THE NORTH-EAST ALLIANCE DEBATE:
How do we get the pros back?

From Ian Bratton
Newburgh-on-Ythan GC
PGA Professional


This is my view as to why the pros are not present at the Alliance in the same numbers as years gone by.
1 - Most pros don't have as many staff due to a number of circumstances (eg. minimum wage coming in and the credit crunch hitting in). Thus the pro either works on a Wednesday, or has to employ someone to cover the shop.
2 - There are not so many assistant pros on the go because the prospects of turning pro and working as a club pro doesn't seem to appeal to kids in the North-east. The oil industry is strong so most want to take the safe option and head for the North Sea. On the playing front they would go from playing lots of golf during the season as an amateur to playing virtually no golf due to the lack of assistants golf on the Tartan Tour.
3 - Most of the head pros have become shopkeepers and teachers, having to work twice as hard during the season to make a living. This has made the Tartan Tour very two-sided. You are either a player pro or a club pro. To mix both is impossible. This is mainly due to the change in the golf trade. Where as in the past the club pros had all the business in their hands and did not have the distraction of the Internet and big High Street stores. The only place anyone could buy a set of clubs outwith the pro shop was a set of clubby book Pin of Lee Trevino mastermex( along with a bit of stick from the mates as well)!!
Hence their competitive edge has gone and they don't have a hunger to play in the season or through the winter in the Alliance.
4 - Sorry about all the doom and gloom, it can't be that bad!!!

Here's my message to the club pro's and assistants:
Make the Alliance season your golf season.
The courses are great.
The competition is great (I like the fact that I can play against TWO Scottish Amateur champions in the same day)
The club pros are not the ones being shot at any more!
The North-east Alliance is well run, thanks to Ron Menzies.
It's well documented, thanks to Colin Farquharson, thus giving you good publicity if you do well.
You have a chance to market yourselves on the day, by promoting your shop and your lessons.
Your golf will improve by having a card in the pocket week in week out.
5 - My suggestion to improve the format would be to put a slot on each tee time for pros and sub-5 handicap amateurs (ie, handicap of 4 or less), so that the club golfers would be guaranteed to get a game with a good player.

Regards,
Ian Bratton
PGA Professional
Newburgh on Ythan Golf Links
Beach Road
Aberdeenshire
AB41 6BY
Tel 01358 789058
E-mail: pro@newburghgolfclub.co.uk

You can E-mail your opinion to Colin@scottishgolfview.com

Only Kelly is up to par at

windy Duke's Challenge

The Duke’s Course, St Andrews proved too tough a test for the majority of the Tartan Tour field who played in the Duke’s Challenge today.
In windy conditions, only Cawder’s Chris Kelly was able to match the par of 71 to win the top prize of £455.
Bogeys, double bogeys and triple bogeys – and even a 12 at par-4 fifth by a player who shall remain namelessss – abounded as even players of the calibre of former PGA champion Andrew Oldcorn (Kings Acre) and PGA Cup team player Craig Matheson failed to break 80.
“It is a tough course and it was quite windy,” said PGA Scottish Region tournament director Hugh Malcom. “I should also add that quite a few of the field are not regular tournament competitors.”
Kelly kept a double bogey off his card in halves of 34 (two under par) and 37 (two over par). He birdied the second, fourth and long sixth before he dropped a shot at the seventh. Coming home, Kelly bogeyed the long 11th, 15th and short 16th with only one birdie, a 2 at the short 12th.
Kelly was one of the later starters as was the man he demoted from the clubhouse lead, Northern Open champion Craig Lee. Lee picked up £370 with a one-over-par 72, thanks to four birdies (first, fifth, 11th and 14th) and five bogeys in halves of 37 and 35.
The three men who tied for third place on 73 and won £236 apiece were former Scottish PGA champion Mark Loftus (Cowglen), who had a triple bogey 7 at the 15th, past European Tour rookie of the year Scott Henderson (Kings Links), despite a double bogey 7 at the 11th ., and past Ryder Cup player Ronan Rafferty who had three birdies and five bogeys on his card.
Sixth placed Greig Hutcheon (Banchory) could have more than doubled his money (£155), even won the tournament had he not run up a quadruple bogey 7 at the short seventh in an outward half of 40 en route to a 74 which included hard-fought pars at the last eight holes.
Oldcorn had a double bogey 7 at the first and a triple bogey 7 at the 13th in halves of 41 and 39 for an 80.
Matheson had a triple bogey 7 at the seventh and a triple bogey 6 at the short 16th in his 81 (39-42).
An eagle 2 at the 396yd ninth helped Alan Lockhart (Ladybank) finish joint seventh on 75.

