Newmachar won the Northern Counties Cup Final at Royal Dornoch today, beating Nairn, the holders, in the final
The two double foursomes teams are pictured by Robin Wilson before the final with Newmachar on the left, Chris Simpson, Mark McKechnie, John Duff and Richard Barr. Nairn - Steven MacDonald, Fraser Fotheringham, Neil Hampton, and Robert Smith.
FULL REPORT BY ROBIN WILSON ON SUNDAY,

Oldcorn's wife puts him back on the straight and narrow

From Michael Gibbons, European Tour Press Officer
A new positive attitude inspired by wife Kirstin saw Andrew Oldcorn move into contention at the European Senior Tour’s Casa Serena Open in the Czech Republic.
The Scot has endured a poor run of form since missing the cut at the Senior Open Championship at Carnoustie in July but a full and frank Friday night phone call home saw the 50 year old surge up the leaderboard with a second round score of five under par 66 into a tie for sixth place.
Oldcorn will have to produce a low final round to overhaul a five-shot deficit between himself and leader Gary Wolstenholme but he is confident that he can challenge for his first Senior Tour title at Casa Serena Golf.
Another Scot, Gordon Brand Jnr, lies in third spot, two strokes behind Wolstenholme and one behind Mark Belsham after a second round 66.
“I had a very severe talking to from my wife last night and then talked it over with my caddie Paul this morning and we all agreed that I have just not been giving myself a chance,” said Oldcorn who played beautifully in round two with four birdies from within three feet.
“I have been getting in my own way for weeks and weeks so I just went out today with a totally different attitude. I just went out there and played the golf course, not the tournament, and it was miles better.
“I just told my wife how tense I had been and not playing to the best of my ability and the more it had been going on the more it was affecting me. Today was a lesson learned and that is the way that I have to play for the rest of the year.”
Gary Wolstenholme will take a narrow lead into the final round of the Casa Serena Open as he looks to secure his golfing future in devastating fashion.
The 50 year old Englishman, who was one of the most high profile amateur players in the game for the vast majority of his golfing life, has a wonderful opportunity to secure his playing rights to the European Senior Tour for at least the next two years by taking home the Casa Serena title and the €90,000 first prize.
Despite a double bogey 6 on the eighth hole, Wolstenholme carded a second round of four under par 67 to move to nine under for the tournament, one stroke clear of compatriot Mark Belsham and two clear of the vastly experienced Gordon Brand Jnr with 18 holes to play in the Czech Republic.
Wolstenholme is adamant that his mind is focused purely on finishing in the top ten in order to secure a start in the Senior Tour’s next event, the Cannes Mougins Masters, but he is fully aware of the opportunity he has created for himself with his excellent display so far at Casa Serena.
“It was good fun apart from a very stupid decision on the eighth that led to a double bogey,” said Wolstenholme, twice a winner of the British Amateur championship. “Even after that I knew that I could shoot a good score. It was all about patience and one shot at a time.
“I am still thinking only of making the top ten here so that I can get into the next event. I know what people will say, that I must now be thinking about winning and everything else but I am not.
“There is no doubt that I am aware of the opportunity that is right there in front of me: my whole 2011 season currently hinges on how I do in the next few weeks, but I have to compartmentalise all of those thoughts to the back of my mind and put some good swings together tomorrow.
“My last win was about nine weeks ago on the EuroPro Tour and I have taken a lot of confidence from that. It was actually on a very similar golf course to this one in the sense that you have to think your way around. This has been a great experience so far and I hope I can continue but there are some great players breathing down my neck and it is bubbling up nicely. There is a lot to be played for – I just hope I am one of the ones with a chance with a few holes to play tomorrow.”
Belsham and Brand Jnr will also be hoping they are in the mix coming down the stretch in the final round after their own outstanding performances.
Belsham, a Senior Tour Rookie, having progressed through the Qualifying School last year, is thoroughly enjoying his best performance of the season so far, while Brand Jnr is delighted to be back in contention having performed magnificently at the start of the summer, winning in Jersey but then falling out of form over the past couple of months.
SCOREBOARD TO COME

EUROPEAN TOUR SCOREBOARD

It's the David and Danny Show in

Austrian Open

FROM THE BBC SPORTS WEBSITE
David Lynn came back in 30 on his way to an eight-under-par 64 to share the third-round lead at the Austrian Open.
Starting three behind the leaders, the Englishman eagled the 10th before four birdies took him to 13 under.

