ENGLISH PLAYERS DOMINATE
YOUTHS CHAMPIONSHIP

English competitors dominated the first round of the Scottish youths open amateur stroke-play golf championship over The Roxburghe course, Kelso.
Two Rotherham golfing buddies, David Booth - a 19-year-old Stirling University golf scholarship student - and Matt Evans, a 21-year-old full-time postman in Doncaster, ended the day two shots clear of the big field after both shot sparkling rounds of five-under-par 67.
Another player from south of the Border, Darren Wright (Rowlands Castle) shared third place with Scotland boy cap James Ross (Royal Burgess) on 69.
Evans, who had a handicap of +3 and aspirations to turn pro perhaps by the end of year, looked as if he would finish in the outright pole position when he rattled to the turn in five-under-par 31 with birdies at the second, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh.
But he went off the boil, fortunately for the chasing pack, after the turn when he could muster "only" one more birdie, at the 18th, and had his only bogey of the round at the 10th.
Booth, a +2 handicapper, who has just completed his second year at Stirling University, highlighted his halves of 33 and 34 with an eagle 3 at the long 14th. He also birdied the fourth, seventh, ninth and 11th, dropping only one shot, at the 10th.
Remarkably Booth had never even played a practice round over the course. He came to The Roxburghe from Turnberry where he missed the match-play qualifying cut by five shots - and went to get new contact lenses instead of playing a practice round on Thursday.
James Ross, a quarter-finalist in the Scottish boys championship in April and named earlier this week in the Scotland squad for next month's European boys' team championship at Bled, had halves of 34 and 34 for his 69. He started well to be three under par on the eighth tee, having birdied the short fourth and two long holes, the fifth and seven.
He dropped his first shot to par at the short eighth and birdied the long 11th before he shed his second and last shot, at the short 13th. A 2 at the short 15th helped his cause.
Darren Wright matched that score with halves of 33 and 36. He too found the early holes easier than the remainder of the course. Darren birdied the second, sixth and seventh - and then did a Nick Faldo by every single hole after that.
American college circuit player Lewis Kirton (Newmachar) started to show signs of recovering form in the British Amateur championship at Turnberry earlier this week. Lewis has been off-colour, maybe a bit worse than that, for months and it had an adverse affect on his golf in the States.
But he would have been feeling a lot better after an eagle 3 at the long 14th today, having birdied the first, sixth and 11th before that in halves of 35. He dropped shots at the 15th and 16th when he looked certain to break 70.
Andrew Wallace from Glenbervie dropped a shot at the first and another at the eighth but in between these low points, he snatched birdies at the second, fifth and seventh. A fourth birdie, at the ninth, put him out in 34. Things quietened down on the inward journey with a birdie at the 12th and a bogey at the 17th the only deviations from par.
FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 72
67 D Booth (Rotherham), M Evans (Rotherham).
69 D Wright (Rowlands Castle), J Ross (Royal Burgess).
70 L Kirton (Newmachar), A Wallace (Glenbervie).
71 S Crighton (Aberdour), K Smith (Kilmarnock Barassie).
72 A McLachlan (Bonnyton), O Loftsson (Iceland), D Law (Hazlehead), R Noon (Longniddry), F McKenna (Balmore). J Hiluta (Chelmsford), P Ferrier (Baberton), B Rushford (Grangemouth).
73 C Robb (Inchmarlo), R Clarke (Moray), M Pospisil (Czech Rep), J Robinson (Southport & Ainsdale), T Shadbolt (Mid-Herts).
74 M Collin Eyemouth), S Matton (Bowood), P Shields (Kirkhill), W Bremner (Edzell), D Addison (Kilmarnock Barassie), R Crowe (Newcastle United), F Pintor Smith (Spain), F Fotheringham (Nairn), C Thomson (East Renfrewshire).
75 A Winwood (North Weald), P McPhee (King James VI), A Best (Cleveland), M Bookless (Sandyhills), M Swan (Stoke by Nayland), M Brittan (Saltford), A Culverwell (Dunbar), D Sommerville (St Andrews), D Casey (East Sussex National), T Blennerhasset (Marriot Dalmahoy), G Robertson (Glenbervie), K Duncan (McDonald Ellon).
76 K Shanks (US), J Duff (Newmachar), B Britton (London), S McLaren (King James VI), L Brace (Stoke by Nayland, D McGregor (Helensburgh), A Sagar (Keighley), E Brown (Kilmarnock Barassie), J Clarke (Chelmsford), N Henderson (The Glen), S Binning (Ranfurly Castle), A Moir (Thornton), C Jess (East Sussex National), G Carnie (Newburgh on Ythan), J Scott (Deeside), C Baird (Bothwell Castle), S Brace (Stoke by Nayland.
77 C Bell (Greenburn), K Donaldson (Galashiels), M Main (Thornton), J Clarke (Royal Montrose), J Vesanen (Finland), T Salminen (Finalnd), A Birdseye (Hazledere), M Daily (Erskine), A Campbell (Dumbarton), J Neilson (Dunbar), I Redford (King James VI), G Villard (France), R Bell (Downfield), M Watson (Elgin), C Conroy (Paisley), M Cunningham (Longniddry).
78 F Ogston (Singapore), L McGowan (St Andrews New), V Vaisanen (Finland), T Beaumont (Sundridge Park), G Minnes (Hayston), R Prophet (Sandwell Park), T Toivonen (Finland), A Graham (Crow Wood), D Watson (Peterhead), C McLaughlin (Largs), S McGrenaghan (Cochrane Castle), D Parlane (Helensburgh), D Young (Craigie Hill), S Thompson (St Andrews).
79 T Usher (Baildon), G Hilmarsson (Iceland), A Weir (Montrose Mercantile), S Barras (Helensburgh), S Keane (Cathkin Braes), S Ballingall (Dunston Hall), K Reints (Netherlands), A Sweeney (Carnoustie), H Dobson (Fynn Valley), S Maxwell (Windyhill).
80 R Carson (Marriott Dalmahoy), P Petursson (Iceland), L Searle (Romanby), K Scott (Hayston), R McGrory (Singing Hills), P Latimer (St Andrews New), A Cappi (Loretto School), A Finnbjornsson (Iceland).
81 C O’Neil (Pollok), G Anderson (Flaxby Park), S Carmichael (Baberton)m, G Stirling (Caldwell), D Sefton (Lancaster), J Mackay (Kilmarnock Barassie), S Oddsson (Iceland), R Sinclair (Kilmarnock Barasse), R Salmi (Finland), A Lauder (Paisley).
82 D Morrison (Duff House), A Potts (Berwick), T Spencer (Inchmarlo), F Campbell (Clober), S Neilson (Dunbar), M Pennycott (Whiting Bay).
83 P Dobson (Fynn Valley), G Richards (Kingsknowe).
84 A Abercrombie (Largs), A Killen (St Andrews), C Morrison (Kilmacolm), P McGhee (East Renfrewshire), K Harper (Carnoustie), J Shanks (Irvine).
85 D Mitchell (Leven Thistle), S Boyle (Harburn), P Buckendorf (Germany).
86 S McGarvey).
87 A Forsythe (Caldwell).
88 M Pospisil (Czech Rep).