Greg goes to Towne in Senior Tour Qualifying
School with three-shot lead, one round to go

From Steve Todd, European Senior Tour Press Officer
American Greg Towne took a giant step towards sealing his card for the European Senior Tour 2009 season after taking a three-stroke lead going into the final round of the Senior Tour Qualifying School Final on Portugal’s Algarve
A hat-trick of birdies on the back nine saw the overnight leader extend his advantage over Argentine Alfonso Barrera and South African Bertus Smit at the top of the leaderboard.
Towne signed for a 69 at Vale da Pinta, Pestana Golf Resort, to move to 10 under par for the tournament, with Barrera and Smit on seven under par following rounds of 71 and 70 respectively.
After dropping a shot on the sixth hole, Towne birdied the 12th hole and bogeyed the 13th before his run of three consecutive birdies started on the 14th hole.
The 49 year old, who will turn 50 and become eligible for the Senior Tour on May 19, admitted he had played “scrappily” but, with the top 14 players gaining their cards for next season, Towne will go into the final round with a 12 shot cushion.
“That does give you some confidence going into the final round but I’m just going to play my own game and not worry about it,” said Towne.
“I didn’t really look at the scoreboard today – only a couple of times and that was at the leaders, not the 14th place scores.
“It would mean a lot for me and my family to get my card but my way of handling pressure is to trivialise things – the world won’t stop if I don’t win it.
“I’m playing with the same guys tomorrow and we all did pretty well today so I’m really looking forward to it.”
Towne, who worked as a commercial banker for 10 years before turning professional and joining the Nationwide Tour in 1988, said his approach shot on the 14th hole was one of the best he had ever played.
“My drive went into a crease where there was an old drain and I had a horrible lie,” he said. “I didn’t get any relief so I hit a hook shot with my sand wedge into the bank of the bunker and it almost went into the hole. From not having a shot I managed to birdie the hole. It was one of the best shots I’ve play in a long time. I’ve practised that shot but never played it before in a tournament.”
“Overall it was a scrappy round. I lipped out on three holes but I hung in there.”
German Torsten Giedeon shot the round of the day – a four under par 67 – to surge up the leaderboard into a share of fourth place with England’s Kevin Spurgeon, who carded a 69.
Forty-nine players made the cut and will compete for one of the 14 qualifying spots, with those in positions one to six gaining a ranking in Category Six for 2009.
COLIN FARQUHARSON'S SCOTSWATCH: The odds against any of the five Scots in the field coming through to gain full playing rights on the 2009 European Senior Tour - only the leading six can look forward to playing in every event on the over-50s tour -are pretty slim.
John Grant, playing out of a Swedish club, is the best placed Scot on 218, which puts him 15 shots behind the leader and in joint 28th place overall with scores of 69, 73 and 76.
Steve Martin from Dundee, who has previous Senior Tour playing experience, is in joint 33rd position on 219 with scores of 71, 73 and 75.
Anglo-Scot Bill McColl, like Martin, has had outings on the over-50s tour but he is well back this week on 221 with scores of 74, 73 and 75.
Behind McColl comes Mike Miller on 223 with rounds of 74, 72 and 77 while Duncan Williamson from Kirkhill is on 228 after scores of 78, 70 and 80.


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