CHRIS ROBB WINS NE DISTRICT OPEN BY FIVE SHOTS

By COLIN FARQUHARSON Colin@scottishgolfview.com Chris Robb flies back to the United States tomorrow as the new North-east District Open champion. About to start his third year at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, the 21-year-old from Banchory, a member at Meldrum House Golf Club, won the SGU Order of Merit event with an impressive six-under-par total of 210. The event was reduced by NE District officials to 54 holes late last week because of a fear that Newmachar's very wet Hawkshill fairways and greens would churn up with the "traffic" if there was more weekend rain. Robb, a former Scottish schoolboys champion did it in style - by a five-shot margin from former Walker Cup player and past Scottish amateur champion Graham Gordon, playing over his home course. Robb started the final round with a three-stroke lead over Gordon but Chris bogeyed the third and had a double bogey 6 at the fourth. That mini "slump," coupled with Gordon's birdies at the second and fourth, saw the pair exchange places at the top of the leaderboard - Gordon moving into a one-stroke lead. But Graham, a reinstated amateur who finished runner-up in the previous weekend's Leven Gold Medal, let it slip with five bogeys in seven holes from the ninth. He finished with a 74 (35-39) for 205. Meanwhile, Robb birdied the fourth, 12th, 16th and 18th for a 72 (38-34) to reassert himself as a worthy winner. "I had not won a tournament since my freshman year in America so it's very nice to be a winner again. I would say the NE District Open title is my biggest win on this side of the Atlantic. I would have to place my US win ahead of it simply because I beat a stronger field over there," said Chris who feels he has learned a lot and improved his all-round game with regular exposure to high-level competitive on the US college circuit. "I felt it was my driving and to a lesser extent my putting that were the key to my victory here at Newmachar. "If you don't drive it straight at Newmachar, you can get in a lot of trouble and I didn't miss many fairways over the three rounds. Some of my putting wasn't so good but some of it was, so that was another plus. "Funnily enough, when I heard that I had lost the lead to Graham Gordon (they were not playing together) in the early stages of the final round, I actually relaxed a bit. Leading the field can be a bit of a burden, so in a way, it was not bad news for me that Graham was leading. "As I say, I relaxed, and started to play well again with four birdies and only one bogey over my last 14 holes." Third on 216, a shot behind Gordon, was another former Scottish schoolboys champion who has played on the US college circuit for the past four years, Neil Henderson (Glen, North Berwick). Neil actually had the best Sunday 36-hole aggregate of 140 with a pair of 70s, having begun with a 76 on Saturday. +Steven Fox, a team-mate of Chris Robb at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, won the US amateur championship final at the 37th hole on Sunday.  FINAL TOTALS Newmachar Hawkshill course. Par 216 (3x72) CSS 75 75 75 Yardage 6,730 210 Chris Robb (Meldrum House) 67 71 72 215 Graham Gordon (Newmachar) 72 69 74 216 Neil Henderson (Glen) 76 70 70 217 David Morrison (Duff House Royal) 70 74 73 218 Fraser Moore (Glenbervie) 72 72 74 219 Adam Dunton (McDonald) 73 74 72, Clark Brechin (Murcar Links) 67 76 76, Scott Larkin (Royal Aberdeen) 70 73 76 220 Barrie Edmond (Bon Accord) 74 73 73 221 Justin Duff (Fraserburgh) 73 74 74 222 Gordon Stevenson (Whitecraigs) 74 71 77, Euan Kennedy (Newmachar) 73 77 72 223 Bryan Innes (Murcar Links) 72 74 77 224 Tom Spencer (Meldrum House) 76 75 73, Conor O'Neil (Pollok) 75 75 74 225 Paul McPhee (King James VI) 73 73 79, Jeff Wright (Forres) 70 75 80 226 Alan Sutherland (Ladybank) 78 75 73 227 Sam Binning (Ranfurly Castle) 77 78 72, Darren Watson (Peterhead) 80 75 72, Chris Lamb (Newmachar) 75 76 76, Jake Scott (Buckpool) 74 77 76, John Mitchell (Fraserburgh) 76 72 79 229 Michael Daily (Erskine) 74 81 74, Kenny Gunnyeon (Murcar Links) 73 78 78, Chris Gilbert (McDonald Ellon) 75 76 78, Mark McKechnie (Newmachar) 75 77 77, Paul Simpson (Aboyne) 80 75 74. 230 Ben Murray (Portlethen) 77 75 78 232 Anthony Bews (Murcar Links) 79 75 78, Scott Robertson (Hazlehead) 75 80 77 234 Richard Barr (Newmachar) 80 77 77, Neil Melvin (Newmachar) 77 76 81, John Duff (Newmachar) 77 77 80, Jack Harling (Banchory) 76 82 76 235 Adam Fisher (Inchmarlo) 75 80 80 237 Gordon Munro (Fraserburgh) 80 76 81, Andy Campbell (Murcar Links) 77 77 83, Malcolm Pennycott (Whiting Bay) 76 78 83, 238 Ian Welsh (Nigg Bay) 81 78 79, Joel Westwell (Inchmarlo) 86 80 72, Sam Kiloh (Portlethen) 79 82 77, Mark McLean (Fraserburgh) 76 79 83 239 Jonathan Mullaney (Dundonald Links) 78 80 81 240 Sean Lawrie (Portlethen) 79 77 84, Ritchie Manson (Kemnay) 83 74 83, Sam Thain (Inchmarlo) 83 78 79 241 Sam Griffiths (Cullen) 83 77 81, Andrew Hepburn (Fraserburgh) 85 77 79 242 Stewart McCulloch (Cruden Bay) 82 79 81, John Godward (McDonald Ellon) 84 77 81 243 Corin Stewart (Fortrose and Rosemarkie) 79 80 84 246 Sam McNeil (Aboyne) 80 83 83 248 Ewen Matthew (Kirriemuir) 80 87 81 249 Greg Kennedy (Hazlehead) 84 83 82, Andrew Carrell (Royal Aberdeen) 80 85 84 250 Jack Walker (Fraserburgh) 88 78 84 251 Stuart McIntosh (Ballater) 81 86 84, Dylan Smith (Alford) 82 82 87 256 Evan Robertson (Inchmarlo) 90 84 82 No Returns: Robert Lamb (Newmachar) 87 93 NR, Ian Wilson (Dalmahoy) 75 81 NR Retired: Matty Greig (Bon Accord) 74 71 ret. Withdrew: Greg Watson (Meldrum House) 77 80 wd, Dave McDowell (Portlethen) 79 79 wd