PHILIP McLEAN IN ACTION - Image by Cal Carson Golf Agency

PHILIP McLEAN WINS BY THREE SHOTS AT ELLON


AS DAVID LAW HAS BOGEY-BOGEY FINISH

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Peterhead’s Scotland cap Philip McLean drove and putted well on his way to a six-birdie round of four-under-par 66 (35-31) which gave him a three-stroke victory from a field of 111 in today’s North-east Golfers’ Alliance competition at McDonald Golf Club, Ellon.
“I holed a 25-footer at the first and that got me going, even though I dropped a shot at the next,” said McLean who flies out with the SGU Elite Squad on Thursday or next week for a month’s practice and training at Abu Dhabi.
McLean went on to birdie the sixth from 25ft, the short seventh with an four-iron tee shot to 15ft and the eighth with an eight-iron approach nestling close to the flagstick.
The Buchan man’s accurate tee shots earned him birdie 3s at the 13th where he drove the green with a three-wood at this 254yd hole and the 14th (255yd) where he used a driver and two-putted from through the back.
Joint runners-up on 69 were Hazlehead’s David Law (36-33), winner of the Scottish boys’ and men’s titles last year, Fraserburgh’s Jordan Findlay (37-32), beaten finalist in this year’s Scottish amateur championship and, more recently, easy winner of the Scottish Alliance championship, and Inchmarlo staff pro Ryan Fitzpatrick (36-33).
Law, needing a birdie-birdie finish for a winning 65, instead bogeyed both the last two holes while Fitzpatrick birdied the tricky last hole which Findlay bogeyed.
Law and Findlay will be joining McLean on the SGU Elite Squad's one-month long trip to Abu Dhabi.
This week's "game of two halves" belonged to former Scottish senior match-play champion George Paterson whose round of 77 was made up of an outward half of 45 (+8 to par) and an inward half of 32 (-1 to par). George, just back from a world cruise, had a double bogey 6 at the second and a triple bogey 7 at the fifth before he found his "land legs" again. He birdied the 13th and 18th and bogeyed the 18th.
You could write a book about players who have come to grief at Ellon's 18th holes. The most notable "victim" today was Newburgh club pro Ian Bratton who was out in 38 (+1) and level par for holes 10 to 17 ... and then must have had a disastrous 18th because Ian had a No Return.

Leading scratch scores
Par 70. Yardage 5,942
66 P McLean (Peterhead) 35-31.
69 R Fitzpatrick (Inchmarlo) p 36-33, D Law (Hazlehead), J Findlay (Fraserburgh) 37-32.
70 C Nelson (MacKenzie Club)p 37-33.
72 P Lovie (P1 Corporate) p 35-37, J Hopwood (Skibo Castle) p 37-35.
73 C Buchanan (Newmachar), D Brown (Kemnay) p, R Lamb (Newmachar).
74 G J Mitchell (Braemar), G Munro (Fraserburgh), K Beveridge (Inchmarlo) p.
75 H Roulston (Stonehaven), S Elrick (Kemnay), S J Lawrie (Portlethen), D Fleming (Portlethen).
76 C Cassie (Nigg Bay), P McIntosh (Newburgh). W Shaw (Banchory), H Love (Oldmeldrum) p.
77 S Scott (Auchmill), C Carnegie (Kemnay), A K Pirie (Hazlehead), G H Paterson (Northern), M Jenkins (Duff House Royal).
78 J Nicolson (Auchmill), S Lawrie (Portlethen), C Stewart (Kippie Lodge) p.
79 P Morrison (Oldmeldrum), J M Hamilton (Murcar Links), L Fowler (Royal Aberdeen), J Roberts (Cruden Bay), D Leslie (Westhill).
80 J Borthwick (Craibstone), D Wilson (Duff House Royal), D Bingham (Newburgh).
81 I Macdonald (Dunecht House).
82 G Geddes (Auchmill), C Ord (Auchmill), R Brown (Inverurie), Samantha Leslie (Westhill), D Bisset (Banchory), R O’Donnell (Oldmeldrum).
83 P Cornfield (Auchmill), M Forster (Cruden Bay), D MacKay (Newmachar), M Fraser (Longside), D McKay (Caledonian), J Murrray (Banchory).
84 B Harper (Newburgh), M Merchant (Newmachar), C Farquhar (Auchmill), M K Smith (Inverurie).
85 S Kennedy (Craibstone), D Wood (Newburgh).
86 J Scott (Peterculter), D Randall (Banchory), M F R Rogers (Kemnay)


