HUTCHEON AND McKAY MONIFIETH LINKS CHAMPIONS

In Sunday's Monifieth Links Championship finals, the men's final was won by Chris Hutcheon (Monifieth) by 4 and 2 over Mark Thomson(Grange)

The boys' final was won by Calum McKay (Grange/Monifieth) with a 7 and 5 win over Matthew Grossett (Monifieth).
Chris is Ian Hutcheon's nephew (twin Fred's son). Calum is the son of Alex McKay, Angus junior golf convener.
it is a first Monifieth Links title for both.
Chris lost the final of the Monifieth Golf Club men's championship last year.
This was Calum's last shot at the boys' title after being losing finalist for the last two years.
He has been the Grange junior champion for the past three years.

 

2012 FIFE GOLFING ASSOCIATION ORDER OF MERIT

For The Mackay Bowl presented by www.MyGolfRanking.co.uk 

Positions after 18 events: 

1 Alan Sutherland (Ladybank) 470 pts

T2 Scott Crichton (Aberdour) 420

T2 James White (Lundin) 420

4 Jordan McColl (Scotscraig) 180

5 Ewan Scott (St Andrews) 160

T6 Brian Soutar (Leven GS) 140

T6 Scott Stewart-Cation (The Duke’s) 140

8 Stuart Meiklejohn (Aberdour) 125.

The next counting events for the 2012 FIFE ORDER OF MERIT are:

+The NORTH DISTRICT OPEN at TAIN on August 25-26.

+The CANMORE GC 36 HOLE OPEN on 1 September +The SOUTH-EAST DISTRICT OPEN at LONGNIDDRY on September 1-2

BALLUMBIE CASTLE PRO WINS AT SHOTTS

By COLIN FARQUHARSON Colin@scottishgolfview.com Englishman Patrick Walker, the professional at Ballumbie Castle Golf Club, Monifieth, won the Shotts Young Pros' 54-hole tournament today His Sunday best of seven-under-par 63, which gave him a four-shot overnight lead, stood him in good stead over the final 36 holes. Walker added a 71 and 70 for a six-under-par total of 204. He won the £698 prize by four shots from runner-up Graeme Brown (Montrose Links) who had scores of 71, 69 and 68 for 208 and a £482 cash reward. Neil Fenwick (Dunbar) finished third on 211 with improving scores of 72, 70 and 69. He earned £383. LEADING FINAL TOTALS Par 210 (3x70) 204 Patrick Walker (Ballumbie Castle) 63 71 70 (£698). 208 Graeme Brown (Montrose Links) 71 69 68 (£482). 211 Neil Fenwick (Dunbar) 72 70 69 (£383) 213 Christopher Robinson (Dumfries and Galloway) 68 69 76 (£268). 214 Sam McLaren (Crieff) 72 70 72, Matthew  Burt (Helensburgh) 71 67 76 (£187 each). 215 Keir McNicoll (Gullane) 76 67 72, Scott McGrenaghan (Cochrane Castle) 70 72 73 (!5545 each) 216 Stuart Williamson (West Kilbride) 72 73 71 (£143) 217 Michael Patterson (Kilmacom) 76 68 73, Daniel Wood (Hirsel) 67 77 73 (£133 each) 218 Kevin Moran (Balbirnie Park) 73 72 73, Mark Heyes (Dunbar) 70 74 74 (£124 each. 219 Ian Anderson (Colville Park) 76 68 75, Grant Smith (Gleneagles Hotel) 72 77 70, David Laing (Craigielaw) 72 72 75  (£113 each) 220 Craig Armstrong (Burntisland) 72 74 74, Jamie McKay (North Gailes) 76 70 74, Gordon Robertson (Alyth) 75 76 69 (£100 each) 221 Craig Haugh (Linlithgow) 73 76 72, Paul Robinson (Largs) 72 77 72, Christopher McMaster (Panmure) 75 69 77 (£87 each). 222 Ross McConnachie (Peterculter) 72 75 75 9£78) 223 Duncan Bain (Aberdour) 72 75 76, Andrew McIntyre (Ranfurly Castle) 72 76 75, Stuart Milne (Balbirnie Park) 74 73 76 (£48 each). TO VIEW ALL THE FINAL TOTALS CLICK HERE

GARCIA'S US WIN CLINCHES RYDER CUP PLACE

FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE

Sergio Garcia produced a brilliant performance today to clinch a sixth Ryder Cup cap - and leave Ian Poulter needing a wild card for the second time in three matches. 

