NORTHERN LIGHTS SHINE IN MAITLAND SHIELD KO OF HOLDERS BON ACCORD

Bon Accord, last year's winners of the City of Aberdeen men's double foursomes match-play golf tournament for the Maitland Shield, sponsored by the Cults Hotel, were knocked out by Links rivals Northern in the first round of this year's tournament at Royal Aberdeen GC. It was a match of two halves for Bon Accord who lost the lead-off tie by four holes but won the second-string contest by two. George Paterson and Cameron Johnstone won the first game for Northern, finishing four holes up on Barrie Edmond and Matty Dunn. Key hole here was the 15th, won by Paterson and Johnstone with a birdie 3. Four holes proved too big a lead for Bon Accord's second string of Matt Greig and Graham Somers to pull back although they did finish two up on Northern's Willie West and Greg Morrison, leaving Northern the winners by two holes overall. Royal Aberdeen beat Hazlehead by six holes while Deeside were the biggest winners on a chilly night at the Balgownie links. They beat Stonehaven by 10 holes. Royal Aberdeen play Northern in the quarter-finals on Wednesday evening while Deeside await the winners of Caledonian v Portlethen. Banchory and Auchmill don't come into the tournament until Wednesday evening when they play each other for a place in the semi-finals. FIRST-ROUND RESULTS Northern bt Bon Accord by two holes (George Paterson and Cameron Johnstone 4. Barrie Edmond and Matty Dunn 0; Willie West and Greg Morrison 0, Matty Greig and Graham Somers 2). Royal Aberdeen bt Hazlehead by six holes (Bill Barclay and Allan Reith 3, Scott Robertson and Adam Strachan 0; Steve Buchan and Donald Macandrew, jun. 3,  Doug Elrick and Lawrence Prowse 0). Deeside bt Stonehaven by 10 holes  (David Halliday and Alan Ross 5, Neil Irvine and Gordon Adamson 0; Sandy Hutchison and John Broadley 5, Steve Guzik and Alan Cruickshank 0). TUESDAY'S TIES FIRST ROUND 5pm - Caledonian v Portlethen 5.15 - Newmachar v Murcar Links 5.30 - Peterculter v Nigg Bay

LIVINGSTON, I PRESUME? GRAEME BROWN LEADS YPs FIELD BY TWO

By  COLIN FARQUHARSON

Colin@scottishgolfview.com

Montrose Links' Graeme Brown, a Scotland amateur international in 2004 and before that a US college golf circuit player, has stolen a march on his rivals in the £3,370 Deer Park Young Professionals' 36-hole tournament at Livingston.

Brown, 32,  pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency, has hit the track running with a fast start for a four-under-par 68 that gives him a two-shot lead at the halfway stage.

The first of his five birdies - at the long second, was cancelled out by his only bogey, at the fourth. After that he settled down to cover the remaining holes in four under par, thanks to birdies every second hole at the turn - thje short 10th, the long 12th, the long 14th and the short 16th.

His nearest rival is 23-year-old Neil Fenwick (Dunbar), winner of the Young Professionals Order of Merit last year. Fenwick's 70 was made up of birdies at the first, long 12th and long 14th and bogeys at the 11th and 17th.

Sharing third place on 72 are David Laing (Craigielaw), whose high was an eagle 3 at the eighth and his low a double bogey 7 at the 15th, and Nairn Dunbar's Malcolm Isaacs.

Emma Fairnie (Gullane), the only girl in the big field, is lying a creditable joint 29th on 78.

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LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES

Par 72

68 Graeme Brown (Montrose Links).

70 Neil Fenwick (Dunbar).

72 David Laing (Craigielaw), Malcolm Isaacs (Nairn Dunbar).

73 Peter Scanlan (Playsport Golf), Jamie Mackay (North Gailes)0.

74 Joseph McBrearty (Haggs Castle), Stuart Williamson (West Kilbride), Joel Hopwood (Royal Aberdeen), Ross McConnachie (Peterculter), Ross Dixon (Renaissance Club).