FINAL SCORES
Par 71
71 Chris Kelly (Cawder) £455.
72 Craig Lee (unatt) £370.
73 Mark Loftus (Cowglen), Scott Henderson (Kings Links), Ronan Rafferty (unatt) £236 each.
74 Greig Hutcheon (Banchory) £155.
75 Ken Campbell (Machrihanish), Gregor Abel (Alloa), Alan Lockhart (Ladybank) £118 each.
76 Scott Herald ( Mearns Castle ), Malcolm Isaacs (Nairn Dunbar ), Ayden Roberts-Jones (Duke’s Course), Fraser Mann (Musselburgh) £25 each.
77 David F G Scott (Duke’s Course, James McGhee (Turnhouse), Lee Harper (Archerfield Links).
79 Stuart Kerr (Strathaven), Alan Mackay (Pumpherston), Graeme Brown (Montreose).
80 Anthony Caira (Kirkcaldy), Ron Walker (unatt), Jamie Carver (St Andrews Golf Store), Alastair Love (Charleton), Chris McCalman (unatt), Andrew Oldcorn (Kings Acre).
81 Craig Matheson ( Falkirk Tryst).
82 Ewan Davie (Dunblane New), Garry Forrester ( St Andrews Golf School ).
83 Paul Wardell (Whitekirk).
85 Ross Neill (Drumpellier), Patrick Walker (PGA Golf Management).
86 Scott Grieve (Turnhouse).
87 Stewart Winter (Callander).
94 William Fairfull-Smith (Cowglen), Stuart McEwing (Montrose).
107 Matthew Laughtland (Cawder)
NRs Ian Robertson (unatt), Peter McLachlan ( West Kilbride ).
Retired Ross Dixon (Renaissance Club).

Tartan Tour four-ball match-play

championship is down to semi-finals

A starting field of 64 pairs is down to the last four with the semi-finals of the PGA Scottish Region’s Fellowship four-ball match-play championship, supported by Powakaddy, being played over the Queen’s Course at Gleneagles Hotel on Tuesday morning.
The first semi-final, teeing off at 8am, will feature Graeme Bell (Linlithgow) and David Park (Wishaw) against Alan Waugh (Clydebank & District) and Grant Miller (Old Ranfurly).
The second semi-final at 8.10 will see Stewart Savage (Dalmuir) and Craig Everett (Caldwell) play the Mearns Castle pairing of George Boswell and Adam Hunter.
The final will be played over the Centenary Course, starting at 1pm.
The quarter-finals were played over the King’s Course with Bell and Park having a good 5 and 4 win over Neil Colquhoun (Merchants of Edinburgh) and Stephen Gray (Hayston).
Waugh and Miller were 3 and 1 winners over the West Lothian duo, Ross Ewen and Alan Reid.
In the lower half of the draw, the experienced Savage and Everett won by 4 and 3 against Sean O’Donnell (Balbirnie Park) and Alyth’s Michael Rae.
Boswell and Hunter won by 3 and 2 against the all-Downfield pairing of Kenny Hutton and Scott Ewing.
QUARTER-FINALS
Queen’s Course, Gleneagles Hotel
G Bell (Linlithgow) & D Park (Wishaw) bt N Colquhoun (Merchants of Edinburgh) & S Gray (Hayston) 5 and 4.
A Waugh (Clydebank & Dist) & G Miller (Old Ranfurly) bt R Ewen & A E Reid (West Lothian) 3 and 1.
S Savage (Dalmuir) & C Everett (Caldwell) bt S O’Donnell (Balbirnie Park) & M Rae (Alth) 4 and 3.
G Boswell & A Hunter (Mearns Castle) bt S McEwing & K Hutton (Downfield) 3 and 2.

Cal Carson Golf Agency image of David Law in action at Royal Troon on his way to the Scottish men's amateur championship.

