ABERDEEN AND DISTRICT PENNANT LEAGUE SCOREBOARD

SPONSORED BY THE CULTS HOTEL

CALEDONIAN 0, MURCAR LINKS 5
Stewart Finnie and Alan Doig lost to Anthony Bews and Clark Brechin 4 and 3.
Matty Beattie and Levi Ross lost to Ronnie Brechin and Adrian Styles 5 and 4.
Roy Rimmer and Sonny Smith lost to Iain Galbraith and Andy Campbell 2 and 1.
David Mullen and Neil Christie lost to Duncan Raitt and Alan Holbrook 3 and 1.
Walter Ross and Ritchie Davidson lost to Neil McKinnon and Lee Vettese 3 and 2.

IT'S AN ENGLAND 1-2 AFTER DAY ONE IN THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS

By NEIL AHERN, European Challenge Tour Press Officer

Englishmen Daniel Brooks and Sam Walker held the overnight lead after an opening day of extremely good scoring at the Scottish Hydro Challenge hosted by Macdonald Hotels and Resorts, thanks to seven under par rounds of 64.

The earlier starters got the favourable draw at Macdonald Spey Valley Golf Club, in Aviemore, with dry conditions early on in the day making way for heavy rain for the late morning and afternoon starters, and Brooks took full advantage after teeing off in the morning.

He was later joined by his compatriot Walker, who had to battle some heavy rain before moving to the summit, two shots clear of a chasing pack which included the leading Scotsman Wallace Booth.

For 34 year old Walker, it was a little bit of history repeating, having won this tournament at Murcar Links Golf Club in 2006 on the way to claiming a European Tour card for the following season.

The experienced two time Challenge Tour winner admitted that it was tough, however, and was delighted with his round, which came thanks to a run of four consecutive birdies from the 14th hole. It almost became five at the 18^th, only to come up short with his birdie putt.

“It was playing very tricky out there but I played extremely well today,” said Walker, whose best European Tour result came courtesy of a fourth place finish at the British Masters in 2007.

“There could have been a few more birdies where I hit it close and misread the putts but other than that I finished very well and played very solid.

“There was a chance of a birdie on the last and I left it short but you have to go out there and shoot a score, which I've done. There are chances, especially at the par fives, maybe apart from the one that’s over 600 yards but you just play that in three shots and hit it close and try and make the birdie. I played unbelievably well today though.”

Englishman Brooks has been on good form recently, his best result of the season coming courtesy of a runner-up finish at the Kärnten Golf Open presented by Mazda two weeks ago, and he began this week with a flourish thanks to a bogey-free round.

He started steadily with three consecutive pars before his round took flight thanks to back to back birdies at the fourth and fifth. Three consecutive birdies from the eighth hole followed before another two gained shots at the 12th and 13th holes moved him to the top.

“I started off steadily,” said the man from Essex in East Anglia. “I had a bit of a bad second hole and then chipped in from short of the green for par and that gave me a bit of momentum really. Then I hit a few nice shots and holed a couple of putts and just kept it going all day.

“I made three in a row around the turn but I should have had a few more at the end to be honest. At the 14th I missed one from five feet, at the 16th I missed one from eight feet and at the 17thit must have been two feet. I played really well and putted nicely for most of the day though, so I’m not disappointed with seven under.”

Two shots further back in tied third were England’s Jamie Abbott and Chris Gane, Sandro Piaget of Monaco and Booth, a 25 year old from Comrie in Scotland, who is easing his way back into the professional game after a shoulder injury ruled him out of golf for 18 months.

The former Walker Cup player fired six birdies after starting on the 11th hole but finished with a bogey on the tenth to sign for a five under par round of 66 and he is now looking to follow in the footsteps of his sister Carly by winning a professional event on home turf after she won the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open in May.

