LARKIN WINS NE ALLIANCE CHAMPIONSHIP BY 10 SHOTS

By COLIN FARQUHARSON Colin@scottishgolfview.com  Royal Aberdeen's Scott Larkin, an outsider in the reckoning for a Walker Cup team place over his home course in September, showed his international class in winning the North-east Alliance 36-hole championship by 10 shots at Buckpool Golf Club today. After a 65 at Duff House Royal last week, Larkin, a  +3 handicap player, added a bogey-free, three-under-par 67, including birdies at the ninth, 15th and 16th,  over the Buckie links course. His two-round tally of six-under-par 132 saw him win by a double-figure margin - very likely a tournament record - from the runner-up, Deeside teaching pro Peter Smith (71-71), a former Northern Open champion. Newmachar tour pro Euan McIntosh (74-71) and Portlethen amateur Sean Lawrie (68-77), 18-year-old nephew of Paul Lawrie, tied for third place on 145. "I had no bogeys and my short game was quite good but the longest putt I holed was around 12ft," said Larkin who aims to break into the previously-named Great Britain and Ireland short-leet with impressive performances in national early-season events before the selectors name their 10 to face the Americans at Balgownie in the autumn. Larkin, who played four years on the US college circuit, was runner-up to Greig Hutcheon in the Northern Open last year when he also won the Leven Gold Medal 72-hole open tournament. Why he was not selected by the SGU for its Elite Squad eight-week sojourn to South Africa is a mystery. Peter Smith had the same amount of birdies as the winner (three: at the first, third and 13th) but he had four bogeys, at the fourth, fifth, 10th and 15th in halves of 35 and 36 for 71 and a total fo 142. Euan McIntosh put together his best score for some time, a 71, which included a double bogey 6 at the fourth and bogeys at the sixth and 10th in halves of 36 and 35. The Newmachar tour pro birdied the second, fifth and 17th. Young Sean Lawrie had something like eight three-putts in his birdie-less 77, made up of 37 out and 40 back. Kings Links specialist Stewart Finnie (Caledonian) did well to salvage a 72 and fifth place on 146, considering his start at Buckpool: double bogey 6, double bogey 6. At one of the holes he four-putted. Hazlehead shop pro Colin Nelson started the day in contention after a 69 at Duff House Royal but he slumped to a 79 for 148. He had double bogeys at the fourth and 1th in halves of 40 and 39. By common consent the Buckpool greens did not live up to their reputation as the best anywhere during the Alliance winter season but, in fairness to the greenkeeping staff, the Alliance does not normally play Buckpool in March and it is very likely that the greens were being treated with a view to getting them tip-top for the new season. The course, like most places in the North-east, had had a lot of rain over the past two days but it drained away very well. Considering the snow on the hills - and in the fields - on the drive north from Aberdeen past Huntly and Keith, I think the field of 83 can count themselves fortunate to have such a lovely sunny day under blue skies for their game, although a cool breeze did get up for the later starters ... although it did not bother Scott Larkin. When you are playing as well as Scott, it's a case of "Wind? What wind?"  SCRATCH AGGREGATES Round 1, Duff House Royal; Round 2, Buckpool. Par 138 (68-70) 132 S Larkin (Royal Aberdeen) 65 67. 142 P Smith (Deeside) 71 71. 145 E McIntosh (Newmachar) 74 71, Sean Lawrie (Portlethen) 68 77 146 S Finnie (Caledonian) 74 72. 148 R Fitzpatrick (Inchmarlo) 72 76, C Nelson (Mackenzie Club) 69 79, A Dunton (McDonald Ellon) 72 76. 149 C Carnegie (Kemnay) 73 76, D Brown (Kemnay) 75 74. 150 P Lovie (P1 Corporate) 75 75. 151 B Nicolson (Auchmill) 79 72, K Duncan (McDonald Ellon) 75 76. 152 M Jenkins (Duff House Royal) 75 77. 153 J Reid (Cruden Bay) 75 78, J Calam (Myrus DR) 75 78, F Bisset (Banchory 73 80. 154 K Beveridge (Inchmarlo) 79 75. 155 J Duff (Newmachar) 76 79. 