West beat East in annual Alliance match

The Annual match between the West Alliance and the East Alliance took place at Hayston Golf Course on a dry but wet under foot.
Format for the event which started at 9.15 was Foursomes in the morning and singles in the afternoon. Pairings were Pro and Amateur from each alliance eager to do well for their respective Alliances.
The first three teams gave an early lead to the West.
Stephen Gray (Hayston Pro) & John Fowler(Hayston) beating Neil Colquhoun (Merchants Pro) and David Graham (Lochend) 5&4 followed by Chris Currie (Caldwell Pro) & Gordon Reilly (Lochwinnoch) beating Scott Greive (Turnhouse Pro) & Kenny Reid (West Lothian) 3&1.
One of the tighest games in the morning finished with James Smallwood (Fereneze Pro) & James Hendrick (Bonnyton) beating Terry Mathieson (Kings Acre Pro) & Mark Chaplin (Deer Park) on the 18th green.
The 4th game to come in seen a win for the East when Andrew Marshall (Houston GR Pro) & the East President George Withers (Lothianburn) beat Ewan Grimes (Cardross Pro) & Kevin Caldwell (Hayston) 5&4 but right behind them for the West was Ian Graham (Crow Wood Pro) & Robert Jenkins (Crow Wood) beating Scott Catlin (Greenburn Pro) & Scott Knowles (Kingsknowe) 5&4.
The score at this point was 4-1 to the West and John Anderson East Delegate was looking a bit nervous, these nerves soon vanished when the next 2 games to come in were wins for the East. Alan Mackay (Pumpherston Pro) & Steven Doyle (Gifford) beat Alan McCloskey (Bothwell Castle Pro) & Kevin McCann (Vale of Leven) 4&2 then Ross Neill (Drumpellier Pro) & Stuart Smith (Duddingston) clocked up another win for the East against Ian Robertson (Dalmilling Pro) & Gordon Cree (Troon Wellbeck) beating them 4&3.
Everyting was riding on the last of the morning foursomes, but for the West it was another victory when Alan Reid (Gary Mitchel Golf Pro) & Grant Minnes (Hayston) beat Neil Fenwick (Dunbar Pro) & Neil Bain (Haddington) 4&3.
Everyone enjoyed an excellent lunch provided by Table 13 catering at Hayston Golf Club, the West leading 5-3 after the morning round, with all looking forward to the afternoon singles.
The singles starting at 13.30 saw the first of the pro's teeing off followed by the first of the Amatuers. At 15.08 all players were out on the course. The East Alliance Pro's managed to take the lead by winning four and a half games to three and a half, however the afternoon finished well for the West with the Amatuers winning five to three in the West's favour.
The overall score at the end of play was West Alliance 13.5 East Alliance 10.5 a convincing win for the West. The presentation ceremony was conducted by the West's Captain PGA Professional Keith Baxter (Buchanan Castle) who happily recieved the Uniroyal Trophy from the East's president George Withers.

Oliver Farr wins Duncan Putter

tournament six six strokes

Oliver Farr (Ludlow) was the winner of this year's prestigeous Duncan Putter 72-hole tournament at Southerndown Golf Club in South Wales.
In the end he had a comfortable winning margin of six shots, thanks to a last round of 73, which gave him a total of 277 - 3 under par for the tournament.
Walker Cup captain Nigel Edwards couldn't find the form to mount a serious challenge and had to settle for 2nd place on 283.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 280 (4x70)

