JOHN HENRY LEADS ALL THE WAY IN SCOTTISH ALLIANCE CHAMPIONSHIP

JOHN HENRY with The Scotsman Trophy as Scottish Alliance Champion for 2012  Image by Cal Carson Golf Agency By COLIN FARQUHARSON  Colin@scottishgolfview.com John Henry has a bit to go to catch up on older brother Scott, now a Challenge Tour player after a stellar amateur CV, but the 20-year-old Clydebank and District pro added the Scottish Golfers' Alliance championship to the family roll of honour at Monifieth Links today. John Henry, who campaigns on the PGA EuroPro Tour, led from wire to wire to win the title, a cheque for £1,000 and The Scotsman Trophy by three shots with rounds of 69 at Arbroath (par 70) and 71 and 74 at Monifieth (par 71) for two-over-par total of 214. Runner-up was Gullane assistant pro Keir McNicoll with 74, 73 and 70 for 217. Keir's 70 today was bettered only by The Duke's assistant pro Alan Martin's 69. "I played most of my best golf in the first round at Arbroath and could have led by more than five shots there as I double-bogeyed the last for a 69, but I was able to keep it going well enough over the last two rounds at Monifieth," said John. "I once won an Open championship regional qualifying round but I would say this is the best win I've had. I think playing on the very competitive EuroPro Tour has made me a better player and I just aim to keep Improving. "My coach Gregor Monks and I have been working pretty hard on my game over the last few months using data from a golf stats website - Golf Data Lab - which has improved my weaknesses dramatically."  Next target for the ambitious Henry may be a crack at the Alps Tour Qualifying School.   Newmachar +2 player John Duff, pictured left above with John Henry, won the leading amateur award - the Clydebank Quaich - after finishing joint third overall with Philip McLean (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre) on 219 (71-74-74). George Wither (Lothianburn) won the Caldwell Trophy, the  senior amateur award (decided over the first 36 holes). for the fourth year in a row, an incredible feat. He had rounds of 74 and 73 for 147 and finished joint 12th overall with a three-round score of 226, adding a 79 at Monifieth for his third round. Midlands, repesented by professionals Jamie Stevenson (Braehead), Alan Martin (The Duke's) and Paul Brookes (Pitreavie) and amateurs Bob Stewart (Tulliallan), George Finlay (Ballumbie Castle) and Graeme Collins (Ballumbie Castle), won the team event for the Mountbatten Trophy comfortably with a total of 1353 West (1380) were runners-up and North-east (1399) third. Nairn Dunbar will be the main course for next year's championship (October 8-10). If the entry is big enough, Fortrose and Rosemarkie will also be used. This year's Scottish Alliance championship had a lower entry than normally, well under 100, mainly due to the fact that it clashed with the Optical Express PGA tournament at The Duke's. That deprived the "Alliance" of many regular competitors such as Paul McKechnie, Jordan Findlay, Craig Matheson, to name but a few. Wouldn't it be nice if the PGA of Scotland and the Scottish Alliance organisers got their heads together to avoid a similar clash next year when otherwise the Optical Express grand finale tournament will almost certainly be played the same week?  