Hazlehead honour David Law with exhibition match

on October 11, crystal and portrait on clubhouse wall

Hazlehead Golf Club is to stage an exhibition match to honour its double Scottish champion, David Law - winner of the Scottish Under-18 boys title at Balgownie in April and the Scottish men's amateur championship at Royal Troon at the end of July.

Law will partner Hazlehead clubmate Sandy Pirie against Donald Jamieson (Nigg Bay) and Bryan Innes (Murcar Links) in a 10-hole match, teeing off at 2pm on Sunday, October 11.

Pirie gained Walker Cup honours in 1967 and Jamieson won the Scottish amateur championship at Balgownie in 1980.

Innes reached the semi-finals of the Scottish amateur championship at Royal Troon this summer. A former Scotland international, Innes also reached the last four of the British mid-amateur championship at Muirfield in 2005.

Scottish Golf Union vice-president Gordon Murray, a lifelong Hazlehead Golf Club member, said: "We thought we should do something special to mark the achievements this year of one of our own members, David Law. Hugh Stuart, who was a Walker Cup player and a past Scottish amateur men's champion, would have played in the exhibition match but he will be on holiday at the time.

"The club will be presenting David with a piece of crystal, suitably engraved, and he will have his portrait hung in the Hazlehead clubhouse."

+The match on October 11 will, of course, be open to the public with no admission charge and Hazlehead GC officials hope that the Aberdeen golfing public will turn out in force to honour one of the city's greatest golfing sons.

Essex men win English county championship for first time

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY ENGLISH GOLF UNION
For the first time in their history Essex are the English men's county champions. They clinched the title in nail-biting fashion by beating Wiltshire 5-4, the championship being settled in the final match on the final green.
Having finished the foursomes 1-2 behind, Essex then turned the tables by winning four of the six singles to claim the title in their first finals appearance for 34 years.
It was a jubilant Essex skipper David Miller who said: “I’m delighted. We knew if we drew the match we’d lost on game points so we had to win. I told the players to go out and just play their normal games and my four strong players got the wins but midway through the afternoon I felt it was getting away from us.
“But I’m so pleased for the boys. I’ve been with them for three or four years and we’ve been a close-knit squad with a great spirit. It is nice to win but it is tough to lose and I feel sorry for Ben Loughrey in the final match when the pressure kicks in.”
Miller was referring to the crucial contest and the last left on the course. With the score 4-4, Loughrey and Ross Spurgeon came to the 18th all square and the Wiltshire man was in the better position off the tee. However, he hooked his second shot out of bounds and with it went Wiltshire’s hopes. He found the green in four but took two more to get down for a bogey 6 and with Spurgeon on the putting surface in three, conceded the game and with it overall victory.
It was something of an anti-climax to a splendid contest and gave Loughrey his only defeat in six outings. Under the pressure, the 18th also saw Matt Swales fire his approach out of bounds as did Essex’s James Webber.
It cost them all but Wiltshire will be wondering how the title got away from them for the third successive year. Wiltshire captain Jez Tomlinson said: "I’m proud of what we have achieved. We’ve gone further than ever before and we just came up short. I think the morning foursomes took more out of the team than we thought.
"After nine holes of the singles I felt we were out of it, down in five matches and level in the other. But the boys rallied well and we came so close."
The battle for third place went in Cumbria’s favour by half a game point after their match finished in a 4½ - 4½ tie. There was nothing to separate them in the foursomes either, both sides claiming one win and a halved match.
That meant everything hinged on the singles and Cumbria made the first move, winning the top two singles with William Bowe beating David Walley and Simon Young overcoming Neil Wain, both by 3 and 2.
But the match swung Staffordshire’s way when Paul Griffiths beat an out of sorts Seb Crookall-Nixon 3 and 2, while Richard Prophet and Jarred McKnight claimed 5 and 4 wins over James Atkinson and Martin Hand respectively.
Prophet had three front-nine birdies to turn two up, then birdied the 10th, 12th and 14th to seal his victory. That left Staffordshire one point ahead but Cumbria had the last laugh when Grant Little led most of the way against Tony Cheese to claim the last game 3 and 2 which avoided the wooden spoon.
Final scores and more information on the Men's County Champions event can be found on the EGU website, www.englishgolfunion.org

