FERRIES PIPS THORBURN FOR NORTH ALLIANCE SCRATCH QUAICH

Left to right: Munro Ferries, Fraser Sparling, Malcolm Morrison, Angus Cameron, Bryan Ronald and club captain Alister Simpson. Image by Robin Wilson.
By ROBIN WILSON
Even though he had to miss the weekend's final North Golf Alliance fixture at Tain, Thurso's Dougie Thorburn must still have thought his first Alliance Trophy was in the bag with a six-shot lead.

But local champion Munro Ferries returned a course record equalling card of 64 to pip him by one stroke on the final day for the Scratch Quaich. Although it was put forward as a tempting goal in the event preview that a 64 from Ferries would turn the result around, it was not really expected, allowing for the fact that Thorburn had a six-shot lead.

But by matching his own course record of 64 over Tain the stunning card from Ferries enabled him discard one of the 71s that went up to make his trailing aggregate of 281 and reduce it by seven to 274 so getting ahead of Thorburn's 275 by a shot.

The Tain player's other three counting scores to retain the trophy were recorded at Wick 69, Tarbat 70, and Brora 71.
Ferries's 64 won the Scratch Quaich for a third year, so matching the record winning hat-trick of Wick's Ron Taylor some years ago. Munro Ferries is pictured above with his daughter Iona (5) and the trophy. Image by Robin Wilson.
The winner's course record of 64 is six below the Tain normal par (35-35), and Sunday's 64 was five below the Tain winter par (34-35), where the second hole is played as a par-3.
There was no indication from his opening four holes of the score that was to come. Indeed the local lefty was over par after a three-putt bogey 6 on the fourth hole before miserly using his putter only seven more times before reaching the turn in 32 after birdies at the sixth, eighth and ninth holes.His inward half swung into action with a birdie on the 12th green followed by another single putt on the 14th green. Par threes were made at 16th and 17th holes before the winning birdie 3 was made in front of the clubhouse for another 32.

Softening the blow to Thorburn was that his gross 275 also ended up as the leading net aggregate to win the Mackintosh Salver from Fraser Sparling and being able to look forward to making up a formidable partnership with Ferries in next month's prestigious Black Isle Foursomes at Fortrose and Rosemarkie.

Reay's Gavin Gunn, for a short, while thought he had caught Thurso's Fraser Sparling in the challenge for second place to Thorburn's Mackintosh Salver success after the Reay member carded a net 70 at Tain to rid his net 74 at Reay from his counting total.
However his Reay 74 had to remain to comply with the rule that not all scores are from the same area and he had to have a North score in his total. Sparling did not improve at Tain and his 279 remained in second place, four behind Thorburn. However the Gunn family did have something to celebrate, Gavin's father Alister holing out in one at Tain's 181 yard fifth hole with a five iron.

Thurso captain Alister Simpson, second in the Class 2 handicap section with net 68, off 17, led his club members the Team Shield, backed up by a net 67 from Brian Ronald (handicap 2), winner of Class 1 on count back, Alan Swanson (2) 68, and Jim Gangster's net 72 , off one.
Thurso's total of 275 was one less than the the hosts: Munro Ferries (+1) 65, Ali Melville (12) 69, Billy Ferries (3) 69 and Steve Holmes (5) 73.
Sunday's leading scores
SCRATCH
64 M Ferries (Tain).
68 B Ronald (Thurso).
70 A Swanson (Thurso).
72 B Ferries (Tain), R W Taylor (Wick).
73 J Sangster (Thurso).
HANDICAP
Class 1 – B Ronald (Thurso) (1), H Skinner (Tarbat) (9) 67; B Ferries (Tain) (3) 69; M Keay (Tarbat) (8), B Murray (Wick) (5) 71.
Class 2 – W MacLean (Wick) (17) 66; A Simpson (Thurso) (17) 68; A Melville (Tain) (12) 69; J Morrison (Durness) (18), A Gunn (Reay) (11) 70.

