WEST KILBRIDE SET FOR SCOTTISH

BOYS' CHAMPIONSHIP

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE SCOTTISH GOLF UNION
The scenic setting of West Kilbride on the Ayrshire coast will be the stage as the Scottish Boys Championship gets the domestic golfing season gets underway in earnest next week (5 – 10 April).

Scotland’s leading 256 junior golfers will battle it out for the prestigious title, won last year by Aberdonian David Law who went on to make history as the first golfer to win the Scottish Boys Championship and Allied Surveyors Scottish Amateur Championship in the same year.

There are high hopes of an Ayrshire winner on home soil, with Kilmarnock Barassie’s Jack McDonald among the favourites to lift the trophy. The 17-year-old is the reigning Scottish Boys Stroke Play Champion and will be looking to emulate Scott Henry (2004-05), Steven Young (1994-95) and John Huggan (1977-78) all of whom achieved the Boys’ Stroke Play and Match Play double.

Another Ayrshire club, Troon Welbeck – home of 2008 winner Michael Stewart - will also harbour ambitions of glory, with no fewer than eight representatives in the field, more than any other club while Glasgow club Williamwood and Craigielaw in East Lothian are the next highest ranked with five junior members apiece. A total of 141 clubs are represented.

Deeside’s Jack Scott will go into the Championship full of confidence after his win in the opening SGU Junior Tour event of the season, as will young Borderer Simon Fairbairn (Torwoodlee) following his recent victory in the Scottish Junior Champion of Champions at The Duke’s, St Andrews.

Pollok player Conor O’Neil, a member of the Scottish Golf Academy (West), is the lowest handicap player in the field at +1.9 and will rate his chances of victory in the opening ‘Major’ of the season, while Craigielaw’s Grant Forrest – winner of the firstpointusa.com Scottish Boys U16s Championship last year – and Scott Gibson (Southerness), fresh from playing for Scotland’s Men’s team in South Africa, will be among the other players to look out for.

West Kilbride celebrates its tenth hosting of the Championship and SGU Championship Manager Euan Mordaunt is relishing a return to the picturesque venue:

“There’s always a great buzz leading up to the first major event of the domestic season and after a long hard winter I think there’s even more anticipation this year. West Kilbride is a fantastic venue with stunning views across to Arran and a warm welcome for everyone who visits the club.”

“This year’s Championship will be hotly contested with some great talent emerging through our junior ranks and several national champions at age group level in a very strong field. The course will be a testing but fair challenge and I’m sure we’ll have a very worthy champion come next Saturday.”

The handicap ballot fell at 5.4 with 32 players on the reserve list. A results service will be available on http://www.scottishgolf.org/ with live scoring during the latter stages of the Championship. The first match gets underway at 6.45am on Monday 5 April with the 36-hole final commencing at 8.30am on Saturday 10 April.

Click here for the draw.

Tom Lewis destroys Berkhamsted Trophy field

British and English Boy Champion Tom Lewis was in record-breaking form as he demolished the field in the 51st Berkhamsted Trophy.
Exactly a week after helping England retain the European Nations Cup in Spain, Lewis carded rounds of 67 and 66 for a nine-under-par 133, the lowest ever aggregate, and a five stroke winning margin over Wiltshire’s Ben Loughrey.
“This is the third time I’ve played the Berkhamsted and on the two previous occasions I’ve messed up one round. But this time it all came right for me,” said Lewis, the first Hertfordshire player to win the title for 17 years.
In conditions similar to those sampled in Spain the previous week, sunny intervals with occasional showers, Lewis was a cut above the rest. “The time in Spain helped a lot,” he added. “I didn’t think I’d get into that team but spending time with some of the best England players definitely helped to sharpen up my game.”
He also felt his knowledge of the Berkhamsted course was another contributing factor. “I’ve played in a lot of events here and I know where the dangers are. But it is not a course that gives a lot of birdies. You have to work for them.”
He certainly did that. The 19-year-old from Welwyn Garden City (photo © Tom Ward) reeled off nine straight pars on the front nine of his morning round but came home in four-under 32 with an eagle, three birdies and just one dropped shot. In fact, he had only three bogeys in 36 holes, while his afternoon 66 from the tenth tee contained seven more birdies plus two three-putts.
But it was the manner of his play that stood out. He drove the ball well, peppered the pins with his approach shots, and would have secured even more birdies but for the tricky early-season greens. He was also able to play with the comfort of knowing that no one was making a threat to his supremacy, boy cap Max Smith carding the next best with 68 after a morning 75 which left him joint 12th.
Loughrey was only a shot behind Lewis at lunch but added 70 for second place on 138 while the home club’s Luke Colgate finished joint third on 139 with Andrew Shakespear from Five Lakes in Essex
.Final scores:
133 T Lewis (Welwyn Garden City) 67 66
138 B Loughrey (Wrag Barn) 68 70
139 L Colgate (Berkhamsted) 70 69, A Shakespear (Five Lakes) 70 69
140 R Smith (Notts) 71 69, T Hatton (Harleyford) 69 71
141 D Coupland (Boston) 71 70, M Wallace (Batchworth Park) 70 71
142 D Ginn (Sudbury) 73 69, A Wootton (Oxford City) 70 72, J Abbott (Fynn Valley) 69 73

