PRICE HOLDS LOCAL LORNIE AT BAY TO WIN GRAMPIAN OPEN £1,000 PRIZE

Overnight leader David Price, pictured above left, from Bargoed, Wales held North-east challenger Graeme Lornie (Kings Links), pictured above right, at bay over the final round of the inaugural Grampian Open at Murcar Links today to win his second £1,000 winner’s cheque on the Celtic Pro Tour in less than a week.
Price, winner of the South-east Welsh Open last week, followed up his five-under-par 66 on Monday over a course he had never seen before with a steady 70 (35-35) for a five-under total of 136.
The former Welsh and Portuguese amateur champion, who said he could not afford to enter the European Tour Qualifying School process, won by three shots from Lornie who added a par 71 to his first-round 68 for a 139 total and a £500 reward.
Highlight of Lornie’s halves of 34 and 37 was an eagle 2 at the 323yd par-4 ninth. Two under at the turn after his eagle and birdies at the second and seventh (bogeys at the third and eighth), Lornie had the leader in his sights but failed to pick up a single birdie on the home run and dropped shots at the 10th and 12th.
Price, who was generious in his praise of Scottish golf links in general and Murcar Links in particular, had birdies at the fourth, ninth, 10th and 11th but dropped shots at the third, 12th and 13th. He did not have a bogey in his first-round 66.
Jack Doherty, based in South Wales but a Scot through and through, had a repeat 71 (35-36) to claim third place and a £250 cheque on 142.
Lee Vannet (Carnoustie Golf Links) finished fourth on 144 for a £150 pay-out with a second-round 70 - the joint best of another sunny day with a bit of a breeze. Vannet would have tied with Doherty for third place but for a double-bogey 6 at the last.
Cruden Bay’s Michael Buchan, pictured right, won the £100 voucher for leading amateur even though he had an 81 – 10 shots worse than his Monday round – for 152.
“Believe it or not I played well even though it was an 81,” said Michael. “I had two bad swings and that cost me a triple bogey 7 at the second and a quadruple bogey 8 at the 15th).
Buchan also had a double-bogey 6 at the 17th in an instantly forgettable inward half of eight-over-par 43
Celtic Pro Tour supremo Rhydian Thomas maintained his customary tournament prize structure, even though there were only 15 entries. "I've lost about £500-£600 by taking the tour up to Scotland but we'll do it again next year. Murcar Links want us back and Cruden Bay could give us a two-leg trip to the North-east and I am also going to look at putting on some events in Scotland's Central Belt."
+Apart from his £1,000 cash prize, David Price also won, for the second week in a row, a Sunderland of Scotland weatherproof suit and a Powerbug electric trolley.

FINAL TOTALS
Par 142 (2 x 71)
136 D Price (Vale of Glamorgan) 66 70 (£1,000).
139 G Lornie (Kings Links) 68 71 (£500).
142 J Doherty (Sco) 71 71 (£250).
144 L Vannet (Carnoustie) 74 70 (£150).
145 C Kelly (Cawder) 73 72 (£100).
147 D Stewart (Grantown on Spey) 70 77.
149 G McInnes (Murcar Links) 72 77.
152 M Buchan (Cruden Bay) (am) 71 81, M Griffiths (Wal) 75 77, A MacKenzie (Liberton) 76 76, N Mitchell (Murcar Links) 78 74.
158 P James (Wal) (am) 77 81.
160 R Barr (Wal) (am) 80 80, A Lambert (Wal) 79 81.
170 D Holloway (Wal) 83 87.