75 Gregor Wright (Ladybank), Ross Leeds (Turnberry), Iain McNab (Dundonald), Christopher Robinson (Dumfries & Galloway), Grant Smith (Gleneagles), Paul Robinson (Largs).

76 Graeme Nethercott (Deeside), Grhaam Forbes (unatt), Michael Mackenzie (Edzell), Cameron West (Scotscraig), Patrick Walker (Ballumbie Castle), Andrew Rollo (Moray).

77 Paul Betty (Hamilton), Cameron Tortolano (Stirling), Craig Haugh (Linlithgow), James Boyce (Erskine), Sam McLaren (Crieff).

78 Emma Fairnie (Gullane),Craig Armstrong (Burntisland), Gordon Robertgson (Airdrie), Matthew Burt (Helensburgh), Fraser Rummins (Canmore), Andrew McIntyre (Ranfurly Castle), Sven Nielsen (Turnberry), Daniel Wood (Hirsel), Fraser Clarke (Newmachar).

Selected other score:

79 Keir McNicoll (Gullane).

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ALAN SQUIRES CHASING HAT-TRICK OF ENGLISH SENIOR MEN'S TITLES

NEWS RELEASE FROM ENGLAND GOLF Alan Squires (Oldham, Lancashire) will be seeking a hat-trick of titles when the English men’s open seniors championship is played at Aldeburgh and Thorpeness Golf Clubs in Suffolk from May 30 to June 1. Squires won the title for the first time at Carlisle in 2010 and successfully defended it at Northants County 12 months ago. No one has won the title in three consecutive years but Roy Smethurst (Crewe, Cheshire) has twice won two-in-a-row while Doug Arnold (Copthorne, Sussex) won in 2002 and ’03. Squires is sure to offer a stern defence but knows the field of 240 golfers aged 55 or over contains many who are capable of and keen to relieve him of the crown, not least many of his senior international colleagues. The Oldham man is one of six players competing who have lifted the championship. The five other former champions in the field are Arnold, Chris Reynolds (Littlestone, Kent), David Lane (Goring and Streatley), Jon Marks (Woodbridge, Suffolk), and John Jermine (Sunningdale, Surrey). Smethurst is not competing this year. Among the ‘new draft’ is John Ambridge (Moor Park, Hertfordshire), who won the Spanish seniors championship on his over-55s debut earlier this year. The competitors will play one round over each course on the first two days after which the leading 60 and ties will complete 18 holes on the final day at Aldeburgh. More information, news and scores visit the England Golf website.

HUGH HUNTER'S CLACKMANNAN COUNTY NEWS

HEROIC PERFORMANCE BY CLACKMANNAN

While finishing ninth out of 16 in the Scottish men’s area team championship at the weekend at Blairgowrie and missing the qualifying mark by 15 shots may appear very ordinary, a closer examination of the performance by the Clackmannan County team shows that they really performed very well.

The 15-shot gap over 10 rounds averages 1.5 shots per round. And when you see that the smallest golfing area finished ahead of many larger zreas (including the Lothians: the largest), then the players can be reasonably satisfied with their performance.

In the individual event, County team captain Jamie Aitken (Alloa) led the Clackmannan players by example with 145 (73-72) to give him 19th equal position out of 96 players. Jamie finished ahead of six of the Scottish Golf Union’s 10-man Elite squad. Scott Borrowman finished one shot further back (146) ahead of Lawrence Allan (147). 

The event was won by home area, Perth and Kinross, who defeated defending champions Fife in the final.

 GOOD SCORING AT SUMMER MEETING.

Dollar’s Darren Hulston took the scratch prize with a 71 at the County A Division at Alloa, closely followed by Jamie Aitken (Alloa) with a 74.

R Birrell (Alva) led the way in the handicap event with 70 ahead of D A Graham (Alloa) 71.

In the Division 2 event at Braehead, W Ross (Braehead) and J Littlejohn (Alloa) both had 68s  with Jim losing out on the inward half.