MARTIN LAIRD WORLD RANKED NO 40 - HIS HIGHEST EVER

Martin Laird has risen to No 40 - his highest ever - in this week's revision of the RandA World Professional Golf Rankings
Here are the top 50:

1 Martin Kaymer (Germany) 7.98.
2 Lee Westwood (England) 7.69.
3 Luke Donald (England) 6.64.
4 Graeme McDowell (N Ireland) 6.28.
5 Tiger Woods (United States) 5.94.
6 Phil Mickelson (United States) 5.88.
7 Paul Casey (England) 5.74.
8 Rory McIlroy (N Ireland) 5.54.
9 Matt Kuchar (United States) 5.40.
10 Steve Stricker (United States) 5.37.
11 Dustin Johnson (United States) 5.17.
12 Jim Furyk (United States) 4.98.
13 Ernie Els (S Africa) 4.82.
14 Nick Watney (United States) 4.61.
15 Ian Poulter (England) 4.47.
16 Francesco Molinari, (Italy) 4.46.
17 Bubba Watson (USA) 4.35.
18 Retief Goosen (S Africa)  4.24.
19 Hunter Mahan (United States) 4.22.
20 Robert Karlsson (Sweden) 4.13.
21 Alvaro Quiros (Spain) 3.74.
22 Tim Clark (S Africa) 3.73.
23 Miguel A Jimenez (Spain) 3.72.
24 Louis Oosthuizen (Spain) 3.68
25 Edoardo Molinari (Italy) 3.49.
26 Charl Schwartzel (S Africa) 3.48
27 Adam Scott (Australia) 3.44.
28 Robert Allenby (Australia) 3.43.
29 Justin Rose (England) 3.32.
30 Rickie Fowler (United States) 3.25
31 Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) 3.20.
32 Y.E. Yang (S Korea) 3.17.
33 Zach Johnson (United States) 3.11.
34 Kim Kyung-Tae (S Korea) 3.02  
35 Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 3.01
36 Peter Hanson (Sweden) 2.99 
 37 Ben Crane, USA 2.93
38 Ryan Moore, USA 2.93.
39 Jason Day, Aus 2.92.
40 Martin Laird, Sco 2.91
41 Anthony Kim, USA 2.88 
 42 Ross Fisher, Eng 2.72
43 Anders Hansen, Dnk 2.71.
44 Ryo Ishikawa, Jpn 2.67
45 Bill Haas, USA 2.58.
46 K.J. Choi, (S Korea) 2.57.
47 Camilo Villegas, Col 2.51.
48 Yuta Ikeda, Jpn 2.51.
49 Bo Van Pelt, USA 2.47.
50 Rory Sabbatini, (S Africa) 2.44.

HOW TO BEAT AIRLINE CHARGES FOR TAKING YOUR GOLF CLUBS

Irish Ryder Cup hero Paul McGinley has announced that the latest ClubstoHire.com store to open will be in his native Ireland.
The new store – which will be operational from April 1 and located at Dublin Airport – will provide a unique service to the considerable number of travelling golfers who visit the country each year.
McGinley, who is a partner in the company, was at pains to express why an Irish outlet was so important to the global golfing community. He said: “Ireland is a Mecca for golf visitors from across the globe who visit our shores to play some of the world’s finest courses.
“Airline charges for golf bags – particularly from the UK and other short-haul destinations – have become ridiculously expensive with up to £80 payable for a single set of clubs.
“I hope that ClubstoHire.com’s cost-effective solution, combined with our range of latest golf equipment and seamless online booking process, will encourage more golfers to visit Ireland and discover our world-class golfing portfolio.”
ClubstoHire.com is a unique concept which offers travelling golfers a massive saving on airline golf bag charges – and complete peace of mind. It promises the very latest equipment from big-name manufacturers such as TaylorMade and Callaway with rentals from as little as €35 per set per week.
In addition, the Dublin operation will also see the introduction of an integrated transfer service, allowing golfers to make arrangements for collection of both clubs and party members at the airport and to be taken to their chosen destination.
The ClubstoHire.com model is already in place in European golfing hotspots, such as Faro and Malaga, and is on course to be established in several more European golf destination hubs by the end of 2011.


