NORTH DISTRICT FIXTURES FOR 2014 DRAFT VERSION

This is the latest version of the North District Fixture List for 2014, for your information.

Day/Date	Competition	Venue
Sunday 27th April	North of Scotland Boys Championship for the HR Spence Trophy	Torvean
Fri / Sat / Sun 16th / 18th May	SGU Area Team Championship	Ranfurly Castle & Old Ranfurly
Sunday 25th May	North District Championship	Moray
Sun 8th June	Scottish Boys Area Team Championship	Machrihanish Dunes
Sat 7th or 14th June	County Championships	See below for venues
Saturday 12th July	North District Boys Championship for the RPB Bain Trophy	Tain
????	Youths Invitational North/Angus/North East	North East
Sunday 13th  July	North District Team Championship	Brora
????	U14 /U16/U18 Boys North East v North	North East
????	U14/U16/U18 Boys  North v Angus	North
Saturday/Sunday 23rd /24th August	North of Scotland Open Amateur Championship (72 holes) for the David Blair Trophy	Elgin
????	Boys Invitational	Angus
Friday 12th  September	North District Senior Championship for the Macallan Trophy	Boat of Garten
Sunday 14th Sept	Mens Invitational	Fortrose & Rosemarkie
October 13th to 16th	North of Scotland Boys Matchplay	Forres

VENUES for the 2014 COUNTY  CHAMPIONSHIPS to be held on Sat 14^th June

Caithness         Reay                                        Inverness         TBD ???

Nairn               Nairn/Nairn Dunbar                Moray              Forres (7^th June)

Orkney             Orkney                                     Shetland          Dale

Ross-shire       Muir of Ord                             Sutherland       Royal Dornoch (7^th June)

Western Isles   Harris

Venues for Junior Order of Merit.  TBD

FOLLOW THE FORTUNES OF THE THREE BRITS AT THE US SENIOR QUALIFYING SCHOOL

Barry Lane and fellow Englishman Phil Golfing plus Welshman Mark Mouland are currently taking part in the US Champions' Tour Qualifying School 72-hole tournament at TPC Scottsdale, Arizona.
The third round is in progress.
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After two rounds American Wes Short, junior, led on 130 (16 under par) with scores of 64 and 66.
Phil Golding was on 135 (66 and 69); Barry Lane on 136 (69 and 67) and Mark Mouland also on 136 (69 67)

MATTHEW NIXON LEADS SOUTH AFRICAN OPEN BY ONE SHOT

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
England’s Matthew Nixon produced a fine finish to his opening round to lead Marco Crespi and Jbe Kruger by a shot after the opening day of the South African Open Championship presented by the City of Ekurhuleni.
Nixon, a runner-up in Russia last season, started with four birdies in five holes and produced a birdie and an eagle in his last three holes to snatch the lead late in the day.
Italy’s Crespi, playing the first event of his rookie season after getting his European Tour card at Qualifying School in Girona last week, and South African Kruger are a shot ahead of two of the latter’s countrymen - Christiaan Basson and Retief Goosen.
Starting on the back nine, Crespi hit four straight birdies from the 12th to the 15th at Glendower GC before carding two birdies, a bogey and an eagle on his way back.
He fired perhaps the shot of the day by holing from the fairway with his second for his eagle on the 444 yard seventh, two holes after his bogey five.
Kruger’s round featured six birdies, an eagle on the par five eighth but also a bogey on the par four tenth as he looked to become the 11th home winner in the last 13 stagings of this event.
The clubhouse leader for much of the day was Basson, a two-time winner on the co-sanctioning Sunshine Tour, who had four birdies and an eagle in his round.
Another South African, former Masters Tournament winner Charl Schwartzel, was among a quartet that carded 67s.
Schwartzel picked up five birdies and did not drop a shot in his 67 for a promising start to the 2014 Race to Dubai. Having begun on the back nine, he was only two under with four to play, but struck a fine tee shot to five feet at the sixth to set up a birdie.
In stark contrast his tee shot at the seventh required a drop, but a brilliant chip from off the green to a foot saved par and the World Number 22 holed putts of 12 and 15 feet on his last two holes for consecutive birdies.
“It means a lot, I’d love to win the South African Open,” said Schwartzel.
“I did my preparation and figured out the way I want to play the golf course and it worked today.
“I’ve always had really good results in the South African Open, come close a few times. I reckon it’s one of those where you have to keep at it and keep playing and it will come eventually.”