CSS 72 72 75 75
Oliver Farr (Ludlow) 66 67 133 71 204 73 277
Nigel Edwards (Whitchurch) 74 65 139 69 208 75 283
Tom Boys (Royal Liverpool) 70 71 141 73 214 70 284
Max Smith (Newbury Racecourse) 70 67 137 75 212 75 287
Laurie Canter (Saltford) 67 71 138 76 214 73 287
Andy Sullivan (Nuneaton) 68 71 139 72 211 76 287
Josh Loughrey (Wrag Barn) 68 72 140 76 216 72 288
Adam Carson (Long Ashton) 75 71 146 75 221 67 288
Tommy King (Sudbury) 70 68 138 77 215 74 289
Alex Christie (Tyrrells Wood) 68 75 143 74 217 72 289
Ian Winstanley (Formby) 71 74 145 69 214 75 289
Jack Brooks (Pleasington) 70 71 141 73 214 76 290
Chris Nugent (Fulford Heath) 73 70 143 73 216 75 291
Hugo Dobson (Fynn Valley) 73 71 144 76 220 71 291
Stuart Phillips (Royston) 74 72 146 71 217 74 291
Michael Hearne (Southerndown) 73 72 145 74 219 73 292
Rhys Pugh (Vale of Glamorgan) 72 70 142 75 217 76 293
Joe Vickery (Newport) 70 75 145 79 224 69 293
Luke Thomas (Vale of Glamorgan) 68 73 141 78 219 75 294
James Frazer (Pennard) 74 70 144 76 220 74 294
Roberto Laino (Bedford & Co) 75 71 146 77 223 71 294
Scott Campbell (Hallowes) 72 75 147 76 223 71 294
Jamie Brittain (Wrekin) 74 73 147 75 222 72 294
Anthony Bradley (Yelverton) 76 72 148 73 221 73 294
Tom Stuart (St Annes Old Links) 72 74 146 77 223 72 295
Ben Westgate (Trevose) 72 75 147 72 219 77 296
Simon Richardson (Boston West)72 76 148 74 222 74 296
Jake Shepherd (The Wisley) 73 69 142 80 222 75 297
Billy Downing (Truro) 69 74 143 79 222 75 297
Luke Jackson (Mold) 72 73 145 75 220 78 298
James Wilson (Formby) 70 76 146 76 222 76 298
Ashley Chesters (Hawkstone) 73 73 146 76 222 76 298
Freddie Sheridan-Mills (Walsall) 75 73 148 74 222 76 298
Nick James (Wenvoe Castle) 68 76 144 79 223 78 301
James Dimond (East Devon) 72 76 148 77 225 76 301
Oliver Baker (Cardiff) 74 72 146 80 226 78 304
Danny Tomlinson Chevin 74 73 147 83 230 74 304
Mark Raven Royal Automobile 72 75 147 75 222 86 308
Steven Lane The Worcestershire 71 76 147 W/D W/D W/D W/D
Damien Turner Rochester & Cobham 77 71 148 82 230 W/D W/D

Early responses from Paul Betty and Michael Buchan

E-mail from Bryan Fotheringham

(a Scotland internatonal in 2005-2006)

could trigger off a lively debate

Hi Colin,

I was recently playing in the Champion of Champions' tournament at Leven and was looking forward to using my GPS Sky Caddie, but to my amazement they were not permitted.

My question is this, the Sky Caddie holds more or less the same information as the traditional yardage book. Also why can I turn up at a local medal and use them, but not at the top amateur events?

On several occasions I got to my ball and the yardage markers on the fairway were either a bit behind me or a bit in front of me. This caused me to pace out my yardage which took time to do. Do this on every hole and the time mounts up as you can imagine. For two-ball rounds at Leven the pace of play was quite slow, and I think most people would feel that in top level amateur golf, the pace of play is getting worse not better.

To add to the slow place issue in my time of playing, not ONE person has been penalised for slow play, and until someone does get a penalty it will not get better. We have a tool now which will help speed up play and we are not using it.

It seems strange this is the case. Thought I would put this to you, I'd be interested to see what others think.

Regards

Bryan Fotheringham

First response from Paul Betty

I completely agree with Bryan in that using GPS and Lasers (apart from slope measurement) to find yardages should be allowed in Order of Merit competitons.

As Bryan points out, the pace of play is getting far too slow and anything that has the potential to speed up play should be encouraged. Competitors are going to get an exact yardage before playing every shot and pacing back and forward to yardage discs or other yardage points only adds to the time required to play a shot, especially when the previous shot has finished off the radar so to speak.

In these cases it's significantly quicker and easier to used such devices to get the yardage and get on with the shot without an additional 30-40 yards of pacing back and forward. From personal experience, many players who take part in these events already have GPS/lasers. They are also much more affordable now meaning that the majority of players without them, could pick one up for less than they would spend on replacing their driver.

A trial period of 2-3 events back-to-back could be used to determine the impact on the pace of play, with a view to allowing it in all events if it is shown to be successful.