The second group of qualifiers for the County match-play championship was obtained and the draw for the first round at Braehead on Monday, May 28 is:

5.15 R Alexander v R Benvie. 5.22 S Douglas v J Aitken. 5.30 A Watson v S Horne. 5.37 S Moffat v J Muir. 5.45 I Guthrie v D Hulston. 5.52 B Cousins v D Beaton. 6.00 P Shearer v M Robertson. 6.07 D Finlay v D Malloy.

The second round will be played over Dollar on Thursday, May 31

WEE COUNTY GOLFERS IN POSITION

 With the 2012 golfing season well underway, it is pleasing to see Clackmannan golfers featuring in the National Orders of Merit. Top placing goes to Alva’s Lawrence Allan who is sitting fourth in the boys’ Order of Merit.

He has great chances over the next two weeks in major events. This weekend he plays in the Scottish Hydro Junior Tour event over 72 holes at the Roxburghe course. The course can be stretched to well over 7000 yards which would be a huge test for the 54 young golfers. Maybe they will be sympathetically dealt with!

In the Men’s Order of Merit, Jamie Aitken is at 15; Lawrence Allan at 22 (equal) and Scott Borrowman at 27.  Jamie and Scott are off to the Welsh Stroke Play this weekend.

   Finally, in the Seniors’ Order of Merit, last year’s winner Bob Stewart (Tulliallan) sits at 11^th equal, and with Mike Rust he will be competing in the Scottish Seniors Open at Montrose this week.

GOLF FIXTURES COMING UP

May 26: Belhaven Trophy Open   Braehead

May 27: Alva Open

May 28: County Match Play Round 1 Braehead

May 29:  Seniors Open Dollar 

OI

LOCH NESS OPEN TEXAS SCRAMBLE ON SATURDAY

Late entries will be accepted on 01463 713334 for the OPEN TEXAS SCRAMBLE to be played on Loch Ness Re-route Golf Course on Saturday (May 26).

Competitors will tee off at 10-minute intervals and are from the host club unless otherwise stated.

Abbreviations: N, Nairn; E, Elgin; I, Inverness; Inv, Invergordon; K, Kinloss; S, Strathpeffer; T, Taynuilt; To, Torvean

8.0 K. MacKie (N), I. MacKie (S), D. Cattanach (T), S. Gaffney

9.0 D. Wilson, W. Greig, J. Cuthbert, R. MacKay; M. Thomson, I. Blake, T. Smith, A. Simpson; J. Fox, W. Green, A. Green, A Duncan; N. Black, R. Black(N), R. Black, D. Cormack; D. McConnachie, S. Renfrew, J. MacKenzie, G. Edmonstone

10.0 M. Lyall (To), G. Barron (To), M. Watt (To), K. Barnett (To); S. Nichol, D. Thomson, H. Nicol, K. MacFarlane (E); G. Grant, K. O'Shaughnessy, S. McTaggart (K), J. McTaggart (K);

PERTH AND KINROSS MONEYGATE SCOTTISH AREA CHAMPIONS

  PRIDE OF PERTH AND KINROSS ... the squad that beat title-holders Fife in the final of the Moneygate Scottish area team championship at Blairgowrie (home courses for most of the P and K team!).
Back row (left to right): George Brass, Mark Cameron, Stuart McKendrick (team captain), Scott Michie.
Front row (left to right): Glenn Campbell, Bradley Neil, Stuart Graham.

Picture by courtesy of the Scottish Golf Union and Kenny Smith Photography.

OLAZABAL SAYS HE WILL DEFINITELY BE SELECTING FOUR VICE-CAPTAINS FOR RYDER CUP

NEWS RELEASE FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR

José María Olazábal has confirmed that he will be selecting four Vice Captains for the European Team which will defend The Ryder Cup against the United States, captained by Davis Love III, at Medinah Country Club, Chicago, Illinois, on September 28-30.