LEADERBOARD
Par 72
64 Matthew Nixon (England)
65 Marco Crespi (Italy), Jbe Kruger (S Africa)
66 Christiaan Basson (S Africa), Retief Goosen (S Africa)
67 Morten Orum Madsen (Denmark), Andrea Pavan (Italy) Atti Schwartzel (S Africa)

SCOTS SCLRES
71 Peter Whiteford, Doug McGuigan, Chris Doak, David Drysdale (T44)
72 Alastair Forsyth (T65)
73 Scott Jamieson (T97)
74 Craig Lee, Jamie McLeary (T74)

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STEPHEN GRAY HOLDS OFF PAUL McKECHNIE TO WIN WEST GOLF ASSOCIATION FIXTURE

Hayston's Stephen Gray won this week's West of Scotland Golf Association fixture at West Kilbride Golf Club.
He topped a field of 79 players (25 pros and trainee pros plus 65 amateurs) with a five-under-par round of 66.
But it was a close-run thing for Gray as Paul McKechnie (Braid Hills) birdied five holes in succession from the 11 in a brilliant inward half of 30 and, with a 67, came up only one shot of catching the leader.
Gray had five birdies spread evenly over halves of 34 (two under) and 32 (three under).
Graham Fox (Clydeway Golf) was third on 68 (34-34).
Fox leads the Order of Merit at the halfway stage of the Ayrshire WGA. He has 23points, two ahead of Stephen Gray with third placed Robert Arnott (Bishopbriggs) well back on the 14pt mark.
Peter Boyd, a five-handicapper at Glasgow Golf Club, won the amateurs' Alan Mickel Trophy with a net 67, one shot ahead of Robin Slater, who plays off 11 at Abbotsford.
Three players - Joe Devlin (West Kilbride) (4), Alex Fallis (Cowglen) (17) and Brian Lamb (Cathkin Braes) (17) - tied for third place.

LEADING PRO SCORES
Par 71
66 S Gray (Hayston)
67 P McKechnie (Braid Hills)
68 G Fox (Clydeway)
69 C Elliott (Haggs Castle), J McCreadie (Buchanan Castle), D Addison (Kilmarnock Barassie) (trainee)
70 C Porciani (Turnberry) (trainee)
71 J McB rearty (Haggs Castle) (trainee)
72 R Arnott (Bishopbriggs), N Walton (Glasgow)
73 D Fleming (Prestwick), M Patterson (Kilmacolm), C Ronald (Carluke), D Watters (Gourock), G Forbes (Bob Torrance School) (trainee), F Thomson (Turnberry).
LEADING AMATEURS
ALAN MICKEL TROPHY
Net scores
67 Peter Boyd (Glasgow) (5)
68 Robin Slater (Abbotsford) (11)
69 J0oe Devlin (West Kilbride) (4), Alex Fallis (Cowglen) (17), Brian Lamb (Cathkin Braes) (17)

TOP SCOTS RULED OUT OF PGAs OF EUROPE TITLE DEFENCE

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolview.com
Banchory's Greig Hutcheon, Chris Kelly (Cawder) and Scott Henderson (Kings Links), first, third and fourth in the Tartan Tour Order of Merit for the 2013 season are not in the Scotland team of three to defend the PGAs of Europe team golf championship at Palmares Golf Resort on Portugal's Algarve coastline from December 10 to 13.
PGA of Scotland Tournament Controller Roy Murray explains their omission.
"Selection is based on the Ordet of Merit final standings but to be eligible a player has to fulfil the same PGA criteria that applies for the Glenmuir Club Professional Championship, i.e. work a minimum of 25 hours per week, excluding playing, in a golfing environment such as a club pro's shop," said Murray.
"You may be wondering about how Hutch and Scotty qualified and played in the GB and I PGA Cup team – that was because they got in via the end of season play-offs, after a change in the qualification method in order to strengthen the GB and I team."
The Scotland team that will play in the PGAs of Europe team championship is:
David Orr (Mearns Castle), Graham Fox (Clydeway Golf) and Greg McBain (Gamola Golf).
Orr was a member of the trio who won the title for a seventh time at Palmares last year when his team-mates were David Patrick (Kingsfield) and Gareth Wright (West Linton)

