Surprise move in Scottish seniors match-play

Rodaks bows out at Newmachar even though

he would have been fourth qualifier

Last week’s North of Scotland Seniors Open winner and first round leader at Newmachar this week, Moffat’s George Rodaks had the fourth best 36-hole qualifying aggregate today – but surprisingly he has bowed out of the Scottish senior men’s amateur match-play golf championship.
Apparently the in-form 60-year-old Borders player, knew he had a prior commitment in Ireland later this week, which meant he could only play in the stroke-play qualifying rounds.
Which poses the question: Why did he bother entering the championship in the first place?
Rodaks had rounds of 72 and 80 for 152. That total was bettered by only three men – No 1 seed Bob Stewart (Tulliallan) with 76 and 73 for 149, and two men on 150, Gordon MacDonald (Callander) and Clydebank-born but Ireland-based Iain Stewart (Curragh).
MacDonbald scored 74 and 76, Iain Stewart 73 and 77.
MacDonald’s lower second round earned him the No 2 seed spot.

QUALIFIERS
Par 144 (2x72). CSS 74 74.
149 Bob Stewart (Tulliallan) 76 73.
150 Gordon MacDonald (Callander) 74 76, Iain Stewart (Curragh) 73 77.
153 David J Miller (Kilmarnock Barassie) 78 75, Sandy Pirie (Hazlehead) 77 76, David Downie (Kirriemuir) 76 77, Derek Murphy (Kinross) 75 78, David Bunker (Nairn Dunbar) 75 78, Robert Jack (Liberton) 74 79.
154 Donald McCart (Sherwood Forest) 77 77, Andrew Campbell (Kinross) 77 77, Keith Bruce (Edzell) 75 79.
155 Sandy Fairweather (Caledonian) 78 77, Michael Jenkins (Duff House Royal) 76 79.
156 Alex Ritchie (Bothwell Castle) 79 77, Stephen Ellis (Heritage GS) 76 80, Alistair Fiddes (Deeside) 76 80, Ian Taylor (Royal Burgess) 73 83.
157 George Paterson (Northern) 81 76, Brian Christie (Wilton) 77 80.
158 Ronald MacLean (Hamilton) 79 79, Robert Gill (Gerrards Cross) 76 82.
159 David A Millar (St Andrews New) 78 81.
160 John Hamilton (Murcar Links) 80 80, Andrew Laird (Deeside) 79 81.
161 Alan Nelson (Banchory) 80 81.
162 Patrick Tomisson (Nairn 79 83.
163 Les Fowler (Royal Aberdeen) 81 82.
164 Keith Hay (Westhill) 79 85.
165 John Broadfoot (Turnberry) 84 81, Keith Howie (West Kilbride) 80 85.
166 Bill Methven (Royal Aberdeen) 83 83.
Withdrew: 152 George Rodaks (Moffat) 72 80.
Non-qualifiers included:
167 Francis Clark (Royal Aberdeen) 83 84, John Russell (Monarch Dunes) 83 84.
169 Brian Grieve (King James VI) 85 84, Gordon Gray (Newmachar) 86 83.
172 John W Johnston (Royal Aberdeen) 87 85.
175 Colin Moir (Worksop) 85 90.

FIRST ROUND MATCH-PLAY DRAW
(10min intervals)
9.30am Bob Stewart v Bill Methven, Stephen Ellis v Alistair Fiddes, David Bunker v Andrew Laird.
10.0 Robert Jack v John Hamilton, David J Miller v Keith Hay, Sandy Fairweather v Brian Christie.
10.30 Sandy Pirie v Les Fowler, Keith Bruce v Ronald MacLean, Gordon MacDonald v Keith Howie.
11.0 Alex Ritchie v Ian Taylor, Derek Murphy v Alan Nelson, Donald McCart v David A Miller.
11.30 Iain Stewart v John Broadfoot, Michael Jenkins v George Paterson, David Downie v Patrick Tomisson.
12.0 Andrew Campbell v Robert Gill.
THURSDAY
Second round ties from 9.30am to 12 noon.
Quarter-finals at 1.30, 1.38, 1.46 & 1.54.
FRIDAY
Semi-finals at 9.30 & 9.45.
Final - 2.30