Regards

Paul Betty

Second response from Michael Buchan

Playing down at Craigmillar Park last weekend I was also looking forward to using my new Bushnell … but it seems that the SGU have banned the use of these devices from all their tournaments, which I find very strange as the English Golf Union allow them in their events.

As Bryan says, these devices save a lot of time, not only picking out direct distances to the flag but also help to give distances to clear bunkers etc.

They don’t, however, hit the shots for you which some of the rule-makers may think!

It is allowed to use them in practice rounds to take notes from specific points on a hole but obviously during the tournament we then have to refer to our notes and pace out again which all takes time.

Myself and plenty others I know would be interested in the SGU’s view on why they are banned.
Michael Buchan.
PS: Some of these devices have built in ‘Slope’ measurement, which can calculate uphill and downhill and give a ‘playing distance’. E.g. If you have say 150 yards to the flag and it is uphill, it may be playing around 160 yards and you select your club accordingly.

I can understand why these are not allowed. However most of the devices the players have these days are either the ‘Sky Caddy’ which gives a yardage to the front, middle & back of a green and also the ‘Bushnell’ which gives a distance to a specific point which is focused on. Both these devises are available without built in ‘Slope’ measurement… so why are these not allowed ??

+Send your view to Colin@scottishgolfview.com

PGA professional championship of Europe to

make a comeback in Bulgaria next year

NEWS RELEASE
This week sees the announcement by the PGA’s of Europe, that its premier stroke play championship is to return after a six-year break.
At a recent meeting in London, Terra Tour Services, the owners of Pravets Golf & Spa, Bulgaria agreed with the PGAs of Europe to underwrite and host the event for three years starting in October 2011 and will be named the “PGA Professional Championship of Europe”.
This will be the first international professional golfing event ever staged in Bulgaria, where Pravets is just one of a number of superb new courses and resorts being developed.
Pravets hosting such a high profile championship will assist in developing the game of golf domestically as well as increasing its growing image as a golf destination.
The PGA Professional Championship of Europe prize fund will be a minimum of €60,000 and will be competed for by an elite field of 60 professionals from the 30 full member countries who will qualify through their national PGA Championships.
The event will be a 72-hole stroke play format and will be accompanied by a Pro-am tournament.
Lachezar Todorov, CEO of Terra Tour Services, commented “We are delighted to host the premier event for non touring PGA professionals across Europe and look forward to welcoming them to Pravets next year. The sponsorship shows the commitment to putting Pravets and Bulgaria in the minds of golfers and tourists and we look forward to welcoming not only the players in 2011 but golfers and guests from across Europe this year and in years to come.”
The Peter Harradine-designed course at Pravets Golf & SPA resort, situated a mere 40 minutes drive from Sofia, is scheduled to open in June.
With the stunning Stara Planina Mountain and picturesque Lake Pravets as its back drop, it is sure to provide a tough but fair challenge for the cream of Europe's PGA professionals. Pravets is the first and only club in Bulgaria, managed by an international golf management company, Braemar Golf, based in the Home of Golf, St Andrews, Scotland.
The golf course is opening officially in June and will be the most accessible golf course in Bulgaria and also includes a state of the art golf academy available for complete beginners to the elite golfers in Bulgaria.
The Resort features the splendid RIU Pravets Hotel with restaurants and night club, superb SPA centre and fully equipped fitness centre, all-round sporting facilities including water sports on the lake, a 450-seater conference centre, casino and attractive wooded surrounds.
Welcoming the opportunity to return the 72-hole individual championship to the schedule, PGAs of Europe chief executive, Ian Randell said: “We are thrilled to be able to re-establish the PGA Professional Championship of Europe with Pravets Golf & SPA. To be crowned as the champion of PGA professionals in Europe is a great honour and I would like to thank all involved at Pravets and their golf management partners, Braemar Golf, for their wonderful support and commitment to ensuring the return of the Championship for the coming years.”
In addition of the long term collaboration Pravets will be the host of the official PGAE Central Zone meeting on 11 May 2010 where all Central Zone National PGA’s will attend.