ROBERT MCDONALD WINS NORTH ALLIANCE AT GOLSPIE

By ROBIN WILSON 

Golspie Golf Course hosted the latest North Golf Alliance fixture last Sunday when the field of 45 was headed by Robert MacDonald (pictured)

MacDonald became the third different scratch winner of the season, his break through scratch success beating off two of the season's earlier winners, John Forbes (Muir of Ord) and Gordon Stevens (Wick) plus several contenders for this year's aggregate trophies.

A  plumber in his father's local business MacDonald came to prominence in 2011 when he lifted the Class 1 handicap cup in the Brora Four Day open then playing with a handicap of seven.  This has now reduced to five and last season he was runner up to the Mackintosh Salver winner, Golspie's Darren Hexley.  Last Sunday the Brora golfer was amongst the last to come off the course with a card that beat the host course member Hexley by three shots, this years double winner Forbes by two and Durness winner Stevens by one.

With Winter tees in use the Golspie links was much shorter than its regular 5693 yards but with fairways and greens in excellent condition the low handicappers were quickly into the birdies. MacDonald a birdie two at the 6^th hole and with the appetite two more birdies over the next two holes for a flawless outward card of 33. His only dropped shot came at the first inward hole, “The Lochy” a bogey four as he covered the inward stretch in 34 for 67.

Wick's Gordon Stevens opened with a birdie four but a double bogey six at the eighth hole brought to an end to a run of four successive threes for his outward 34. He matched the inward par of 34 with one bogey, the 12^th and one birdie the 14^th for  a final 68 and second place. Stevens was followed into the clubhouse by the playing partnership of John Forbes and Darren Hexley. Forbes edged third place with his 69 (35/34)  to Hexley's 70 (34/36). 

Also with similar halves to Hexley was Tain's Munro Ferries before roaring in to clinch the category one handicap place was Tain's Raymond Lockie with nett 65 from his nine handicap and just one shot ahead of his club mate George Oliver with nett 66 off 7.  The sub nett seventy scores continued from Tain pair, Alex Gunn and Andrew Watt, and Tarbat's Mike Keay all nett 67.

In category two there was a second Tain member leading the way, a nett 65 from eleven handicapper Alan Sangster  followed up by two players from the strong Durness representation, Alister Corbett, a nett 66, and Frances Keith a nett 67 to tie a similar card from Davie Duncan (Invergordon).

Just one more individual fixture at Reay on December 1^st before the members begin sorting out their teams for the three-ball-better-ball competition at Brora on December 15.

Golspie Results
Scratch
67 R MacDonald (Brora). 
68 G Stevens (Wick). 
69 J Forbes (Muir of Ord). 70 D Hexley (Golspie), M Ferries (Tain). 
Handicap 
Category 1 – R Lockie (Tain) (9) 65. G Oliver (Tain) (7) 66. A Gunn (Tain) (6), A Watt (Tain) (6), M Keay (Tarbat) (7). 
Category 2 – A Sangster (Tain) 65. A Corbett (Durness) 66. D Duncan (Invergordon) and  F Keith (Durness) (12) 67.  

of Brora who claimed his first Alliance scratch win.

MacDonald became the third different scratch winner of the season, his break through scratch success beating off two of the season's earlier winners, John Forbes (Muir of Ord) and Gordon Stevens (Wick) plus several contenders for this year's aggregate trophies. 

A  plumber in his father's local business MacDonald came to prominence in 2011 when he lifted the Class 1 handicap cup in the Brora Four Day open then playing with a handicap of seven.  This has now reduced to five and last season he was runner up to the Mackintosh Salver winner, Golspie's Darren Hexley.  Last Sunday the Brora golfer was amongst the last to come off the course with a card that beat the host course member Hexley by three shots, this years double winner Forbes by two and Durness winner Stevens by one.

