SGU may introduce stroke-play qualifying

to Scottish match-play championship

This could be the last year that the Allied Surveyors Scottish men’s amateur golf championship is entirely decided on a match-play format.
England, Ireland and Wales have all introduced two stroke-play qualifying rounds in recent years to produce 64 qualifiers for the match-play stages.
World amateur ranking points are awarded for the stroke-play rounds but not until the quarter-finals of a match-play tournament.
Gavin Dear (Murrayshall), No 12 in the R&A WAGR list this week, thus earned no points for going out in the third round of this week’s SGU flagship tournament at Royal Troon.
Dear will turn pro in September so future formats for the Scottish amateur championship will make no difference to him but he did say after his shock defeat by Grant Carnie (Newburgh on Ythan) that he felt the way forward for the SGU was to come into line with the other home unions and introduce a 36-hole stroke-play qualifying test in the national championship.
SGU chief executive Hamish Grey said he had not been approached by any Scottish players about such a change but it would certainly be on the agenda for the organising body’s customary assessment of how things have gone at all their championships.
“World amateur ranking points are becoming a more and more important factor in golf and the SGU has to keep apace of developments,” he said.
Mr Grey hinted that there could also be major changes in the Scottish men's area team championship next year.
There has been dis-satisfaction in certain quarteres with the current league table format which puts the areas into all-play-all sections, played over almost the length of the season, and, depending on the luck of the draw, sometimes involving expensive trips for the teams of six players and officials to the other end of the country.
An announcement is expected next week.

Newburgh player beat top seed Dear and Gibson

Carnie's blistering pace earns him

crack at McNicoll in quarter-finals

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Royal Troon giant-killer Grant Carnie could become a victim of his own blistering pace in the Allied Surveyors Scottish men’s amateur golf championship.
The 20-year-old US college circuit player (pictured right by Cal Carson Golf Agency), from Ellon, Aberdeenshire knocked out the No 1 seed and Walker Cup certainty Gavin Dear at the 19th and then swept into the last eight despite a crippling blister on his right heel.
After surging seven up through the first nine holes of his afternoon fifth-round tie, Carnie, carrying his own clubs over his shoulder, beat young Scott Gibson (Southerness) by 8 and 6 in under three hours without losing a hole - and then said:
“My heel is killing me. I could feel it starting to get sore towards the end of the morning match against Gavin but it wasn’t until I took my socks off in the locker room that I could see what the problem was – a whacking big blister. I don’t know where it’s come from because I’m wearing my normal golf shoes,” said Newburgh-on-Ythan member Carnie whose father Murray runs the Paul Lawrie Foundation for the 1999 Open champion.
“I’ve been to see the first-aid people and they’ve given me something to put on it, so hopefully that, plus a good night’s rest, will see me OK for my quarter-final match on Friday morning. I certainly hope so because I wouldn’t like having to hobble through another tie, especially the most important one in my golfing life so far.”
Carnie has spent 2 ½ years at Brevard College, North Carolina but his performances for its golf team have been so good and so consistent that he’s been head-hunted by the golf coach of the University of South Carolina-Aiken – who play at a higher level – and that’s where Grant will return after the summer holidays.
“I love it in the States. I’m able to golf six or seven times a week right through the winter in Carolina, which is a wee bit more often that I could do in typical Scottish weather.”
It was Carnie’s fairway-splitting, booming drives that were the feature of his 19th
hole win over Murrayshall’s Dear who holed par-saving putts at the 17th and 18th before the North-east man – not in the first 1,200 of the R&A WAGR - finished off the 12th best amateur in the world with an 18ft birdie putt at the first extra hole.
“I’ve always been a good driver of the ball - about 300yd on a links course like this but my short game has come on a ton with the amount of time I’ve been able to work on it in America.”
Did Carnie expect to get to the last eight at Royal Troon, not having got past the second round in his two previous appearances in the ‘Scottish’?
“Of course, not – If I had I wouldn’t be running out of a change of shirts and other stuff as I am! But I’m loving every minute of it. I love the course. It suits my game. Long may it continue,” he said.
Carnie will have to beat two seeds in a row to reach the semi-finals. His next opponent is eighth seed Keir McNicoll (Carnoustie), beaten in the 2007 final and “getting better with every game this week.”
McNicoll won by a surprising big margin – 5 and 3 – over Greg Paterson (St Andrews New), who lost to eventual title-winner Calum Macaulay in last year’s semi-finals at Carnoustie.
“I’m starting to put well. Maybe it’s meeting better players as the week progresses that helps me raise my game,” said Keir who spent four years at Lynn University, Florida, as did his youngster sister Katy, recent winner of the North of Scotland women’s amateur title.
Fourth seed Paul O’Hara bidding to reach his third final since five years – after defeats at 2004 and 2006 – is moving along nicely towards the Saturday 36-hole climax although, by his own admission he did not play as well in afternoon 2 and 1 win over Mark Bookless (Sandyhills) as he did in the morning 7 and 5 victory over the new Scottish boys open stroke play champion, 16-year-old Jack McDonald (Kilmarnock Barassie).
“I was three under par in beating Jack but it was tougher in the afternoon, even though I was two holes up early on,” said Paul.
“I feel have more expectation now in this championship than before when I was quite happy to win a few matches. No, I’ll be really disappointed if I don’t make it to the final a third tibme – and win it!”
Drumpellier’s Steven Rennie came from four down with five to play and birdied the 18th to beat Kris Nicol (Fraserburgh) in the fourth round. Rennie staged another strong finish to beat Stirling University student James White, the 2006 Scottish boys’ match-play champion.
Unemployed at the moment, the silver lining for Rennie is that he has been able to work on his golf and put a cutting edge on his game. The 29-year-old former Scotland boys cap has come from behind in every tie he has played at Royal Troon this week and he did it once more in winning at the 19th with a par against White.
Rennie trailed all the way after the turn until he squared the game at the 18th and won at the first extra hole.
US college student Peter Latimer from Markinch, near Glenrothes was two up at the turn on Stirling’s Chris Lawton before beating him by 3 and 2.
“It’s all about making pars in a cross wind like this. If I keep holing the putts, I’ll be happy.”
Latimer, a 21-year-old student at Guilford College, North Carolina, has won four competition in the States. He lost a three-way play-off at Lundin links in last year’s East of Scotland Open.
Hazlehead’s David Law, winner of the Scottish boys’ match-play championship at Balgownie in April, is through to the last eight with a 2 and 1 win over another 18-year-old, Oliver Huish, son of the now retired North Berwick club pro, David.
Winning the 13th with a pitch-and-putt after missing the green and the 15th, where he holed an eight-footer, were key holes for Law who went two up, giving him a cushion for losing the 16th before clinching victory at the 17th.
“I’m delighted to have reached the last eight. I’ve not been playing particularly well of late, maybe just in flashes, which you can get away with in match-play,” said David, a protégé of Paul Lawrie.