Lynn, without a tour win since 2004, shares the lead with compatriot Danny Willett, who fired a 65.

US Open winner Graeme McDowell finished the day two shots back with a 68, while fellow Ryder Cup player Miguel Angel Jimenez hit a 70 to move to six under.

John Parry, who hit a 67 to take the second-round lead, fell back, hitting a bogey and double bogey on his way to a level-par 72 that left him five off the leaders.

THIRD ROUND TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72)
203 Danny Willett 69 69 65, David Lynn 68 71 64
205 Chris Gane 69 70 66, Graeme McDowell 69 68 68, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 69 68 68
206 Alexander Noren (Swe) 69 70 67, Clodomiro Carranza (Arg) 68 70 68
207 Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 66 71 70
208 John Parry 69 67 72, Andrea Maestroni (Ita) 69 70 69, Luis Claverie (Spa) 71 71 66, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 69 69 70, Matthias Schwab (Aut) 70 69 69
209 Andrew Coltart 69 70 70, Steve Surry 70 73 66
210 Gary Lockerbie 71 69 70, Sam Hutsby 69 72 69, Damien McGrane 67 76 67, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 73 72 65, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 72 68 70, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 68 72 70, George Coetzee (Rsa) 65 76 69
211 Benn Barham 71 69 71, Birgir Hafthorsson (Ice) 73 69 69, Steven Jeppesen (Swe) 74 68 69, Javi Colomo (Spa) 68 75 68, Philip Golding 69 69 73, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 71 71 69
212 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 70 74 68, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 68 70 74, Alastair Forsyth 74 68 70, Todd Hamilton (USA) 73 68 71, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 70 73 69, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 66 75 71
213 Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 73 69 71, Robert Coles 73 72 68, Richard Green (Aus) 72 72 69, Keith Horne (Rsa) 74 70 69, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 71 71 71
214 Jamie Little 76 69 69, Sion E Bebb 70 72 72, Scott Drummond 71 72 71, Mark Brown (Nzl) 77 68 69, Gary Clark 71 70 73, Andrew McArthur 70 73 71, Marc Warren 71 71 72, Simon Thornton 69 70 75, Benjamin Hebert (Fra) 70 73 71, Sam Little 70 72 72
215 Andrew Tampion (Aus) 73 71 71, Anders Sjostrand (Swe) 73 68 74, Julien Guerrier (Fra) 74 69 72
216 Marco Soffietti (Ita) 71 73 72, Steven O'Hara 71 74 71, Oliver Fisher 71 73 72
217 Joakim Backstrom (Swe) 73 72 72, Jordi Garcia (Spa) 70 72 75, Scott Hend (Aus) 70 75 72, Gary Murphy 73 72 72, Julien Quesne (Fra) 69 76 72
218 Marco Crespi (Ita) 75 69 74, Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 75 69 74, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 76 66 76, Rick Kulacz (Aus) 73 70 75, Thomas Haylock 72 73 73, Markus Brier (Aut) 74 71 73
219 James Mclean (Aus) 72 73 74, Kalle Brink (Swe) 71 73 75
220 Manuel Quiros (Spa) 72 71 77
221 Raimo Sjoberg (Den) 72 73 76, Steen Ottosen (Den) 74 67 80
222 Peter Baker 72 71 79
223 Leif Westerberg (Swe) 73 72 78, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 72 73 78

McLeary rises to the Challenge

From Challenge Tour Press Officer Paul Symes

Jamie McLeary remained on course to double his tally of Challenge Tour titles on the third day of the M2M Russian Challenge Cup, but his advantage was cut to two strokes by the chasing pack.

The Scot signed for a three-birdie round of 71 to move to nine under par 207 at Tseleevo Golf and Polo Club, on the outskirts of the Russian capital Moscow, where Denmark’s Thorbjørn Olesen and England’s Sam Walker are his nearest challengers after respective rounds of 69 and 70.