Tom Pernice becomes 15th player to win on

his United States Champions Tour debut

FROM THE PGA.COM WEBSITE
CARY, North Carolina (AP) -- Tom Pernice Jr. became the 15th player to win in his Champions Tour debut, holing a 35ft birdie putt on the final hole Sunday for a one-stroke victory over Nick Price and David Frost in the SAS Championship.
"You don't expect to hit a 35-footer, especially on the last hole to win," Pernice said. "It was my turn to win, I guess."
Pernice, a two-time winner on the US PGA Tour, closed with a 3-under 69 to finish at 13-under 203 on the Prestonwood Country Club course.
Frost shot a 67, and Price had a 68.
"That was exciting," said Frost, who made a late charge with birdies on three of his last four holes. "I didn't have a good start, but then all of a sudden, it changed.
"I birdied seven and eight, and I made a bunch of putts on the back nine. I can't be too disappointed."
Price, who birdied three of his last five holes, and Frost had eagle putts on No. 17, but failed to convert.
"I played really well the last five holes," said Price, the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am winner in April. "I like where I am now. I would have liked to have won, but this has done a great deal for my confidence."
Frost, who made his Champions Tour debut last week with a top-10 finish at the Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn, said he wasn't happy with his putter after his first-round 69 Friday at the SAS. So, he borrowed a putter from the Prestonwood golf shop Friday night, and he liked it so much, he said he plans to buy it.
Pernice is the third player this year to win in his debut, following Tom Lehman, who teamed with Bernhard Langer in the Liberty Mutual Legends, and Senior PGA Championship winner Michael Allen. In the 2007 SAS Championship, Mark Wiebe won his tour debut. Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player also won in their first senior starts.
Dan Forsman, after battling Pernice for much of the day, shot a 70 to finish fourth at 11 under. Olin Browne (68), Russ Cochran (71), Denis Watson (71) and Andy Bean (68) followed at 10 under.
Pernice's only bogey of the week came on No. 9 -- his 44th hole of the event -- after he hit his tee shot into the water. That left him tied with Forsman.
Three poor tee shots later, and Pernice was a stroke behind.
Forsman returned the favour by three-putting 12 and 13, missing a 3ft par putt on the par 571-yard par-5 12th. After 13, Cochran and Forsman were a shot behind Pernice.
"I got off to a good start, and then I started to struggle," said Pernice, who played 264 events before his first win on the PGA Tour. "I battled through some tough times in the middle of the round. I settled down after my par at 10."
He said his 6 foot par putt on the 10th hole was almost as important as the 35-foot birdie putt he made on the 18th Sunday.
"It was pretty important," he said. "That would have been two bogeys in a row, and I hadn't had a bogey all week.
"It calmed me down, and then I started hitting some quality shots."
Loren Roberts closed the gap on Fred Funk in the race for the Charles Schwab Cup, moving within seven points as they head into next week's Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship, where the points are doubled.
Roberts, who started the SAS Championship 57pts behind Funk, began Sunday's final round in a tie with Funk. But Roberts carded a final-round 66, just missing a 10-foot birdie putt on 18, to tie for ninth at 9 under and earn 50 Schwab Cup points.
Funk (68) tied for 18th at 7 under.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72)
203 T Pernice jun 67 67 69.
204 D Frost 69 68 67, N Price 68 68 68.
205 D Forsman 67 68 70.
206 A Bean 68 70 68, O Browne 72 66 68 D Watson 66 69 71, R Cochran 66 69 71.
Selected scores:
213 Mark James (Eng) 73 71 69 (jt 36th).
216 Sandy Lyle 69 73 74 (jt 53rd).