SCOTTISH HYDRO CHALLENGE FIRST-ROUND SCOREBOARD

64 S Walker (Eng) , D Brooks (Eng)

66 C Gane (Eng) , W Booth  (Sco), J Abbott (Eng) , S Piaget  (Mon) 

67 A Bossert (Sui) , M Carlsson  (Swe) , M Kieffer (Ger) , R Russell (Sco) , D Vancsik (Arg) , M Tullo (Chi) , A Hartø  (Den) 

68 P Relecom  (Bel) , F Fritsch  (Ger) , A Tampion  (Aus) , E Pepperell (Eng) , O Whiteley (Eng) , G Clark (Eng) , K Eriksson (Swe) , B Barham (Eng) , G Lockerbie  (Eng) 

69 L Canter (Eng) , J Lima  (Por) , G Hutcheon (Sco) , F Calmels  (Fra) , C Kelly (Sco) , N Dougherty  (Eng) , B Åkesson (Swe) , A Levy (Fra) , S Kim (SKor), B Chapellan (Fra) , S Jeppesen  (Swe) , N Fenwick (Sco) , W Roebuck (Eng) , E Saltman  (Sco) , G Houston (Wal) , S Wakefield (Eng) , P Baker (Eng), M Madsen  (Den) , J Parry (Eng)

70 G Dear (Sco) , A Kaleka  (Fra) , M Cryer (Eng) , G Fox (Sco) , S Manley (Wal) , M Korhonen (Fin) , J Dantorp (Swe) , S Gray (Sco) , C Doak (Sco) , L Burns (Eng) , D McKenzie (Aus) , R Dinwiddie  (Eng) , J Palmer (Eng) , M Ford (Eng) , M Stewart (Sco) , P Erofejeff (Fin) 

71 P Uihlein  (USA) , N Lemke (Swe) , A Bernadet  (Fra) , J Barnes (Eng) , N Meitinger  (Ger) , L Goddard  (Eng) , L Saltman (Sco) , A McArthur  (Sco) , C Paisley  (Eng) , F Delamontagne  (Fra) , J Doherty  (Sco) , S Lilly (Eng) , E Kofstad (Nor) , C Monasterio (Arg) , F De Vries  (Ned) , M Glauert (Ger) , F McGuirk  (Eng) , C Macaulay  (Sco) , J Busby (Eng) , Å Nilsson (Swe) , R Karlberg  (Swe) , M Lorenzo-Vera  (Fra) , A Snobeck  (Fra) , M Southgate  (Eng), C Ford (Eng)

72 M Delpodio  (Ita) , J Gibb (Eng) , L Jensen (Den) , S Benson (Eng) , J Walters (RSA) , C Moriarty (Irl) , B An (Kor) , J Hansen  (Den) , T Whitehouse  (Eng) , A John (Ger) , X Zhang (Chn) , D Stewart (Sco) , C Aguilar  (Esp) , D Law (Sco) , R Wingardh (Swe) , D Gaunt (Aus) , T Hatton (Eng) , S Henderson (Sco) , P Archer (Eng) , A Hansen  (Den) , P Reed (Eng) , M Bothma (RSA) , E Bertheussen (Nor) , S Pinckney (USA) , M Quiros (Esp)

73 C Brazillier  (Fra) , S Bebb (Wal) , C Lloyd (Eng) , C Hanson (Eng) , S Strange (Aus) , R McGowan  (Eng) , P Gustafsson (Swe) , B Evans  (Eng) , M Brown (Nzl) , C Russo (Fra)

74 R Echenique (Arg) , A Gee  (Eng) , V Riu  (Fra) , S Davis (Eng) , J Huldahl (Den) , S Henry  (Sco) , P Oriol (Esp) , A Knappe (Ger) , J Byrne  (Sco) , S Tiley (Eng) , J Clément  (Sui) 

75 A Bruschi  (Ita) , R Cameron (Sco) , P Dwyer (Eng) , J McLeary  (Sco) , J Wahlqvist (Swe) , M Haines  (Eng) , L Bond (Wal) , D Higgins (Irl) ,

76 G Watremez (Bel) , D Seymour (Eng) , S Drummond (Sco) , G Molteni (Ita), S Engell Andersen  (Ken) , P Streeter (Eng) , J Gallagher  (Sco) , T Ferreira  (RSA) ,

