Thursday, April 12, 2012

WRIGHT STILL LEADS BUT HUTCHEON NOW ON TAIL AT DUNDONALD

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
It looks like a straight fight between overnight leader Gareth Wright (West Linton) and Banchory’s Greig Hutcheon for the £1,500 prize with one round to go in the Optical Express PGA Tour opener at Dundonald Links, Ayrshire.
A mixed bag of weather added up to a more difficult day for scoring but Wright did not expect to go out and repeat his nine-under-par 63. A one-under 71 for 10-under-par 134 saw his lead shrink for four shots to one.
Hutcheon, pictured right, almost closed the gap with a 67, one better than his first-round effort, despite the tougher test presented by the weather.
Wright slipped from no bogeys in the first round to four of them between the short sixth and the short 15th. But the long-hitting 30-year-old was able to compensate with an eagle 3 at the long sixth and birdies at the long third, short 11th and long 14th.
He dropped shots at three short holes in his bad run in the middle of the round, taking 4s at the short sixth, short 11th and short 15th. The only par-4 he bogeyed was the eighth.
Hutcheon was becalmed at level par for the round after a birdie at the long third and a bogey at the short sixth. Then the Banchory man suddenly picked up the scent of possible victory and covered the last nine holes in five under par with birdies at the 10th, 12th, 16th and long 18th.
Third-placed Andrew McArthur will beg to differ that it’s a two-horse race. After all he is only three behind Wright and two in arrears of Hutcheon after a 67 for 137. The former Scottish amateur champion from Windyhill packed all his action into the first 13 holes, dropping his only shot at the third but smothering it with birdies at the second, long fifth, short sixth, eighth, 12th and 13th.
For some reason McArthur lost his momentum after that and parred the last five holes.
A case too can be made out for fourth-placed Chris Doak to get his oar in over the final round. Like Hutcheon and McArthur, the Greenock man squeezed a 67 out of the rough weather for a tally of 138 – four off the pace.
Doak was out in 31 with birdies at the second, long third, long fifth, seventh and eighth. Like McArthur, somebody turned off the birdies tap. Doak parred every one of his last 10 hoes.
A total of 32 players with tallies of five-over-par 149 or better qualified for the final 18 holes.
Callum Macaulay made it through on 147 despite a 77 which included a double bogey 6 at the first and a triple bogey 7 at the 16th.
Notable failures to beat the cut included Mark King (Kingsfield) who slid for an opening 71 to an 82 for 153 and European Seniors Tour campaigner Andrew Oldcorn (Kingsacre) who totalled 154 with rounds of 79 and 75.

ALL THE SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2x72)
134 Gareth Wright (West Linton) 63 71.
135 Greig Hutcheon (Banchory) 68 67.
137 Andrew McArthur (unatt) 70 67.
138 Chris Doak (unatt) 71 67.
139 Jack Doherty ( North Gailes ) 69 70, Stephen Gray (Hayston) 67 72.
140 Steven O’Hara (Alain Equestrian Shoot) 68 72, Robert Arnott (Bishopbriggs) 69 71, Graeme Brown (Montrose Links) 70 70.
141 Kris Nicol (Fraserburgh) 70 71
143 Neil Fenwick (Dunbar) 71 72.
144 Jason McCreadie (Buchanan Castle ) 74 70, Chris Kelly (Cawder) 74 70
145 David Orr (Mearns Castle ) 75 70, Ross Dixon (Renaissance) 71 74, Graham Fox (Rowallan Castle ) 74 71.
146 Craig Matheson (Falkirk Tryst) 76 70, Wallace Booth (Comrie) 72 74, Christopher Currie ( Caldwell ) 73 73.
147 David Patrick ( Elie SC ) 74 73, Callum Macaulay (Tulliallan) 70 77, Steven Taylor ( Bothwell Castle ) 73 74, Fraser Grant (Ralston) 70 77
148 Craig Lee (Tain) 70 78, Paul McKechnie (Braid Hills) 72 76, Shaun McAllister (Craigielaw) 77 71, Scott Herald (Mearns Castle) 68 80.
149 Patrick Walker ( England ) 71 78, Ross Kellett (unatt0 75 74, Paul Wardell (Whitekirk) 72 77, Scott Henderson (Kings Links) 72 77.
MISSED THE CUT
150 Paul Robinson (Largs) 74 76, Greg Paxton Ralston) 73 77, James McKinnon ( Irvine ) 74 76, Scott Catlin (Greenburn) 70 80, Iain Colquhoun (Dundonald) 71 79, Craig Ronald (Carluke) 74 76.
151 Alan Reid (West Lothian) 77 74, Ed Wood (Crow Wood) 78 73, Nigel Scott-Smith (Palacerigg) 77 74, Eric Ramsay (Carnoustie) 73 78, Jamie Mackay (North Gailes) 76 75, Keir McNicoll (Gullane) 75 76, Martin Lawrence (Newmachar) 75 76, Iain Hanna (Strathclyde Park ) 77 74.
153 Mark King (Kingsfield) 71 82, Fraser Clarke (Newmachar) 77 76, Lorne Kelly (Prodream USA ) 76 77, George Cowan (Westerhope) 76 77
154 Vincent Brown (Westerwood) 75 79, Andrew Oldcorn (Kingsacre) 79 75, David Ross-Nicol (Dundonald Links) 75 79.
156 Craig Gordon ( Edinburgh GC) 80 76.
157 Mark Loftus ( Meanrs Castle ) 80 77, Christopher Russell ( Dunbar ) 77 80.
158 Ian M Redford (St Andrews New0 78 80, Ben Irving (unatt) 79 79, Steven Mackie (unatt) 77 81.
159 Ian Graham (Crow Wood) 82 77.
160 Ian Robertson (Dalmilling) 78 82, Stuart Williamson ( West Kilbride ) 77 83.
161 Ryan Buckley (Craigielaw) 8279.
163 Stuart Morrison (Tain) 76 87, Sean Thompson (Renaissance) 79 84.
166 David Knapp (American Golf) 82 84.
168 Michael Mackenzie (Edzell) 83 85.
169 Duncan Williamson (Kirkhill) 86 83.
172 Paul Gallacher (Dalmuir) 88 84, Richard Holt ( Balbirnie Park ) 87 85, Ian P Redford senior (St Andrews New) 85 87.

FINAL ROUND TEE TIMES

8:10 Scott Henderson and Paul Wardell
8:18 Ross Kellett and Patrick Walker
8.26 Scott Herald and Shaun McAllister
8.34 Paul McKechnie and Craig Lee
8.42 Fraser Grant and Andrew McIntyre.
8.50 Steven Taylor and Callum Macaulay.
8.58 David Patrick and Christopher Currie
9.06 Wallace Booth and Craig Matheson
9.14 Graham Fox and Ross Dixon
9.22 David Orr and Chris Kelly.
9.30 Jason McCreadie and Neil Fenwick.
9.38 Kris Nicol and Graeme Brown.
9.46 Robert Arnott and Steven O'Hara.
9.54 Stephen Gray and Jack Doherty.
10.02 Chris Doak and Andrew McArthur
10.10 Greig Hutcheon and Gareth Wright.

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