Olazábal said: “I am surprised to learn that there have been media reports suggesting that we will have only two Vice Captains. I don’t know where they could have come from, or whether there has been some misunderstanding, but I want to make it clear that I will be selecting four Vice Captains. This is what Davis and I agreed in Chicago at the Year Out meeting last September.

“I have said many times that as a Vice Captain myself in 2008 and 2010 I learned that you need a lot of help that week. You need eyes, extra eyes to follow the players in the practice rounds to gather as much information as you can about how everyone is playing.

“Then it is important to have each match watched because you have to hand in your pairings for the afternoon matches when the players are still out on the course. That means it is absolutely essential to have all the information you can get before you put those pairings down on paper to be handed in. 

“I would say it is borderline to do The Ryder Cup with less than four Vice Captains. So I want to make it quite clear to everyone that I will be selecting four and that never at any time have I considered reducing that number to three let alone two.”

NICK FLANAGAN WINS ALL-AUSSIE PLAY-OFF ON NATIONWIDE TOUR

FROM THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE

By Joe Chemycz, Nationwide Tour staff

GREER, SOUTH CAROLINA -- Australia's Nick Flanagan tapped in a short par putt on the third playoff hole on Sunday to defeat countryman Cameron Percy and win the BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by SYNNEX Corporation for the second time.
Flanagan and Percy tied at 15-under 271 in the event that matches Nationwide Tour pros with amateurs in a once-a-year better-ball format over three different courses.
The two Aussies were forced into the Tour's first play-off of the year when fortunes turned for each on the final hole of regulation. Percy was leading at 16-under but missed a 10-foot par putt to fall back to 15 under and open the door for Flanagan, who was making only his second start of 2012 campaign.
Flanagan, down by one in the group immediately behind, hooked his second shot at the uphill, 491-yard 18th. The ball hit a television cameraman and caromed back onto the green, nearly clipping the cup before settling 15 feet from the hole.
"Sometimes it's better to be lucky rather than good, obviously. You've got to take every break you can get out here," said Flanagan, who also captured this event in 2007. "The birdie putt was pretty much straight-away and I had a pretty good read. As soon as I hit it I felt like it was going in. It bobbled on the way but it had enough speed to get there."
First-round leader Darron Stiles finished one shot out of the overtime session when he three-putted the final green about 45 minutes prior to Percy's missed putt. He settled for a tie for third with rookie Robert Streb, who missed a potential playoff-joining birdie putt from 35 feet while Percy looked on.
Sam Saunders, Aaron Watkins and Canada's Brad Fritsch shared fifth place, two shots back.
Flanagan and Percy, who has yet to win on Tour, headed back to the same closing hole for the tournament's third playoff in four years. Both hit tee shots into the left rough on the first extra hole and wound up missing par putts to send it back to the tee.
The second time, the hole was halved with two-putt pars.
"It's a tough finish when you're hitting 5-irons and 6-irons into the hole," said Flanagan, who fired a 3-under 68 at the Thornblade Club. "It's just a matter of endurance and getting it somewhere near the green and making a par."
Percy's tee shot on the third extra hole went into the trees to the left after hitting a cart path, while Flanagan was in the middle of the fairway.
"I just hit a bad tee shot on that last one," said Percy. "I tried to hit it too hard. When it hit the path I was in all kinds of trouble."
Percy, who now calls Raleigh home 11 months of the year, had to chip back into the fairway. His third sailed over tha back edge of the green. Shortly thereafter, the 27-year-old Flanagan blasted out of a greenside bunker to within 15 inches for par.
Percy chipped well past the hole then missed the bogey putt coming back. Flanagan needed only to tap in for the win, something a long time in the making.
"It's pretty amazing. I didn't feel like I was playing that well coming into the week," said Flanagan, who missed the cut at the Chile Classic in his only start this year. "I decided to come out and try to just get the ball in the hole, which I haven't done for a long time. I've still got a lot of work to do to get all the way back to where I was, but to win this week feels like I'm a heck of a lot closer,"
Flanagan collected a first-place check for $108,000 and vaulted all the way to No. 11 on the money list with two-thirds of the season yet to go. The 25 leading money winners at the end of the year will move onto the US PGA Tour in 2013.
In 2007, Flanagan won three times and earned a 'battlefield promotion' to the Tour. The following year he made only 16 cuts in 29 starts and failed to keep his card.
"I got out there and didn't feel very comfortable. The atmosphere is different and then I started struggling," said Flanagan. "I was battling week to week the whole time. When you're playing bad every week it's hard to get motivated to play sometimes. At times I didn't feel like I fitted in. If I can get back there again I think I'll be able to adapt a little easier."
Fourth-Round Notes
• Sunday's weather: Sunny. Wind E-NE 6-12 mph. High of 82.
• The team of professional Fabian Gomez and amateur Brian Todd finished a whopping 46 under to win the team competition by 12 strokes.
• The team of pro Martin Piller and actor Andrew Buckley won the Pro-Am celebrity portion of the event with a 30 under score.
• Nick Flanagan becomes the 11th player in Tour history to win the same event twice. The last to do it was South Carolina grad Kyle Thompson when he won The Rex Hospital Open in 2011, adding it to his title in 2007. The Tour's next stop is The Rex Hospital Open in Raleigh, N.C., in one week.
• Saturday's playoff was the fifth in tournament history and the third in the past four years. In 2009, Australia's Aberdeen-born Michael Sim defeated Fabian Gomez of Argentina and South Africa's Garth Mulroy topped South Korea's Sunghoon Kang last year.
The same Michael Sim, who played on the US PGA Tour for a year or two, failed to make the 54-hole cut in this event. He was officially placed T136 with scores of 76-69-74 for 219. Only those who scored 211 or better qualified for the final round.