77 J Van Der Vaart (Ned) , B Etchart  (Esp) , M Kerr  (Sco) , G Murphy (Irl) ,

78 F Keenan  (Eng) , A Parr (Can) , S Buhl (Ger) , A Ahokas (Fin) , M Higley (Eng) ,

79 A Perrino  (Ita) , F Praegant (Aut) ,

80 C Günther (Ger) ,

 

FRASER, ZANOTTI SHARE LEAD IN COLOGNE WITH EIGHT-UNDER 64s

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE

Marcus Fraser and Fabrizio Zanotti took full advantage of good scoring conditions in Cologne to lead the BMW International Open in Germany today.
Both players fired eight under par 64s at Golf Club Gut Lärchenhof to lead by one from Ireland’s former Ryder Cup vice captain Paul McGinley and English pair Danny Willett and Chris Wood.
Two-time European Tour winner Fraser led the way in the morning session with his round, which featured five birdies in the last six holes.
“It's great,” said the Australian, who finished with a lengthy birdie putt. “I played really well - drove the ball really straight, only missed one fairway. 
“Any time you do that, you're going to give yourself plenty of chances. The greens were nice this morning and I managed to make a few putts and especially a few at the end, which was great.
“On 17 I just missed the left edge, so could have been six. But that's always the story; we're never happy. I played really well and gave myself a lot of chances so it was nice to roll a few in.”
The 33 year old has been in good form this season with five top-20 finishes and believes a third victory may be just around the corner.
“Towards the end of last year it felt like everything took a turn for the better and I was heading in the right direction,” he added. “So if you keep giving yourself a chance you never know when it might happen, I just have to keep practicing and playing hard and hopefully it will happen sooner rather than later.”
Paraguayan Zanotti's round was even more action-packed – it contained two eagles, seven birdies, a bogey and a double bogey.
“I played very well and made good putts,” he said. “I only had hit one bad shot and made the double bogey, but I played really good.
“Tomorrow I’ll just try to play like I did today, come and play the course shot by shot and see what happens.
“I’m very happy because when I made the double, I made the birdies again. So I kept fighting and concentrating and I kept calm.”
Colin Montgomerie, back from television commentary work in San Francisco, shot 69, but local favourite Martin Kaymer struggled with jet-lag - "I only slept for two hours," he said - and had to settle for a 71, the same as Sergio Garcia.

FIRST ROUND

Par 72

64 Marcus Fraser (Australia), Fabrizio Zanotti (Paraguay)

65 Danny Willett (England), Chris Wood (England), Paul McGinley (Ireland).
66 Shiv Kapur (India), Keith Horne (South Africa), Gregory Havret (France), Pelle Edberg (Sweden).

SCOTS' SCORES

67 Stephen Gallacher (T10)
69 Steven O'Hara, Colin Montgomerie, David Drysdale, Alastair Forsyth (T29)
70 Peter Whiteford (T52)
72 Paul Lawrie, Gary Orr, George Murray (T99)
73 Marc Warren (T109)


TO VIEW ALL THE FIRST-ROUND SCORES


CLICK HERE

DOHERTY HAS A CHANCE OF £10,000 PRIZE AT COLLINGTREE

South Wales-based Scot Paul Doherty is in with a shout of landing the jackpot £10,000 prize after the third and final round in this week's PGA EuroPro Tour event, the WSL Open at Collingtree Golf Club, Northampton.
The former Scottish boys match-p;lay championship shot 66-71 for seven-under-par 137 and goes into Friday's final round in joint fourth place, two shots behind joint leaders James Hepworth (66-69) and James Webber (66-69).
Doherty could have been even better placed because he had double bogey 6s at the 12th and 16th amidst a flurry of birdies.
Reinstated amateur Graham Gordon (Newmachar), a former Scottish amateur champion and past Walker Cup player, is joint 21st on 140 with rounds of 73 and 68.
Zack Saltman (Archerield) shot 71 and 70 for 141 and a share of 26th place.
The cut-off mark was 143 and better which eliminated John Hendry (Clydebank and Dist) on 146 (71-75), Ed Wood (Crow Wood on 151 (78-73), Greg Nicolson (Mortonhall) also on 151 (77-74), Myles Cunningham on 152 (75-77) and Mark Rae (Aberdeen Door Systems) on 163 (79-84)

