GREIG HUTCHEON WINNER, SCOTT LARKIN LEADING AMATEUR

Scottish PGA chief executive Michael MacDougall, Bookless Cup winner Scott Larkin, Aberdeen Asset Management Northern Open champion Greig Hutcheon and Hugh Little of Aberdeen Asset Management. Image by Derek Ironside.

Northern Open final day wash-

out but future's bright

FROM THE SCOTSMAN WEBSITE
By Martin Dempster
The final two rounds may have been washed out, leaving halfway leader Greig Hutcheon as the winner, but the enthusiasm of Brian Hendry, the event's promoter, to build up the Aberdeen Northern Open has certainly not been dampened.
He's made a five-year commitment to the Tartan Tour event, Aberdeen Asset Management are on board as title sponsor for three years with an option beyond that and Meldrum House will be the tournament venue for another two years.
Discussions will be held soon regarding the dates for the 2011 event and a return to its traditional spring slot is a possibility due to the Walker Cup being held at Royal Aberdeen next September.
"Losing the final two rounds is disappointing but we are delighted with the tournament," said Hendry, an Aberdeen-based businessman who has helped breathe new life into an event that has been won by some of the most famous names in Scottish golf over the past 79 years.
"We are looking to build it up, both in terms of prize money and the field, and in Aberdeen Asset Management and Meldrum House we have a great sponsor and home for the event. I want to keep the event in Aberdeenshire but felt it had been round the houses too many times."
While the date of next year's event may be up for debate - Meldrum House bosses believe it is a better late-season venue despite the wash-out on this occasion - one thing for certain is that invites will again be handed out to some of Scotland's leading amateurs.
Of the 11 who joined the cream of the Tartan Tour in this week's field, seven of them made the cut, with Scott Larkin lying as the closest challenger to Hutcheon, a fellow Banchory man, when the tournament drew to a premature end.
"We still want to keep the amateur element. This event should involve the professionals and amateurs playing against each other and, as I think this week has shown, it is definitely a good thing for the amateurs," noted Hendry.

Hugh Little, the managing director of Aberdeen Asset Management, also gave the new-look event the thumbs up. "We are keen to be the pre-eminent sponsors of golf in Scotland and the chance to revive this tournament was too good to miss, especially in this part of the world," he declared.
Separated by just a shot and with Craig Lee, the defending champion, and two-time winner Jason McCreadie breathing down their necks, an exciting finish looked to be on the cards between Hutcheon and Larkin only for a day of heavy rain in the North-East to put paid to that.
Most of the greens and fairways became flooded and play was abandoned at 10.30am, leaving 37-year-old Hutcheon as the first player to claim the title over 36 holes since Jock Brown in 1965 at Royal Aberdeen.

The win earned Hutcheon, who as an amateur himself claimed the Bookless Cup in the same event back in 1991, a cheque for £3,800 and, just as important to him, valuable points in the race to stay at the top of the Tartan Tour Order of Merit.

The rewards for that include spots in the BMW PGA Championship, Barclays Scottish Open and Johnnie Walker Championship, while Hutcheon, a three-time winner on the Challenge Tour, is also hoping to secure berths in the Welsh and Irish Opens next year through the end-of-season PGA Play-Offs.

"This has put me in a great position in the Order of Merit," said the winner. "I still work hard on my game and getting into these big events is huge because you can win a lot of money by finishing in the top 20-30.

"Now I'd love to do the double by also winning the Gleneagles Scottish Championship (on 14-17 October] - hopefully over 72 holes this time. It could be a cold week with woolly hats on the go but it is a great venue. I only played the Kings Course for the first time this year and I didn't realise how good a course it is."
Hendry revealed he is keen to see all 49 players, including those seven amateurs who made the cut, to be exempt for next year's event, giving Larkin, for instance, another chance to see if he can become the first amateur to lift the title since Sandy Pirie in 1970.
He had to settle for the Bookless Cup on this occasion and Hutcheon, for one, believes the 23-year-old could be in with an outside chance of making the Great Britain and Ireland team for the Walker Cup in a year's time.
"It was a great performance from Scott here," he added. "He's a really good player and he could be in with a shout of making the side for Royal Aberdeen, particularly if he did really well in the British Amateur Championship next year."
Leading cash prizes
G Hutcheon £3,800.
J McCreadie and C Lee £2,650 each.
S Gray, P McKechnie, A E Reid £1,366 each.
R Arnott, G Fox, C Doak, F Mann £600 each.
C Gillies £320
C Kelly, D Orr, D Patrick £300 each.