Garcia won the Wyndham Championship in North Carolina by two shots after the tournament spilled into a Monday finish because of heavy weekend rain. He resumed one in front with 14 holes to play, but stood on the 13th tee sharing the lead with American Chad Campbell and South African Tim Clark. 
Then came birdies at four of the next five holes and a closing bogey secured the 32-year-old Spaniard his eighth PGA Tour victory, but first since the 2008 Players Championship. Poulter had moved into the 10th and last automatic qualifying spot with his joint third place finish at the USPGA Championship, but looks a certainty for one of captain Jose Maria Olazabal's two picks next Monday. Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts is favourite for the other wild card, even more so after a joint seventh place finish at the Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro. Given a special invitation to the event, the 29-year-old was another of the 38 players unable to finish on Sunday and instantly made birdies at the 13th and 14th on his return. They lifted Colsaerts into a tie for third, but after he closed with four pars for a 66 – the same score as Garcia – he slipped back down the leaderboard. Unlike Garcia and Poulter, who are involved in the start of the FedEx Cup play-offs, Colsaerts still has this week's Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles to come and a third-place finish there would take him ahead of German Martin Kaymer, the player now in the last automatic spot. 

England's David Lynn, the surprise runner-up in the final major of the season, and Spain's Rafa Cabrera Bello also have a chance in Scotland to earn a cup debut, but they each need to win. 

Garcia began his final burst with a superb 136-yard approach to within 18 inches of the flag on the 13th, got up and down from sand at the long 15th, hit his tee shot to two feet on the 166-yard next and then fired in another iron to six feet at the 17th.
 A four-shot lead came down to one when Clark holed out from just short of the green for birdie on the last and there was still work to be done when Garcia drove into the trees there. 
He had to chip out and was still not on the green in three, but got down in two more for an 18 under par total of 262. 
Clark was second and American Bud Cauley alone in third one further back. "I am proud of the way I played coming in," Garcia said. Olazabal now knows nine of his 10 automatic qualifiers – Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Graeme McDowell, Paul Lawrie, Francesco Molinari, Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Garcia and Peter Hanson. 
The final spot is between Kaymer – not in the field at Gleneagles – Colsaerts, Lynn and Cabrera Bello. Garcia, who failed to make the 2010 side and acted as one of Colin Montgomerie's assistants, added: "Obviously I won a couple of times last year in Europe, but it's been a while here (in the United States) and it feels great. 
"I hit some really good shots and made some nice four or five-footers when I had to. I'm very happy about the way the week has gone."

GRAEME ROBERTSON, BRADLEY NEIL NAMED IN R and A TEAMS

NEWS RELEASE FROM THE R AND A

 The Great Britain and Ireland (GB and I) teams to face the Continent of Europe in the St Andrews and Jacques Leglise Trophy Matches are announced today with less than two weeks to go before the matches get underway at Portmarnock Golf Club, County Dublin, Ireland.
Portmarnock Golf Club will host the 29th staging of the biennial St Andrews Trophy Match for men and the 45th annual Jacques Leglise Trophy Match for boys on August 31 and September 1.
Players chosen include the Amateur Champion, Alan Dunbar and the Boys Amateur Champion, Matthew Fitzpatrick.
The R&A Director – Amateur Events, Euan Mordaunt announces the GB and I teams as:

The St Andrews Trophy Match:

Alan Dunbar (Rathmore, IRL)
Craig Hinton (The Oxfordshire, ENG)
Nathan Kimsey (Woodhall Spa, ENG)
Kevin Phelan (Waterford Castle, IRL)
Garrick Porteous (Bamburgh Castle, ENG)
Rhys Pugh (Vale of Glamorgan, WAL)
Neil Raymond (Corhampton, ENG)
Graeme Robertson (Glenbervie, SCO)
Ben Taylor (Walton Heath, ENG).
 
