CHRIS CURRIE LEADS ALL THE WAY TO WIN SCOTTISH ALLIANCE CHAMPIONSHIP

CHRIS CURRIE with the Scottish Alliance Championship Trophy.
+Many thanks to Chris for supplyin this picture. Much appreciated.

Caldwell tour pro Chris Currie made all the running to win the Scottish Golfers Alliance championship at Fortrose and Rosemarkie and Nairn Dunbar.
He shot scores of 71, 67 and 71 for a six-under-par total of 209 which earned him the £1,000 first cash prize.
Tartan Tour regular Currie won by three shots from Renaissance professional Neil Henderson (74-68-70)
Defending champion John Henry (Clydebank and Dist) finished joint third on 213 with Keir McNicoll (Gullane). Henry hit his top form just a bit too late. He signed off with an excellent 66.
Bryan Fotheringham (Inverness), sixth overall, finished the leading amateur on 219, two shots ahead of John Duff (Newmachar) who was actually one shot ahead of Bryan with nine holes to play.
See leading scorecards below the final totals.
North-east won the Mountbatten Team Trophy with North second and East third. 
 LEADING SCRATCH TOTALS

209 C Currie (Pro)(Caldwell)  71 67 71 (£1,000)

212 N Henderson (Pro)(Renaissance)  74,68,70;

213 J Henry (Pro)(Clydebank and District) 73,74,66 , K Mcnicoll (Pro)(Gullane)  73,71,69;

215 J Findlay (Pro)(Paul Lawrie Golf Centre)  71,69,75;

219 B R Fotheringham (Inverness)  74,71,74;

220 P Mclean (Pro)(Paul Lawrie Golf Centre)  81,72,67;

221 J Duff (Newmachar)  73,73,75;

222  M Macdonald (Fortrose & Rosemarkie)  77,70,75;

229  A Webster (Pro)(Edzell)  78,79,72;

232 W Donnelly (Fortrose & Rosemarkie)  80,75,77;

233 K Thomson (Moray)  80,77,76;

234 B Nicolson (Auchmill) 81,76,77  , J Kinloch (Cardross)  80,79,75  , K Baxter (Pro)(Buchanan Castle)  71,85,78;

236 A P Thomson (Pro)(Inverness)  80,83,73  , D Munro (Kingsknowe) 85,73,78  , K Bruce (Edzell)  83,73,80;

237 S Mackie (Auchmill)  76,78,83;

238 B Webster (Edzell)  87,72,79;

239 G Wither (Lothianburn)  79,85,75  , F Bisset (Banchory)  77,79,83  ;

242 D Leslie (Northern)  78,86,78  , J Smallwood (Pro)(Affordable Golf) 86,77,79 , D Fleming (Portlethen)  85,78,79 ;

243 J Duncan (Newburgh)  82,78,83 ;

244 R Stewart (Nairn Dunbar)  85,77,82;

247 A Rothney (Ratho Park)  73,86,88;

248 H Cowbrough (Muckhart)  78,87,83;

249 C Cassie (Nigg Bay)  89,75,85  ;

250 J R Ingram (Boat of Garten)  85,83,82  ;

251 J K England (Moray) 84,83,84;

252 J White (Harrison)  86,76,90;

254 P B Kinloch3 (Cardross)  87,83,84;

256 A J Graham (Aboyne)  88,79,89;

257 H Roulston (Stonehaven)  91,79,87;

 BEST SCORECARDS FOR FINAL ROUND
AT NAIRN DUNBAR

Last day par OUT 335 544 525 36  IN 434 543 444 35  71.

Henderson 634 534 535  38 443 442 443 32 = 70

Henry 433 344 435 33  433 543 533 33 = 66

McNicoll 432 554 425 34 434 443 544 35 = 69

Findlay  543 555 435 39 435 443 544 36 = 75.

Fotheringham 334 564 455 39 534 443 444 35 = 74

Duff 443 545 435 37 525 543 455 38 = 75

Duff had a one-stroke lead over Fotheringham at turn in the battle for the leading amateur trophy.