HANDICAP
Class 1- C Buchanan (Newmachar) (8) 65; S Elrick (Kemnay) (7) 68; G J Mitchell (Braemar) (5), H Roulston (Stonehaven) (6), B Shaw (Banchory) (7), R Lamb (Newmachar) (4) 69.
Class 2 – C Farquhar (Auchmill) (18) 66; M Smith (Inverurie) (17) 67; P Cornfield (Auchmill) (15), R Brown (Inverurie) ((14), M F R Rogers (Kemnay) (15) 71.

McDONALD ELLON PAR (70) SCORECARD:
OUT: 4-4-4-5-4-4-3-4-5--37. IN: 4-3-3-4-4-3-4-4-4--33.

PHILIP McLEAN 66
OUT: 3-5-4-5-4-3-2-3-5--35. IN: 4-3-3-3-3-3-4-4-4--31.

DAVID LAW 69
OUT: 3-4-5-4-4-4-4-4-4--36. IN: 4-3-2-4-3-3-4-5-5--33

RYAN FITZPATRICK 69
OUT: 4-4-3-6-4-4-3-3-5--36. IN: 4-4-4-3-4-3-4-4-3--33.

JORDAN FINDLAY 69
OUT: 5-4-4-4-5-4-2-4-5--37. IN: 4-3-3-4-4-2-3-4-5--32

COLIN NELSON 70
OUT: 4-5-4-3-4-3-4-5-5--37. IN: 3-4-4--4-3-3-4-4-4--33

SPEED IT UP AT EDZELL NEXT WEDNESDAY!

There will be about half-an-hour less daylight next Wednesday for the NE Alliance competition at Edzell. The last tee time will be noon.
Players, particularly those in the first hour or two off the first tee, are urged to speed up their pace of play to give those who are off at the end of the field a chance of finishing before darkness falls.
The last four or five groups today at Ellon finished in almost unplayable conditions because the pace of play in front of them had been so slow.
The NE Alliance does not have the manpower to employ a ranger to keep things moving. Competitors have to impose their own discipline.
Ten minutes to play a hole means you get round in 180 minutes or three hours.
Fifteen minutes a hole means you get round in 270 minutes or four and a half hours.
Somewhere in between is the desired pace of play for NE Alliance fixtures in the diminishing light of November-December.

Results published for first time on Scottishgolfview.com

TURRIFF (October 13)
SCRATCH
66 A Ross (Deeside).
68 J Findlay (Fraserburgh), K Nicol (Fraserburgh).
70 A K Pirie (Hazlehead).
71 D Brown (Kemnay), C Nelson (Mackenzie Club), R Fitzpatrick (Inchmarlo).
HANDICAP
Class 1 - C Buchanan (Newmachar) (8) 65; P Morrison (Oldmeldrum) (6) 70; K Minty (Turriff) (9) 71; L Morland (Kemnay) (4) 71; K Dalglish (Nigg Bay) (2) 72.
Class 2 - N Chisholm (Kemnay) (11), S Davidson (Northern) (13) 69; M Smith (Inverurie) (17) 70; M Booth (Kemnay) (15), M F Rogers (Kemnay) (13) 71.

BALLATER (October 20)
SCRATCH
67 D Brown (Kemnay), A K Pirie (Hazlehead).
68 S Larkin (Royal Aberdeen).
69 S Finnie (Caledonian), B Nicolson (Auchmill).
HANDICAP
Class 1 - D Mackay (Newmachar) (6) 65; D Wilson (Duff House Royal) (5), P Guthrie (Peterculter) (9) 68; F Bisset (Banchory) (2), Laura Murray (Alford) (3) 69.
Class 2 - M F Rogers (Kemnay) (15), M Booth (Kemnay) (15) 64; P Cornfield (Auchmill) (15) 65; C Ord (Auchmill) (10) 67; C Brindley (Banchory) (12), G Brown (Portlethen) 68.