New boys' champion Grant

Forrest is perfect pupil,

says coach Porteous

FROM THE EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS WEBSITE
By MARTIN DEMPSTER
New Scottish boys' champion Grant Forrest is "easy" to coach, according to the man who has helped turn him from an eight-handicapper into a double national champion.
Jonathan Porteous, the head professional at Craigielaw, says it's a joy to work with Forrest, picture by courtesy of Andy Forman, who beat Ian Redford by 3 and 2 in Saturday's 36-hole final at West Kilbride.The success came just eight months after Forrest won the Scottish Under-16s Championship at Largs and confirmed his status as one of the emerging stars in the 'Home of Golf'."
All the hard work has come to fruition," beamed Porteous, who joined a large contingent of Craigielaw members to see Forrest claim his latest triumph on the Ayrshire coast."Grant is a clever lad who understands things you are trying to work on – it is easy to teach someone like him, to be honest.
"He was a 12-year-old playing off an eight handicap when he first came to see me and I am delighted to see how much he has come on over the past four years."
Porteous, who coaches EuroPro Tour player Shaun McAllister as well as some of the other promising youngsters at the East Lothian club, added:
"There are a lot of good golfers out there but what sets Grant aside is that he's very intelligent and strong mentally. He does everything right and is the sort of player you can leave to work on his own as you know he'll be doing the right things.
"To win the Scottish Boys less than a year after winning the Scottish Under-16s is a big step up and hopefully he'll use this as a springboard for the season."
Forrest, a fifth-year pupil at Stewarts Melville, was behind after four holes in the final but got back on level terms at the eighth and was never behind thereafter. He won the 13th and 14th with birdies to go into lunch with a two-hole lead, was briefly back to one up before turning for home with a three-hole advantage.
Due to a lapse in concentration – not surprising really at the end of a week in which he played nine rounds in six days – he lost the tenth after driving out of bounds but steadied himself down after that, producing a superb pitch to half the next hole in birdie-3s.
With Greg Smail, the Craigielaw junior captain on his bag, and Gabrielle MacDonald among the clubmates watching on, Forrest duly sealed a success that saw him follow in the footsteps of Musselburgh's Lee Harper, who won the same event at West Kilbride in 1999.
"Grant started playing golf when he was about four," said proud father Graeme, an 11-handicapper at Archerfield Links who watched him every step of the way in Ayrshire and was joined for the final by wife Audrey.
"He used to come along with me to the Kingsfield Driving Range at Linlithgow while he got involved in competition golf initially by playing in the Wee Wonders. That was great and he seemed to have a good swing from the outset."
Forrest, who will still be young enough to defend his title at Dunbar next year, attributed his success to an improved iron game."That was one of my weaknesses in the past but it has really improved over the winter and I hit the ball pretty solid in the final," he said.
Gracious loser Redford admitted: "I was beaten by a guy who played better on the day – Grant kept hitting brilliant iron shots."
Forrest was presented with the trophy by SGU President Bert Leslie, who didn't miss the opportunity to say how much pleasure it gave him to be handing it over to a Lothians player!