Prizewinners:

Professionals:

1. 209  C Currie (Caldwell) (Winner of Scotsman Cup)

2. 212  N Henderson (Renaissance)

3= J Henry (Clydebank and District)  , K D Mcnicoll (Gullane);

Amateur Scratch:

1. 219  B R Fotheringham  (Inverness) (Winner of Clydesdale Bank Quaich)

2. 221  J Duff (Newmachar)

3. 222 M Macdonald (Fortrose and Rosemarkie);

4. 233 K Thomson (Moray);

5. 234 B Nicolson (Auchmill);

Handicap:

1. 220  W Donnelly (Fortrose & Rosemarkie);

2. 222   J Kinloch (Cardross);

3. 227   D Fleming (Portlethen), D Munro (Kingsknowe), F Bisset (Banchory), C Westland (Alloa);

Seniors Scratch Winner was W Donnelly (Fortrose & Rosemarkie) who wins the trophy but the voucher winners for this section are:

1. 156  K Bruce (Edzell)

2. 159  A Gall (Deeside);

3. 160  Bob Stewart (Tulliallan);

Handicap:

1=  150 J Duncan (Newburgh)

             A Cowie (Moray);

3.    152  C Cassie (Nigg Bay)

 Mountbatten Trophy Team Event

Northeast 1366

B Nicolson (Auchmill) 234, J Findlay (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre) 215, J Duff (Newmachar) 221, P Mclean ( Paul Lawrie Golf Centre) 220,  F Bisset (Banchory) 239, S Mackie (Auchmill)  237

North 1373

East 1399

Midlands and West had insufficient qualifiers.

LOGJAM FOR LEAD IN PORTUGAL MASTERS

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Alvaro Quiros continued his return to form in his “second home” to claim a share of the first round lead at the Portugal Masters.
The Spaniard won every year on The European Tour from 2006-2011, including this event in 2008, before being plagued by wrist problems that resulted in him undergoing surgery a year ago and missing five months of golf.
Top ten finishes in Ireland and Italy have hinted at Quiros returning to his former heights and one of the game’s longest hitters fought back from two early bogeys at Oceânico Victoria Golf Course to storm home in 29 and lead with Felipe Aguilar, Jamie Donaldson, David Lynn, Max Kieffer, Graeme Storm and Simon Thornton on six under par.
“It was a good fight after being two over after five holes,” said the 30 year old, who now lives in Portugal.
“I was putting beautifully and that was the key.
“This is my second home tournament and now that I’m living here I have to consider Portugal home. It’s always good, this event has been special since I’ve been coming here.”
Seve Trophy by Golf+ team-mates Donaldson and Lynn swiftly banished any disappointment from Great Britain & Ireland’s 15-13 loss to Continental Europe last Sunday, although the Welshman insists he came out full of confidence having taken two and half points.
Donaldson had reached seven under before three-putting the eighth, his penultimate hole, for his only bogey of the day, while Lynn picked up three shots in his last five holes.
“It was good playing under tough competitive conditions so it’s nice to play well and just bring it on to this week,” said Donaldson. “Those team events were fantastic; we had great fun all week.”
Lynn had been laid low by flu last week, although the Englishman believes he may have uncovered an unusual remedy.
“I keep taking medication but a 65 cures any ailments,” he said. “If I don’t pull my finger out this week I’m not going to make The Race to Dubai.”
Thornton won in Saint Omer earlier this season, and finds himself in the hunt three weeks after a closing 74 ended his chances at the Open D’Italia Lindt.
“I played lovely, it’s always nice to get off to a good start,” said the Irishman. “I hit it straight off the tee and had lots of chances. Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been playing much more consistently.”
Kieffer has put himself in contention for the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award with a fine debut season, the highlight coming with a runner-up finish to Raphaël Jacquelin in Spain.
And the young German felt he might have pulled away from the congested leaderboard had he had a little more luck on the greens.
“It was a good round today,” he said. “It was good fun – I plaed really good.
“I had so many shots close and there were a lot of good putts that didn’t go in. I’m surprised nobody shot really low.”
Two more of Lynn's Seve Trophy team-mates, England's Chris Wood and Scotland's Scott Jamieson, were among a nine-strong group one off the lead, along with former Ryder Cup star Søren Hansen – one of a number of players battling to climb into The Race to Dubai’s top 110 that retain their cards for 2014 after next week’s ISPS Handa Perth International.
Defending champion Shane Lowry, third in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at the end of September, had to settle for a one under par 70.

TO VIEW ALL THE FIRST-ROUND SCORES

CLICK HERE

THIS IS HOW PAUL WOULD HAVE LIKED TO PRESENT THE PAUL LAWRIE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY TO THE WINNER AT DALMAHOY ON FRIDAY

   PAUL LAWRIE won't be present at Marriott Dalmahoy tomorrow to present the brand new trophy above to the winner of the inaugural Paul Lawrie Golf Centre Scottish Ladies Open Tour. He is playing in the European Tour's Portugal Masters.
Switch over to www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk up to find out who's leading after today's first round when the scoring at the top end of the scoreboard was some of the lowest on the Tour so far.
 Picture by Cal Carson Golf Agency.