Tartan Tour Scoreboard
BEN PRO-AM
Archerfield Links (Fidra Course)
PRO SCORES
Par 72
69 Mark King (Kingsfield), Greig Hutcheon (Banchory), Craig Lee (unatt) £688.52 each.
70 Gordon Law (Uphall), Craig Matheson (Falkirk Tryst), Graeme Lornie (Paul Lawrie Foundation) £318.44 each.
71 Campbell Elliott (Haggs Castle), Alan Lockhart (Ladybank) £206.56 each.
72 Hamish Kemp (Bishopbriggs GR), Jonathan Lomas (unatt) £154.92 each.
73 James McKinnon (Irvine), Craig Ronald (Carluke), Lindsay Mann (Carnoustie), Callum Nicoll (Prestwick) £116.19 each.
74 Samuel Cairns (Colville Park), Garry Harvey (Kinross Golf), Colin Gillies (Playsport Golf) £86.06 each.
76 Fraser Mann (Musseburgh) £68.68 each.
78 Paul Jamieson (Dunblane New), Scott Henderson (Kings Links) £56.03 each.
80 Peter Mitchell (Hermitage) £43.01.
NR Andrew Meikle (Archerfield) £43.01.
WINNING TEAM PROS
57 (-15) Craig Lee (unatt), Mark King (Kingsfield), Graeme Lornie (Paul Lawrie Foundation).

Scotland's squad at Hillside for the home internationals. Image by Tom Ward. Click on it to enlarge.

Scotland captain urges Home stars to

grab a piece of history at Hillside

FROM THE EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS WEBSITE
By MARTIN DEMPSTER
Scott Knowles is backing Scotland's amateur golf stars to earn a place in the record books this week – by becoming the first team to hold the World, European and Home International titles at the same time.
Two of those crowns are already in the bag and, especially on the back of the European triumph at Conwy in Wales earlier this summer, the Scots are surely the favourites for the Home Internationals, which tee off tomorrow at Hillside Golf Club, near Southport in Lancashire.
"We desperately want to add this title to complete the clean sweep, which I don't think has been done before," said Knowles, who got his captaincy off to a flying start with that European Championship success in North Wales.
Not surprisingly, all six members of that side – Gavin Dear, Wallace Booth, Ross Kellett, Paul O'Hara, Michael Stewart and Glenn Campbell – are in action again this week and Knowles is delighted with the players who've been added for the four-cornered event.
"We've got a new, young Scottish champion in David Law, a man who shoots 63s for fun in James Byrne and last year's Scottish Order of Merit winner, Steven McEwan," added the captain.
"Ably backing them up are an experienced internationalist in Keir McNicoll and another young up-and-coming player in James White and, all in all, I think we have a team that is more than capable of bringing home the Raymond Trophy."
Ireland won that piece of silverware at Muirfield last year but Knowles reckons England, Scotland's opening opponents on the Lancashire coast, will be the team to beat.
"It should be a great Home Internationals and one I'd certainly recommend all golf fans to attend," said the Kingsknowe man, who was hoping that his close friend Stephen Gallacher, out of action at the moment as he recovers from illness, could have cheered the Scots on this week but that is now unlikely due to a Callaway commitment.
"England, with their seven Walker Cup players, will be looking to do well on home turf, while Wales and Ireland will both be hurting from their performance in the Europeans and I am sure they will come out with all guns blazing.
"Our first game is against England which should be a fantastic game, especially as it's a repeat of the European final, but my guys have shown in the past that when required they can raise their game to the standards that are required.
"It should be a fantastic three days of golf and I hope we have a lot of supporters helping us to bring the trophy back home."
All ten Walker Cup men who will face the amateurs of the United States at Merion next month, will be in action at Hillside.
England include four new caps – Stiggy Hodgson (Sunningdale, Surrey), Matthew Nixon (Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire), Chris Paisley (Stocksfield, Northumberland) and James Robinson (Southport & Ainsdale, Lancashire) – in an otherwise experienced side containing seven of the team that finished third last year.
England captain Colin Edwards said: "We have had a really good year with our teams and some great individual performances. But winning back the title won't be easy," he said. "I'm really excited about the week. We have four new faces and to have seven Walker Cup players in our side is unbelievable.
"That means the expectations are higher than before so meeting us will be everyone's big game. We play Scotland on the first day and having lost to them in the European final adds that extra edge. But this time there are ten players in action rather than six."
*The full article above appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.

Hickory chief urges players to fly

the flag for Scotland


FROM THE EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS WEBSITE
By MARTIN DEMPSTER
Organisers of next month's World Hickory Open have sent out a plea for players to line up for Scotland in a Ryder Cup-style event.
While places in the Rest of the World team will be easily filled when the match is held over Musselburgh Old on Monday, 20 September, the composition of the home team is proving a headache.
"We have sufficient pros and foreign amateurs – but we need more local golfers to play for Scotland," said Lionel Freedman, the tournament chairman. "This has to be the opportunity of a lifetime, and clubs are supplied, but amateurs will be expected to have reasonable handicaps."
The inaugural match is part of a new World Hickory Festival of Golf, which is being sponsored by East Lothian Council and Homecoming Scotland.
More than 30 foreign amateur and professional golfers have entered a handicap medal event to be held at Musselburgh Old the previous day, when they will be battling for places in the Rest of the World team.
And Freedman is hoping for a positive response to his rallying call so that an embarrassing situation for the home team is avoided in terms of numbers.
"This is clearly an incredible opportunity to play for Scotland with Scottish professionals, so I'm now waiting for the calls," he said, asking anyone interested to phone him on 0131 665 4861.
The match is a warm-up for the PGA World Hickory Open, which is being played over Gullane No 2 on 24-25 September.
"We already have a good entry for that with pros coming over from the US, Sewden, Belgium, Holland, France, Canada and Portugal but there are still some team spots available in the Pro-Am on September 24," added Freedman.
**The full article above appeared in Monday's Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.