Garrett Willis wins at Midland, Texas and books

promotion to US PGA Tour at end of year

FROM THE PGA.COM WEBSITE
Garrett Willis held steady on Sunday and slowly put away the field at the Nationwide Tour's WNB Golf Classic. The 35-year-old fired a final-round 68 at Midland Country Club, Texas to finish at 20-under-par 268, one shot better than Chad Collins, who had blistered the course earlier with a 10-under-par 62.
The win is the second on the Nationwide Tour for Willis and the first since he captured the 2005 Envirocare Utah Classic. More importantly, he picks up a check for $94,500 that assures him of a return trip to the USA PGA Tour next year. Willis jumps 13 places to No. 6 on the money list and raises his season total to $261,506, more than enough to assure him of a place among the Nationwide Tour's 25 top money-winners at the end of the year who will graduate to the Tour.
"It's an almost surreal feeling," Willis said. "I was kind of expecting this grand explosion of emotion and I suppose that will come at some point. This is our job and what we set out to do each year."
Willis owned a two-stroke lead to begin the final round, but by the time he teed off, Collins was already 9 under through 13 holes and was leading by two. When Collins two-putted for par to close out his 62, Willis was making birdie at No. 4 to regain a share of the lead at minus-19.
"I knew, being in the lead, I was going to be in the driver's seat all day. I didn't think the biggest challenge would come from the final groups," said Willis. "I thought somebody would come from way behind us. Typically, guys go low early. There isn't any pressure and they can just fire away. Somebody always posts something low."
Willis bogeyed No. 5 and was trailing by one. He saved par with a 10-foot putt at the par-3 8th hole and then tapped in a short birdie at No. 9 to pull even with nine to go.
"I do watch the leaderboards but I didn't see too many early on," he said. "I saw the one at number nine and knew Chad was in the house at 19. I felt like if I just stayed patient I'd make a couple of birdies. I knew that if I could shoot 1 under on the back I'd be fine."
So, while Willis headed for the back nine and Collins waited to learn his fate, the rest of the field was treading water.
Darron Stiles put on a late rush with a 6-under 30 on the back nine for a a 66 and a 17-under total.
Jin Park closed out a bogey-free 66 to tie Stiles for third, his career-best finish on Tour. Park's previous career-best was a tie for eighth at the 2006 Scholarship America Showdown. He moved up 38 places on the money list from No. 118 to No. 80.
Esteban Toledo also posted a 66 and headed the group at 16 under. He was eventually joined by Keoke Cotner, who was runner-up here a year ago.
Willis' nearest challengers to start the day, J.J. Killeen and Brendan Steele were both struggling and never put any pressure on the leader. They both posted 1-under 71s and tied for seventh.
Willis moved in front with back-to-back birdies at Nos. 12 and 13. A "rope-hook 5-wood" off the tee at No. 17 put him in trouble at No. 17. His second shot caught a low-hanging branch and he wound up making bogey, reducing his lead to one.
"I really didn't think my nerves were too bad today," he said. "Usually I can get pretty jumpy but I just tried to stay calm, walk slow and talk slow. I was pretty calm out there, especially for me."
Willis was barely off the front of the green at the par-4 18th and needed two putts to close out the win.
"There was no way that first putt was going past the hole," he said of his 35-footer. "When I walked up there I knew I wanted to leave it a little short and right, right up the hill."
Mission accomplished. He left himself three feet of green to win.
"I never thought about winning the golf tournament until the last hole," he said. "It wasn't a gimme but I felt no pressure over it."
John Kimbell made a run up the leaderboard at midday. Kimbell strung together eight birdies in nine holes, including six in a row, starting at No. 4 to get to 15 under par. He birdied No. 16 but stumbled to a closing bogey when he missed the green to the right at the final hole. He settled for an 8-under 64 and a tie for seventh.
Tom Gillis also tied for seventh this week, his sixth consecutive top-10 finish and his seventh of the year. Gillis led the field with 26 birdies this week. He remains No. 4 on the money list.
Jerrod Turner also tied for seventh. Turner started the week as an alternate and didn't make into the field until Tuesday afternoon. He was No. 199 on the money list and knew the only way he'd qualify for next week's Soboba Classic was to finish in the top 25. Turner shot rounds of 67-67-69-70 and earned $14,212. His finish did qualify for next week.
Keoke Cotner tied for fifth this week, his best finish of the year. Cotner was runner-up in this event to Marc Leishmann last year.
Kris Cox, 2005 champion, had a roller-coaster week. Cox posted opening rounds of 67-67 to reach 10 under par and make his first cut in 13 starts this year. He was tied for fifth after the first 36 holes. The weekend turned sour, though, as he shot scores of 76-78 to finish at even-par 288 and tied for 70th.
Chad Collins locked up his US PGA Tour card for 2010 with his third runner-up finish of the year. Collins earned $56,700 and moved from No. 15 to No. 9 on the money list with $255,514.
Second-round leader Fran Quinn fired weekend scores of 74-70 and dropped into a tie for 19th place. Quinn, winner of last week's Albertsons Boise Open remains No. 18 on the money list.
The Nationwide Tour moves to San Jacinto, California this week for the inaugural Soboba Classic, which features the third $1 million purse in the tour'shistory. The tournament will be played Oct. 1-4 at Soboba Springs and will be 26th stop on the Nationwide Tour's 29-event schedule this year.
LEADING MONEY-WINNERS ON NATIONWIDE TOUR 2009
1 Michael Sim $527,079.
2 Blake Adams $369,499.
3 Chris Tidland $336,572.
4 Tom Gillis $335,429.
5 Roger Tambellini $296,570.

