IRELAND BID FOR EUROPEAN TITLE HAT-TRICK

Ireland will begin an attempt on Tuesday morning to become the first country for almost four decades to win three consecutive European men's amateur team championships. Not since England completed a hat-trick of triumphs in Portugal in 1973 has it been achieved - and Ireland know that a stern challenge awaits them this week at Conwy in North Wales. They have a new captain in Kevin Flanagan and three members of their six-strong line up are new to European competition. Niall Kearney and Paul Cutler both played in the winning team in Turin last summer. Simon Ward was in the side two years ago but missed out in Italy but is recalled this time. St Andrews Links Trophy winner Alan Dunbar, Dara Lernihan and Cian Curley make their European bows. Some 20 nations in all are competing with both the winner and runner-up in the Amateur Championship – Matteo Manassero of Italy and England's Sam Hutsby – both in action.

SCOTLAND'S TEAM AT EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

Ready for the off! Scotland's team and officials at the European men's amateur team championships which start in Wales on Tuesday. Image by courtesy of Tom Ward. Double click to enlarge the image.

James Byrne non-selection explained

From Hamish Grey Chief Executive Scottish Golf Union Colin, I was just reading your comments from the weekend and feel if read without understanding the process of selection and when teams have to be announced by, then your comments are both unfair and unhelpful. For the record, the European Men's Team was selected after the Links Trophy. It was announced the following week once everyone was confirmed as fit and available. The rules of the competition require teams to be named within a certain time and this means we cannot wait until after the Amateur Championship to select the team. This and a run of form such as James' is enjoying currently are therefore always possibilities! The selection may take account of world rankings but that remains only one element considered. Form throughout the year to the time of selection, suitability to the course the event is on etc etc are considered as you would expect. James did not play regularly in the US this year and had little tournament play or form here prior to the team being selected. Finally, should James keep up this form then Walker Cup is a definite possibility. You only need to look at the example of Danny Willett last time round to see what can happen. I hope this helps put in context this situation. Hamish Grey

Late entries accepted for Northpix Seniors Open

LOCH NESS GOLF CLUB Late entries will be accepted on 01463 713334 for the Northpix Seniors Open to be played on Loch Ness Golf Course on Sunday, July 5.. Competitors will tee of in threes at 7-minute intervals and are from the host club unless otherwise stated. Abbreviations: A, Alnmouth; BH, Bamburgh; C, Crow Wood; EK, East Kilbride; G, Glen; H, Hawick; I, Inverness; M, Morpeth; N, Newtonmore; P, Prestonfield; T, Torvean.   11.0. D. McConnachie, D. O'Connor, Partner; W. Greig , C. Slater (BH), Partner; D. Cowan, B. Kennedy (M), K. Milner (T); J. Rutherford (A), P. Mulvey (EK), I. Matheson. 11.28 F. Milne, L. Skuodas (N), A. Findlay (T); J. Wilson (C), D. Fraser, D. Wilson; R. Cowan, C. MacDonald (I), J. Douglas (M). 12.0 N. Craig, R. Maxwell (T), A. Tough; J. Dow, L. MacLean (P), R. Johnstone (P); P. Reid, D. Campbell, R. Fraser (I). 1.0 J. Robertson (H), J. Lennartson (G).

Northern Golf Club boys who won the Stirton Trophy team award. Image by courtesy of Derek Johnstone.

Caley's Matthew Beattie wins

Hands Across the Sea boys'

championship with a 66

DEREK JOHNSTONE REPORTS
Matthew Beattie is the new Hands Across the Sea champion. The 17 year old Caledonian member shot a two under par 66, at the Kings Links on Sunday, to win by two strokes from the Northern’s Cameron Johnstone.
Five-handicapper, Matthew had four birdies - at the sixth, seventh, ninth and 17th. But on the debit side dropped shots at the first and 15th.
Cameron, like Matthew was two under at the turn, but was unable to keep the momentum going and back-to-back bogies at ten and eleven meant he had to be satisfied with the runners-up slot. In third place on 70 were Banchory’s William McPherson and Jack Presley.
The Northern enhanced their already impressive collection of Links Championship trophies when they won both the Stirton and Crombie team trophies.
+Picture of Matthew Beattie above with the trophy by courtesy of Derek Johnstone.

LEADING SCORES
CSS 67
66 M Beattie (Caledonian).
68 C Johnstone (Northern).70 W McPherson (Banchory), J Presley (Banchory).
73 B McPherson (Northern), D Irvine (Newmachar), P Stewart (Northern).
74 L Cheyne (Newmachar), S Bonnar (Nigg Bay)75 G Joss (Royal Aberdeen).

