a considered one over what he described as "a thinking man's course." He brought out the driver just a handful of times while his clamber up the leaderboard was bolstered by an assured performance on the greens as he holed raking birdie putts of 35 feet at the seventh and 25 feet at the 11th.
There was potential disaster at every turn, however, as the rigorous Southerness links bared its teeth. South African Haydn Porteous, who was joint runner-up in last year's Scottish Strokeplay event, racked up a quadruple bogey eight on the first and followed that up with a double-bogey six on the second as he plummeted down the field.
Scotsman Steven Maxwell and England's Callum Shinkwin showed what could be achieved, however, on a day littered with numbers in the high 70s and 80s. Windyhill member Maxwell joined his compatriot Dunton on the 142 mark with a battling 68 that was illuminated by an eagle on the 18th, where he launched a 4-iron to 15-feet and rolled in the putt.
Shinkwin, meanwhile, conjured a purposeful late rally and birdied both the 17th and the 18th in his 68 as the former English under-18 strokeplay champion, and current South American Amateur champion, moved into a share of third with Ireland's Dermot McElroy on 139.
Another Irishman, Richard O'Donovan, tucked himself into second during the early evening with a steady 70 for 138 while Barassie's Jack McDonald, the 2012 Scottish Golfer of the Year, is handily placed on 143 heading into the closing two rounds.
Nick Rodger
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