Mickelson pips Woods with a 65 but

Tiger takes home $10millon bonus

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Phil Mickelson came from four shots back to win the United States Tour Championship in Georgia but Tiger Woods was the biggest winner as he took a $10 million bonus as the season-long FedEx Cup champion.
Mickelson, the world's No 1 left-hander, began the day at four under par, four behind overnight leader Kenny Perry and two behind world No 1 Woods but eclipsed both men with a five-under-par round of 65 at Atlanta's East Lake Golf Club to claim the $1.35m first prize.
Woods shot a level-par 70 to claim second place as Perry fell away with a 74 to tie for fourth place.
Tiger's runner-up finish was good enough to maintain his lead in the FedEx Cup standings at the end of a US PGA Tour season which saw him win six times after returning to the game in February following eight months out after reconstructive knee surgery.
Sean O'Hair was third at five under with Perry sharing fourth place with Padraig Harrington, the Irishman securing his sixth consecutive top-10 finish after a miserable first seven months of the season. Harrington finished with his third sub-par round of the tournament, a 69, for four-under 276.
FINAL TOTALS
East Lake GC, Atlanta, Georgia.
Par 280 (4x70)
271 Phil Mickelson 73 67 66 65
274 Tiger Woods 67 68 69 70
275 Sean O'Hair 66 70 70 69
276 Kenny Perry 72 66 64 74, Padraig Harrington (Irl) 67 69 71 69
277 Steve Stricker 70 72 66 69
278 Steve Marino 69 71 67 71, Jim Furyk 72 68 71 67
279 Ernie Els (Rsa) 71 66 71 71
280 Jerry Kelly 71 67 71 71, John Senden (Aus) 70 70 69 71, Lucas Glover 68 71 72 69
281 Nick Watney 70 69 71 71, David Toms 74 66 70 71, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 72 67 70 72
282 Zach Johnson 70 72 73 67, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 75 73 64 70
283 Y.E. Yang (Kor) 71 75 66 71
284 Jason Dufner 71 68 73 72, Stewart Cink 67 72 70 75, Heath Slocum 73 68 71 72
285 Scott Verplank 70 71 74 70
286 Retief Goosen (Rsa) 69 72 72 73
287 Hunter Mahan 71 73 72 71
288 Mike Weir (Can) 72 72 70 74, Luke Donald (Eng) 70 71 78 69
289 Dustin Johnson 69 74 73 73
292 Marc Leishman (Aus) 70 74 70 78, Brian Gay 72 72 76 72
293 Kevin Na 73 70 75 75

Hugh Hunter's Clackmannan County News

DUNHILL CALL-UP FOR CALLUM

The weekend saw the good news that Tulliallan’s Callum Macaulay and his supporters had hoped for - a sponsor’s invite to the prestigious Dunhill tournament played this week over St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns.
Callum started at eighth reserve and moved up to third reserve, but it was several days before the golfing Gods smiled. In the event, Callum will be leading a team in a pro-am event while competing for a very lucrative prize fund—just what he needs in his quest to retain his Tour card for 2010.
Also in the event are his team mates from the winning 2008 Amateur Eisenhower Trophy team, Gavin Dear and Wallace Booth, and they will now be competing as golf professionals. Hopefully there will be a strong local following to encourage Callum in this event. Details of his tee times are on the European Tour website.

DOLLAR DISAPPOINTMENT
Dollar’s challenge in the Scottish club championship final at Prestwick St Nicholas on Sunday did not materialise and the team finished well down the field . With best two from three scores of 156 in each of the two rounds, the team finished 17 shots behind the winning team of Prestwick.

SCOTTISH ALLIANCE GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP
The annual championship for professinals and amateurs are played over three days at Gullane from October 6 to 8, and Clackmannanshire will be represented by two Alloa golfers, Chris Westland and Ray Barton.