■ Bookings for Dublin, Malaga and Faro can be made online at http://www.clubstohire.com/.

OOSTHUIZEN OUT OF THIS WEEK'S ANDALUCIAN OPEN

Louis Oosthuizen will not defend his Andalucian Open title in Malaga this week because of a virus. The South African had to miss the WGC-Cadillac Championship in Miami a fortnight ago with an eye virus that is now affecting his mouth.
However, he hopes to be well enough to play in next week's Shell Houston Open, his final warm-up event for the Masters starting on April 7.
"It's very disappointing, but I can't risk making the problems worse," said the Open champion, who has been told to rest for a week by doctors.

WGC MATCH-PLAY GOING BACK TO THE ARIZONA DESERT IN 2012

MARANA, Arizona (AP) — The World Golf Championships' Match Play Championship is returning to Dove Mountain, Arizona in 2012 for the sixth straight year.
The US PGA Tour announced today that the early-season WGC event again will be played at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, where Luke Donald won last month over Martin Kaymer.
The contract with Dove Mountain is to expire after 2012, while Accenture's title sponsorship agreement goes through 2014.
The US PGA Tour also said that Gerald Goodman, a popular tournament director with players when he ran the tour event at Innisbrook near Tampa, Florida, would take over as executive director of the Match Play Championship.
The WGC Match Play has been at four courses since it began in 1999 - seven years at La Costa, one year in Australia, two years at The Gallery on Dove Mountain and the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club.
Editor: Why not play it in Europe? Simple answer: Americans, in general, don't like playing outside the States.

SCOTTISH MEN'S CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS DRAW

LEVEN GOLFING SOCIETY, SATURDAY-SUNDAY, APR 2-3

TEE TIMES FOR FIRST TWO ROUNDS

1 08:00 12:30 Scott Stewart-Cation Balbirnie Park
Mark Hillson Craigielaw
2 08:08 12:38 Michael Main Thornton
Stephen Neilson Dunbar
3 08:16 12:46 Sandy Squires Scotscraig
Steven Harrod Ballumbie Castle
4 08:24 12:54 James White Lundin
Ross Bell Downfield
5 08:32 13:02 Allyn Dick Kingsknowe
Scott Gibson Southerness
6 08:40 13:10 Jamie Lynch Falkirk Tryst
Adam Dunton McDonald Ellon GC
7 08:48 13:18 Brian Soutar Levens GS
Craig Elliott Carrickvale
8 08:56 13:26 Greg Paterson St Andrews New
Ed Wood Crow Wood
9 09:04 13:34 Scott Crichton Aberdour
Euan Brown Kilmarnock (Barassie)
10 09:12 13:42 Stuart Graham Blairgowrie
Steven Horne Tulliallan
11 09:20 13:50 Allan McKie Glencruitten
Gordon Miller Cawder
12 09:28 13:58 Scott Mcdonald Dunfermline
Robert Jenkins Crow Wood
13 09:36 14:06 David Anderson Strathlene
Stewart Henderson Hamilton
14 09:44 14:14 Grant Forrest Craigielaw
Jordan Findlay Fraserburgh
15 09:52 14:22 Scott Larkin Royal Aberdeen
Steven Rennie Drumpellier
16 10:00 14:30 Matthew Clark Kilmacolm
Paul Shields Kirkhill
17 10:08 14:38 David Law Hazlehead
Gordon Stevenson Whitecraigs
18 10:16 14:46 Graeme Robertson Glenbervie
Peter Latimer St Andrews New
19 10:24 14:54 Michael Robertson Alva
David Ewen Carrickvale
20 10:32 15:02 Allan Ballantyne Hawick
Clark Brechin Portlethen
21 10:40 15:10 Graham Bolton Rothesay
Kyle McClung Wigtownshire
22 10:48 15:18 Colin Peddie Kirkintilloch
Paul Johnson Hawick
23 10:56 15:26 Neil McWilliam Elgin
Craig Checkley Vale of Leven
24 11:04 15:34 Graham Robertson Silverknowes
David King Southerness

