Double whammy by Robert Jenkins

Robert Jenkins of Crow Wood and Glasgow Golf Club had a double reason to celebrate his four-shot victory in the Garnkirk Trophy at Crow Wood at the weekend as it also clinched success for him in the Lanarkshire Order of Merit Shield. It was the final counting event.
Robert shot two excellent scores of 67 and 66 to win from David Booth of stirling who scored 69 68.
TOTALS
1. Robert Jenkins Glasgow 67 66 133
2. David Booth Stirling 69 68 137
3. Graham Robertson Glenbervie 71 69 140
4. Graham MacDougal Bishopbriggs 70 71 141
5. Wilson Bryson Drumpellier 69 72 141
6. Alex Culverwell Dunbar 75 68 143
7. Fraser McKenna Balmore 73 70 143
8. Gordon Yates Hilton Park 72 72 144
9. Leonard Grindrod Crow wood 73 72 145
10. Alan McDonald Crow wood 72 73 145
11. Fraser Cardwell Ralston 73 73 146
12. Ed Wood Crow wood 77 70 147
13. Stephen Carmichael Cardross 73 74 147
14. Alistair Graham Crow wood 73 74 147
15. Paul Betty Lenzie 72 75 147


William Sharpe
President
Lanarkshire Golf Association

The Likely Lads from Lancashire ... Formby trio's s

success

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ENGLISH GOLF UNION
The teenage trio from Formby kept their nerve and their overnight lead to win the 36-hole English Champion Club Tournament, supported by Powakaddy, at Woodbridge in sunny Suffolk and add to Lancashire’s growing list of successes in 2010.
Paul Kinnear, Mark Duncalf and James Bolton compiled an aggregate of 428, eight over par, for a two-shot victory over Moor Park from Hertfordshire with Somerset Champions Farrington two strokes further back on 432.
Not only did the Formby lads collect the trophy and the title but they each collected an electric trolley, while the Moor Park threesome went home with golf bags, all courtesy of Powerkaddy.
“We are delighted to win,” said Duncalf. “This means a lot. To win any EGU Championship is great and this provides a fine end to the season.”

The Formby team, with a collective age of 51 and a total handicap of plus three, led by a shot overnight from Moor Park, Teignmouth from Devon and Nottinghamshire Champions Notts from Hollinwell.

They were out early in round two, before their main rivals, and set a sound target thanks to a level-par 70 from 16 year old Kinnear, 71 from Duncalf and 74 from Bolton. Then they waited anxiously for more than three hours to see if anyone could catch them. No one did but Moor Park, a team with bags of experience in Douglas Cameron and John Ambridge, backed by English Boy Champion Callum Shinkwin, came close.

However, the Hertfordshire trio, looking to emulate their 1998 triumph, came up short despite 70s from Cameron and Shinkwin, while Ambridge posted an uncharacteristic 76.

“We thought if we could shoot around level par we would be in with a chance,” added Duncalf. “After nine holes we didn’t think we were in it but as the other scores came in things just turned around. This is a team game and it’s important to get off to a good start, which we did. We were one under par through nine holes but we knew Moor Park were our biggest danger.”

Farrington’s third place owed much to a brilliant 66, the best return of the weekend, from Tom Small, playing in his first EGU event. The 21 year old Somerset county player was out in 32 and said his success was down to his accurate wedge play and putting.

“I didn’t get frustrated when things weren’t going well which is easy to do on a course like this,” he confirmed.

While Notts stayed in the hunt to the end, taking fourth place on 433, Teignmouth failed to maintain their challenge, finishing in joint tenth place on 442 after a second day 228.

So the title goes to Lancashire for the first time and boosts the Red Rose County’s achievement this year which has seen them collect the Schools Team Championship with Lancaster, the English Amateur through Tommy Fleetwood, the Men’s Seniors title thanks to Alan Squires, and they still have the County Championship to contest.

Little wonder Kinnear remarked: “There are good golfers in Lancashire,” Few would argue with that.

For final scores and championship commentary visit the Championships section of the EGU website www.englishgolfunion.org.

