Sandy Aird junior appointed professional
by McDonald Golf Club, Ellon

Sandy Aird, junior, 31-year-old son of Forres Golf Club's long-serving professional of the same name, has been appointed to succeed Ronnie Urquhart as the pro at McDonald Golf Club, Ellon in Aberdeenshire.
Urquhart announced his retirement recently on the grounds of ill-health after holding down the post of club pro for 26 years.
Sandy Aird junior has worked on his dad's staff at Forres Golf Club since he was old enough to turn professional and do his PGA training.
Born in Cambuslang, "young" Sandy said:
"From what I have seen and heard, this is a great club with a forward looking approach. It will be a pleasure to join them. This is a great opportunity for me.
"I have a strong commitment to junior golf and I am delighted McDonald has a tradition of supporting juniors."
McDnald club captain Jim O'Brien said: "Sandy's forward thinking attitude came through strongly at the interview. It's a pleasure to know he is joining us."

Scott Mann wins Midland Alliance again
- this time at Crail Craighead

Carnoustie +2 amateur Scott Mann made it two wins in two weeks with a one-under-par rund of 71 in this week's Midland Golfer's Alliance competition over the Crail Golfing Society's Craighead Links.
his recent good performances and made it 2 wins in two weeks with 1 under par round of 71. There were joint winners of the handicap prize, David Mason (Lundin) ( 7) and Derek Adams (Carnoustie) ( 6) with net scores of 72.
LEADING SCRATCH
71 S Mann (Carnoustie).
74 S Rettie (All Swing Golf) p, L Mann (Carnoustie Links) p, P Brookes (Pitreavie) p, C Donnelly (Balbirnie Park) p.
75 B Mason (Drumoig) p.
76 K Hutton (Downfield) p.
79 G McLeod (Monifieth) p, M Pirie (Pitlochry) p, G Tough (Letham Grange).
LEADING HANDICAP
72 D Mason (Lundin) (7), D Adams (Carnoustie) (6).
73 S Mann (Carnoustie) (+2).
74 H Gray (St Andrews) (9).
75 C Brunton (Monifieth) (5), S Andrews (Ladybank) (9).
76 W Smeaton (Craigiehill) (7), P Callander (Crieff) (6), A Douglas (Caird Park) (12), H Grant (Muckhart) (7), J Ward (Carnoustie) (8).

Qualifiers for the JTC Kitchens Championship at Pitlochry in April
K. Hutton (Downfield) p, G McLeod (Monifieth) p, M Pirie (Pitlochry) p.

Next week's meeting
Balbirnie Park
Tuesday, November 25
Tee reserved: 8.30 – 12.00