SCOTS FERRIER AND McDONALD IN LAST EIGHT AT ROYAL TROON

Bravehearts Paul Ferrier (Baberton) and Kilmarnock Barassie's Jack McDonald have done amazingly well to reach Friday morning's quarter-finals of the British amateur championship at Royal Troon. Scotland is the only country to have two representatives in the last eight. 2007 Scottish boys' match-play champion, Ferrier, pictured right, who last month graduated after four years at the University of Charlotte-North Carolina, first beat Victor Henum (Denmark) by 4 and 3 and then Lorenzo Scotto (Italy) at the 19th. Stirling student Jack McDonald, the British Universities champion, ousted the highly-rated American Will McCurdy at the 24th of an epic third-round tie and then won by one hole against Irishman Rory McNamara (Headfort) In the quarter-finals, Ferrier, who is due to defend the East of Scotland Open Stroke-play at Lundin Links this weekend - but may have bigger fish to fry! - plays Matthew Steiger (Australia). McDonald, pictured left, plays the up and coming young Englishman, Toby Tree from Worthing, Sussex for a place in the afternoon semi-finals. +Alasdair Malcolm, secretary of the Ayrshire Golf Association, has provided some interesting background information about Jack McDonald for Scottishgolfview readers. Alasdair writes: Jack's grandfather is Gordon Cosh (Cowglen), the former Scottish International (1964 - 1969) who played in the 1965 European Team Championship and the Walker Cup the same year. He won the Scottish Amateur at Muirfield in 1968 and was runner up in 1965 to Ronnie Shade at St Andrews. Interestingly, Gordon Cosh reached the semi-final of the Amateur Championship 46 years ago, in 1966 at Carnoustie, where Ronnie Shade beat him by 2 and 1, and perhaps more pertinent for a story, lost in the quarter finals 44 years ago, by 2 and 1 hole to Geoffrey C Marks (Trentham), at Troon. Gordon was here at Royal Troon this afternoon as a spectator. He looked a lot more nervous than he ever did as a player! Alasdair Malcolm SELECTED RESULTS THIRD ROUND - Paul Ferrier (Baberton) bt Victor Henum (Denmark) 4 and 3, Jack McDonald (Kilmarnock Barassie) bt Will McCurdy (US) at 24th. FOURTH ROUND - Ferrier bt Lorenzo Scotto (Italy) at 19th, McDonald bt Rory McNamara (Headfort) 1 hole. SUMMARY FROM THE R and A WEBSITE Home hopes are high heading into the last eight of the 117th Amateur Championship at Royal Troon. Four Great Britain and Ireland players have a chance to lift the trophy, but they face strong competition from Continental Europeans. Scotland’s Jack McDonald leads the home challenge, surviving 42 holes to take his place in the quarter-finals. He is bidding to become the first Scottish winner since Stuart Wilson in 2004.  The 19-year-old from the nearby Kilmarnock (Barassie) club at Troon needed 24 holes in the morning’s third round to see off strong American Will McCurdy. Then he went to the final hole to defeat Ireland’s Rory McNamara by one hole in round four. “It was a lot of golf but I kept my concentration brilliantly all day,” said McDonald, who is studying mathematics at Stirling University. “I was down most of the way in the afternoon but managed to turn it around.” Two down through 11 holes, McDonald squared the match at the 12th hole when McNamara drove into bushes and conceded the hole. McDonald went ahead at the 178-yard, par-3, 14th hole when he hit a 7-iron to four feet and made the birdie putt. He stayed ahead with four straight halves over the last four holes, much to the delight of onlookers. “It was great having all my family and friends supporting me out there today.” The Scot will have the same support when he takes on England’s Toby Tree. The 18-year-old from Worthing had a comprehensive victory over Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup player Rhys Pugh 7 and 6 in the third round before defeating Tyler Raber 2 and 1, the last American in the draw. Tree is a member of the English Golf Union’s elite squad, and was expected to do well when he arrived in Troon. Earlier this year he won the Gauteng North Open in South Africa.  He got ahead of Raber early and that proved the difference. “I played the front nine really well,” Tree said. “I had three birdies and was three up after nine. The back nine was a bit scrappy but I hung on.” There’s a lot riding on his 18-year-old shoulders. No Englishman has won the Amateur Championship since Gary Wolstenholme won here at Royal Troon nine years ago. Ireland’s Alan Dunbar is carrying on the fine form that saw him win two out of three matches in last year’s Walker Cup to help GB&I defeat the United States 14-12. He is trying to become the first Irish winner since Brian McElhinney at Royal Birkdale in 2005. “I didn’t really come here with expectations,” Dunbar said. “The goal is just to make the cut and see where you go from there.” Dunbar goes to the last eight after defeating reigning Scottish Stroke Play champion Paul Barjon of France by two holes. He plays Sweden’s Robert Karlsson in the quarter-finals, the highest World Amateur Golf Ranked player left in the draw at number at 23. Scotland’s Paul Ferrier is also through to the last eight after defeating Italy’s Lorenzo Scotto at the 19th hole in their round four match. Ferrier has just graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a degree in psychology. His university studies have helped him advance this far. “It’s amazing how it (his psychology degree) all links to golf,” Ferrier said. “It really taught me whether it’s a 4-iron or a putt to win, it’s all the same.” Ferrier holed a 35-foot putt on the 19th hole to defeat Scotto and now faces Australia’s Matthew Stieger.  Stieger defeated countryman Daniel Nisbet 3 and 2 to reach the last eight. Austria’s Matthias Schwab fought through rounds three and four with respective wins over Slovenia’s Tim Gornik and 2009 British Boys’ champion Pedro Figueiredo. He now faces Spain’s Jacobo Pastor. Pastor defeated Argentina’s Jorge Fernandez Valdes and Germany’s Daniel Schmieding to reach the last eight. An Englishman, an Irishman and two Scotsmen carry the hopes of a home win for the first time since McElhinney seven years ago, with McDonald entering the penultimate day as local favourite. Final results and tomorrow’s draw can be found on www.RandA.org .  The first of the quarter-finals starts at 08.15am.

