Craig Elliott wins Craigmillar

Park Open from Gavin Dear

with Gary Tough third

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Craig Elliott made the most of the absence from the field of eight front-line Scotland stars (playing an international in Spain) to be the surprise winner of the rain-abbreviated Craigmillar Park Open golf tournament in Edinburgh today.
It would be unfair on Elliott (Cal Carson Golf Agency image on left, all rights reserved) to say that he would not have scored one of the biggest wins of a long amateur career - he is 36 - had Macaulay, Booth & Co been in the field. You can only beat the players who are there, and Craig did that with a touch of class and nerve in the closing stages when a couple of strokes covered three or four players.

Carrickvale Golf Club member Elliot, Scottish mid-amateur champion in 2002, was at his Sunday best to follow up his par-matching 70 in Saturday's only round - a 2hr delay to clear flooded greens meant the scrapping of one of the four scheduled weekend rounds - with sparkling efforts of 65 and 64 for an 11-under-par total of 199.
That won him the prestigious trophy and R&A World Amateur Ranking Points by one shot from Gavin Dear (Murrayshall) who scored 69, 69 and a final-round 62 which equalled the Sunday morning effort which propelled Letham Grange course manager Gary Tough (halves of 31) into a one-hole lead from Elliot with one round to play.

Elliott reached the turn in four-under-par 31 in his final round with birdies at the fourth, sixth, eighth and ninth. The Carrickvale man made it four birdies in a row with a 3 at the 10th and a 2 at the 11th. He faced a possible crisis when he bogeyed the par-4 12th but he remained calm and collected to cover the last six holes with five pars and a birdie 4 at the long 14th for 33 home and a title-clinching 64.

Dear had a bogey at the second in his final-round 62 but covered the remaining 16 holes in nine under par with an eagle 3 at the 17th and birdies at the third, fourth, sixth, ninth (out in 32), 11th, 12th and 14th. Dear's inward half of 30 would have carried him to victory if Elliott had wobbled over the closing holes.
The very wet, sometimes muddy conditions meant that the preferred lies rule was in operation.
Dear was thus runner-up for the second weekend in a row. He was second best to Paul Betty (Hayston) in the curtain-raising Scottish champion of champions' tournament, reduced from 72 holes to two rounds the previous weekend at Leven Links.
Tough, who won the Craigmillar Park Open 12 years ago, shot a three-under-par 67 at the last time of asking but that was not enough to hold at bay the fast finishing Elliott and Tough. Tough finished a shot behind Dear in third place on 201.
Paul O'Hara (Colville Park), perhaps motivated by his omission from the Scotland team of eight who lost narrowly in Spain, finished fourth, thanks to a fine last round of 63 (33-30) after earlier efforts of 71 and 68.

O'Hara birdied six of the last eight holes in his final round - the 11th, 12th, 14th, 15th, 17th and 18th. Earlier, Paul had birdied the second and third.

It's not often that two head greenkeepers/course managers finish in the leading six of one of Scotland's biggest amateur events but they did in this one.

Glenn Campbell (Blairgowrie), a former Scottish match-play champion and head greenkeeper at Murrayshall Hotel, backed up Gary Tough by finishing in joint fifth place alongside English challenger Richard Aisbitt (Branceperth Castle) on seven-under-par 203. Aisbitt, who had a hole in one at 11th, signed off with a 65, Campbell with a 66.
Michael Buchan (Cruden Bay), first-round leader with a 65, faded out of the picture with Sunday rounds of 72 and 70 for three-under-par 207, which was a popular total, achieved by no fewer than five players, including 18-year-old Neil Henderson (The Glen), last year's Scottish schoolboys champion and Scottish Junior Champion of Champions, and former international Bryan Fotheringham (Forres).

FINAL TOTALS
Par 210 (3 x 70). CSS 70 69 68.
199 C Elliott (Carrickvale) 70 65 64.
200 G Dear (Murrayshall) 69 69 62.
201 G Tough (Letham Grange) 72 62 67.
202 P O’Hara (Colville Park) 71 68 63.
203 G Campbell (Blairgowrie) 68 69 66, R Aisbitt (Brancepeth Castle) 67 71 65.
205 S McAllister (Craigielaw) 71 69 65.
206 M Kerr (Craigielaw) 70 66 70, D Miller (Duddingston) 67 69 70.
207 S Armstrong (Turnhouse) 70 68 69, J Senior (Heysham) 69 69 69, N Henderson (The Glen) 67 72 68, B Fotheringham (Forres) 67 71 69, M Buchan (Cruden Bay) 65 72 70.
209 P Waugh (Hexham) 71 68 70, P Betty (Hayston) 68 70 71.
210 A Wallace (Glenbervie) 73 69 68, C Gray (West Kilbride) 69 71 70.
211 R Bell (Downfield) 69 71 71.
212 M Rose (Pitlochry) 72 69 71, S McEwan (Caprington) 72 74 66, C Orr (Lanark) 67 73 72.
213 J White (Lundin) 72 69 72, F Henderson (Craigielaw) 72 72 69, J Mackay (Kilmarnock Barassie) 69 72 72.
214 Z Saltman (Craigielaw) 72 71 71, G Paterson (St Andrews New) 71 73 70.
215 M Main (Thornton) 73 73 69, T Mathieson (Kings Acre) 73 71 71, D Henderson (Hamilton) 72 74 69.
216 A Bews (Murcar Links) 73 69 75, J Duff (Newmachar) 72 73 71.
217 P McLean (Peterhead) 72 72 73, S Knowles (Kingsknowe) 72 68 77, S Borrowman (Dollar) 71 76 70.
218 B McLeod (Royal Musselburgh) 73 73 72.
219 R Roper (Wike Ridge) 69 79 71.
226 S Rennie (Airdrie) 72 81 73.
Withdrew: W F Bryson (Drumpellier) 69 - -, M Greig (Bon Accord) 69 79 -