PRIZE WINNERS
18 HOLE COMPETITION
SCRATCH
1st M Beattie (Caledonian) 66.2nd W McPherson (Banchory) 70 bih.3rd J Presley (Banchory) 70.
HANDICAP
(scr-14)
1st C Johnstone (10) (Northern) 58.2nd P Stewart (12) (Northern) 62.3rd L Cheyne (10)(Newmachar) 64 bih.
(15-28)
1st C Murphy (21) (Northern) 58.2nd D Baxter (12) (Caledonian) 59.3rd M Rimmer (10) (Caledonian) 61.
STIRTON TROPHY
214 Northern (C Johnstone 68, B McPherson 73, P Stewart 73, S Stewart 81)

SIX-HOLE COMPETITION
SCRATCH
1st Gr Morrison (Northern) 50.2nd C Somers (Bon Accord) 53.3rd C Moore (Royal Aberdeen) 59.
HANDICAP
1st R Gray (Caledonian) 36 bih.2nd T Flaherty (Banchory) 36.3rd J Seedhouse (Royal Aberdeen) 39 bih.
CROMBIE TROPHY
175 Northern (Gr Morrison 50, Gl Morrison 62, A Stewart 63, C Angelo 71)
180 Caledonian (R Gray 54, L Carnegie 60, C Johnston

US Nationwide Tour Scoreboard
Nationwide Tour Players Cup
Pete Dye GC, Bridgeport, West Virginia, United States
FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
273 Tom Gillis 71 66 66 70
276 Cameron Percy 70 69 69 68, Roger Tambellini 69 70 69 68
277 Jonas Blixt 69 72 67 69
278 Christopher Baryla 72 66 68 72, Ron Whitaker 67 71 68 72
279 Craig Barlow 71 65 71 72, Jeff Gove 69 67 68 75, Michael Putnam 72 69 70 68, Kyle Reifers 70 70 64 75
280 Bob May 69 69 71 71
281 Todd Demsey 72 69 69 71
282 Blake Adams 72 68 71 71, Won Joon Lee 73 68 64 77, Brian Stuard 67 71 71 73, Josh Teater 69 70 71 72, Jhonattan Vegas 72 69 65 76
283 Michael Arnaud 71 70 67 75, Fabian Gomez 69 69 72 73, Seung Su Han 71 68 66 78, David Peoples 69 65 72 77
284 Jon Mills 69 70 69 76, Garrett Osborn 70 72 70 72, Adam Short 71 71 75 67
285 Chris M. Anderson 69 72 73 71, Scott Brown 74 69 71 71, Jay Delsing 70 70 73 72, Chris Kirk 72 70 69 74, Jim Rutledge 70 73 71 71, Sal Spallone 75 68 71 71, Andrew Svoboda 70 69 71 75, Chris Tidland 74 69 68 74, Esteban Toledo 69 71 71 74
286 David Branshaw 72 68 72 74, Dustin Bray 72 69 73 72, JJ Killeen 72 69 73 72, Martin Piller 72 69 72 73, Alistair Presnell 71 71 69 75, Phil Tataurangi 72 71 71 72
287 Henrik Bjornstad 70 70 74 73, Andrew Buckle 72 70 71 74, Scott Gardiner 69 74 68 76, David McKenzie 70 71 72 74, Brian Smock 74 69 69 75, Grant Waite 70 71 72 74
288 Oskar Bergman 70 73 68 77, Marco Dawson 70 72 70 76, Stuart Deane 70 72 70 76, Brent Delahoussaye 70 72 73 73, Jason Enloe 70 71 72 75, Rob Grube 73 69 69 77, Tjaart Van Der Walt 69 72 71 76
289 Jim Herman 69 72 74 74, Jin Park 69 73 71 76, Vance Veazey 71 71 70 77
290 Bradley Iles 65 76 71 78, John Kimbell 69 69 78 74, Geoffrey Sisk 71 71 68 80, Brendan Steele 68 74 70 78
291 Robert Damron 70 72 72 77, Drew Laning 72 70 73 76
292 Ryan Armour 70 66 78 78, Andrew Johnson 68 73 75 76, Jason Schultz 71 72 78 71, Steve Wheatcroft 67 76 73 76
293 Patrick Nagle 71 72 76 74, Michael Walton 70 72 76 75
294 Matthew Every 70 73 72 79, Tom Scherrer 68 73 75 78
295 Brad Fritsch 66 74 74 81
299 Ryan Hietala 75 68 75 81

TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP REPORT

Kenny Perry's 22-under-par total

earns him 14th US Tour victory

Kenny Perry managed to survive late charges by David Toms and Paul Goydos with a superb all-round display to win the US PGA Tour's Travelers Championship by three strokes at Cromwell, Connecticut on Sunday.
The 48-year-old American, who began the last day a shot off the pace, fired a flawless seven-under-par 63 at the rain-softened TPC River Highlands to chalk up his 14th US PGA Tour title.
Perry, who needed only 25 putts, birdied four of the last nine holes on a sun-drenched afternoon to set a tournament record total of 22-under 258.
"It's hard to talk right now," an emotional Perry said in a greenside interview after parring the last and raising both arms in celebration before removing his cap.
"This is as good a win as I've ever had, the way I finished today. To shoot 22-under par and break the all-time record of all the great champions' names that are on this trophy, it's unbelievable.
"I knew there was so many guys right there in contention who could catch me ... I knew I had to keep making birdies. I wasn't going to play defensive golf," Perry added, after winning his second title this year.
Toms birdied two of the last four holes for a 65 to finish in a tie for second with 54-hole leader Goydos, who closed with a 67.
American Hunter Mahan, the 2007 champion, signed off with a 64 to share fourth place at 17-under with compatriots Ben Curtis (65) and Ryan Moore (64).
A stroke behind the pacesetting Goydos overnight, Perry took control with three birdies in the first eight holes.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 280 (4x70)
258 Kenny Perry 61 68 66 63
261 Paul Goydos 63 68 63 67, David Toms 65 65 66 65
263 Hunter Mahan 66 70 63 64, Ben Curtis 68 64 66 65, Ryan Moore 66 65 68 64
264 Casey Wittenberg 67 65 65 67, Tag Ridings 64 69 65 66
265 Bo Van Pelt 66 68 64 67, Scott Verplank 67 68 68 62
266 Anthony Kim 66 66 67 67, John Merrick 65 67 65 69, Lucas Glover 65 71 65 65
267 Michael Allen 68 65 67 67, Boo Weekley 64 71 67 65, Bubba Watson 66 68 70 63, D.J. Trahan 66 68 68 65
268 Zach Johnson 67 68 66 67
269 Robert Garrigus 66 69 68 66, Kyle Stanley 66 67 70 66, Greg Chalmers (Aus) 64 71 68 66, Bryce Molder 67 66 67 69
270 Michael Letzig 70 66 65 69, Chris Riley 67 67 66 70, J J Henry 66 70 68 66
271 Will MacKenzie 68 68 66 69, Chris Stroud 71 65 68 67, Kris Blanks 68 66 70 67, Mathew Goggin (Aus) 65 69 70 67, Brian Gay 66 68 70 67, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 68 68 67 68, Johnson Wagner 66 68 70 67, Webb Simpson 67 69 70 65
272 Spencer Levin 64 69 67 72, Brendon De Jonge 70 66 70 66, Matt Bettencourt 67 67 69 69, James Driscoll 68 69 68 67, Peter Lonard (Aus) 67 70 66 69, Jarrod Lyle (Aus) 67 67 66 72, Nathan Green (Aus) 69 67 68 68, Justin Leonard 69 66 68 69, Jason Bohn 67 70 67 68
273 Aaron Watkins 65 67 70 71, Scott McCarron 70 67 70 66, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 67 69 71 66, Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 70 67 70 66
274 Bill Lunde 67 68 70 69, Colt Knost 66 66 69 73, Mark Brooks 67 68 71 68, Brandt Snedeker 67 67 69 71
275 Charles Warren 63 72 69 71, Patrick Sheehan 67 70 67 71, Kevin Streelman 68 66 68 73, Charlie Wi (Kor) 66 68 71 70, Vijay Singh (Fij) 66 70 70 69, Joe Durant 67 68 68 72, Jay Williamson 67 68 70 70, Y.E. Yang (Kor) 65 71 70 69
276 D.A. Points 65 72 69 70, Ricky Barnes 65 70 72 69, Aron Price (Aus) 67 68 70 71, Chad Campbell 67 69 69 71
277 Luke List 66 69 70 72, Tim Petrovic 68 69 71 69, Rich Beem 68 67 72 70, Gary Woodland 69 67 72 69, Bob Heintz 68 67 68 74
279 Chez Reavie 66 67 73 73, Jason Gore 68 68 73 70
280 Jerry Kelly 65 70 73 72, Marc Leishman (Aus) 71 66 72 71
282 Vaughn Taylor 69 68 72 73

Ian Poulter a top-class twitterer

FROM THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER WEBSITE

By JAMES CORRIGAN

Ian Poulter was at Wimbledon yesterday, watching Andy Murray while tapping furiously into his mobile phone. But these were not the ignorant actions of a bored corporate guest, a self-obsessed sportsman even, staying in touch with his wonderful life via text.

Here was a diligent twitterer, keeping his 130,000 followers up to date with events on Centre Court.
Poulter is just the latest high-profile sportsman to sign up to the social networking service. But already, just two weeks into the pursuit he calls "my newest addiction", he is adjudged to be one of the most accomplished of the superstar micro-bloggers.
At the recent US Open, Poulter did not play well enough to crack the top 10, but he did tweet well enough to make it into the top five of the "Sports Twitter Rankings."

CNBC, the American news network, issues monthly ratings for this burgeoning genre, and they highly rated Poulter's offerings from a soaking Bethpage, which, they said, set him in a different class from other twittering golfers such as John Daly and Michelle Wie.

+Perhaps Poulter is a frustrated sportswriter?