David will now meet another comparative youngster, Euan Brown, Ayrshire boys kingpin a year or two ago before he went off to St Mary's University in California. Euan had a very good win against the former Scottish match-play and stroke-play champion, Kevin McAlpine from Alyth by 2 and 1.

The only Ayrshire survivor in the last eight, Brown says he will not be going back to California. Instead he will enrol at Strathclyde University after the summer holidays. Brown got off to a flying start and McAlpine, still coming back to full fitness after a serious knee operation last winter, was left to play catch-up golf - and Royal Troon's testing links, particularly in the strong westerly cross wind is not the best place to indulge in that.

Brown was two up after three holes, and three up at the turn. McAlp;ine cut his deficit to two holes with three to play but Euan held him a bay
Former international Bryan Innes (Murcar Links) ended the Colville Park Golf Club hopes of two members, Paul O’Hara and Ross Kellett, contesting the final. He beat the third seeded Kellett, at the 22nd after a great match in which the North-east player had a one-hole advantage on and off over the first nine holes but there was nothing to choose between the pair after the turn.

FIFTH ROUND RESULTS

Grant Carnie bt Scott Gibson 8 and 6.

*Keir McNicoll bt Greg Paterson 5 and 3.

*Paul O'Hara bt Mark Bookless 2 and 1.

Peter Latimer bt Chris Lawton 3 and 2.

Steven Rennie bt James White at 19th.

Bryan Innes bt *Ross Kellett at 22nd.

Euan Brown bt Kevin McAlpine 2 and 1.

David Law bt Oliver Huish 2 and 1.