Roy's the boy for England seniors' title

bid at Crail

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ENGLISH GOLF UNION 
Roy Smethurst joins England's victorious European Team Championship squad in the bid to regain the Senior Home Internationals title at Crail in Fife from Tuesday to Thursday this week.
The winning squad of Douglas Arnold (Copthorne, Sussex), Andrew Carman (Coventry, Warwickshire), Dave Jessup (Rochester and Cobham, Kent), Chris Reynolds (Littlestone, Kent), Philip Slater (Sandiway, Cheshire) and Alan Squires (Oldham, Lancashire), who retained the European title at Fairhaven last week, will be joined in Scotland by Smethurst (Crewe, Cheshire).

Smethurst was unavailable to play at Fairhaven as he was visiting his son in Canada. But he returned in time to take on some caddying duties for his team-mates.

Arguably the most successful senior golfer in Britain, Smethurst has won four English Seniors Championships, and one British Seniors title as well as the European, French and Northern Counties Seniors Championships. His success in the Cheshire Seniors Championship is approaching double figures.

He has been an England seniors cap for more than a decade in the Seniors Home Internationals as well as the European Seniors Team Championships. Recently, Smethurst finished fifth in the British Seniors at Walton Heath, winning the over 65s prize, while he is currently top of the English Seniors Order of Merit ahead of many younger rivals.

Arnold has played in every Seniors Home Internationals since its inception in 2002 and has three English Seniors Championships to his credit. The Sussex man has also represented England in all five European Seniors Team Championships and has seven Sussex Seniors Championships to date.

Carman, a full England international in 1979 and ’80, made his debut as a senior cap in the 2009 European Seniors Team Championships. Finished third in his maiden English Seniors event last year and also captured the Midland Seniors title. This will be his second Seniors Home Internationals, having won all three of his singles matches last year.

Jessup, a former World Speedway Champion, earned his first seniors cap in the Seniors Home Internationals in 2008 in Wales. This year, he has finished runner-up in the Scottish Seniors and tied third in the English, while he is a regular in the Kent Seniors team, helping them to the English Seniors County Championship last year.

Reynolds has a fine record in the English Seniors, winning the title last year, having previously finished runner-up and third, and was runner-up again this year. First capped by England in the 2006 Seniors Home Internationals, he has played in every one since as well as the last four European Seniors Team Championships. He also won the South East Seniors title and is a member of the successful Kent Seniors Squad.

Slater, a former Cheshire Seniors Champion, made his England debut in the 2008 European Seniors Team Championships in Ireland and has been a member of the past two winning squads. This will be his third successive Seniors Home Internationals, while he finished tied third this year in the English and Welsh Seniors. He has also helped Cheshire win two English Seniors County Championships.

Squires realised a dream when he won the English Seniors title at Carlisle in June, having previously finished second and third. Debuted in the 2004 Seniors Home Internationals, he has only missed the 2009 event. He has also been a member of the England Squad in all but one of the European Seniors Team Championships and is a former Lancashire Seniors Champion.

This will be the ninth playing of the Seniors Home Internationals following its inception in 2002 and England have won the title three times, the last at Caldy in 2007. Ireland have been champions for the past two years.

Gavin Dear wins play-off on Alps Tour

FROM THE ALPS TOUR WEBSITE
Scot Gavin Dear captured his maiden pro win on the Alps Tour by beating young Frenchman George Leriche in a sudden death play-off climax at Feudi di Asti Golf Open presented by SCAVINO-PIAGGIO Veicoli Commerciali.
Dear teed off almost our hour before the last group and played his best golf. “My golf is really better for weeks now, I had good results in August. I knew I needed to score very low. The leaderboard was not updated so I tried to make a lot of birdies.”
Meanwhile, Frenchman Leriche struggled a little with his game and dropped 2 shots on 3rd par 5 where he used to hole for birdy.
Dear signed for the score of the day, a 63 for a total of 210, but had to wait until last group completed their round. He had a chat with Jason Palmer, winner after many tries.
“Jason told me he was playing for victory twice before winning, I answered that I have been in that position many more times this season ! Finally I did it.”

Leriche did not hole for birdie as he did the first two rounds and had to go into a play off. They played twice the short 18th par 3 and Gavin Dear holed from 60 cm to win as his opponent missed 10 meters.