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JASON DUFFNER SCORES SECOND US WIN IN THREE WEEKS

FROM THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE

IRVING, TEXAS - Jason Dufner shot a 3-under 67 on Sunday to win his second event. A month ago, Dufner was a single man still in search of his first US PGA Tour victory.

Life has certainly changed for the 35-year-old Dufner who last summer at the US PGA Championship blew a four-stroke lead with four holes to play and lost in a play-off.
With a 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole of the HP Byron Nelson Championship, Dufner, pictured below, closed out a one-stroke victory over Dicky Pride to win for the second time in three weeks.

"You probably couldn't dream it any better than what's been going on here," Dufner said. "The wedding has been in the works for close to a year, so we know that's been coming around the corner. And there's been a lot of good golf since then, but to win two events and get married in the span of 22 days, pretty remarkable."
Dufner got his first victory April 29 in New Orleans, then got married the following week.
Now he has already won again, this time making $1.17 million and taking over the top spot in the FedExCup standings.
His closing birdie wrapped up a 3-under 67 round for an 11-under 269 to avoid a playoff with Pride.
Pride, whose only US PGA Tour victory in a 20-year professional career came in 1994, was at 10 under with a par-saving 22-foot putt at No. 18 for a round of 67 after hitting his drive into the water.
Moments later, Dufner made a putt that was only a few feet longer but on virtually the same line.
"Apparently that was not a very difficult putt on 18, from the long right," Pride said chuckling.
J J Henry, who had an early hole-in-one, was in the lead at 11 under after consecutive birdies at Nos. 15 and 16, overcoming a bad tee shot on the first and a greenside bunker on the second.
Pride made a 13-foot birdie at No. 17 right before Henry, in the final group with Dufner, hit a 7-iron over the par-3 green. The former Texas Christian University star lost the lead with a double bogey after a 4-foot putt slid just outside the cup.
"To be honest, I thought I hit a good shot on 17. I thought the wind was a little into me," Henry said. "I hit the line exactly where I tried to and it just carried about 6 or 7 yards too far."
After watching Henry's meltdown, Dufner made a tap-in par at No. 17 and then hit a big drive on No. 18 in the middle of the fairway. He hit a sand wedge to the middle of the green, then avoided a playoff with the long putt to join Hunter Mahan as the only two-time winners this season.
"I knew I was tied after I hit the tee shot," Dufner said. "I knew if I made birdie that I would win, par would be a play-off, but play-offs aren't much fun. My experiences in them aren't too great."
While Dufner's win at New Orleans came in a two-hole playoff against Ernie Els, he lost twice in play-offs last season, including to Keegan Bradley in the US PGA Championship.
Joe Durant, who was the final alternate added to the Nelson field, shot a 65 to finish in a tie for third at 271 with Henry (68), Australia's Marc Leishman (66) and Swedish rookie Jonas Blixt (66).