Third place earns George Murray 43,820 Euros

European Tour Scoreboard
MADEIRA ISLANDS OPEN BPI
Porto Santo Golfe, Madeira, Portugal
FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
Prizemoney in Euros
268 James Morrison 67 65 66 70 (116,660).
269 Oliver Fisher 67 72 65 65 (77,770).
274 George Murray 66 67 68 73 (43,820).
275 Charles-Edouard Russo (Fra) 74 66 68 67
276 Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 68 71 71 66
277 Gary Clark 69 70 68 70, George Coetzee (Rsa) 69 70 70 68, Michael Hoey 72 68 69 68
278 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 69 71 73 65, John Parry 71 66 70 71
279 Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 72 69 70 68, Alexandre Kaleka (Fra) 74 69 68 68
280 Steve Lewton 70 71 73 66, Robert Coles 73 68 69 70, Richard McEvoy 69 74 67 70, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 73 70 68 69, Simon Thornton 68 66 71 75, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 68 74 72 66
281 Jamie Elson 73 71 66 71, Anton Haig (Rsa) 72 70 69 70, Sion Bebb 70 70 72 69, Andrew Willey 73 69 67 72, Julien Guerrier (Fra) 71 71 67 72, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 69 75 68 69
282 Chris Gane 66 72 73 71, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 70 67 77 68, Phillip Archer 68 71 71 72, Steven Jeppesen (Swe) 70 68 73 71
283 Ben Evans 66 76 72 69, Alvaro Velasco (Spa) 71 72 72 68, Jesus Maria Arruti (Spa) 71 72 71 69, Jamie Moul 71 69 69 74, Andrew Coltart 69 73 70 71, Lorenzo Gagli (Ita) 70 68 73 72, Chris Doak 72 72 70 69 (5,820 each).
284 Lee Slattery 71 73 70 70, Lasse Jensen (Den) 72 68 74 70, Charlie Ford 69 72 69 74, Steven Tiley 70 70 73 71, Manuel Quiros (Spa) 70 72 72 70
285 Jamie McLeary 67 70 76 72, Stephan Gross Jnr (Ger) 72 70 69 74, Benn Barham 69 72 75 69 (4,270 each).
286 Callum Macaulay 72 68 75 71, Carl Suneson (Spa) 74 70 67 75, Marcus Higley 70 71 70 75, Fredrik Henge (Swe) 75 67 70 74 (3,780 each).
287 Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 71 73 71 72, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 72 72 71 72, Ake Nilsson (Rsa) 73 69 72 73, Daniel Brooks 72 70 70 75, Scott Drummond 71 73 74 69, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 71 68 75 73, Julien Quesne (Fra) 67 74 74 72 (3,010 each).
288 Carlos Del Moral (Spa) 71 73 72 72, Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 66 75 70 77, Oliver Whiteley 73 68 75 72
289 Richie Ramsay 72 71 76 70, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 73 69 78 69, Federico Colombo (Ita) 71 70 76 72, Christophe Brazillier (Fra) 71 72 77 69, Bernd Ritthammer (Ger) 73 71 78 67, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 73 69 75 72 (1,925 each).
290 Andrew McArthur 67 70 75 78, Cesar Monasterio (Arg) 74 70 74 72 (1,645 each).
291 Robert Dinwiddie 71 73 73 74, Jonathan Bell 70 73 73 75
292 Ghislain Rosier (Fra) 69 74 76 73, Paul Eales 71 72 77 72

+The Editor apologises for not being able to let you read these scores on Sunday due to being in transit home from holiday on the Algarve.

Masters runner-up Westwood stays fourth in world

rankings, winner Mickelson moves up to No 2

FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
Lee Westwood has remained at fourth in the world rankings after his second-place finish at the Masters on Sunday.
The 36-year-old Englishman would have moved up to a career-high second had he held off the challenge of Phil Mickelson, who donned the Green Jacket at Augusta.
Instead it is the American left-hander who moves up to second, while compatriot Steve Stricker stepping down to third.
Despite missing out on Masters glory, Westwood insisted he was proud of the way he performed at Augusta.
==========================
Related Articles
Masters winners and losers
Lee Westwood told his time will come
Masters 2010: what the US press is saying
Phil Mickelson wins third Masters
Phil Mickelson pays tribute to wife Amy

============================
"When you've come close, there's a tinge of disappointment straight off," Westwood said. "I was disappointed walking up to the last green, obviously. But once that's passed, I didn't do too much wrong today. I can walk away with a lot of positive thoughts and memories from this Masters," he said.
"I shot 71 [on the final round], which is not a terrible score around Augusta when you're in the lead," he added."Phil shot 67, which generally wins major championships when people are there or thereabouts going into the last round.
"He hit good shots when he needed to and the one at 13 was incredible, so I think Phil won that one fair and square."
There are three Englishmen in the top seven of the update world rankings - Westwood at 4, Ian Poulter at 5 and Paul Casey at 7.

