Hugh Hunter's Clackmannan County News

DOLLAR DRAW FOR COUNTY GOLF TEAM


In the second match of the Provan Salver series, The County Golf team could only manage a draw against a strong Angus team despite a home advantage over the tricky hillside course. Stars of the day were local member Darren Hulston renowned for his sub 60 rounds on the course. Playing at number one which always puts a bit of pressure on a team member, he came up to expectations with a 3/2 win. Further wins from team Captain Jamie Aitken, Scott Moffat (who also won last week) and Alloa’s David Milloy ensured 4 points and a halved match. To retain the Provan Salver now will be difficult--- a win and it has to be a large win over Fife in an away match is needed……. a tall order for the County elite golfers indeed.


MATCH RESULTS (Clackmannan names first)


1. Darren Hulston (Dollar) beat George Finlay (Ballumbie Castle) 3/2
2. Steve McIvor (Alva) lost to Stuart Smith (Downfield) 5/4
3. Jamie Aitken (Alloa) beat Ross Coull (Edzell) 5/4
4. John Maxwell (Tulliallan) lost to Gary Tough (Edzell) 4/3
5. Ian Guthrie (Alloa) lost to William Bremner (Edzell) 5/4
6. David Milloy (Alloa) beat Maurice Lindsay (Broughty) 2 holes
7. Scott Moffat (Braehead) beat Kris Harper (Carnoustie) 5/3
8. Scott Hunter (Tillicoultry) lost to Steven Cargill (Arbroath) 5/4


MATCH RESULT CLACKMANNAN 4 ANGUS 4


In the other Provan Salver match, Perth and Kinross beat Fife over Pitlochry by 4 matches to 3 with one halved.




NO JOY AT CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS


The two local representatives could not make an impact on the Scottish Champion of Champions at Leven Links last weekend. In tough conditions, Steven Horne with rounds of 77,75,76,79 finished in a tie for 27th place while Alva’s Michael Robertson finished a bit further back. Last year Alloa’s Jamie Aitken finished well up the field, earning world ranking points—sadly these will now expire and his world ranking will go in the meantime. Two County players still feature in the R&A list--- Alva’s Lawrence Allan moved up to 2783 thanks to points earned at a Junior tour event and Scott Borrowman (Dollar) at 1390 well below what he reached some time ago. Scott is in the select field of 39 for the Craigmillar Park Open this weekend, giving an opportunity to earn points.


Lawrence Allan (Alva) and Rikki Alexander (Braehead) will be in action next week at the Scottish Boys Championship held at Dunbar.




COUNTY COMPETITION SEASON TEES OFF.


Entry forms for the County Spring Meeting and Boys Championship are now in the six local golf Clubs. Tommy Johnson the County Secretary is hoping for a good entry “ The Spring Meeting is a good opportunity to meet with other County golfers compete against them, and develop your own game”. On the Boys side, Sam Kinnaird has some concerns “ The Boys entry has dropped in recent years and we hope that Clubs will encourage boys to playing the Annual Boys Championships--- there are a number of trophies and good prizes to be won as well as having an enjoyable experience”


The county Spring Meeting is on the 23rd April---- A Division at Alloa and B Division at Braehead.


The County Boys Championship is at Alloa on the 24th April, with the Boys Match Play following at the beginning of May.