Gavin Dear earned two places to be 4th at Alps Tour order of merit and George Leriche jumped from 71st to 38th place.
Agathe Séron


LEADING FINAL TOTALS
200 Gavin Dear (Sco) 66 71 673, George Leriche (Fra) 67 64 69. Dear (6,525 Euros) bt Leriche (4,432 Euros) at second hole of sudden-death play-off.
202 Joon Kim (Ita) 67 69 66, Matthew Cryer (Eng) 65 69 68 (2,652 Euros each).

CLICK HERE FOR ALL THE SCORES

Dustin Johnson with the BMW Championship trophy.

Paul Casey loses three-shot lead to Dustin Johnson

FROM THE GOLF.COM WEBSITE
LEMONT, Illinois (AP) — Maybe now everyone will believe Dustin Johnson when he says he is over a summer of Sunday disappointments.
First came an 82 on the final day of the U.S. Open. Then came a crushing blow at the US PGA Championship, when he was denied a spot in the playoff for not realising he was in a bunker and touching the sand with his club on the final hole.

Resilient as he is powerful, Johnson kept coming back for more.

The payoff came Sunday in the BMW Championship, when the 26-year-old American was flawless on the back nine at Cog Hill and made up a three-shot deficit against Paul Casey to win for the second time this year.
Playing in the final group for the fourth time since June, Johnson closed with a 2-under 69 for a one-shot victory.
"To finally get it done, especially after all the things I've gone through this summer ... it can't feel any better," Johnson said. "I played really good golf today. I didn't make as many birdies as I would have liked, but I made just enough."
He made three birdies, none more important than the last one.
Tied for the lead, Johnson knew the 17th hole might be his last good chance. He pulled driver and smashed his tee shot over the trees with a slight fade, the ball landing in the fairway and leaving him a sand wedge that he hit within 2 feet for a tap-in birdie.
"I knew I needed to hit a good tee ball because it was going to be my best chance of making a birdie," he said. "I was just trying to cut a drive, hold it against the wind and get it around the corner a little bit. And I hit it perfect."
Equally impressive was the 18th, where Johnson ripped another drive to set up a conservative par.
The Pebble Beach winner in February, Johnson has quickly emerged as one of the game's rising stars. He now goes to the Tour Championship at No. 2 in the FedEx Cup standings, with a clear shot at the $10 million bonus.
One player he won't have to beat at East Lake is Tiger Woods. The world's No. 1 player sputtered at the start and shot 70 to tie for 15th, not nearly enough to move into the top 30 in the standings and advance to the FedEx Cup finale.
It's the first time as a pro that Woods hasn't been eligible for a tournament.
"That's just the way it is," Woods said. "I didn't play well early in the year, and I didn't play well in the middle of the year."
Woods played with Phil Mickelson for the first time all year, and Lefty buried him. Mickelson closed with a 67 and tied for eighth, his first top 10 since the U.S. Open. It was the 26th time the world's best two players have been in the same group, and the record now stands at 11-11-4.
"He certainly brings out the best in me, and I enjoy being paired with him," Mickelson said.
Woods next plays in the Ryder Cup, and he won't be alone in having two weeks off. Two other Ryder Cup picks, Stewart Cink and Rickie Fowler, also failed to qualify for the Tour Championship.
Casey was left off the Ryder Cup team despite being No. 9 in the world when European captain Colin Montgomerie made his three picks. He had a great chance to make Montgomerie look foolish, building a three-shot lead on the back nine, only to throw it away with three straight bogeys. Casey had three chances from the fairway coming in, but didn't give himself a birdie opportunity inside 25 feet.
Asked if he was motivated by not being picked, Casey smiled and said, "Yes."
But he wouldn't say much more.
"I can't go there, unfortunately," the Englishman said.
He shot four rounds of 69 to finish alone in second. The consolation was moving up to No. 5 in the FedEx Cup standings, and the top five players at East Lake only have to win to collect the biggest pay-off in golf.
The biggest blow to Casey on the back nine was hooking his tee shot into the bushes on the par-5 15th, which can be reached in two. He made his third straight bogey to fall into a tie, and Johnson outplayed him from there.

"It was myself against the golf course, 72 holes, and I played it one shot worse than Dustin Johnson," Casey said.

With the 70-man field at Cog Hill narrowed to the final 30, the BMW Championship offered plenty of drama away from the leaders.