McLeary, pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency, whose sole Challenge Tour victory came on home soil at last year’s Scottish Hydro Challenge at Spey Valley, Aviemore, made a sluggish start with an opening bogey after a wayward tee shot, but responded immediately with a birdie on the second hole.

He had to wait until the 15th hole for his next birdie, and despite dropping a shot at the 16th he again hit back straight away with a birdie at the par five 17th for the third day in succession.
The man from Edinburgh has now set his sights on collecting the €28,000 first prize, which would in all probability see him leap into the all-important top 20 of the Challenge Tour Rankings, and also enable him to grant his fiancée’s wish to buy a new shed and renovate their back garden.

He said: “I’m probably going to need to play better and go lower on the last day, because Sam played well today and I expect him to play well again tomorrow. Thorbjørn’s also on my tail and even though Scott [Jamieson] is a few shots back, he’s also well capable of shooting a 66. So I’ll definitely need a better day, because I got away with a few wayward shots today – a 71 was probably the best I could’ve possibly shot. I putted very well – on another day a few of the putts maybe wouldn’t have dropped, and I’d find myself a couple of shots behind. My driving today was poor – I normally hit my drives with a fade but today everything was drawing, and it wasn’t until the 14th hole that I realised I should probably aim a bit further right! Once I figured that out, I started playing a bit better and growing in confidence.

“I didn’t feel nervous at all today – I felt very calm and didn’t get annoyed, so hopefully I can have the same approach on the final day. There aren’t many leaderboards out there which probably suits me, because I don’t tend to pay much attention to them anyway. And I’ll know what my playing partners are doing in any case, so I’ll have a front row seat. When I won in Scotland last year I just concentrated on what I was doing – I didn’t know what score Edoardo [Molinari] was on until I was coming down the last, so I’ll probably try to adopt the same approach tomorrow.

"Hopefully it’ll be good enough because I need a jump up the Rankings, plus my fiancée’s been telling me for a while that we could do with getting our back garden levelled, and I also need to buy a shed to store my clubs in. Hopefully I can kill two birds with one stone, so that we both have a good day and get what we want!”
Both Olesen and Walker have already won on this season’s Challenge Tour, the Dane at The Princess in Sweden and the Englishman in Brittany, France. But since their victories their respective seasons have taken rather different paths, with Olesen going from strength to strength whilst Walker has struggled to rediscover his form.
Walker, currently 30th in the Challenge Tour Rankings, lamented his poor putting display, but was encouraged with his long game.
“I holed a lovely putt on the first hole for birdie but after that hardly anything dropped,” said Walker. “My only bogey on the tenth hole was a three putt, and I just couldn’t seem to get into a rhythm on the greens, whereas yesterday it was a completely different story. But I’m still in there with a chance, mainly thanks to my long game, and if I can find my form on the greens again then hopefully I can put a score together. I’ve got to try to put some pressure on Jamie with some early birdies, and just hope he doesn’t putt as well as he did today. He holed some great putts for par and even for bogey, so he could’ve easily come back to us. But he didn’t, so all credit to him.”
Olesen’s start matched his error-strewn opening yesterday, as he bogeyed the first and second holes to fall down the leaderboard. But the Dane, fifth in the Rankings and so secure of his place on The European Tour next term, rallied in fine fashion with five birdies to set up the chance of clinching his second Challenge Tour title in an impressive rookie season.
Austrian Tholmas Feyrsinger posted the lowest round of the day, a seven-birdie 67, to move to fourth place on six under par. Feyrsinger attributed his improvement to a change in his putting technique – he has reverted to his youth, when he used to imitate the putting stroke of the great Jack Nicklaus who, coincidentally, designed the course at Tseleevo Golf and Polo Club.
ROUND THREE TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72)
207 J McLeary (Sco) 67 69 71,
209 T Olesen (Den) 71 69 69, S Walker (Eng) 71 68 70,
210 T Feyrsinger (Aut) 69 74 67,
211 C Del Moral (Esp) 72 68 71, T Fleetwood (Eng) 73 66 72,
212 S Jamieson (Sco) 70 69 73, M Ford (Eng) 71 69 72,
214 W Ormsby (Aus) 70 74 70, M Carlsson (Swe) 70 73 71, T Whitehouse (Eng) 72 71 71, F De Vries (Ned) 73 72 69,
215 R Santos (Por) 72 68 75, N Lemke (Swe) 74 70 71, A Kaleka (Fra) 74 72 69, A Velasco (Esp) 71 72 72, C Ford (Eng) 73 73 69,
216 V Riu (Fra) 74 72 70, L Saltman (Sco) 70 73 73, L Jensen (Den) 73 68 75,
217 S Wakefield (Eng) 69 76 72, J Moul (Eng) 74 71 72,
218 R Dinwiddie (Eng) 72 77 69, L Bond (Wal) 73 74 71, M Thorp (Nor) 71 76 71, J Abbate (Arg) 71 71 76, F Colombo (Ita) 73 72 73, A Hansen (Den) 73 73 72, C Moriarty (Irl) 71 76 71, S Tiley (Eng) 75 70 73, C Russo (Fra) 71 74 73,
219 D Gaunt (Aus) 74 70 75, D Whitnell (Eng) 77 69 73, K Sullivan (Wal) 75 71 73, A Tadini (Ita) 73 75 71,
220 A Bernadet (Fra) 74 74 72, F Praegant (Aut) 78 69 73, P Dwyer (Eng) 74 73 73, R Russell (Sco) 71 69 80, A Wagner (Arg) 73 73 74, M Tullo (Chi) 74 75 71, S Manley (Wal) 75 75 70,
221 E Dubois (Fra) 68 74 79, D Denison (Eng) 75 72 74, J Larsen (Nor) 71 78 72, C Baker (USA) 74 76 71, L Gagli (Ita) 74 73 74, S Garcia (Esp) 74 74 73, O Floren (Swe) 76 73 72, J Billot (Fra) 74 73 74, B Evans (Eng) 79 71 71, P Del Grosso (Arg) 75 73 73,
222 C Lee (Sco) 78 72 72, B Wiesberger (Aut) 70 73 79, A Snobeck (Fra) 75 73 74