Tim Jackson (50) leads US amateur qualifying

American Tim Jackson, twice winner of the USGA Mid-Amateur championship, shot a two-under 68 to take the lead after the first qualifying round of the U.S. Amateur Championship at Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Jackson, 50, made three birdies against one bogey at Southern Hills Country Club. Jackson, from Germantown, Tennessee, was the only player in the field of 156 to beat par. golfer in the field at Southern Hills. Four players managed to shoot 1-under at the second qualifying venue, Cedar Ridge Country Club in Broken Arrow.
A maximum qualifying aggregate of 147 is predicted to reach the match-play stages.
Shooting one-under at Cedar Ridge were Matthew Broome of Barrington, R.I., John Peterson of Fort Worth, Texas, Will Strickler of Gainesville, Fla. And Cameron Tringale of Laguna Niguel, Calif.

Casey misses first leg of FedEx Cup play-offs

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
World number three Paul Casey is out of this week's Barclays event in New Jersey, the first leg of the US Tour's FedEx Cup play-off series.
But Casey, suffering a rib muscle injury, hopes to return at the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston next week.
"It has been a really frustrating few weeks and, of course, I was particularly disappointed to miss the PGA Championship," he said. "I had hoped to be back out on Tour this week. However, I feel pretty lucky that it wasn't more serious and that the injury has responded to treatment so well."
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PGA Tour's official website
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Three times a winner this season, the 32-year-old Englishman picked up the problem during a practice session before The Open at Turnberry last month.
He finished 47th there, but then had to pull out during the first round of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational three weeks ago and missed the final major of the year.
He added: "I am really hoping that it continues to improve and I will be teeing it up in Boston next Thursday."
He is still undergoing a course of intensive treatment. It includes having a cortisone injection to the intercostal muscle to assist the recovery of both a tear and a strain.
Casey, who eight days ago lost his lead on the European "Race to Dubai" money list to German Martin Kaymer, lies 18th in the FedEx Cup standings.

Monty: Catriona Matthew is role

model for Ryder Cup contenders

FROM THE SCOTSMAN.SPORT.COM WEBSITE
By JIM BLACK
Colin Montgomerie has issued a rallying cry to Scotland's male golfers to follow the example of Catriona Matthew, the British Women's Open champion, when they line-up at Gleneagles this week in the £1.4 million Johnnie Walker Championship.
The Ryder Cup captain is keen to see several of his countrymen emerge as contenders for places at Celtic Manor next year after lamenting the fact that not a single Scot was involved in the most recent match at Valhalla.

Montgomerie, pictured, also warned those with aspirations of making the team must aim to play their way into the world's top 40 after picking out Marc Warren as a potential contender.

"I hope this week that players like Marc Warren, David Drysdale and Alastair Forsyth show me some form because I would like to see a Scottish presence in Wales other than myself," said Montgomerie.

"Of all of our players, Marc is the one with the potential to succeed. He has the asset of great length and skill and he proved that when we played together in the World Cup and won it after finish runner-up the year before.

"Marc has had a few too many missed cuts and the consistency has not been tere. But I am sure that will come right and when the Ryder Cup qualification process starts at the European Masters in Switzerland it will be amazing the effect that has on the players. What Catriona Matthew achieved has given the game in Scotland a lift and we have had others contending recently."

Montgomerie also pointed to the success currently being enjoyed by our amateur golfers following the European and world team championship victories.

"We now need that group to go forward into the professional game and perform the same way," he said. "Really we only need a couple of them to do that to reap the rewards."

Montgomerie confessed to having felt sorry for Alison Nicholas and her Solheim Cup team after revealing that he had taken more of an interest in the biennial match than usual, presumably in search of pointers.

"They were trying to become for the first European team to win in America and after their third defeat in a row and our Ryder Cup loss last year it will be important to break the American stranglehold in Wales," he said.

Meanwhile, Montgomerie lavished praise on the Playsport Golf complex at East Kilbride after interrupting his preparations for Gleneagles to perform the opening ceremony yesterday.

"We want as many people as possible to have the opportunity to play golf before the 2014 Ryder Cup and this is an excellent facility," he enthused. "But this is not just a golf complex. There is a plan to have indoor courts as well and we are always complaining about the lack of tennis prowess in Britain.

"Tim Henman and Andrew Murray have taken the sport forward but there is not much happening beyond that. This facility can make a huge difference."