GAVIN DEAR WINS $1,000 FLORIDA PRIZE WITH EIGHT-BIRDIE ROUND

GAVIN DEAR IN ACTION ON MONDAY IN FLORIDA           From the Golfslinger.com Tour website By COLIN FARQUHARSON colin@scottishgolfview.com Gavin Dear shot eight birdies in a round of five-under 67 to win the $1,000 first prize in the Golfslinger.com Tour's Atlantis December Open over 18 holes at Atlantis Country Club, Florida on Monday. The 28-year-old Scone player, who is attached to Murrayshall House Hotel near Perth but is wintering in Florida at his Delray Beach base, birdied the first, third, sixth, ninth, 10th, 11th, 15th and 16th to offset bogeys at the seventh, eighth and 14th. It was his second win on the Florida mini-tour which specialises in one-day events, usually four a week, throughout the year. Entry to each tournament costs $200. Dear's first win as a pro in Florida - he won the Dixie Amateur before that - came on October 28, 2009 since when he has won a total of $7,000 in on-and-off appearances on the circuit. Dear spent four years in Florida as a student at Lynn University, Boca Raton  He won the Atlantis December Open by two shots from a group of five players on the three-under 69 mark. In an E-mail to Scottishgolfview.com from Florida, Gavin wrote: "I am slightly unsure what I will be doing next year. Obviously I haven't had the best last couple of years. Most likely I will play on the EuroPro Tour due to financial restrictions. I should also get a few Challenge Tour starts.  "I am a much better player than I ever have been I just need to show it. Sometimes it takes a while to all click, so hopefully next year is when it does." Greg Duncan from Edinburgh, the only other Scot on the Golfslinger.com Tour, finished 13th with a par 72 and earned $100.