FROM ITALY TO ABERDEENSHIRE, KRIS NICOL'S A WINNER AGAIN

KRIS NICOL ... Man in form, whatever the country By COLIN FARQUHARSON Colin@scottishgolfview.com Aberdeenshire in late November is a far cry from Italy but Fraserburgh's rookie pro Kris Nicol carried on in today's North-east Alliance where he left off last week in sunnier climes as winner of the Alps Tour Qualifying School. The conditions were hardly Mediterranean as Nicol headed a field of 80 players at a windy and not so warm Newburgh-on-Ythan with a round of three-under-par 69 which included a bag of eight birdies, offset by a double bogey 6 at the 17th and three bogeys. Nicol birdied the long third, fourth, sixth, long ninth, 10th, 12th, 13th and 15th in halves of 34 (two under par) and 35 (one under). On the down side, he had a double bogey 6 at the 17th and single shots dropped at the second, eighth and 11th The Fraserburgh man won by a single shot from Paul Lawrie (Aberdeen Asset) who had seven 3s on his card - including four in a row from 13th - six birdies in all but four bogeys, including a 6 at the difficult last hole into the wind, which cost him a share of victory. "I played OK but I didn't putt very well," said Paul. "Yes, I have tried the belly putter but it did not make much difference." Auchmill amateur John Nicolson did well to finish third on 71 with a round that included only three deviations from par - birdies at the fourth and 15th and a bogey at the 13th in halves of 35 and 36. Fraser Clarke (Newmachar) had the best score for the front nine - three-under-par 33, but he took 41 blows to come for a 74. John Duff (Newmachar), a winner already this season, was heading for a top-four or five finish until he ran up an 8 at the par-5 last. Scottish amateur champion and rookie pro David Law (Hazlehead) had a 76 which included a double bogey 6 at the 17th. ALL THE SCRATCH SCORES Par 72 Yardage 6,423 Card of course: OUT: 4-3-5-4-3-4-4-4-5: 36. IN: 4-4-4-4-4-4-3-4-5: 36  69 Kris Nicol (Fraserburgh). OUT: 4-4-4-3-3-4-3-5-4: 34. IN: 3-5-3-3-4-3-3-6-5: 35 70 Paul Lawrie (Aberdeen Asset). OUT: 5-4-4-3-3-4-3-5-5: 36. IN: 4-4-4-3-3-3-3-4-6: 34 71 John Nicolson (Auchmill). OUT: 4-3-5-3-3-4-4-4-5: 35. IN: 4-4-4-4-5-3-3-4-5: 36 72 Terry Mathieson (Murcar Links) 38-34, George Paterson (Northern) 36-36, Ian Bratton (Newburgh on Ythan) 35-37. 73 Gordon Munro (Fraserburgh) 35-38 74 Fraser Clarke (Newmachar) 33-41, Ryan Fitzpatrick (Inchmarlo) 38-36, Charles Cassie (Nigg Bay) 39-35, Robert O'Donnell (Oldmeldrum) 36-38 75 Colin Nelson (Mackenzie Shop) 39-36, Fergus Bisset (Banchory) 39-36, Patrick Lovie (P1 Corporate) 35-40, John Duff (Newmachar) 36-39, Donald Macandrew (Royal Aberdeen) 37-38, Alan Gall (Deeside) 37-38. 76 Sandy Pirie (Hazlehead) 39-37, Justin Duff (Fraserburgh) 42-34, David Law (Hazlehead) 37-39, Stewart Finnie (Caledonian) 39-37. 77 Colin Ord (Auchmill) 36-41, Manson Merchant (Newmachar) 39-38. 78 Les Fowler (Royal Aberdeen) 39-39, Paul Simpson (Aboyne) 41-37 79 Keith Ingram (Deeside) 42-37, Jim Duncan (Newburgh) 40-39, Alan Ross (Deeside) 42-37, Euan Kennedy (Newmachar) 42-37 80 Robert Lamb (Newmachar) 38-42, Gordon Milne (Newburgh) 39-41, Jordan Findlay (Fraserburgh) 41-39, Ally Fiddes (Murcar Links) 42-38, Mark Lawrie (Kemnay) 41-39, Dave Leslie (Northern) 42-38, Martin May (Cruden Bay) 39-41, Ian Esslemont (Cruden Bay) 38-42. 81 Scott Larkin (Royal Aberdeen) 44-37, Brian Harper (Newburgh) 39-42, Claire Prouse (Hazlehead) 41-40, Keith Watson (Deeside) 41-40, Alistair Graham (Aboyne) 42-39. 82 David Fleming (Portlethen) 44-38, Jackie Forrest (Northern) 43-39, Norman Stewart (Northern) 39-43. 83 Mike Duncan (Murcar Links) 41-42, John Dalgarno (Hazlehead) 40-43, Derek Randall (Banchory) 44-39, Alistair Petrie (Oldmeldrum) 41-42. 85 Lawrence Prouse (Hazlehead) 42-43, Graham Allan (Newmachar) 41-44, Albert Smith (Turriff) 48-37, Bill Shaw (Banchory) 44-41. 86 Jim Murray (Banchory) 45-41, Mike Rogers (Kemnay) 43-43, Jim Scott (Peterculter) 44-42, Leslie Roger (Royal Aberdeen) 42-44. 87 Nigel Parker (Murcar Links) 44-43, Mike Booth (Kemnay) 47-40. 88 Phil Murray (Aboyne) 43-45, Harry Roulston (Stonehaven) 43-45, Colin Duffus (Kemnay) 42-46 89 Ray Brown (Newburgh) 45-44. 90 Peter Guthrie (Peterculer) 45-45, Benny Lumsden (Northern) 46-44, George Stevely (Murcar Links) 47-43 91 John Jessiman (Oldmeldrum) 43-48. 92 Chris Brindley (Banchory) 46-46, Michael Holley (Ballater) 45-47. 93 Peter Leech (Oldmeldrum) 48-40. 96 Ian Grant (Keith) 48-49, Dick Wright (Northern) 51-45. 97 Hamish McNaughton (Cruden Bay) 49-48, Robert Orr (Kemnay) 45-52 +The number of No Returns ran into double figures. LEADING HANDICAP Class 1 - C Cassie (Nigg Bay) (5), A Gall (Deeside) (6) 69; M Merchant (Newmachar) (7) 70; R O'Donnell (Oldmeldrum) (3), G Paterson (Northern) (1), C Ord (Auchmill) (6) 71. Class 2 - N Stewart (Northern) (14) 68; D Randall (Banchory) (13) 70; M Rogers (Kemnay) (14) 72; A Petrie (Oldmeldrum) (10), J Dalgarno (Hazlehead) (10, G Allan (Newmachar) (12) 73. TEE TIMES FOR FRASERBURGH NEXT WEDNESDAY Match No /Tee Time/Tee     Players