PREVIEW OF NEXT WEEK'S SCOTTISH BOYS' CHAMPIONSHIP

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE SCOTTISH GOLF UNION
By ROSS DUNCAN
Talented young golfers from 151 different clubs across the country will be aiming for glory in one of Scotland’s most prestigious golf events when they tee off in the Scottish Boys Championship next week at Dunbar (11 – 16 April).
A field of 256 players will be gathered at the famous Open Final Qualifying venue for the seventieth staging of the event and the traditional start of the domestic golfing season, commencing just a few hours after the conclusion of the US Masters.
Defending champion Grant Forrest (Craigielaw) will start as one of the favourites having demonstrated skill and determination in coming through the field at West Kilbride last year. Being much closer to home on the East Lothian coastline this time around should help the 17-year-old Scotland Boys international, aiming to become the first player to win back-to-back titles since Scott Henry’s achievement in 2004-05.
Deeside’s Craig Lawrie (15), son of former Open Champion Paul Lawrie, makes his championship debut this year and having seen his dad triumph in the recent Andalucía Open in Malaga, the four-handicapper will be keen to add to his family’s trophy haul.
Another 15-year-old making a name for himself in junior golf is Blairgowrie’s Bradley Neill, winner of the Scottish Boys Under-14s Championship for the past two years, and also the current holder of the equivalent English title. Neill exited at the third round stage last year having pushed one of the favourites Jack McDonald all the way to the third extra hole, but with an additional year’s experience and numerous titles already under his belt, he will certainly be one to watch.
McDonald, a first year maths student at Stirling University, has his final tilt at the trophy in his last year as a junior, hoping to add to the national stroke play title he collected in 2008 having reached the semi-finals twelve months ago. The 18-year-old is one of seven players from Kilmarnock (Barassie) competing in the event, more than any other club in the country. Drumpellier and Dunblane New each have representation from five competitors.
Famous names on the trophy include former Ryder Cup star Andrew Coltart, who won the title at Dunbar in 1987, European Tour player Steven O’Hara (1998), former European Tour player turned manager Brian Marchbank (1976) and the host town’s John Huggan (1978), now a highly respected golf journalist. Recent winners include Michael Stewart (2008) and David Law (2009), both of whom went on to lift the Scottish Amateur Championship.
SGU Chief Executive Hamish Gray is looking forward to the Championship getting underway:
“There is always a real sense of anticipation ahead of the Scottish Boys Championship as the first major domestic event of the season and we have a strong field assembled at Dunbar this year,” said Grey.
“It’s wonderful to see representation from so many clubs across Scotland, highlighting the great work being done at junior level through clubgolf, our national development programme, with support from many PGA professionals and volunteers.
“As an Open Qualifying venue, Dunbar will provide a superb challenge for our young golfers and we are indebted to them for their continued support of this championship, this being the nineteenth time they have staged the event,” he added.
Live scoring and updates from the Championship will be available throughout the week via the SGU website at www.scottishgolf.org, while highlights from the event will be broadcast on the SGU’s YouTube TV channel the following week.


ROSS DUNCAN
Scottish Golf Union
Media, Sponsorship and Marketing Manager

IF YOU WERE WONDERING WHY GAVIN DEAR HAD TO RETIRE DURING THE CHALLENGE TOUR'S KENYA OPEN AT THE WEEKEND, HERE IS THE ANSWER, STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSE'S MOUTH:


E-MAIL FROM GAVIN DEAR

I had food poisoning, was up from 3am on Saturday morning. Felt really bad but thought I would try and play, but as every hole went by I felt worse. At the 6th I hit my 3 wood straight down the middle but started to have difficulty walking down the fairway. At that point I decided I could be doing myself harm. I was then sick multiple times for the next few hours and spent the rest of the day in bed.
I felt better yesterday and managed to keep food down. I am currently travelling home and then onto Morocco where I am playing two epd events. Unfortunate course of events but I made the right choice and hopefully I can improve my play slightly for Morocco.

GAVIN DEAR

LAST CALL FOR ENTRIES TO SCOTTISH YOUTHS CHAMPIONSHIP

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE SCOTTISH GOLF UNION
Entries for the 2011 Golf Data Lab Scottish Youths Championship close on Thursday 7 April so there’s just a few days left for players to get their name down to compete in one of the SGU’s premier national events.
Taking place at Paisley Golf Club next month (6 – 8 May), the championship is open to golfers under the age of 21 on 1 January 2011 with a handicap of 2.4 or less, with a field of 120 players. The entry fee for the 72-hole stroke play event is £46 with entry forms available to download via the SGU website.
The Golf Data Lab Scottish Youths Championship has an impressive roll call of former winners, including Martin Laird – recent winner of the Arnold Palmer Invitational – who took the youths title back in 2003 at Letham Grange.
Former Ryder Cup star Paul McGinley etched his name on the trophy in 1988 at Ladybank, while other European Tour winners Dean Robertson (1991), Stephen Gallacher (1994) and Frenchman Gregory Bourdy (2002) are also on the list of previous winners. Germany’s Max Rotluff won last year’s championship at Monifieth.