Charlie Wi appeared set for his first Tour Championship until making bogeys on the last two holes, missing a 12-foot par putt on the final hole. That moved Bill Haas up to No. 30.

Then came Matt Kuchar, who needed a birdie for any hope of getting into a playoff at Cog Hill. He ran his putt 3 1/2 feet by the hole, then missed it coming back. Kuchar was in a two-way for third, and the bogey moved him into a three-way tie for fourth. That allowed K.J. Choi to crack the top 30.

Ryan Moore, the 54-hole leader, was alone in third place when he sent his second shot over the 18th green. He smartly played away from the pin to avoid chipping into the water and took his bogey, which kept him in the top 30. If Moore had made double bogey, he would have fallen out of the Tour Championship.

The 30th and final spot went to Bo Van Pelt.

Johnson earned a small measure of redemption. He likely moves to No. 12 in the world with his fourth career victory.

"I know I've had some failures - I don't know if I'd call them failures - I've had a few mishaps," Johnson said. "To come back and get it done, I'm very proud of myself. I think I've handled everything very well, and now I've got to look forward to two weeks from now."
FINAL TOTALS
Par 284 (4x71)
275 Dustin Johnson 68 70 68 69
276 Paul Casey (Eng) 69 69 69 69
278 Kevin Na 70 69 69 70, K J Choi (Kor) 71 69 69 69, Matt Kuchar 64 72 70 72, Ryan Moore 65 74 66 73
279 Retief Goosen (Rsa) 67 71 71 70
280 Charlie Wi (Kor) 67 69 70 74, Steve Stricker 70 73 67 70, Phil Mickelson 72 71 70 67
281 Marc Leishman (Aus) 72 65 72 72, Camilo Villegas (Col) 70 70 71 70
282 Ernie Els (Rsa) 70 71 67 74, Ian Poulter (Eng) 66 72 69 75
283 Nick Watney 70 74 70 69, Tiger Woods 73 72 68 70, Zach Johnson 70 73 66 74, Jim Furyk 73 71 69 70, Adam Scott (Aus) 71 69 72 71, David Toms 70 72 70 71
284 Justin Rose (Eng) 68 71 71 74, Stewart Cink 70 73 71 70, Tim Clark (Rsa) 70 70 70 74
285 Michael Sim (Aus) 72 70 72 71, Vijay Singh (Fij) 70 77 68 70, Robert Allenby (Aus) 72 70 72 71, Greg Chalmers (Aus) 72 69 68 76, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 73 72 72 68, Tom Gillis 70 72 76 67
286 Charley Hoffman 70 77 70 69, Justin Leonard 72 71 75 68, Bill Haas 70 73 69 74, Vaughn Taylor 70 71 74 71, Brian Gay 68 73 72 73, Bryce Molder 74 72 72 68, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 72 72 71 71
287 Hunter Mahan 71 68 75 73, Rory McIlroy (NIrl) 76 74 68 69, Sean O'Hair 75 68 71 73, Luke Donald (Eng) 68 70 72 77, Brandt Snedeker 76 72 72 67, Matthew Jones (Aus) 71 70 73 73
288 Ryan Palmer 73 72 71 72, Kevin Streelman 71 75 72 70
289 Ben Crane 76 77 67 69, Jason Dufner 74 72 73 70, Rickie Fowler 71 73 72 73
291 Anthony Kim 70 75 72 74, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 74 75 72 70
292 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 69 71 80 72, Martin Laird (Sco) 73 73 69 77, Bubba Watson 72 74 69 77, Heath Slocum 71 74 75 72
293 Brian Davis (Eng) 73 72 77 71, Bo Van Pelt 72 71 73 77, Jason Day (Aus) 72 76 71 74
294 Jeff Overton 72 76 72 74, Tim Petrovic 73 70 73 78, Stephen Ames (Can) 74 77 72 71
296 J.B. Holmes 77 72 69 78, Andres Romero (Arg) 80 70 73 73, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 76 73 69 78
297 Brendon De Jonge 74 71 72 80, John Senden (Aus) 74 75 74 74, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 75 76 75 71, Y.E. Yang (Kor) 73 78 69 77
298 Ricky Barnes 73 74 76 75, Scott Verplank 76 75 73 74
299 Jason Bohn 73 74 73 79
301 D.J. Trahan 75 76 75 75