World rankings
1 Tiger Woods 11.75pts
2 Phil Mickelson 9.17
3 Steve Stricker 7.88
4 Lee Westwood 7.84
5 Ian Poulter 6.17
6 Jim Furyk 6.12
7 Paul Casey 6.10
8 Ernie Els 6.02
9 Martin Kaymer 5.25
10 Anthony Kim 4.99

HOW THEY FINISHED IN THE 2010 MASTERS
Par 288 (4x72)
1 Phil Mickelson 67 71 67 67 272
2 Lee Westwood 67 69 68 71 275
3 Anthony Kim 68 70 73 65 276
T4 K J Choi 67 71 70 69 277
T4 Tiger Woods 68 70 70 69 277
6 Fred Couples 66 75 68 70 279
7 Nick Watney 68 76 71 65 280
T8 Y E Yang 67 72 72 70 281
T8 Hunter Mahan 71 71 68 71 281
T10 Ricky Barnes 68 70 72 73 283
T10 Ian Poulter 68 68 74 73 283
T12 Miguel Angel Jimenez 72 75 72 66 285
T12 Jerry Kelly 72 74 67 72 285
T14 Ryan Moore 72 73 73 68 286
T14 David Toms 69 75 71 71 286
T14 Trevor Immelman 69 73 72 72 286
T14 Steve Marino 71 73 69 73 286
T18 Ernie Els 71 73 75 68 287
T18 Scott Verplank 73 73 73 68 287
T18 Adam Scott 69 75 72 71 287
T18 Angel Cabrera 73 74 69 71 287
T18 Heath Slocum 72 73 70 72 287
T18 Tom Watson 67 74 73 73 287
T24 Ben Crane 71 75 74 68 288
T24 Matt Kuchar 70 73 74 71 288
T26 Kenny Perry 72 71 72 74 289
T26 Geoff Ogilvy 74 72 69 74 289
T26 Bill Haas 72 70 71 76 289
29 2 Yuta Ikeda 70 77 72 71 290
T30 Jason Dufner 75 72 75 69 291
T30 Steve Stricker 73 73 74 71 291
T30 Francesco Molinari 70 74 75 72 291
T30 Charl Schwartzel 69 76 72 74 291
T30 Soren Kjeldsen 70 71 75 75 291
T30 Sean O'Hair 72 71 72 76 291
T36 Matteo Manassero(leading amateur) 71 76 73 72 292
T36 Lucas Glover 76 71 71 74 292
T38 Retief Goosen 74 71 76 73 294
T38 Dustin Johnson 71 72 76 75 294
T38 12 Camilo Villegas 74 72 71 77 294
T38 16 Steve Flesch 75 71 70 78 294
42 4 Zach Johnson 70 74 76 75 295
T43 5 Robert Karlsson 71 72 77 76 296
T43 12 Mike Weir 71 72 76 77 296
T45 2 Chad Campbell 79 68 80 71 298
T45 1 Robert Allenby 72 75 78 73 298
T45 7 Sergio Garcia 74 70 76 78 298
48 1 Nathan Green 72 75 80 75 302

McLeod and Lockhart tie on 72 at Monifieth Alliance

By LEE SUTHERLAND
This week the Midland Golfers’ Alliance held the W. H. Miller Team competition at Monifieth Links over the Medal Course.
There was a tie for first scratch between local professional Gordon McLeod and Ladybank assistant pro Alan Lockhart, both with a score of one over par 72.
Leading handicap went to another local, nine-handicap Grange Golf Club member Peter Rhind with a net score of 66.
For the first time in Midland Alliance history, two golfers had holes in one. Graeme Paton (Dalhousie), who plays off seven, holed a five-iron tee shot at the 191yd fifth hole and Ian Wilson (Craigie Hill), who plays off five, also holed a five-iron tee shot at the 158yd 14th hole.
LEADING SCRATCH
72 G McLeod (Monifieth) p, A Lockhart (Ladybank) ap.
73 R Stewart (Tulliallan).
74 I C Hutcheon (Monifieth), K Harper (Carnoustie), L Sutherland (Ballumbie Castle) p.
75 P Rhind (Grange).
76 I Wilson (Craigie Hill).
77 C Brunton (Monifieth), P Brookes (Pitreavie) p.
LEADING HANDICAP
66 P Rhind (Grange) 9).
67 J Ward (Carnoustie) (10).
71 I Wilson (Craigie Hill) (5).
72 C Brunton (Monifieth) (5), R Stewart (Tulliallan) (1).
73 D Vicary (Craigie Hill) (11), J Gray (Craigie Hill) (12), G Crichton (St Andrews New) (6), R Baldie (Crieff) (7), J Milne (Blairgowrie) (11), D Adams (Carnoustie) (6).
W. H. Miller Team Competition
60 P Brookes (Pitreavie) p, C Westland (Alloa) 11, K Thomson (Alloa) (14); D Adams (Carnoustie) (6), J Ward (Carnoustie) (10), A Herd (Scotscraig) (11).
61 I Wilson (Craigie Hill) (5), J Gray (Craigie Hill) (12), L Bushby (Strathmore) (6).