The Jacques Leglise Trophy Match:
Harry Ellis (Meon Valley, ENG)
Matthew Fitzpatrick (Hallamshire, ENG)
Alex Gleeson (Castle, IRL)
Patrick Kelly (Boston West, ENG)
Gavin Moynihan (The Island, IRL)
Bradley Neil (Blairgowrie, SCO)
Max Orrin (North Foreland, ENG)
Toby Tree (Worthing, ENG)
Ashton Turner (Kenwick Park, ENG).
The St Andrews and Jacques Leglise trophy matches offer spectators a rare opportunity to see some of the world’s best amateur golfers, men and boys, in morning foursome and afternoon singles matches over two days of competition.
In recent contests GB&I has been represented by leading players at the peak of their amateur careers including current World No 1, Rory McIlroy, Padraig Harrington, Luke Donald, Lee Westwood and Tom Lewis. While the Continent of Europe has counted Ryder Cup Captain, Jose Maria Olazabal, Sergio Garcia, Martin Kaymer and Edoardo and Francesco Molinari among its ranks.
When both matches were last played together in 2010 at Golf Club Castelconturbia in Milan, Italy, the Continent of Europe were the victors, 14 to 10 in The St Andrews Trophy men’s match and 15½ to 8½ in The Jacques Leglise boys match. Overall, match results favour GB&I 24-4 in the St Andrews Trophy Match and 34-10 in the Jacques Leglise Match.
Portmarnock Golf Club has hosted the St Andrews Trophy Match on one previous occasion in 1968 when GB&I triumphed, 20 -10.
Ends

HUGH HUNTER'S CLACKMANNAN COUNTY NEWS

  COUNTY AUTUMN MEETING

  The Autumn Meeting of Clackmannan County golf competition was held last weekend at Alloa Golf Club and attracted a good entry of over 80 golfers.  Best net scores came from M Reid (67), D Beaton (68) and P Forsyth, R Hill and K Wessels (all on 69).  Best scratch scores of the day were D Beaton and J McLaren both on 72.  The CSS was 71 for home players and 72 for away players.

    LAWRENCE JUST MISSES OUT.

   Local elite boy golfer Lawrence Allan (Alva) just missed the cut in the British Boys Championship held at Nottingham and Coxmoor last week.  His two rounds of 77 and 76 over the long courses (the SSS is 76) were two shots too many to reach the last 64 and the match play stages.  Nottingham Golf Club is at Hollinwell---- also with a Clackmannan connection in that Walter Woods ( Tillicoultry) moved there from Braehead as Head Green keeper, and then moved on to Links Superintendent at St Andrews.

MIDLAND ALLIANCE TEES OFF

The highly popular Midland Alliance starts its 2012-2013 season at Muckhart this week, with competitions running until next April.  Unlike practically every golf Club, it has a waiting list for membership--- indeed even that has been closed on occasions.

MIKE LEADS LOCALS

Newcomer to the Scottish Seniors golf scene, Peter Macleod (Braehead) put in a good performance at Cruden Bay in the  North Scottish Seniors Championship.  With rounds of 78 and 83, he finished in eleventh equal position---- a good bit ahead of the other local entrants. 

  GOLFING FIXTURES COMING UP

  The top fixture this week close by is of course the European tour Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles…… local Callum Macaulay (Tulliallan) will be absent hoping to be in the Challenge Tour field at the Rolex Championship at Geneva.

   Other local fixtures  are the Ladies open at Alloa  (25th August) and an invitation at Tillicoultry  (26th)

STEVEN FOX WINS US AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL THRILLER

FROM THE USGA WEBSITE

Steven Fox celebrates his winning 18-foot birdie putt on the 37th hole to claim the 2012 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills C.C. (John Mummert/USGA)

By Brian DePasquale, USGA 

Cherry Hills Village, Colorado – Steven Fox, 21, of Hendersonville, Tennessee, made an 18-foot birdie putt on the 37th hole to defeat Michael Weaver, 21, of Fresno, Califorinia on Sunday and win the 2012 U.S. Amateur Championship at the par-71, 7,409-yard Cherry Hills Country Club.

Fox, who like Weaver advanced to match play as one of 14 survivors of a 17-man playoff earlier in the week, becomes the highest qualifier, No. 63, to win the U.S. Amateur since the United States Golf Association began the seeding process in 1985. 
Fox is the first to win the Amateur after advancing through a play-off since Italy’s Edoardo Molinari in 2005.
“This is unreal” said Fox, a University of Tennessee-Chattanooga senior, who rallied from two down with two holes to play to win in extra holes. 
“I mean, it doesn’t even feel real. The whole week is like a dream to me.”

Lowest Seeds To Win U.S. Amateur Since 1985

Steven Fox, 2012, Cherry Hills C.C.  (No. 63) David Gossett, 1999, Pebble Beach G.L.  (No. 57) Nick Flanagan, 2003, Oakmont C.C. (No. 55) Edoardo Molinari, 2005, Merion G.C. (No. 55)

With the victory, Fox earned an exemption to next year’s U.S. Open and British Open and a likely invitation to the 2013 Masters Tournament. Fox’s win was the first U.S. Amateur to go past 36 holes since Australian Nick Flanagan’s win in 2003, which also went 37 holes.