LINCOLNSHIRE MAN BEATEN IN AUSSIE AMATEUR STROKE PLAY-OFF

FROM THE ENGLISH GOLF UNION WEBSITE
England’s Dave Coupland (Boston, Lincolnshire) was beaten at the first extra hole of a sudden death playoff for the Australian Men’s Amateur Stroke Play Championship at The Victoria Club in Melbourne.
The 25 year old, who is in Australia for four months competing for Waverley GC in the Pennant Series, carded a closing round of 65, with six birdies on the front nine, to tie Queensland’s Cameron Smith on 275, 13 under par, four strokes ahead of New Zealand’s Ben Campbell.
But the Australian, who led the tournament in the three previous rounds, birdied the first playoff hole, something Coupland couldn’t match.
It was Smith’s biggest win to date and he paid tribute to Coupland’s effort, saying: “He played awesome golf. He just went at every pin, hit it to six feet every time and holed the putt.”
The leading 32 players from the stroke play event qualify for elimination match play, to determine the Australian Amateur Champion. Coupland apprears to be maintaining his good form and has already won his first two matches to reach the Quarter Finals.
Coupland’s performance comes in the wake of a string of quality achievements by England’s golfers Down Under this winter.
Andrew Sullivan (Nuneaton, Warwickshire) won the New South Wales Medal, finished runner-up in The Masters of the Amateurs, the New South Wales Cup and was second to Jack Senior (Heysham, Lancashire) in an all-English final of the New South Wales Amateur, while Senior was runner-up to Sullivan in the New South Wales Medal.
Ben Loughrey (Wrag Barn, Wiltshire) won the New South Wales Cup, while Tom Lewis collected silver medals for the leading amateur in the New South Wales Open and the Australian Open Championship.
England’s golfers also retained the Ashes against Australia by with a 13-5 scoreline.

AUSTRALIAN MEN’S STROKE PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP
Leading scores
275 C Smith (Qld) 66 71 70 68
275 D Coupland (Eng) 72 71 67 65
279 B Campbell (NZ) 71 69 70 69
285 M Batibasaga (Qld) 75 71 70 69
285 V McCall (NZ) 68 76 74 67
-