Coltart, Drysdale, Macaulay and Doak
earn European Tour players' cards

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
More than 900 hopefuls entered at the preliminary stage, but that number was whittled down to just 32 jubilant souls on the last day of the European Tour Qualifying School – Final Stage, which was won in some style by Sweden’s Oskar Henningsson.
Both Henningsson and his 31 fellow graduates will now progress to The European Tour after the six-round examination came to a close on another day of high drama at PGA Golf de Catalunya in Girona, Spain.
Henningsson again produced some mesmerising golf to finish on 21 under par and so take the title of No 1 qualifier by four shots from Australia’s Wade Ormsby and Spain’s Carlos Del Moral, whose late charge was not quite enough to take the €18,595 first prize.
The Swede, who is the first man to come through all three stages and win the Final Stage, said: “It’s a fantastic feeling to achieve this. It has been my main goal for the whole season, so to come here and actually win the Final Stage is amazing. I didn’t really think about winning the tournament, which is really a bonus, but it feels great.
“I think my eagle on the seventh was really the key moment in me winning, but I did feel really comfortable before that. In fact, I didn’t have any nerves at all today – not even on the first tee.
“To be the first guy to win the Qualifying School coming through all three stages in a great achievement, and it will give me a lot confidence going into the new season. I feel well prepared to go out on the main Tour and make an impression, so I’m delighted to have earned my card.”
Henningsson’s joy was shared by among others England’s John Mellor, who leapt into the top 30 on the back of a round of 68, which was bettered only by a 67 from Ireland’s Michael Hoey, who will join him in The Race to Dubai.
Mellor, who has suffered with a series of injuries in recent years, said: “I’m delighted, especially given everything I’ve been through in the last couple of years. It makes it all worthwhile, and shows that I do still belong out here.”
Among the players who scraped through on six under par was Italy’s Federico Colombo, who only turned professional last week.
Colombo was one of eight players to emerge successfully through all three rounds. As well as Colombo and Henningsson, Northern Ireland starlet Jonathan Caldwell, Tartan Tour Number One Chris Doak, Scottish amateur champion Callum Macaulay, Sweden’s Ake Nilsson, and rising stars Danny Willet and Chris Wood, the amateur silver medal winner in this year's Open at Royal Birkdale, all managed to successfully negotiate all three stages, which started back in September.
For much of the day Willett and Wood were locked in a private duel with one another near the top of the leaderboard, with Willett eventually prevailing over his friend and compatriot by one shot.
The youngster will now test himself against some of the world’s best players on The 2009 European Tour International Schedule.
Willett said: “It feels good – very good. I’ve played pretty scrappily over the past two days, but I’ve got myself a European Tour card, which is what I came here for. I’m looking forward to a few days off, because it’s been a long couple of weeks. Then I’ll get down to some serious practice in preparation for the two events in South Africa before Christmas.”
Wood, the winner of the Silver Medal at this year’s Open Championship, added: “I’ve worked really hard for this so I feel like I deserve everything I’ve achieved, but this does cap a pretty amazing year for me. I wouldn’t swap The Open for this or this for The Open – I would take both! At the time The Open was as good as golf can get, but knowing I have a full year on the Tour ahead of me is just as good. I’ll enjoy tonight now – the pressure is off at last. It’s just a horrible week with all the pressure and everything that comes with it – I never want to come back here again!”
Inevitably the day was interspersed with tales of woe, chief among them that of Ireland’s Michael McGeady, who bogeyed the last hole to drop to five under par and so miss out on the potential riches on offer in The Race to Dubai.
The same could be said of Germany’s Dennis Kupper and Spain’s Carl Suneson, both of whom started the day in the top 30 but subsequently dropped out after the pair carded rounds of 75.
England’s James Morrison was also left to rue dropping four shots in his final four holes to fall back from seven under to three under par.
Morrison will now return to Challenge Tour duty, whilst Henningsson and co can look forward to rubbing shoulders with the likes of World Number Two Sergio Garcia of Spain.
Golf is a cruel game at times, and the Qualifying School – Final Stage is perhaps the cruellest tournament of them all.
COLIN FARQUHARSON'S SCOTSWATCH. All four Scots who survived the fourth-round cut at the Q School will be playing on the European Tour in future - Andrew Coltart, David Drysdale, Callum Macaulay and Chris Doak.
Macaulay played as an amateur, which cost him £2,690 in prizemoney. He has now turned pro and should soon be adding to his bank account anyway.
No surprise that Drysdale, Macaulay and Doak, who has had such a great season on the Tartan Tour and won the PGA Play-offs title, should make it but all those who have watched with sadness the decline of Andrew Coltart, a player at one time of Ryder Cup status, over recent years will rejoice that he is back on the Big Stage.
His play in the Q School has been a revelation. He finished the top Scot and earned £3,343, which is probably his biggest payday for some time. Welcome back, Andrew!

