European senior men's amateur team championship

Scott MacDonald a non-counter but

Scots 4th after QR1

Despite a nightmare, non-counting round by Scottish seniors champion and former Walker Cup player Scott MacDonald, Scotland could fell well satisfied with fourth place at the halfway stage of the 36-hole qualifying test in the European senior men's amateur team championship at Fairhaven Golf Club, Lancashire.
Ireland set the pace ahead of defending champions England in the first qualifying round. With Maurice Kelly and Tom Cleary leading the way with rounds of 71 and 72 - the par is 73 - respectively, the Irish were in a good enough position to discard a 78 by Adrian Morrow.
Their three other scorers were Arthur Pierse and Michael Quirke with 74s and Garth McGimpsey with a 76.
The top eight teams after Wednesday's second qualifying round will make up the championship match-play flight.
Tony Stafford (Dun Ochil) leding the way for the Scots with a two-under-par 71. He was backed up by Edzell's Jim Watt, pictured above by Tom Ward, with a 74, Ian Taylor (Royal Burgess) 78, Colin Christy (Kilmacolm) 79 and David Gardiner (Broomieknowe) also with a 79.
The surprising non-counter under the best five from six format was Scott MacDonald (Dunfermline) who was expected to be the team leader. He had a nightmare round of 12-over-par 85.

SCOREBOARD

FIRST QUALIFYING ROUND
Par 73
367 IRELAND (Maurice Kelly 71, Tom Cleary 73, Michael Quirke 74, Arthur Pierse 74, Garth McGimspey 76. Non-counting: Adrian Morrow 78.
372 ENGLAND (Alan Squires 73, Andrew Carman 73, Chris Reynolds 75, Philip Slater 75, Doug Arnold 76. Non-counting: Dave Jessup 83.
378 SWEDEN
381 SCOTLAND (Tony Stafford 71, Jim Watt 74, Ian Taylor 78, Colin Christy 79, David Gardiner 79. Non-counting: Scott MacDonald 85).
382 GERMANY.
393 FRANCE.
401 AUSTRIA, DENMARK.
===============TOP EIGHT ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT QUALIFY
403 ITALY
404 SPAIN, SWITZERLAND.
406 NETHERLANDS, NORWAY.
415 BELGIUM.
416 PORTUGAL.
419 FINLAND.
425 SLOVENIA.
446 LUXEMBOURG.
457 POLAND.