223 S Davis (Eng) 76 73 74, P Gustafsson (Swe) 74 76 73,
225 C Macaulay (Sco) 68 79 78,
226 F Calmels (Fra) 74 76 76, E Ramsay (Sco) 75 74 77,
227 D Brooks (Eng) 74 73 80,
229 R Steiner (Aut) 76 73 80,
233 R Kind (Ned) 75 75 83,
** M Haines (Eng) 69 73 DQ,

Wallace Booth leads Dundonald Qualifiers to Stage 2

Wallace Booth, the former Walker Cup player from Comrie, Perthshire won the European Tour First Qualifying Stage – Section C at Dundonald Links by one shot with a one under par total for the four rounds.

Booth, pictured left, had scores of 74, 70, 74 and 69 for 297, which earned him Euros 1,828 but, far important, a place in the next Stage of the long road to the Final Q School.
Northern Ireland’s Damian Mooney (77-676-75-72) was second on 290, and in total 17 players qualified for the Second Stage. Strong winds disrupted timings earlier in the week at Dundonald Links but play was completed late on Friday after the fourth round began at 2.10pm.
Other Scots who qualified for Stage 2 from the Ayrshire venue were Jack Doherty in joint fourth place on 296, PGA Cup player Craig Matheson on 300, Graham Fox and Mark Kerr, joint 13th on 302, and Shaun McAllister whose last round of 72 was his best and it enabled him to finish joint 18th on 303;
Stephen Gray and Jason McCreadie made it through on 304 in joint 22nd place. In all the top 25 qualified for Stage 2. 
Scots who missed out included Scott Henderson 305, Scott Henry 306, Mark Hillson (amateur) 309, Barry Hume 309, Chris Kelly 309, Duncan Stewart 310, Graeme Brown 311, Jordan Findlay (amateur) 311, Lee Harper 312, Paul O'Hara 312 and Steven Rennie (amateur) 313.

Over in Fleesensee, play will have to be completed on Saturday as bad weather earlier in the week caused severe delays.

Canada’s Matthew Bliss was leading by one after three rounds, but was barely into his fourth round before play had to stop for bad light. The third round was not completed until Friday afternoon after heavy rain disrupted timings on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Second Stage takes place over four courses in Spain – Costa Ballena Ocean Club, Arcos Gardens, Hacienda del Alamo and El Valle Golf Resort – from November 26 – 29 before the Final Stage at PGA Golf Catalunya Resort in December, where 30 players plus ties will win a European Tour card for 2011.