Ernie Els wins Arnold Palmer Invitational

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Ernie Els completed a second successive victory and is unquestionably the hottest player in golf with The Masters now only 10 days away.
The 40-year-old South African survived a tense finish to beat Italian Edoardo Molinari and American Kevin Na by two after the storm-hit Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill spilled into a fifth day.
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Els, among 21 players unable to complete his final round on Sunday, resumed two ahead with four to play, but that became one when Na birdied the long 16th.
In the trees off the tee at the same hole, Els had to settle for par there, but as he saved another par from a greenside bunker on the short 17th Na found trouble down the last.
Driving into the right-hand rough led to a bogey five, dropped the Korean-born player alongside former US Amateur champion Molinari on nine under par. Both closed with three under 69s.
Els, who sank testing six-footers at the 15th and 17th, knew a bogey would be good enough at the final hole, but parred it for a 71, an 11 under aggregate and his 64th professional victory.
He lifted the WGC-CA Championship in Miami by a much more comfortable four-shot margin two weeks ago and this was a far nervier affair.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
277 Ernie Els (Rsa) 68 69 69 71
279 Kevin Na 68 70 72 69, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 70 70 70 69
280 Retief Goosen (Rsa) 71 67 73 69, Chris Couch 70 70 69 71
281 Ben Curtis 70 67 70 74
282 Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 73 70 69 70, J.P. Hayes 70 72 70 70, Kevin Streelman 68 75 68 71, D.J. Trahan 69 68 75 70
284 Steve Marino 70 70 72 72, Jim Furyk 71 74 66 73, Derek Lamely 71 70 70 73
285 Robert Allenby (Aus) 68 73 72 72, Davis Love III 66 71 74 74, Bo Van Pelt 72 70 73 70
286 D.A. Points 73 72 72 69, Bill Haas 72 71 70 73, K J Choi (Kor) 71 69 73 73, Briny Baird 72 72 70 72
287 J.B. Holmes 66 74 77 70, Sean O'Hair 70 73 71 73, Charles Howell III 72 72 71 72
288 Brian Davis (Eng) 74 71 73 70
289 Hunter Mahan 71 73 75 70, Ben Crane 69 74 73 73, John Senden (Aus) 71 74 70 74, Boo Weekley 70 73 68 78, Jason Day (Aus) 71 70 73 75
290 Jerry Kelly 71 74 72 73, Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 75 70 74 71, Erik Compton 72 71 73 74, Phil Mickelson 71 67 75 77, Tim Petrovic 74 68 71 77, Tim Clark (Rsa) 74 70 75 71, Scott Verplank 75 70 70 75, Brandt Snedeker 72 72 70 76, Stephen Ames (Can) 73 71 71 75, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 70 74 70 76
291 Bryce Molder 74 70 75 72, Pat Perez 69 74 74 74, Rodney Pampling (Aus) 74 70 71 76, Ryo Ishikawa (Jpn) 74 70 71 76, Dustin Johnson 71 70 72 78, Nathan Green (Aus) 69 73 72 77, George McNeill 69 71 73 78, Marc Leishman (Aus) 70 73 72 76, Mike Weir (Can) 67 73 77 74, Ryan Moore 72 72 74 73
292 Sam Saunders 73 70 77 72, Rickie Fowler 73 72 74 73
293 Steve Stricker 69 71 79 74, Kris Blanks 74 69 73 77, Tim Herron 73 72 76 72, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 74 71 72 76, Matthew Every 74 70 70 79, Colin Montgomerie (Sco) 72 71 71 79, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 67 78 71 77
294 Kevin Sutherland 70 73 76 75, Stewart Cink 73 72 71 78, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 71 73 73 77
295 Joe Ogilvie 76 66 79 74, Chris DiMarco 69 73 75 78
296 Nick Watney 74 71 73 78, Jonathan Byrd 71 73 73 79
297 Ricky Barnes 72 71 82 72, Daniel Chopra (Swe) 74 71 70 82, Paul Goydos 70 72 82 73, Jason Dufner 69 72 73 83, Heath Slocum 69 72 76 80
298 Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 71 74 76 77, Skip Kendall 73 71 77 77
299 Garrett Willis 72 73 80 74
300 Martin Laird (Sco) 74 71 78 77
302 Josh Teater 72 71 79 80