NEWCASTLE PRO COMES OVER THE BORDER TO WIN PARKDEAN PRO-AM

Englishman George Cowan from the Westerhope club, near Newcastle, shot a seven-under-par 64 to win the top pro prize of £1,095 in the Parkdean pro-am at the Belleisle course, Ayr.
Parkdean are a Newcastle-based company and Cowan plays on a sponsor's invite. He was won the event in the past.
His scorecard incluced an eagle 3 at the long 15th and birdies at the long first, the long second, the sixth, eighth, 16th and long 18th in halves of 32 (four under par) and 32 (three under). He had one bogey, at the 13th.
When Cowan returned his score in midafternoon it put him four shots clear of the field but, late in the day, former PGA Cup player Robert Arnott (Bishopbriggs) reduced the winning margin to two shots with a 66 which also included an eagle 3 at the 15th as well as birdies at the long first, fourth, eighth and 16th. He had one one bogey, at the third, and collected £825.
Joint third on 67 were Mark King (Kingsfield), Jason McCreadie (Buchanan Castle) and Thailand-based Kenny Walker (Castle Royal) who comes home to Scotland every "summer" to play in Tartan Tour events. They each earned £514.
Bert Mackay (Loch Lomond) piloted the Loch Lomond Celts trio of Ian Crawford (handicap 11), David Fletcher (9) and Murray (Strachan) (6) to victory in the pro-am team event with a net two-ball aggregate of 19-under-par 123.