Ross Duncan

Marketing, Media and Sponsorship Manager

Direct Line: 01334 466482

Mobile No: 07834 191 896

ENGLAND WIN NATIONS CUP IN SPAIN, SCOTLAND FINISH FOURTH

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ENGLISH GOLF UNION
England completed a hat-trick of European Nation Championships when they successfully defended the title against the rest of Europe at Sotogrande in Spain.
The quartet of Laurie Canter (Saltford, Somerset), Tom Lewis (Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire), Jack Senior (Heysham, Lancashire) and Andrew Sullivan (Nuneaton, Warwickshire) finished the 72-hole stroke play event, in which the best three cards each day counted, on 852, 12 under par, two strokes clear of France with Spain third on 855.
On an opening day of tricky winds, England finished in seventh place on level par 216, five behind leaders France after 71s from Canter and Senior and 74 by Lewis.
But Lewis’s 67 allied to 70 from Canter and 71 from Sullivan hoisted England into top spot, a stroke ahead of Spain on day two, a position they never relinquished.
They increased their advantage to seven shots from France on the third day thanks to 67 by Sullivan and 71s from Canter and Senior.
Like the first day, the final round also proved difficult with Canter, Senior (picture © Tom Ward) and Sullivan all shooting 73, which just proved enough to stay two shots ahead of the French and give English a third successive title.
“The boys found it tough going at times and they had to work for the victory,” admitted team manager Terry Casey. “But we are delighted to win again as narrow as the margin might be. We had the team to do it and the boys pulled for each other. But it is tricky holding on to a lead over a tricky course with some tough pin positions. Nevertheless, the boys ground it out and we take great pride in the win.”
The individual title eluded the players. That went to Julien Brun of France on 281, seven under par, and four shots ahead of the leading Englishman, Canter, who finished joint third.
Leading final scores:852 England (L Canter 71 70 71 73, T Lewis 74 67, J Senior 71 71 73, A Sullivan 71 67 73);
854 France;
855 Spain;
864 Scotland (R Kellett 69 68 76 73, M Stewart 75 73 68, P McLean 70 77 74, K Nicol 73 68);
870 Ireland (P Cutler 72 72 79 72, A Dunbar 71 76, R Leonard 76 67, D McElroy 69 71 69 76), Denmark;
871 Italy;
874 Wales (O Farr 72 73 73 73, R Enoch 70 74, J Frazer 75 74 69, R Pugh 76 74 71)
Individual: 281 J Brun (Fra) 68 71 75 67;
284 L Nemecz (Aut) 69 70 70 75;
285 L Canter (Eng) 71 70 71 73, D McElroy (Ire) 69 71 69 76;
286 J F Sarasti (Spa) 69 80 67 70, A Sullivan (Eng) 75 71 67 73, R Kellett (Scot) 69 68 76 73
-ENDS-
For further information please contact:
Lynne Fraser, EGU Marketing and PR Manager
Email: lfraser@englishgolfunion.org
Tel: 01526 354500

NORMAL SERVICE WILL RESUME ON APRIL 15

COLIN FARQUHARSON IS MEANTIME ON HOLIDAY AND ABLE ONLY TO PROVIDE NEWS DATES IRREGULARLY.

NORMAL SERVICE WILL RESUME ON APRIL 15.

NEW SCOTTISH WEBSITE: www.lateTtimes.co.uk

NEWS RELEASE
Ladybank Golf Club Professional Alan Lockhart launched an exciting and unique website on Friday April 1st which he feels will modernise and utilise the selling of tee times for Scottish golf courses while offering fantastic deals to the paying golfer.
LateTtimes.co.uk, a last minute booking site for Scottish golf clubs, went live after 12 months of hard work from Alan, business partner Emma McElhill, Business Gateway of Stirling and website designers, WebXel of Perth.
‘We believe we have come up with an exciting and unique business model that will benefit both golf clubs and golfers,’ commented Alan. ‘I came up with the idea over a year ago and it has been a working progress to get to where we are today. "Trying to generate extra income for golf clubs through increased visitor numbers without these numbers having any adverse effect on current income streams is very important to us. And tying this in with giving the golfer a great deal, we feel lateTtimes.co.uk ticks all these boxes.
"Many people have heard and deal with successful last minute booking websites such as lastminute.com and latehotels.com. To our knowledge we are the first ever Scottish last minute booking site solely dedicated to last minute bookings for Scottish golf clubs."
All of the tee times will go for sale between one and seven days prior to the tee time. It is up to club what tee times to sell, how many and how many days in advance. It’s all about fitting them around their populated member times and pre-booked visitor times and never getting in the way of them. When the tee times are gone, they’re gone.
At lateTtimes.co.uk we are guaranteeing a minimum of a 50% reduction off the greenfee which is an incredible price, especially seeing some of the top quality Scottish golf courses already signed up to lateTtimes.co.uk.
We feel it is better for the golf club to get something, rather than just leave the tee time empty and get nothing. The website itself is superb and incredibly easy to use for golfer and golf club. You need to be a member of lateTtimes.co.uk to take advantage of the great offers, however membership is free.
We will be sending out an exciting and modern weekly email newsletter with plenty of news, coaching tips and much more. We really are very excited about what the future holds.’
You can sign up now by visiting the site and becoming a member of this great Scottish website.