Left to right: Braehead pro Jamie Stevenson, captain of the winning Midlands team, John Duff (Newmachar) leading amateur, Scottish Alliance champion John Henry (Clydebank and Dist) and George Wither (Lothianburn), senior amateur champion for the fourth year in a row. Image by Cal Carson Golf Agency. SCOTTISH ALLIANCE CHAMPIONSHIP Monifieth Links and Arbroath FINAL TOTALS Par 212 (Monifieth 2 x 71, Arbroath 1 x 70) 214 J Henry (Clydebank and Dist) 69 71 74 217 K McNicoll (Gullane) 74 73 70 219 P McLean (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre) 73 75 71, J Duff (Newmachar) 71 74 74 220 J Stevenson (Braehead) 75 70 75 221 A Martin (The Duke's) 80 73 68, I Wilson (Longniddry) 74 74 73 223 P Brookes (Pitreavie) 77 72 74, J Smallwood (Affordable Golf) 74 73 76 224 C Knowles (Panmure) 73 78 73 225 A Marshall (Houston DR) 76 76 73 226 D Roger (Windyhill) 76 74 76, G C Wither (Lothianburn) 74 73 79 227 P Jamieson (Dunblane New) 76 76 75, R Stewart (Tulliallan) 75 76 76 228 R Harrower (Boat of Garten) 77 76 75 229 G Finlay (Ballumbie Castle) 72 73 84 233 G Collins (Ballumbie Castle) 78 76 79 234 S Graham (Arbroath) 77 77 80, L Grindrod (Cawder) 76 77 81 235 W Crosbie (Blairgowrie) 77 78 80 236 D Leslie (Northern) 82 77 77, G Ramsay (Wellsgreen) 84 78 74 237 H Wong (Wellsgreen) 76 78 83, F Sharp (Boat of Garten) 81 76 80, I Craig (Carnoustie) 77 80 80, K Beveridge (Inchmarlo) 75 83 79 240 S L Brough (Alyth) 80 82 78 241 J Ingram (Boat of Garten) 76 78 87, N McGarva (Kilmacolm) 82 82 77 242 R Brownhill (Edzell) 82 76 84, S Baker (Hilton Park) 80 81 81 243 J Nicholson (Auchmill) 86 75 82, G Mitchell (Blairgowrie) 87 78 78 245 J Kinloch (Cardross) 84 80 81, J D Hamilton (Murcar Links) 83 83 79, I Butchart (Strathmore) 88 81 76 246 P Morrison (Oldmeldrum) 87 82 77 247 D Wilson (Monifieth) 82 83 82, F Bisset (Banchory) 88 78 81, C Cassie (Nigg Bay) 85 84 78 249 D Fleming (Portlethen) 86 84 79 252 P Kinloch (Cardross) 84 81 87, J D'Aguilar (Glasgow) 83 84 85 254 D Mackay (Newmachar) 79 84 81, D S Bisset (Banchory) 86 82 86 255 R Barton (Alloa) 86 81 88 256 J Rankin (Scotscraig) 91 83 82 257 R Farquhar (Carnoustie) 88 79 90 258 H Roulston (Stonehaven) 85 88 85 259 P Leggate (Musselburgh) 89 83 87 261 J D Murray (Banchory) 85 89 87, C Duffus (Kemnay) 85 90 86 263 D Nelson (Aboyne) 90 81 82 265 G Allan (Newmachar) 88 85 92, G Cant (Monifieth) 91 84 90 266 A Glass (Alloa) 87 85 94 269 A Boxx (Boat of Garten) 85 90 94 NR J Forrest (Northern) 87 87 NR LEADING FINAL HANDICAP TOTALS 218 I Wilson (Longniddry) (1) 73 73 72  220 W Crosbie (Blairgowrie) (5) 72 73 75 220 G C Wither (Lothianburn) (2) 72 71 77 222 F Sharp (Boat of Garten) (5) 76 71 75 222 J Duff (Newmachar) +1) 72 75 75 223 J Ingram (Boat of Garten) (8) 70 72 81  224 J D Hamilton (Murcar Links) (7) 76 76 72 224 D Leslie (Northern) (4) 78 73 71 224 R Stewart (Tulliallan) (1) 74 75 75 LEADING SENIOR SCRATCH  (Caldwell Trophy) Decided over first two rounds 147 G C Wither (Lothianburn) 74 73 151 R Stewart (Tulliallan) 75 76 154 J Ingram (Boat of Garten) 76 78 155 W Crosbie (Blairgowrie) 77 78 157 F Sharp (Boat of Garten) 81 76 158 R Brownhill (#Edzell) 82 76 162 A Gall (Deeside) 76 86 164 J Kinloch (Cardross) 84 80 164 N McGarva (Kilmacolm) 82 82 165 P Kinloch (Cardross) 84 81 165 G Mitchell (Blairgowrie) 87 78