STEPHEN GRAY IS CHAMPION OF THE LINKS

Hayston's Stephen Gray won the £7,000 top prize in the Tomatin Single Malt 54-hole pro-am over three North of Scotland links courses - Royal Dornoch, Castle Stuart and Nairn. Gray had a three-under-par 67 at Royal Dornoch, a three-under-par 69 at Castle Stuart and a brilliant closing round of six-under 66 at Nairn for a grand total, a really grand total, of 12-under-par 202. Gray has put in many fine performances since he came to the forefront on the Tartan Tour. This must rank as just about his best for a sustained qualify of performance over three of the best links courses, not only in Scotland but in the world. Stephen bogeyed the first and then moved into top gear, covering the remaining holes in seven under par - birdies at the long second, long seventh, eighth - an eagle 3 at the long 10th, and birdies at the 15th and 17th. Great stuff! Banchory's Greig Hutcheon started the final day level with Gray but could not live with him over the final 18 holes which for Hutch were at Castle Stuart. He had a three-under-par 69 - covering his last 12 holes in four under par after bogeying the fourth and fifth - there after a 70 at Nairn and a 77 at Royal Dornoch to finished runner-up, beaten by three shots, on nine-under 205 - another quality performance. He earned £5.500. Graham Fox (Rowallan Castle) earned £4,200 for third place on 206 with scores of 69 at Nairn, 69 at Royal Dornoch and 68 at Castle Stuart for a total of 206. Paul McKechnie spearheaded the winning team effort of the "Geason" trio who had a Stableford points total of 255, scoring 85pt at each venue (two from three to count per holes). The winning amateurs were Ian Kilpatrick (handicap 9, Ian Leadbetter (8) and Daniel Reilly (9). TOMATIN SINGLE MALT 54-HOLE PRO-AM Castle Stuart, Royal Dornoch and Nairn links FINAL TOTALS Par 214 (Castle Stuart 72, Nairn 72 Royal Dornoch 70) 202 Stephen Gray (Hayston) 67 69 66 (£7,000). 205 Greig Hutcheon (Banchory) 70 66 69 (£5,500). 206 Graham Fox (Rowallan Castle) 69 69 68 (£4,200). 208 Chris Kelly (Cawder) 70 67 71, Jonathan Lupton (Close Hill) 72 69 67 (£3,225 each). 211 Jonathan Lomas (unatt) 71 68 72, Mark King (Kingsfield) 74 69 68, Gareth Wright (West Linton) 70 71 70, Philip Waugh (Close House) 70 70 71 (£2,050 each). 212 Greg McBain (Gamola Golf) 67 71 74 (£1,400). 214 Robert Arnott (Bishopbriggs) 76 67 71, Kenny Hutton (Downfield) 75 70 68 (£1,100 each). 215 Alan Lockhart (Ladybank) 73 71 71, Scott Henderson (Kings Links) 73 70 72, Elliot Saltman (Archerfield Links) 73 71 71 (£800 each) 216 Andrew Scrimshaw (Close House0 68 78 70, David Orr (Mearns Castle) 75 69 72, David Patrick (Elie SC) 76 70 70 (£600 each) 217 Gary Dingwall (Royal Dornoch) 73 70 74, Neil Fenwick (Dunbar) 69 75 73 (£475 each) 218 Peter Smith (Deeside) 71 74 73 Alan Reid (West Lothian) 74 75 69, Andrew Oldcorn (Kings Acre) 77 73 68 (£350 each). 220 Paul McKechnie (Braid Hills) 75 72 73 (£250). 221 Gordon Stewsart (Cawder) 73 72 76, Craig Ronald (Carluke) 77 75 69, Paul Wardell (Whitekirk) 70 74 77 (£66.67 each). 222 Malcolm Isaacs (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre) 73 74 75, James McKinnon (Irvine) 78 73 71. 223 Gary Murphy (Ireland) 74 77 72, AlanTait (Marriott Dalmahoy) 72 73 78, Stuart Morrison (Tain) 73 77 73, Graeme Brown (Montrose Links) 73 73 77, Chris Currie (Caldwell) 78 72 73 224 Jason McCreadie (Buchanan Castle) 74 71 79, Matthew Hazelden(Cottesmore) 78 76 70 225 Albert Mackenzie (Saunton) 80 73 73, Michael Bradley (Notts) 76 73 76, Ross Cameron (Saltire Energy) 78 68 79, Gary Forbes (Murcar Links) 74 77 74, Campbell Elliott (Haggs Castle) 76 75 74. 226 Stuart Kerr (Strathaven) 77 72 77, Murray Urquhart (Spey Valley) 72 76 78 227 Andrew Crerar (Panmure) 78 76 77 228 Fraser Cromarty (Castle Stuart) 78 75 75, Jonathan Cliff (Murrayfield) 76 75 77 229 Chris Campbell (Trump International) 79 72 78 230 Craig Everett (Caldwell) 77 78 75 231 Richard Reed (Notts) 76 77 78, Iain Colquhoun (Dundonald Links) 76 77 78 234 Thomas Dingwall (Nairn Dunbar) 79 76 79, Ron Walker (Lundin) 87 73 74 235 KenStrachan (Hardelot, France) 75 83 77 239 Gary Lister (Alness) 82 82 75 Disqualified - Jody Rostock (Carnegie Club);