LEADING PRO SCORES AND PRIZEMONEY
Par 71
64 George Cowan (Westerhope) £1,095).
66 Robert Arnott (Bishopbriggs) (£875)
67 Mark King (Kingsfield), Kenny Walker (Castle Royal), Jason McCreadie (Buchanan Castle) (£514 each).
68 James McGhee (Duddingston) (£328).
69 Paul McKechnie (Braid Hills), David Patrick (Elie SC), Christopher Currie (Caldwell) (£244 each).
70 Andrew Fullen (Largs), Neil Colquhoun (Merchants of Edinburgh), Iain Colquhoun (Dunald Links), Jonathan Lomas (unatt), Jonathan Cliff (Murrayfield), Craig Matheson (Falkirk Tryst), Craig Gordon (Edinburgh GC), James McKinnon (Irvine), Gareth Wright (West Linton), Gareth Hardy (Belleisle) (£127 each).
71 Stuart Syme (Dumfries and Co)
72 Bert Mackay (Loch Lomond), Patrick Walker (Ballumbie Castle), Craig Ronald (Carluke).
73 Scott Herald (Mearns Castle), Steven Taylor (Bothwell Castle), Anthony Mackrell (Playsport Golf).
75 Richard Gordon (Belleisle), Andrew McIntyre (Ranfurly Castle), Ross Dixon (Renaissance), David Nicol (Dundonald Links)
76 Alan Reid (West Lothian), Camp0bell Elliott (Haggs Castle), Paul Brookes (Pitreavue)
77 Russell Weir (Cowal).

ENGLAND NAME TWO NEW CAPS IN SQUAD FOR EUROPEAN BOYS

NEWS RELEASE FROM ENGLAND GOLF
England Golf will parade two new caps in their six-strong squad as they seek to bridge an eight-year gap without a victory in the annual European Boys Team Championships at Lidingo Golf Club near Stockholm in Sweden from July 10 to 14.
The newcomers to boys international golf are Nick Marsh (Huddersfield) and Ashton Turner (Kenwick Park), while the other four members of the team will be Matthew Fitzpatrick (Hallamshire), Patrick Kelly (Boston West), Max Orrin (North Foreland) and Toby Tree (Worthing). The non-travelling reserve is Harrison Greenberry (Exeter G and CC).
Marsh is the current leader of the Titleist/FootJoy England Golf Boys Order of Merit following joint second place in the McEvoy Trophy and equal third in the Fairhaven Trophies, while Turner, fifth on the Merit list, was also third at Fairhaven.The inclusion of Turner means he steps up from an under 16 international last year when he was also an England schools cap.
Fitzpatrick finished runner-up in last year’s Titleist/FootJoy Boys Order of Merit following a second place in the England Boys Under 18 Championship for the Carris Trophy, reaching the quarter finals of the British Boys and as joint winner of the Junior County Champions Tournament.
A former under 16 international, he became a boy cap in last year’s Boys Home Internationals in Wales and has won this year’s Selborne Salver and finished second on countback for the Hampshire Salver.
Kelly, currently second on the Merit list, also made his debut as a boy cap in last year’s Boys Home Internationals, having finished runner-up to Greenberry in the British Boys. Another former under 16 cap, he won the Fairhaven Trophy last month.
Orrin made his debut in last year’s European Boys Championship in the Czech Republic after stepping up from an under 16 international. Runner-up in the English under 16 Championship for the McGregor Trophy in 2010, he was equally successful last year, winning the Andalucia Junior Open in Spain, finishing second in the Darwin Salver and third in the Fairhaven Trophy.
This year, he was again second in the Darwin Salver but has recorded two significant victories, winning the prestigious Thunderbird International Junior in Arizona and the Kent Championship. He was also tied fourth in the South East of England Links Championship.
Tree returns to boys international golf after making his full England debut against France last month, winning two of his four games. Winner of the Sir Henry Cooper Junior Masters last year, he also tasted victory in South Africa over the winter, winning the Gauteng North Open.A former Sussex Boys champion, he has the distinction of winning the English under 14 Championship in 2008 then the under 16 title in 2010. He also finished runner-up in last year’s North of England under 16 Championship.

England has not won the European boys title since 2004 in Finland and will want to improve on eighth place in 2010 and 11th last year.

TOGS SPONSOR TAIN GOLF CLUB'S 17th HOLE

Tain Occasional Golfing Society (TOGS) is celebrating its 40^th year in existence in 2012 and at their recent AGM the members decided to mark the event, and at the same time acknowledge the support of Tain Golf Club, by sponsoring one of their holes on the course for an initial three years.   