OLDCORN HOPING FOR INTERNATIONAL BREAKTHROUGH

DUTCH SENIOR OPEN PREVIEW

from EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

Andrew Oldcorn is hoping that a superb run of recent form can steer him through a bout of fatigue and yield a first European Senior Tour title of the season at the Dutch Senior Open, which takes place at Amsterdam’s The International for the first time this week.

The Scot has experienced an incredible purple patch since the beginning of September, when a tied ninth place finish in the Travis Perkins plc Senior Masters kicked off a run of five consecutive top tens, including tied runner-up finishes at the WINSTONgolf Senior Open and the French Riviera Masters.

Last week’s tied fifth finish at the English Senior Open left him fourth in the Order of Merit and €55,228 behind tournament winner Steen Tinning, but the 53 year old is more focussed on just securing a top six finish in the rankings which would earn him a place in all of the Senior Majors in 2014.

“I have been playing very well and the one thing that’s missing is just being top of the pile at the end of the week,” said the three-time European Tour winner, who also has one Senior Tour title to his name. “I would like to think that with the confidence I've mustered over the last few weeks, that might be something I have to aim for but I'm struggling a bit this week so I just need to dig deep.

“To be honest I'm running on empty at the moment. I'm physically and mentally shattered. It’s the run we’ve had plus I wasn’t feeling very well last weekend with a minor ear infection.

“This week is so important for the Order of Merit now so there is a lot to play for. I think with Steen winning last week I would almost have to have a top five here and win in Mauritius (at December’s MCB Tour Championship) and also hope that those guys ahead of me don’t have a couple of high finishes and that’s very unlikely.

“I just want to try and finish as high as I can in the rankings and get that top six spot. I’ll try get through the first couple of days here and see where it leaves me come Sunday.”

Paul Wesselingh is targeting a return to the top spot in the Order of Merit after he was deposed from the summit by Dane Tinning last week and the Englishman is joined in the field by Australia’s Peter Fowler, who lies one place further back in the rankings in third as the race for the John Jacobs Trophy intensifies.

Oldcorn’s compatriot and captain of the Great Britain and Ireland team which was narrowly defeated by Continental Europe in the Seve Trophy by Golf+ last week, Sam Torrance, is also present as The 2002 Ryder Cup-winning captain looks to go one better than his tied runner-up finish at August’s SSE Scottish Senior Open and seal a first win of the season. 

 

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

SCOTS MISS CUT IN SARDINIA

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NICOL AND STEWART MISS THE SARDINIA CUT

Scots Kris Nicol and Michael Stewart missed the 36-hole cut by one shot apiece in the Alps Tour's Is Molas Open at Circolo Golf Club on the island of Sardinia off Italy.
Fraserburgh's Nicol, playing out of the Paul Lawrie Golf Centre, shot 73-72 for 145 - the cut fell at 144 - while Troon's Michael Stewart had scores of 74 and 71 for the same total.
England's Ben Evans leads by one shot at 13-under-131 with rounds of 65 and 66.
His closest rivals on 132 are Spain's Jaime Camargo (65-67) and England#s Jason Palmer (66-66).

ends

MyGolfRanking International, 6 October 2013:

1 William Barwood (Langlands) 1204 pts

2 Scott Hunter (Tillicoultry) 1185

3 Craig Meeks (Thornton) 1167

4 Scott Moffat (Burntisland GH) 1136

5 Lewis Blyth (Prestonfield) 1133

6 Alex McKenzie (Lothianburn) 1131

7 Roger Leslie (Spey Bay) 1105

8 Ricky McNeill (Dunnikier Park) 1102

9 Douglas Taylor (Dunfermline) 1100

10 Ian Gorn (Aberdour) 1092

11 Kevin Wood (Prestonfield) 1085, 12 Peter Miller (Milngavie) 1067, 13 John Douglas (Leven Thistle) 1055, 14 John Boag (Blairgowrie) 1048, 15 Greig Denton (Balfron) 1043. 

 For up-to-date ranking lists of participating clubs, the full Regional and National Rankings and how it works, visit www.mygolfranking.net

Hi Everyone

This week’s MyGolfRanking Golfer of the Week is William Barwood of Langlands Golf Club.

                                                                                                                                            

The MyGolfRanking Club of the Week is Langlands Golf Club, Lanarkshire.

David Moir

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