The U.S. Amateur is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the United States Golf Association, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.
Weaver was more likely to have his dreams realized when he took a 2-up lead by rattling in a 12-foot birdie putt on the 34th hole. But Fox rallied with a birdie on the par-5 17th to cut the lead in half. Weaver had an opportunity to wrap up the match on the 36th hole, but his 5-foot par putt hit the back of the hole and spun out.
“That’s golf,” said Weaver, who was the 60th seed in the match-play bracket and defeated five top-50 players in the World Amateur Golf Ranking en route to the championship final.

 “I played it about right edge. I wanted to hit it, not ram it in, but make sure I got it there. I hit a good putt, hit my line. For it to lip out like that, I would rather just hit a bad putt.”

With the match all square, the unlikely championship pairing proceeded to the par-4, 338-yard first hole. Weaver hit his tee shot to the left, over both the green and second tee, and then had to pitch the ball twice from the rough to get onto the green. Fox took a safer route with a 6-iron off the tee and a second shot that ended up 18 feet above the hole. His downhill putt slowly tracked right to left into the hole to complete the rally.
“We decided to hit six and lay up a little bit,” said Fox, discussing his strategy with caddie Ben Rickett, assistant golf coach at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, who replaced Fox’s father, Alan, on the bag after the morning 18 holes. “The adrenaline kicked in and I hit [the approach shot] as hard I could from about 70 yards and see if it would stop (on the green). I just wanted to cozy it down there for par, and I just tapped it and luckily it found the hole.”
In the morning 18 holes, Fox, the WAGR’s No. 127 player, took an early lead with a pair of pars on the opening two holes. Weaver came back with a birdie on par-4 third. His drive went over the green on the 328-yard hole, and he bounced his chip into a bank to within 8 feet and sank the putt.
Weaver, who defeated consensus college national player of the year Justin Thomas, 3 and 2, in his semifinal match, drew all square on the par-5 fifth when Fox drove his tee shot into a water hazard, leading to a bogey. 

The University of California-Berkeley standout went ahead by winning the 7th and 8th holes. Weaver nearly aced the par-3, 267-yard 8th, when his ball landed 10 yards short of the hole, rolled forward, and hit the back of the hole.

Fox twice sliced the lead in half with pars at the 12th and 14th. But Weaver answered by winning consecutive holes to go 3 up. He made a two-putt par at the par-3 15th hole when Fox bogeyed after hitting into a greenside bunker. Fox conceded the 16th hole after having to chip twice from left of the green. Weaver bogeyed the 17th when his second shot from the right rough found the water in front of the green and he took a 2-up advantage to the break.
Fox, who defeated Chris Williams, the world’s top amateur player, in the quarterfinals, went 3 down when he double-bogeyed the second hole in the afternoon. He was consistently two holes behind until he rolled in a 17-foot birdie putt to win the par-3 15th.
“It didn’t seem like it was coming true,” said Fox, who made it to the round of 16 at last month’s U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. “After shooting 72 in the first round of the qualifier (stroke play) and then (playing) in the playoff, my goal was just to make it to match play the first time, being my first amateur. I just kept going and kept fighting. This is awesome.”
FINAL RESULT
Played at 7,409-yard, par-71 Cherry Hills Country Club. Steven Fox, Hendersonville, Tenn. (143) def. Michael Weaver, Fresno, Calif. (143), 37 holes

US PGA TOUR EVENT WILL RESUME MONDAY MORNING (local time)

The weekend's US PGA Tour event, the Wyndham Championship, at Greensboro, North Carolina has spilled over into Monday due to "inclement weather."
Sergio Garcia will start at the fifth this morning (local time) still leading but only by a shot with a running score of 15 under par.
South African Tim Clark, Jason Duffner and Bud Cauley are on his tail at 14 under par, Clark and Duffner after five, Cauley after four.
Russell Knox was one of the few to complete four rounds on Sunday - and he should be in line for a nice payslip after rounds of 68, 68, 69 and 69 for 274.
He was T38 overnight but that could come down as the scores come in later today.
Jamie Donaldson has also finished. The Welshman totalled 276 with scores of 68, 66, 71 and 71.
Paul Casey's sad fight to be get back to full fitness continues but with no success.
He finished on 290 with scores of 68, 70, 77 and 75.

TO VIEW THE SCORES SO FAR AND, LATER IN THE DAY, LIVE SCORING ON THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE

CLICK HERE

Junior golf on www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk

British boys championship final report - and other junior golf
can be found on

www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk

CLICK HERE