156 C Cassie (Nigg Bay) 81 75, C Stewart (Kippie Lodge) 77 79. 157 D Leslie (Westhill) 78 79, D McKay (Newmachar) 78 79, M Merchant (Newmachar) 77 80. 158 D Nelson (Aboyne) 77 81. 159 L Prouse (Hazlehead) 79 80. 160 J Roberts (Cruden Bay) 79 81, S Kennedy (Craibstone) 79 81. 161 J Forrest (Northern) 77 84, R Lamb (Newmachar) 77 84. 162 W Skene (Deeside) 86 76. 164 Samantha Leslie (Westhill) 80 84, J M Hamilton (Murcar Links) 81 83, I D Smith (Hazlehead) 83 81. 166 D Phillip (Newburgh) 84 82, J Dalgarno (Hazlehead) 82 84, M Booth (Kemnay) 84 82. 167 P Cornfield (Auchmill) 86 81, D Randall (Banchory) 86 81, M Lawrie (Kemnay) 82 85., D McKay (Caledonian) 84 83. 168 G Leslie (Newburgh) 88 80, J Thomas (Craibstone) 81 87. 169 H Roulston (Stonehaven) 82 87, H McNaughton (Cruden Bay) 80 89, N K Parker (Murcar Links) 83 86. 170 A B Clark (Newmachar) 82 88. 171 P Cheyne (Northern) 88 83. 172 B Harper (Newburgh) 86 86, N Stewart (Northern) 86 86, A Graham (Aboyne) 88 84. 173 A Petrie (Oldmeldrum) 87 86. 174 N Chisholm (Kemnay) 86 88. 175 J Borthwick (Craibstone) 89 86 178 R Brown (Inverurie) 89 89. 179 B Lumsden (Northern) 88 91, G Homer (Northern) 90 89. 184 M Brown (Inverurie) 90 94, S Davidson (Northern) 91 93. 185 M Rendall (Stonehaven) 96 89. 187 M F R Rogers (Kemnay) 96 91. 190 D Bingham (Newburgh) 93 97. 199 I Grant (Insch) 96 103. LEADING HANDICAP TOTALS CLASS 1 138 *Scott Larkin (Royal Aberdeen) (+3) 68 70. 141 Craig Carnegie (Kemnay) (4) 69 72. 143 Sean Lawrie (Portlethen) (1) 67 76. 144 Charlies Cassie (Nigg Bay) (6) 75 69, Dave Nelson (Aboyne) (7) 70 74, Willie Skene (Deeside) (9) 77 67. 145 Dave Mackay (Newmachar) (6) 762 73, Jackie Forrest (Northern) (8) 69 76. 147 David Leslie (Westhill) (5) 73 74, Manson Merchant (Newmachar) (5) 72 75. 148 John Roberts (Cruden Bay) (6) 73 75. 149 Brian Nicholson (Aurchmill) (1) 78 71, Jamie Reid (Cruden Bay) (2) 73 76, Fergus Bisset (Banchory) (2) 71 78, Laurence Prouse (Hazlehead) (5) 74 75. *No player can win more than one prize so Scott Larkin's victory in the scratch section would take precedence over him having the best Class 1 handicap net score, i.e. Craig Carnegie is the winner of this section. CLASS 2 137 Paul Cornfield (Auchmill) (15) 71 66. 138 Steve Kennedy (Craibstone) (11) 68 70. 143 Derek Randall (Banchory) (12) 74 69. 144 Mike Booth (Kemnay) (11) 73 71. 146 Grant Leslie (Newburgh) (11) 77 69, Norman Stewart (Northern) (13) 73 73. 147 Hamish McNaughton (Cruden Bay) (11) 69 78. 148 Mike Brown (Inverurie) (10) 72 76. 149 Nigel Parker (Murcar Links) (10) 73 76. LEADING SENIOR AGGREGATES +The following are not prizelists, merely leading totals SCRATCH 152 Mike Jenkins (Duff House Royal) 75 77. 158 Dave Nelson (Aboyne) 77 81. 161 Jackie Forrest (Northern) 77 84. 164 Ian Smith (Hazlehead) 83 81, John M Hamilton (Murcar Links) 81 83. HANDICAP Class 1 144 Dave Nelson (Aboyne) (7) 70 74. 145 Jackie Forrest (Northern) (8) 69 76. 150 Mike Jenkins (DHR) (1) 74 76. 152 John M Hamilton (Murcar Links) 6) 75 77. Class 2 143 Derek Randall (Banchory) (12) 74 69. 146 Norman Stewart (Northern) (13) 73 73. 149 Nigel Parker (Murcar Links) (10) 73 76. 150 Alastair Clark (Newmachar) (10) 72 78. PRIZEWINNERS FOR ROUNDS AT BUCKPOOL TODAY ALONE SCRATCH 1 S Larkin 67. 2 E McIntosh, P Smith 71. 4 B Nicolson, S Finnie 72. HANDICAP - Class 1 1 W Skene 67. 2 C Cassie 69. 3 C Carnegie 72 4 D Mackay, P McArthur 73. HANDICAP - Class 2 1 P Cornfield 66. 2 G Leslie, D Randall 69. 4 S Kennedy 70. 5 M Booth 71. TODAY'S BEST SCORECARDS BUCKPOOL PAR IS 70: OUT 4-4-5-4-4-3-4-3-4--35. IN 4-4-4-3-4-3-5-4-4--35

SCOTT LARKIN 67
OUT: 4-4-5-4-4-3-4-3-3--34
IN:   4-4-4-3-4-2-4-4-4--33

PETER SMITH 71
OUT: 3-4-4-5-5-3-4-3-4--35
IN:   5-4-4-2-4-4-5-4-4--36

EUAN McINTOSH 71
OUT: 4-3-4-6-3-4-4-3-5--36
IN:   5-4-4-3-4-3-4-4-4--35

STEWART FINNIE 72
OUT: 6-6-3-5-3-3-4-3-3--36
IN:    5-4-4-4-4-3-5-3-4--36

+Sorry, we didn't get Brian Nicolson's scorecard for his 72 today.
DAVID BROWN 74
OUT: 4-4-5-4-4-4-6-3-3--37.
IN:    4-5-3-3-4-5-5-4-4--37