This year it is the 17^th hole which is the original Old Tom Morris finishing hole and the site of the then clubhouse (until 1912), which the Society restored and marked with a brass plaque on the occasion of the Club’s Centenary in 1990.

Founder member and Captain, David Rutherford was delighted with this decision and said, “I have enjoyed being a member of the TOGS for all of our 40 years of existence, and Tain Golf Club has always been our home club providing us with an excellent golf course and first class catering.  In talking this through with our members we all agreed it would be good to mark our 40^th anniversary by thanking the club in some way”.

The TOGS, whose membership is restricted to twelve at any one time, play once a month during the season in their own competitions and have a long weekend away in September each year.  Since 1972  over 100 different courses have been played including Carnoustie, Gleneagles, Royal Lytham & St. Annes, Prestwick,  Royal Aberdeen and courses in Ireland, Portugal and Spain.

This year’s visit is to the home of golf in St Andrews, where, appropriately, the Society first played  

all those years ago and  which  will bring back fond memories for David Rutherford.

David continued “from the beginning we have been very fortunate to have played so many well known and challenging courses.  However, on returning home the unanimous opinion of the members has always been that Tain is Second to None!   The course is always in excellent condition throughout the year and the clubhouse provides first class facilities in comfortable surroundings.

It is a great privilege for me to join my fellow ‘TOGS’ in supporting Tain Golf Club in this way”

TOGS Captain, David Rutherford is pictured handing the cheque and sponsorship plaque to Tain Golf Club Captain, Munro Ferries for the hole they will be sponsoring.  Tain Golf Club is delighted to receive the sponsorship and Munro commented “this is a tremendous gesture by the TOGS in celebration of their 40^th year.  They are well known to all our members and have always supported the club well over the years and for them to sponsor us in these difficult economic times is just fantastic and greatly appreciated by the club”.

SOUTH KOREANS SHARE LEAD ON HOME GROUND

NEWS RELEASE FROM THE ASIAN TOUR 

Jecheon, South Korea: South Korean rookie Ma Soo-kil and countryman Lee Sang-hee kept the host country atop the leaderboard when they posted matching six-under-par 66s to share the first-round lead at the inaugural Volvik Hildesheim Open J Golf Series today.

The 22-year-old South Korean, who is making his debut on the South Korean Golf Tour, mixed his card with five birdies, an eagle and a bogey while Lee enjoyed a flawless round that was highlighted by an eagle-three on the 16^th hole to take a single shot lead over compatriots Choi Ho Sung and Kim Dae-hyun.

The South Korean pair returned with matching 67s to take tied-third place while Asian Tour winners Pariya Juhnasavasdik of Thailand and Australia’s Scott Hend are among the seven players bunched in equal fifth on 68 at the Hildesheim Country Club.

FIRST ROUND LEADERS

Par 72. Yardage 7,188

Players from South Korea unless stated

66 MA Soo-kil, LEE Sang-hee.

67 CHOI Ho-sung, KIM Dae-hyun.

68 Scott HEND (AUS), KIM Meen-whee, Pariya JUNHASAVASDIKUL (THA), LEE Min-chang, BAEK Joo-yeob, KIM Seong-yong, MO Joong-kyung.

69 BYUN Jin-jae, PARK Jun-won (KOR), KIM Woo-chan, Adilson DA SILVA (BRA), Stephen LEWTON (ENG), Daisuke KATAOKA (JPN), LEE Ki-sang, Thaworn WIRATCHANT (THA), Javi COLOMO (ESP), PARK Boo-won.

70 LEE Min-soo, PARK Jung-ho, Thanyakon KHRONGPHA (THA), SONG Young-hoon, SUK Jong-yul, PARK Hyun-bin, BAE Sung-chul, Makoto INOUE (JPN), PARK Seung-hoo.