FRIDAY MORNING QUARTER-FINALS

8.00 Carnie v McNicoll.

8.15 O'Hara v Latimer.

8.30 Rennie v Innes.

8.45 Brown v Law.

GRANT CARNIE KOS TOP SEED GAVIN

DEAR AT ROYAL TROON

American college circuit golfer Grant Carnie, playing the game of his life, floored the No 1 seed and hot title favourite Gavin Dear in the fourth round of the Allied Surveyors Scottish men’s amateur golf championship over the windswept Royal Troon links this morning.
Three seeds survive into this afternoon’s round of the last 16 – Colville Park’s No 3 Ross Kellett and No 4 Paul O’Hara and No 8 Keir McNicoll (Carnoustie). O’Hara’s 7 and 5 win over 16-year-old Jack McDonald (Kilmarnock Barassie), last week’s winner of the Scottish boys’ open stroke-play championship, was the biggest margin of the 16 fourth-round ties.
Carnie, very much the underdog at the start of the match, landed the knock-out blow at the 19th after taking the lead for the first time at the 15th - and promptly losing it again.
“I’m delighted. It feels good to have beaten a player of Gavin’s standing. I can hardly believe it although I was looking forward to the match and I knew I had a chance if I played to my best form – which I did, maybe even better than I thought I could play at this level,” said 20-year-old Carnie, whose father Murray is organiser of the Paul Lawrie Foundation.
Carnie is home on holiday in Ellon, Aberdeenshire from the United States where he has been a student at Brevard College, North Carolina but his form for their golf team has been so good that he has been head-hunted by the University of South Carolina-Aiken golf coach which is where Grant will go back to in the autumn.
“I’ve got no excuses,” said Dear, whose golf also benefited hugely from playing four years in the States as a student at Lynn University, Florida. “I did everything I could but I just couldn’t buy a putt out there.”
Dear jumped into a two-hole lead by winning the third and fourth but that was the most Newburgh-on-Ythan member Carnie trailed. The Ellon scratch man, carrying his own clubs while Dear had Troon Ladies scratch player Rachel McQueen pulling his bag, won the sixth and eighth and after that it was a squeaky tight contest between Dear, ranked No 12 amateur in the world and Carnie, not in the first 1,200 but looking every bit as good as his highly-rated opponent who perhaps erred on the conservative side in the driving stakes.
Dear, who is a certainty for a place in the GB&I team for the Walker Cup in the United States in September, bogeyed the 15th to go one down for the first time but bounced back to square by winning the 16th.
Gavin scrambled brilliantly to salvage halves in par at the short 17th and the 18th. The Scone-based man bunkered his tee shot below the plateau 17th green but came out very well to six feet past the hole – and downed the putt confidently for a half with Carnie’s two-putt 3.
Dear was bunkered left off the tee at the 18th and after taking three go get on Royal Troon’s par-4 finishing hole, he again finished up ramming home a four-footer without hesitation to match Carnie’s two-putt 4.
But down the 19th, the top seed’s driving let him down again. He was up the right and miles behind the big-hitting, straight-driving Carnie off the and took three to reach the putting surface. He never got a chance to save par this time.
Grant was confidently on in two and rolled in his 18ft putt for a winning birdie 3 extinguishing Dear’s title hopes in what will be his last “Scottish” before he turns pro in late September.
McDonald Ellon’s Adam Dunton put up a good fight against the No 8 seed Keir McNicoll (Carnoustie) before going down by 2 and 1. Dunton was one up at the turn but McNicoll was just the stronger in the cross wind blowing in from the sea over the closing holes.
Former Scotland cap Bryan Innes (Murcar Links) took up a three-hole lead on Michael Gray (Lanark) by the seventh tee and stayed in the driving seat to win by 4 and 2.
Fraserburgh’s Kris Nicol looked bound for the last 16 without any problems when he was four up after 13against Steven Rennie but the Dunfermline man fought back to be all square after 17.
Rennie, who had birdied the 14th and 16th, continued his grandstand finish by birdieing the 18th for a one-hole victory.
Former Scottish stroke and match-play champion and on his way back from a serious knee operation during the winter, Kevin McAlpine (Alyth), square at the turn, beat Christopher Forman (Peterhead) by 2 and 1.
Scottish boys’ match-play champion David Law (Hazlehead) was one up on Mark Thomson (Grange) at the turn but the tie was all square after 12 but Law got his nose in front again by the 18th tee and a half in bogey 5s down the last put the 18-year-old Paul Lawrie protégée through to the last 16.


ALLIED SURVEYORS SCOTTISH MEN’S AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP
Royal Troon Golf Club

FOURTH ROUND
(*denotes seeded player)
Upper Half
Grant Carnie (Newburgh on Ythan) bt *Gavin Dear (Murrayshall) at 19th
Scott Gibson (Southerness) bt Richard Graham (Hayston) 1 hole.
Greg Paterson (St Andrews New) bt Michael Campbell (Renfrew) 3 and 2.
*Keir McNicoll (Carnoustie) bt Adam Dunton (McDonald Ellon) 2 and 1.
*Paul O’Hara (Colville Park) bt Jack McDonald (Kilmarnock Barassie) 7 and 5.
Mark Bookless (Sandyhills) bt Ed Wood (Crow Wood) 3 and 2.
Peter Latimer (St Andrews New) bt Stephen Machin (Cowglen) 1 hole.
Chris Lawton (Stirling) bt Andrew McLachlan (Bonnyton) 2 and 1.
Lower Half
Steven Rennie (Drumpellier) bt Kris Nicol (Fraserburgh) 1 hole.
James White (Lundin) bt Scott McClory (Bathgate) 5 and 4.
Bryan Innes (Murcar Links) bt Michael Gray (Lanark) 4 and 2.
*Ross Kellett (Colville Park) bt James Hendrick (Pollok) 5 and 4.
Euan Brown (Kilmarnock Barassie) bt Stewart Henderson (Hamilton) 1 hole.
Kevin McAlpine (Alyth) bt Christopher Forman (Peterhead) 2 and 1.
David Law (Hazlehead) bt Mark Thomson (Grange) 1 hole.
Oliver Huish (North Berwick) bt Robert Jenkins (Crow Wood) 3 and 2.

NORMAL SERVICE WILL BE RESUMED ON SATURDAY EVENING

BECAUSE OF THE WEAK T-MOBILE SIGNAL IN THE TROON AREA, UPDATES ON THIS WEBSITE - AND www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk - WILL BE VERY LIMITED UNTIL SATURDAY EVENING.
WE ASK FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING IN THESE TRYING CIRCUMSTANCES FOR THE EDITOR WHO HAS A LOT TO TELL YOU BUT CANNOT GET IT UP ON YOUR SCREENS.

COLIN FARQUHARSON