GARY WOODLAND (23 putts in final round) WINS FIRST US TOUR TITLE

FROM THE GOLF.COM WEBSITE
PALM HARBOR, Fla. (AP) — Gary Woodland, a pure athlete who started serious golf competition only eight years ago, figured out quickly that hitting the ball from here to the moon was not going to help him win tournaments.
Perhaps it was only fitting that his biggest shot Sunday at the Transitions Championship came with his putter.
The race to the finish at Innisbrook was so wild that Woodland didn't make a single par on the back nine until the last hole. He made a 10-foot par putt that proved to be the difference in a one-shot victory over Webb Simpson.
"I can't come out here and hit the golf ball 900 yards and win," said Woodland, exaggerating only slightly. "I was very conservative this week, laid back almost all day - all four days - and just tried to get the ball in the fairway, get it on the green and let the putter do the work. That's what I'm learning."
The final par - his only par on a back nine that featured five birdies and three bogeys - gave Woodland a four-under 67 and his first trip to Augusta National for the Masters.
Simpson also flew long on the 18th green and faced the same scary shot as Woodland in the group ahead. From off the back of the green, he chipped 20 feet by the hole and the par putt was the only bad stroke he made all day. The bogey gave him a 69 and a runner-up finish in an otherwise solid performance for his first time in serious contention.
"I just didn't hit a very good second shot," Simpson said.
Woodland took only 23 putts in the final round - 10 on the back nine. According to the Shotlink data, he didn't miss a single putt inside 20 feet in the final round, with four of those 17 putts outside 10 feet.
Woodland, who played college basketball at Washburn until deciding to transfer to Kansas to play golf, became the first player to earn his inaugural US PGA Tour title at Innisbrook.
The win gives Woodland an invitation to Augusta National, where his awesome power and soft putting touch could make for an interesting marriage at the Masters. A late-bloomer, Woodland missed the second half of his rookie season two years ago with shoulder surgery, but began to show his potential when he lost in a play-off at the Bob Hope Classic.
Woodland finished at 15-under 269 and earned $990,000, moving up to No. 3 in the FedEx Cup standings.
"One thing that has helped me was putting, and today it saved me," Woodland said. "Luckily, it won me a golf tournament."
Scott Stallings, a rookie who missed every cut on the West Coast Swing to fall to the bottom of the status ladder, kept his poise and stayed in the game until the 16th, the toughest driving hole on the Copperhead course with trees to the left and water to the right. Stallings went right into the lake and made double bogey.
Even so, he shot a 70 and finished alone in third, which gets him in the Houston Open in two weeks.
"A sponsor exemption changed my year, and I can't thank Transitions enough," Stallings said. "Without them giving me an opportunity to play, there's no way I would have been here. One good tournament completely changed my year."
Brandt Snedeker finished fourth.
Justin Rose, a two-time winner last year who started the final round with a one-shot lead, was tied for the lead until making four straight bogeys through the 10th hole to fall out of contention. He wound up five shots behind.
Nick Watney, coming off a World Golf Championship title at Doral last week, played with Woodland and fell out of the mix quickly by failing to make putts. Watney didn't make a birdie and closed with a 72 and tied for 13th, the first time Watney has been out of the top 10 all year. That means his two-month bet with caddie Chad Reynolds is over, and both can now get a hair cut.
Martin Kaymer, the world No. 1, closed with a 69 to tie for 20th.
Woodland played conservatively around the Copperhead course, usually hitting 2-iron off the tee. He hit one shot 337 yards uphill on one of the few holes he used driver, leading to a birdie.
Another driver didn't work out so well. He came out of his swing on the par-5 11th, and the ball went over and through the trees before settling in light rough between the tee and green on the 17th. He could only pitch a wedge to the 17th tee, and he had to scramble for bogey. Woodland followed with three straight birdies, the last one a 12-footer from the fringe on the 14th to take the lead.
Then came a flubbed chip on the 15th, and a bad bunker shot on the 16th, two bogeys to fall one shot behind. Woodland came up with another clutch putt on the 17th for birdie from 15 feet, setting up the biggest putt of them all.
Woodland was No. 153 in the world ranking, making him the ninth US Tour winner to be ranked 100th or lower.
He becomes the latest pure athlete to make an impression on the US Tour, cut out of the mold of Dustin Johnson. The difference is that Woodland still lacks polish. His only national competition was as a shortstop in baseball and a point guard in basketball. He originally turned down a golf scholarship at Kansas to play basketball at Division II Washburn.
In his first game, he scored three points in Allen Fieldhouse against the Jayhawks, and figured he better try golf.
Midway through his first year on tour in 2009, he had shoulder surgery, which turned out to be the best thing for him.
"I was athletic, but I didn't know what I was doing out here," he said. "I got hurt, and I had to step back and really figure out how to play this game. And I'm starting to figure that out right now."
Bubba Watson shot a 68 in the final round, then gave the US PGA Tour a cheque for $50,000 for the Red Cross to help with the relief efforts in Japan. Sergio Garcia shot 71 and tied for 15th in his first US Tour event since the US PGA Championship last August.

SCROLL DOWN FOR ACCESS TO ALL THE FINAL TOTALS
AND REFERENCE TO MARTIN LAIRD'S PERFORMANCE
 AND PRIZE MONEY.

HUGH HUNTER'S CLACKMANNAN COUNTY NEWS

PandK v CLACKMANNAN  PROVAN SALVER TEE OFF


In the first of three matches to decide the 2011 Provan Salver, the Clackmannan team take on Perth and Kinross at Strathmore on Sunday (March 27). The following Sunday it will be Clackmannan v Angus at Dollar (11am).
 The matches are decided by eight singles games, and Clackmannanshire, as holders of the trophy, will be keen to do well against the three other ounties.