TO SEE ALL THE DUNDONALD SCORES,

CLICK HERE

ASIAN TOUR REPORT, SCORES

Iain Steel lying third with a round to go
NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ASIAN TOUR
Taipei, September 18: Thailand’s Thaworn Wiratchant believes that he is ready to launch his final assault on the inaugural Yeangder Tournament Players Championship (TPC) title after carding a two-under-par 70 to take the third round lead on Saturday.
The 11-time Asian Tour winner fended off the challenges of compatriot Chinnarat Phadungsil by one shot to head into the final round of the US$300,000 full field Asian Tour event with a three-day total of 10-under-par 206.
Chinnarat returned with the day’s best score of 67 to take second place on 207 with Malaysia’s Iain Steel a further shot back in third after the Malaysian added a 71 to his previous rounds of 68 and 69.
American rookie Ben Fox together with Australia’s David Gleeson took a share of fourth place on matching 209s
Thaworn who teed off in the front-nine pared his opening three holes before successive birdies on the fourth and fifth holes got him to 10-under after five holes.
The Thai then dropped his only shot of the day at the par-four 12th before responding with another birdie in his closing 18th hole at the Linkou International Golf Club.
“A two-under-par score is a good result for me today as the wind conditions were really strong out there. I hope it does not get any worse tomorrow,” said Thaworn of the impending typhoon Fanapi expected to hit Taipei on Sunday.
“I played well given the conditions but the most important thing for me tomorrow is to continue to stay focus and play the way I’ve been playing the last three days,” added the Thai who is also chasing a record-equalling 12th Asian Tour title which will match compatriot and reigning Order of Merit winner Thongchai Jaidee’s number of wins on the Tour.
Chinnarat who started the day tied for seventh, credited his accurate driving for moving him up the leaderboard quickly into second place.
“I managed to hit many good tee shots today. My second shots were not very good as they went all over the fairways but I was able to hole my putts,” said the 21-year-old who marked his card with six birdies and one bogey on the par-four ninth.
“My driving was the key to my good play today as we’ve got to play it really accurate off the tee in this golf course,” added the Thai.
Playing alongside Thaworn, Steel opened with a birdie but dropped a shot in his second hole. A birdie on the par-three fifth brought him back to one-under before making pars on every hole to reach the turn in 35.
The 39-year-old then birdied the 10th hole to move within one shot of Thaworn who could only par his hole. However two bogeys on the 15th and 16th derailed his chances of moving further ahead on the leaderboard.
Steel recovered well with an all-important birdie on the closing par-five 18th to eventually sign for a 71 and a place in the final group on Sunday.
“Every shot counts but looking at the scores today I should be in the last group. You want to see how the leaders are doing and try to keep up so it’s always good to play in the last group,” said the Malaysian who is searching for his maiden win on the Asian Tour this week.
“The wind made it very tricky today. The first two days were nice and calm and quite straightforward but it was difficult today,” added Steel,
LEADING THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
206 - Thaworn Wiratchant (THA) 69-67-70
207 - Chinnarat Phadungsil (THA) 70-70-67
208 - Iain Steel (MAS) 68-69-71
209 - David Gleeson (AUS) 68-70-71, Ben Fox (USA) 70-69-70
210 - Matthew Rosenfeld (USA) 69-70-71, Tony Carolan (AUS) 73-67-70, Ben Leong (MAS) 70-71-69
211 - Tsai Chi-huang (TPE) 70-68-73, Thammanoon Srirot (THA) 71-70-70
212 - Unho Park (AUS) 74-68-70
213 - Choengchai Panpumpo (THA) 69-71-73, David Johnson (USA) 69-72-72, Sung Mao-chang (TPE) 71-71-71, Peter Karmis (RSA) 71-72-70
214 - Lu Wen-teh (TPE) 67-73-74, Lin Wen-tang (TPE) 70-71-73, Artemio Murakami (PHI) 68-74-72, Kao Bo-song (TPE) 73-70-71, Adam Groom (AUS) 72-73-69