Three wins in a row for rookie senior Fred Couples

FROM THEPGA.COM WEBSITE
CAP CANA, Dominican Republic -- When Fred Couples joined the Champions Tour, most everyone predicted success befitting a 15-time PGA Tour winner and Masters champion.
Judging from his first four events, everyone was right.
Couples won his third straight start on the 50-and-over tour Sunday, shooting a course-record 10-under 62 at Jack Nicklaus-designed Punta Espada for a two-stroke victory over Corey Pavin in the Cap Cana Championship.
"I had a great stretch of golf in 1992," said Couples, who won three tournaments, including the Masters, in a two-month period then, "but I must say that these four weeks on the Champions Tour I'm not missing many shots."
Couples made 11 birdies in the final round and finished the tournament at 21-under 195. Pavin closed with a 66.
"It was an unbelievable day," said Couples, who made five birdies in a row from the second through sixth hole. "The first six or seven holes, there was an eagle, birdies and putts going in from everywhere."
The 50-year-old Couples is the first player in Champions Tour history to win three of his first four tournaments, and the eighth to win three straight starts, leaving him one behind the tour record set by Chi Chi Rodriguez in 1987.
The ACE Group Classic and Toshiba Classic winner after finishing second in the season-opening event in Hawaii, Couples hasn't had a score higher than 68 and is 77 under in 12 senior rounds. He earned $240,000 for a four-event total of $931,000.
Couples began the day two strokes behind Pavin and one back of Nick Price.
Pavin was the victim of a bad break when his second shot at the par 4 14th hole hit a greenside sprinkler head and bounced 60 yards over the green into a waste area. He was unable to recover and made a bogey, losing the lead for the first time since the seventh hole.
"I did a lot of things that were very good out there today," said Pavin, who made an eagle with a chip-in at the par-5 sixth hole to tie for the lead, five birdies and one bogey, "and one bad break does not make a tournament, but it doesn't help any."
Russ Cochran, never a factor in the chase for first place, shot a 67 to finish third at 14 under. Price, who shot himself out of contention with a watery approach shot and double bogey at the 15th hole, had a 71 to tie for fourth at 13 under with Tom Pernice Jr. (67) and Bernhard Langer (67).
Couples, Price and Pavin lit up a defenseless course for the third day in a row.
In the opening nine holes, they made 11 birdies and an eagle.
Couples ran off five more birdies in a row from the 11-15 and maintained a one-shot lead over Pavin when both birdied the par-5 15th. Of Couples' birdies, only one came from outside 30 feet and eight came from inside 15 or less.
Couples will play the PGA Tour's Shell Houston Open this coming week, then head to Augusta National for the Masters.

Great Scott! Deeside's Jack wins at Monifieth

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE SCOTTISH GOLF UNION
Deeside’s Jack Scott got his season off to a flyer with a two-shot victory in the opening SGU Junior Tour event of the year at a cold and windy Monifieth.
The Scottish Boys Development Squad golfer fired rounds of 71 and 70 to post a one-under par aggregate of 141 to finish two shots clear of a group of five players – Eamon Bradley (Mount Ellen), Paul McPhee (King James VI), Conor O’Neil (Pollok), Ian Redford (St Andrews New) and Callum Stewart (Brora).
Despite opening his first round with a birdie three, Scott struggled to an outward half of 40, but notched five birdies on the back nine to storm home in 31, four-under par. That put the 17-year-old in joint first place with Stewart, Redford and Falkirk Tryst’s Jamie Lynch.
Scott fought back from two early bogeys to reach the turn in level par in the afternoon round and a closing birdie four for a one-under par round of 70 clinched victory, much to his delight:
“It’s great start to the season for me and puts me in good shape for the year ahead. It’s obviously been a harsh winter but I used the Squad Training Week in Portugal to good advantage and sharpened up my short game.” said Scott.
“I didn’t play all that well in the Boys Quads in France but since I got back I’ve been working hard with my coach Neil Marr two or three times a week just putting and chipping which has helped. I’ve made a couple of technical changes to my putting and it seems to be bearing fruit.”
“Now I can really look forward to the Scottish Boys at West Kilbride and believe I can win if I take it game by game. The furthest I’ve been was the last 16 at Southerness and I’d love to improve on that. This is my last year in the boys’ circuit and the British Boys in August – my last major boys' event – is also another goal.” he added.
Round off the day came from Mount Ellen’s Eamon Bradley – whose brother Paul won the Scottish Club Handicap Championship last year – who fired a superb three-under par 68 in the afternoon, which included four consecutive birdies from the sixth hole.
Click here for collated scores from the SGU Junior Tour Event at Monifieth.