European Tour Final Qualifying School
FINAL TOTALS
PGA Catalunya Girona, NE Spain.
Par 430 (4 x 72, 2 x 71)
409 Oskar Henningsson (Swe) 66 66 65 74 69 69 (£15,000).
413 Wade Ormsby (Aus) 66 75 64 71 69 68, Carlos Del Moral (Spa) 72 67 66 70 67 71 (£9,750 each).
414 Danny Willett (Eng) 70 67 63 70 74 70 (£6,620).
415 Chris Wood (Eng) 72 66 69 71 69 68, Joakim Haeggman (Swe) 70 67 70 71 69 68 (£5,429 each).
416 Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 69 66 67 71 74 69 (£4,720).
417 Michael Hoey (NIrl) 68 69 71 72 70 67 (£4,420).
418 Ake Nilsson (Swe) 71 67 68 66 76 70, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 71 67 66 69 72 73 (£4,055 each).
419 Gary Clark (Eng) 70 70 70 68 72 69 (£3,730).
420 Chinnarat Phadungsil (Tha) 78 67 72 67 67 69, Anthony Snobeck (Fra) 71 71 66 72 69 71, Andrew Coltart (Sco) 71 69 67 71 69 73 (£3,343 each).
421 Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 71 72 68 69 71 70, Chris Doak (Sco) 75 72 71 62 71 70, Lorenzo Gagli (Ita) 73 66 69 70 73 70, David Drysdale (Sco) 68 71 67 70 72 73, Matthew Millar (Aus) 74 69 69 65 70 74 (£2,690 each).
422 Michael Curtain (Aus) 67 77 71 69 69 69, Inder Van Weerelt (Ned) 66 71 69 73 74 69, Marco Ruiz (Par) 66 75 65 75 71 70 (£2,183 each), Callum Macaulay (Sco) (amateur) 71 67 72 69 71 72.
423 John Mellor (Eng) 68 75 69 72 71 68, Marc Cayeux (Zim) 68 72 68 74 70 71, Henrik Nystrom (Swe) 68 70 72 71 71 71, Stuart Manley (Wal) 67 73 67 72 73 71, Branden Grace (Rsa) 66 69 70 72 73 73 (£1,850 each).
424 Federico Colombo (Ita) 68 67 76 70 73 70, Santiago Luna (Spa) 70 74 73 66 70 71, Jonathan Caldwell (NIre) 67 70 69 74 70 74, Alfred Garcia-Heredia (Spa) 69 69 68 70 72 76 (£1,427 each).
CUT-OFF POINT FOR LEADING 30 PLAYERS WHO
EARNED EUROPEAN TOUR PLAYING RIGHTS
425 Nathan Smith (USA) 71 70 71 70 76 67, Roland Steiner (Aut) 68 73 68 71 76 69, Tony Carolan (Aus) 67 73 70 74 71 70, Ben Mason (Eng) 70 72 65 75 73 70, Richard McEvoy (Eng) 71 67 75 69 72 71, Michele Reale (Ita) 69 72 66 74 72 72, Michael McGeady (Irl) 69 69 69 72 74 72, Dennis Kpper (Ger) 69 68 69 71 73 75
426 Cesar Monasterio (Arg) 74 71 67 72 71 71, Carl Suneson (Spa) 70 74 71 68 68 75
427 James Morrison (Eng) 71 71 69 72 73 71, Iain Pyman (Eng) 70 67 71 75 70 74
428 Jesus Maria Arruti (Spa) 70 68 73 73 75 69, Dominique Nouailhac (Fra) 69 70 70 72 78 69, Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 79 64 69 73 73 70
429 Andrew Butterfield (Eng) 73 70 68 74 75 69, Adrien Bernadet (Fra) 69 75 74 65 77 69, Gareth Paddison (Nzl) 70 73 73 67 73 73, James Kamte (Rsa) 2 76 70 74, Adilson Da Silva (Bra) 72 71 68 72 72 74, Rolf Muntz (Ned) 69 76 69 69 71 75
430 Julien Grillon (Fra) 69 72 70 74 75 70, Simon Thornton (Irl) 69 72 72 72 74 71, Robert Coles (Eng) 69 75 71 69 75 71, Javier Colomo (Spa) 75 73 70 66 73 73, Johan Wahlqvist (Swe) 69 67 71 71 78 74
431 Clodomiro Carranza (Arg) 67 75 75 68 76 70, Ben Evans (Eng) 70 67 73 75 76 70, Nicolas Meitinger (Ger) 69 76 75 65 71 75, Rory Hie (Ina) 71 72 73 67 73 75, Garry Houston (Wal) 70 73 73 66 74 75
432 Roope Kakko (Fin) 68 73 72 72 72 75, Julien Guerrier (Fra) 72 69 72 70 73 76, Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 69 74 69 70 74 76
433 Steven Jeppesen (Swe) 73 73 70 66 81 70, Anthony Grenier (Fra) 73 70 71 70 76 73
434 Andreas Hogberg (Swe) 74 63 72 75 79 71, Chris Gane (Eng) 69 68 72 72 79 74
436 Antti Ahokas (Fin) 69 75 70 71 76 75
437 Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 71 74 71 69 75 77
438 Jamie Moul (Eng) 75 71 67 72 76 77