With Winter tees in use the Golspie links was much shorter than its regular 5693 yards but with fairways and greens in excellent condition the low handicappers were quickly into the birdies. MacDonald a birdie two at the 6^th hole and with the appetite two more birdies over the next two holes for a flawless outward card of 33. His only dropped shot came at the first inward hole, “The Lochy” a bogey four as he covered the inward stretch in 34 for 67. 

Wick's Gordon Stevens opened with a birdie four but a double bogey six at the eighth hole brought to an end to a run of four successive threes for his outward 34. He matched the inward par of 34 with one bogey, the 12^th and one birdie the 14^th for  a final 68 and second place. 

Stevens was followed into the clubhouse by the playing partnership of John Forbes and Darren Hexley. Forbes edged third place with his 69 (35/34)  to Hexley's 70 (34/36). 

Also with similar halves to Hexley was Tain's Munro Ferries before roaring in to clinch the category one handicap place was Tain's Raymond Lockie with nett 65 from his nine handicap and just one shot ahead of his club mate George Oliver with nett 66 off 7.  The sub nett seventy scores continued from Tain pair, Alex Gunn and Andrew Watt, and Tarbat's Mike Keay all nett 67. 

In category two there was a second Tain member leading the way, a nett 65 from eleven handicapper Alan Sangster  followed up by two players from the strong Durness representation, Alister Corbett, a nett 66, and Frances Keith a nett 67 to tie a similar card from Davie Duncan (Invergordon).

Just one more individual fixture at Reay on December 1^st before the members begin sorting out their teams for the three-ball-better-ball competition at Brora on December 15.

Golspie Results

Scratch

67 R MacDonald (Brora). 

68 G Stevens (Wick). 

69 J Forbes (Muir of Ord). 

70 D Hexley (Golspie), M Ferries (Tain). 

Handicap 

Category 1 – R Lockie (Tain) (9) 65. G Oliver (Tain) (7) 66. A Gunn (Tain) (6), A Watt (Tain) (6), M Keay (Tarbat) (7). 

Category 2 – A Sangster (Tain) 65. A Corbett (Durness) 66. D Duncan (Invergordon) and  F Keith (Durness) (12) 67.  

EUROPEAN SENIOR TOUR QUALIFYING SCHOOL DATES, VENUES 2014

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Simon Brown and Paul Wesselingh will provide the inspiration for the hopefuls at the 2014 European Senior Tour Qualifying School, which will be held at Pestana Golf Resort, in Portugal’s Algarve region, for the 12th successive year.
Next year, the Qualifying School will again comprise two stages, with Stage One taking place from January 30-31 over three courses: Gramacho, Silves and Vila Sol. The Final Stage will again be played over four rounds at Pestana Golf Resort’s Vale da Pinta from February 3-6, with the leading 14 players qualifying for membership of the Senior Tour.
Having claimed the second card in the Final Stage at the start of this year, Brown has enjoyed an astonishing debut season on the Senior Tour, capturing his maiden title in September’s Russian Open Golf Championship (Senior) before adding the Dutch Senior Open one month later.     
Brown is currently in fourth place in the Senior Tour Order of Merit, and therefore in contention to succeed Wesselingh as the Rookie of the Year.
Wesselingh, who finished second in the 2012 Qualifying School to earn his place on the Senior Tour, is also enjoying a tremendous campaign. The Englishman won twice in four events at the start of the season, first successfully defending his title in the ISPS Handa PGA Seniors Championship with a final round of 64, before adding a third Senior Tour title in the Bad Ragaz PGA Seniors Open, where he beat his compatriot Kevin Spurgeon in a play-off. 
Last week, he ran up his third victory off the season at the Fubon Senior Open in Taiwan to overtake Steen Tinning at the top of the Order of Merit, with just one event left to play this season.
Andy Stubbs, Managing Director of the European Senior Tour, said: “Thanks in no small part to the support of the Pestana Group, who have now been our hosts since 2001, the Senior Tour Qualifying School has gone from strength to strength in recent years.  The four courses used for the two stages are always presented in great condition, while the practice facilities are also first class.
“With superb accommodation offered at very competitive rates at Pestana Hotels, the competitors at the Qualifying School are very well looked after, both and off the course.  We look forward to returning to the Algarve for another successful staging in 2014.”
First played in 1993 at Collingtree Park, the Qualifying School has now been played at Pestana Golf Resort since 2001.
Renato Campagnoli claimed the honour of winning the first Senior Tour Qualifying School, firing a 68 to win in emphatic fashion. The Italian would subsequently win two Senior Tour titles.
Since then, a number of players have also gone on to win on the Senior Tour, including 1997 winner Michael Slater, 2001 champion Steve Stull,  2002 winner Horacio Carbonetti, 2004 winner Bob Boyd, 2005 winner Stewart Ginn and, most recently, Tim Thelen, the 2010 Qualifying School winner who captured three Senior Tour titles in 2012.