IRISH OPEN SOLD OUT - EUROPEAN TOUR HISTORY MADE

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
NEXT week’s Irish Open at Royal Portrush has officially sold out on Saturday June 30 and Sunday July 1, and time is running out to book tickets in advance for Thursday June 28 and Friday June 29.
The European Tour announced today that, for the first time in its history, it has had to close tickets sales for any day of a regular Tour event as the Irish Open became the bestselling tournament on the schedule this year.
Spectators were also urged to book tickets for Thursday and Friday in advance although the deadline to do that is 5pm tomorrow (Friday). While it may be possible to purchase day tickets for those days on the gate, that definitely won’t be an option on the Saturday and Sunday which are completely sold out.
The European Tour is urging spectators to plan their journeys in advance by booking Translink rail and bus services or, if travelling by car, to follow dedicated event car park signage in order to facilitate the ease of access and exit to the event.
“We are preparing for a crowd around the 100,000 mark for the week of the Championship, and with a particularly large spectator audience expected for the weekend, we felt it prudent to stop selling tickets for Saturday and Sunday,” said Irish Open Championship Director Antonia Beggs.
“For operational reasons we also have to close the sale of advance tickets for Thursday and Friday at 5pm this Friday. Due to the close proximity to the event, it would be impossible to guarantee that tickets bought after this Friday would arrive in time for the start of the tournament.”
Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB) Chief Executive Alan Clarke said that this year’s tournament will be a record-breaking success and reiterated that people cannot turn up at the weekend without a ticket.
“This year’s Irish Open is sure to be one of the biggest in the competition’s history with advance ticket sales reaching unprecedented levels and record crowds expected in Co. Antrim.” said Clarke.
“While in previous years, it may have been possible for spectators to turn up on the day and purchase tickets on the day, we would strongly urge people not to try this on Saturday and Sunday as the event is completely sold out at the weekend and there is absolutely no chance of being admitted without a ticket.
“This reflects the tremendous interest in the competition this year but really it comes as no surprise to us given the fact that it’s the first time the Irish Open has been held in Northern Ireland for 59 years, and of course the incredible success in recent years of our golfers, who are all taking part in the Championship alongside a host of other top players,” he added.
“The Irish Open is the latest in a packed programme of major events, celebrations and commemorations during 2012 which are changing the global perception of Northern Ireland as a destination and restoring a sense of pride to everyone who lives here.” he added.
Beggs added: “It is important that the spectators enjoy the experience of attending the event so we are reminding everyone to follow the official Automobile Association event signage to and from the tournament rather than rely on ‘SatNav technology’ as the signs will direct spectators to the best available car park at the time.”
Speaking about dedicated rail and bus services, Translink’s Arthur Hamilton encouraged anyone travelling to the Irish Open to book train or coach tickets now to guarantee their seats.
“In addition to normal scheduled services, extra trains will run from Belfast and Derry–Londonderry to Portrush with tickets available to book online or purchase in advance from main train stations,” said Arthur.
“Dedicated golf coach services will depart locations across Northern Ireland and are available to book online only. Ulsterbus Tours is also offering both travel and Irish Open ticket packages.
“Golf rail service online ticket bookings will close at 2pm three days prior to travel. However, additional rail tickets will also be available to purchase from selected stations on day of travel.
“Golf coach ticket bookings will close at 5pm on day prior to travel and are only available to purchase online
“Golf coach and train return services are £15 per adult and £7.50 per child. Ulsterbus Tours packages are £40 per person,” he added.

For travel information including bus and rail ticket bookings click www.translink.co.uk/irishopen or call the Translink contact centre on 00 44 (0) 28 9066 6630.

ABERDEEN AND DISTRICT PENNANT LEAGUE SCOREBOARD

SPONSORED BY THE CULTS HOTEL

PETERCULTER 1, NIGG BAY 4

McLean and Aitken lost to  Steve Jamieson and Robert Bothwell 1 hole.

Robb and Bowman lost to R L Nielsen and Ryan Forbes 3 and 2.

Downie and Robertson lost to Ian Welsh and Gary Stewart 2 holes.

Yule and Johnston lost to Gordon Grimmer and Zac Wood 2 and 1.

Burt and McRae bt Steven Caie and Nicky Slater 1 hole.