1 08:00 1 Keith Watson, Brian Harper, Charlie Cassie
2 08:07 1 Grant Leslie, Ian Bratton
3 08:14 1 Donald Macandrew, Gordon Munro, Fraser Clarke
4 08:21 1
5 08:28 1 David Mackay, Colin Nelson, Lee Vannet
6 08:35 1
7 08:42 1 Michael Holley, Graham Mitchell, John Borthwick
8 08:49 1 Craig Carnegie, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Patrick Lovie
9 08:56 1 John Dalgarno, Lawrence Prouse, Claire Prouse

10 09:03 1 Jim Scott, Ally Fiddes, Jordan Findlay
11 09:10 1 Bryan Robson, Mike D Brown
12 09:17 1 Manson Merchant, Robert Lamb, Euan Kennedy
13 09:24 1 Sandy Davidson, Mike Brown, Raymond Brown
14 09:31 1 Hamish McNaughton
15 09:38 1 Keil Beveridge, Laura Murray, Paul Simpson
16 09:45 1 Martin Forster, Paul McIntosh
17 09:52 1 Keith Ingram, Allan Ross
18 09:59 1 Norman Stewart, Jackie Forrest, Alan Gall

19 10:06 1 Les Fowler, Sandy Pirie, Fergus Bisset
20 10:13 1 Billy Sim, David Fleming, John Duff
21 10:20 1 Jim Murray, Chris Brindley, Derek Randall
22 10:27 1 John Nicolson, Brian Nicolson, Paul Cornfield
23 10:34 1 David Brown, Tommy Collie, Mark Lawrie
24 10:41 1 Mike Rogers, Gordon Milne, Jim Duncan
25 10:48 1 Gary Homer, Ben Lumsden, David Leslie
26 10:55 1 Alister Petrie, John Jessiman, Dick Wright

27 11:02 1 Nigel Parker, George Stevely, Kenny Stephen
28 11:09 1 Mike Smith, Ian Grant
29 11:16 1 Willie McKenzie, Martin May, Peter Leech
30 11:23 1 David McKay, Jim Gall, Stewart Finnie
31 11:30 1 Willie Shaw, David Law
32 11:37 1 Alister Graham, Willie Skene, Willie
33 11:44 1 David Wilson, Robert O'Donnell, Joel Hopwood