Phil Mickelson, making his first Nelson start in five years, had four consecutive birdies on the front nine and went on to a round of 66 to finish four strokes back. He tied for seventh with Ken Duke, who also had a string of four birdies in a row in his own 66.
Pride let out a scream when his final putt dropped. Pride, who went to the University of Alabama, then watched the final group play the hole, and applauded on the clinching putt by Dufner, who went to rival Auburn.
"Everybody is making a big deal about that," Pride said of their college affiliations. "But he married a woman from Alabama to show him around."
Matt Kuchar, who started the week at No. 6 in the FedExCup standings after his win at THE PLAYERS Championship a week earlier, had 70 and finished at 276 in a tie for 15th. He was trying to become the first US PGA Tour player since Tiger Woods in 2009 to win in consecutive weeks.
Henry's ace came at the 154-yard No. 5 hole, when he hit a pitching wedge. When the ball rolled back into the cup, Henry thrust both of his arms in the air, then had an emphatic uppercut and he celebrated with the gallery.
After Henry's drive at the 504-yard 15th was way right and under a tree, he hit his approach to the middle of the green and made a 32-foot birdie putt that led to another, though more subdued fist-pump. His approach at the easier par-5 16th went in a greenside bunker, but he blasted inside 2 1/2 feet for a birdie to get to 11 under.
Dufner had consecutive bogeys at Nos. 2 and 3, but quickly responded with consecutive birdies on the following two holes.
After a bogey at No. 11 following a bad tee shot, Dufner got back to 10 under with his birdie at the par-5 16th, when he blasted out of a greenside bunker to 6 feet.
The last of Mickelson's four birdies in a row came when he holed a 30-footer at the 461-yard eighth hole. That got the FedExCup No. 4 to 6 under at about the same time Dufner and Henry were finishing at No. 1, both at 8 under.
Mickelson was 8 under after a birdie at the par-5 16th, but his 3 1/2-foot par putt at the following par 3 circled the cup and rolled back toward him for his first bogey of the day.
"I was certainly disappointed with not getting that birdie," he said. "If I could get 17 or 18, get to 9 of 10 (under), you just never know."
Divots: Vijay Singh, a 34-time US PGA Tour winner whose last victory was in 2008, was within two strokes of the lead after his third-round 66. He started Sunday with three consecutive bogeys, on way to a 71 and part of a ninth-place tie at 275. ... Keegan Bradley, nephew of LPGA great Pat Bradley and who got his first US PGA Tour victory at last year's Nelson, had a triple-bogey 7 at the 232-yard 11th hole for the second day in a row. He shot 72 for a 278 total
BYRON NELSON CHAMPIONSHIP
Irving, Texas
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 280 (4x70)
Players from US unless stated
269 Jason Duffner 67 66 69 67
270 Dicky Pride 66 68 69 67
271 Joe Durrant 70 71 65 65, Marc Leishman (Australia) 65 69 71 66, Jonas Blix (Sweden) 68 70 67 66, J J Henry 68 68 67 68
274 Ken Duke 69 67 72 66, Phil Mickelson 70 69 69 66

SELECTED TOTALS
276 Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 68 69 70 69, Matt Kuchar 68 68 72 70 (T15)
279 Greg Owen (England) 67 71 70 71 (T29)
281 Ernie Els (South Africa)70 69 70 72 (T41)
283 Brian Davis (England) 73 65 73 72 (T56).

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