American leads after 36 holes of
European Seniors Q School

From Steve Todd, European Senior Tour Press Officer
American Greg Towne made a superb up and down on the 17th hole to take a one-stroke lead over Argentine Alfonso Barrera in the second round of the European Senior Tour Qualifying School Final.
Towne followed his flawless first round 68 with a five under par 66 at Vale da Pinta, Pestana Golf Resort on Portugal's southern Algarve coastling, carding seven birdies and two bogeys.
The 49 year old shot level par last week to finish second behind Graham Gunn at Pinheiros Altos Golf Club in Stage One of Senior Tour Qualifying School and has carried his good form into the Final so far.
A hat-trick of birdies after the turn moved the man from Orlando to the top of the leaderboard, a shot clear of Barrera and two ahead of South African Bertus Smit, both of whom also signed for rounds of 66.
Towne, who quit playing on the US Nationwide Tour in 2001 to teach golf, said he was now concentrating on trying to win the tournament.
“I got off to a great start with birdies on the first two holes and that kind of sets you off in the right frame of mind,” he said. “I birdied the fifth hole – the hard par 3 - again and that’s kind of been my secret so far – playing the par 3s well, as they are the hardest part of this course.
“On the back nine I made three straight birdies after the turn which was nice and gave me the boost to get going. I thought I hit a very good second shot on the 17th on the downslope and the pin was cut on the back but I chipped it in. The odds of getting that in are about 50-50 so that really helped me.”
“I putted very well all day. I’ve played sensibly – driving on fairways and being aggressive on putts you can be aggressive on and careful on those you have to be careful on.
“I played the Nationwide Tour and played in the US Open and made the cut in 1997 so I’ve been in some situations like this before – I’m more worried about my golf swing than about leading.”
Barrera dedicated his flawless round to his compatriot and close friend Horacio Carbonetti, who has been helping him with his game in the build up to Senior Tour Qualifying School.
Carbonetti gained his card after winning the Qualifying School Final in 2002, and Barrera said he wanted to follow in his friend’s footsteps after moving to seven under par.
“I played great today and I made no bogeys,” he said. “I’m feeling good about my game and I’m very motivated to go through. Horacio has changed my swing and it’s feeling much better. It is his 61st birthday today as well so it’s nice for him.”
Smit, who is on six under par, posted eight birdies and three bogeys in his best round of 2008.
He said: “I really felt comfortable with my swing and I putted really well today.”
England’s Glyn Krause is four shots off the lead on four under par, with ten players under par after two rounds.
+Only the leading six players at the end of the tournament gain playing rights on the 2009 European Seniors Tour.

European Seniors Tour Final Qualifying School
VALE DA PINTA, PESTANA GOLF RESORT, PORTUGAL
Leading second-round totals
134 G Towne (USA) 68 66.
135 A Barrera (Arg) 69 66.
136 B Smit (RSA) 70 66.
138 G Krause (Eng) 71 67.
140 J Heggarty (Nir) 69 71, P Brostedt (Swe) 71 69, K Spurgeon (Eng) 68 72.
141 J Hoskison (Eng) 70 71; M Lord (Eng) 70 71; M Williams (Zim) 66 75, P Allan (Eng) 71 70.
142 D Kluver (USA) 74 68; T Giedeon (Ger) 69 73; J Grant (Sco) 69 73; J Anglada (Esp) 70 72.
143 B Stevens (Eng) 71 72; G Gunn (Can) 71 72; M Kierstenson (Eng) 75 68; J Davila (Esp) 71 72.
144 T Rastall (Eng) 69 75; S Martin (Sco) 71 73; C Henderson (Aus) 74 70; A Johnsson (Swe) 72 72; G Ryall (Eng) 70 74;
145 C Milne (USA) 73 72; M Briggs (Eng) 72 73; G Davies (Wal) 74 71; J Laforce (Can) 74 71; T Price (Wal) 71 74; H Stott (Eng) 70 75; C Williams (RSA) 72 73; D Narveson (USA) 72 73; J Sallat (Fra) 72 73; B Hardwick (Can) 74 71; B Rollinson (USA) 77 68; D Evans (am) (Wal) 71 74;
146 R Masters (Eng) 73 73; T Jones (USA) 73 73; M Miller (Sco) 74 72; J Lapsley (Nzl) 68 78; M Aparicio (Esp) 69 77; J Dias (Por) 76 70;
147 M Fernando (USA) 75 72; P Harrison (Eng) 77 70; P Dugeny (Fra) 74 73; S Chadwick (Eng) 70 77; B McColl (Sco) 74 73; J Benda (USA) 73 74; M Thomas (USA) 72 75;
148 L Soto (Ven) 74 74; R Van Blankers (Ned) 72 76; D Williamson (Sco) 78 70; S East (am) (Eng) 75 73;
149 J Gallardo (Esp) 75 74; D Saunders (Aus) 76 73; V Garcia (Esp) 74 75; D Bell (Can) 74 75;
150 M Gallagher (Eng) 80 70; N Goodison (Eng) 72 78; H Ferguson (Can) 76 74; D Young (Eng) 80 70; P Dahlberg (Swe) 75 75;
151 N Willett (Eng) 73 78; G Potter (Eng) 74 77; S Bishop (Eng) 79 72; R Mann (Eng) 74 77; D Stirling (Eng) 76 75; J Mills (am) (Eng) 78 73; O O'Hara (am) (Nir) 76 75;
152 G Banister (Aus) 79 73;
153 P Hanna (Nir) 79 74; F Guedra (Alg) 75 78; M Edmunds (Wal) 80 73;
154 F Ripamonti (Ita) 75 79;
155 R Fish (Eng) 79 76; T Planchin (Fra) 81 74; N Humphreys (Eng) 79 76; M Gammell (USA) 76 79;