Next Meeting: Monday, April 19
Scotscraig Pro Am, sponsored by Hi-Tech Acoustic Services Ltd
Tee reserved: 8.30 - 1.30

THE EDITOR REGRETS THAT HIS HOLIDAY IN PORTUGAL PREVENTED THE FOLLOWING REPORT BEING DISPLAYED LAST WEEK:

Kenny Hutton wins Midland Alliance title by six strokes at Montrose

The Midland Golfers’ Alliance held their annual JTC Interiors Express Championship over 36 holes of the Championship course at Montrose Links. The course and the weather were perfect and Kenny Hutton (P, Downfield) took full advantage with a stunning 8 under par 134 total, with scores of 65 and 69. Gary Tough (Letham Grange, +1) won the handicap prize with a net total of 142.

Leading Scratch Scores
134 K Hutton (P, Downfield) 65 69.
140 G Tough (Letham Grange, +1)
143 M Rae (AP, Aylth)
144 A Lockhart (AP, Ladybank)
145 G Abel (AP, Alloa), C. Mathieson (AP, Falkirk Tryst)
148 D McKay (P, Wellsgreen), L. Vannet (P, Carnoustie)
149 K Harper (Carnoustie, Scr)
150 G. Finlay (Ballumbie Castle, Scr)
151 G. McLeod (P, Monifieth)
152 J. Stevenson (P, Braehead)
153 M. Pirie (P, Pitlochry)
155 G. Brown (AP, Montrose)
C. Donnelly (P, Balbirnie Park)
157, L. Sutherland (P, Ballumbie Castle)
158, R. Stewart (Tulliallan, 1)
160, P, Jamieson (P, Dunblane New)

Leading Handicap Scores
142, G. Tough (Letham Grange, +1)
144, H. Hunter (Alloa, 10)
149, K. Harper (Carnoustie, Scr)
J. Crawford (Dunblane New, 6)
150, G. Finlay (Ballumbie Castle, Scr)
A. Mason (Thornton, 6)
152 J. Paisley (Lundin , 5)
153, W. Cosbie (Blairgowrie, 6)
156, M. Fraser (Leven Thistle, 4)
R. Stewart (Tulliallan, 1)
N. Cameron (King James IV, 3)
158, R. Ford (Scotscraig, 2)
R. Stewart (Tulliallan, 1)
159, S. Graham (Arbroath, 4)
161, J. Craig (Carnoustie, 2)

NORTH-EAST DISTRICT YOUTHS BEAT SHIRE

WOMEN - BUT IT WAS CLOSE

The North-east District youths team beat an Aberdeenshire women's select by 3 1/2-1 1/2 in a four-ball, better-ball match at Deeside Golf Club.
All five of the games went to the 18th hole.
It was the second year of the fixture but the first at which the winning team received a trophy donated by former district president Ken Bennions and his wife Margaret, from Peterhead, for annual competition.
Details (youth names first):
Christopher Forman (Peterhead), Greg Kennedy (Hazlehead) lost to Laura Murray (Alford), Fiona Hay (Deeside) 1 hole.
Donald MacAndrew (Royal Aberdeen), Ritchie Manson (Braemar) bt Sheea Wood (Aberdeen Ladies), Laura McLardy (Murcar Links) 1 hole.
Ryan Bain (Strathlene), John Drummond (Strathlene bt Carol Wilson (Murcar Links), Lauren Duncan (Banchory) 2 holes.
Nick MacAndrew (Cullen), Gordon Munro (Fraserburgh) bt Sammy Leslie (Westhill), Marie Johnstone (Murcar Links) 2 holes.
Jamie Robertson (Turriff), Fraser Clarke (Westhill) halved with Donna Pocock (Murcar Links), Rachel Polson (Peterculter).