Competitors can download the application form for the 2014 Qualifying School here

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THOMAS BJORN ON TOP OF THE WORLD IN MELBOURNE

    Thomas Bjorn in action at Royal Melbourne today. Picture

                          by courtesy of Getty Images(c)

REPORT FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Thomas Björn overcame a four-putt double bogey to sign for a round of 66 and take a share of the lead on the opening day of the ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf.

Björn, bidding to become the first Danish winner of the World Cup of Golf in his fifth appearance in the competition, fell victim to Royal Melbourne Golf Club’s lightning fast greens on the fourth hole, but bounced back with six birdies to finish the first day level with Kevin Streelman on five under par.

Björn and fellow Dane Thorbjørn Olesen are also level with America on five under par in the team event after Olesen signed for a level par round of 71, the same score as Streelman’s compatriot Matt Kuchar.

The nearest Denmark have come to World Cup success was back in 2001, when Björn and partner Søren Hansen finished runner-up under the old format.

And the 42 year old is in contention to go one better in Melbourne after an eight foot birdie putt at the last hole set the seal on a satisfying day’s work.

He said: “I played well today. After the fourth hole, I thought to myself “Well, this could be a long day.” But I just kept my composure, made some good birdies and kept playing solid all the way to the end. It was a nice day, but it’s always a nice day here.

“When you wake up in the morning and you know you’re going to go and play Royal Melbourne, you get excited about it. It is, in my eyes, probably the finest golf course you can ever play. You have got to play smart golf, and I could play it every day for the rest of my life and be happy.”

At one point it had looked like Streelman might open up a sizeable lead, but two bogeys in his final three holes brought the American back to the field. 

Third place is currently shared between South Korean K J Choi, Scotland’s Martin Laird and Welshman Stuart Manley, who all signed for founds of 67.

Manley, who regained his European Tour card at last week’s Qualifying School Final Stage, is the surprise package in the leading quintet, and the 34 year old was indebted to a solid display on Royal Melbourne’s daunting greens.  

He said: “I holed out really well today. I left myself a lot of four, five and six-footers for par, but I seemed to knock them in, which was good for my confidence. The greens here are very, very fast but they’re also very true, so if you hit a good putt they tend to go in.”

Jason Day currently occupies sixth spot on three under par, but his fellow Australian and the pre-tournament favourite Adam Scott fared less well, carding a nine on the 12th hole en route to signing for a round of 75.

FIRST ROUND TEAM SCORES
Par 142 (2x71)
135 Denmark, USA
140 Portugal
141 Scotland, Canada, S Korea
142 Finland
143 Australia, Thailand, Japan
144 Philippines, Brazil,England, Germany.
145 France
147 Ireland, S Africa
148 Sweden, Spain
149 Chile, Argentina
150 Netherlands
151 Italy
152 China
154 N Zealand, India

LEADING INDIVIDUALS
Par 71
66 Thomas Bjorn (Denmark), Kevin Streelman (USA)
67 Stuart Manley (Wales), K J Choi (S Korea), Martin Laird (Scotland)
68 Jason Day (Australia)
69 Ricardo Santos (Portugal), Danny Willett (England)
70 Tony Lascuna (Philippines), David Hearn (Canada), Mikko Korhonen (Finland), Nicolas Colsaerts (Belgium).
SELECTED SCORES
71 Matt Kuchar (USA) (T13)
72 Graeme McDowell (Ireland) (T22)
74 Stephen Gallacher (Scotland) (T38)
75 Chris Wood (England), Shane Lowry (Ireland), Adam Scott (Australia) (T46)