MORE MIDLAND SUCCESS FOR CHRIS
Alloa’s Chris Westland reinforced his position at the top of the Midland Alliance Order of Merit when he took the top prize at Crieff last Thursday with a net score of 67 over the par 71 lay-out. In doing so, he qualified for the Midland Alliance Championship, to be held at Arbroath in April and played over 36 holes.

SCOTTISH BOYS' CHAMPIONSHIP
Entries have just closed for the 2011 Scottish boys'  championship at Dunbar. The field is restricted to 256 and a handicap limit of 5.5 was applied. The two local boys playing, Rikki Alexander (Braehead) and Lawrence Allan (Alva), have morning starts for their first-round matches.
Rikki plays Connor Marsland (Lincoln) at 8.29 on Monday, April 11 and Lawrence plays Ross Anderson (Stonehaven) the following day Tuesday at 10.01.
Lawrence will get some useful practice this weekend when he competes in the first SGU Junior Tour event of 2011 at Arbroath. The select field of 30 competes over 36 holes, and includes all the top Scottish boys.
Lawrence is first out at 12.15pm along with Alasdair McDougall (St Andrews) and Ben Craggs (Glenbervie)
Past Scottish boys' championships attracted larger numbers of Clackmannan  boys. Fifty years ago in the 1961 event, there were six entries: Donald Buchanan, Sandy Stevenson, Jim Gibb, all entered from Alloa Academy and playing at Tillicoultry, Jack Steven, Jim Rankin (both Tulliallan) and A D Wight (Dollar).
Three of them (Gibb, Stevenson Wight) reached the last eight, and there were high hopes but sadly they all lost.

WHITEFORD, JAMIESON JOINT 5TH BEHIND SICILY WINNER JACQUELIN

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Raphaël Jacquelin held off a spirited challenge from Anthony Wall to win his third European Tour title at the Sicilian Open.
EDITOR: Peter Whiteford and Scott Jamieson were among those tied for fifth place on five-under-par 279. Each earned 26,300 Euros.
A two-and-a-half hour delay for dangerous weather conditions on Sunday forced a Monday finish at Donnafugata Golf Resort and Spa, with the leading pair resuming with just one shot separating them and six holes to play.
Wall twice wiped out the deficit, only to double bogey the penultimate hole as 36 year old Jacquelin walked away with the €166,660 first prize.
Jacquelin closed with a three under par round of 68 for a 12 under par total, finishing one shot clear of Wall after his playing partner birdied the last.
Teeing off at 7am, Wall was immediately level when he birdied the par three 13th.
But - as he had when Wall birdied the first hole of the final round to draw level - Jacquelin responded with a gain of his own at the very next hole.
Wall - whose only previous European Tour title was 11 years ago - looked to have forced a play-off when he picked up another shot at the par five 16th.
But he failed to capitalise on his momentum, and his six at the 421 yard 17th proved costly, his gain at the last only enough to reduce the arrears.
Spaniard José Manuel Lara - who was only two behind Jacquelin with three to play overnight - also had a double bogey, his at the last, as he tied with Swede Joel Sjöholm for third on seven under.

LEADING FINAL TOTALSPar 284 (4x71)
Prize money in Euros
272 Raphael Jacquelin (France) 66 69 69 68 (166,660)
273 Anthony Wall (England) 66 67 72 68 (111,110).
277 Joel Sjoholm (Sweden) 70 68 70 69, Jose Manuel Lara (Spain) 65 75 68 69 (56,300 each).

SELECTED TOTALS
279 Peter Whiteford (Scotland) 74 68 66 71, Scott Jamieson (Scotland) 71 70 68 70 (T5) (26,300 each).

TO VIEW ALL THE FINAL TOTALS AND, THE ALLOCATION OF PRIZE MONEY ON THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE

CLICK HERE