Thursday, May 22, 2014

BON ACCORD, MURCAR LINKS, NIGG BAY AND NEWMACHAR IN SEMI-FINALS

MAITLAND SHIELD DRAMA IN QUARTER-FINALS  
The quarter-finals of the City of Aberdeen double foursomes for the Maitland Shield produced a night of high drama on a blustery night at Stonehaven Golf Club.
The majority of the drama was served up by the first tie, Northern vs Bon Accord. Although Bon Accord’s first pair of Barrie Edmond and Matthew Dunn were safely in the clubhouse with a one-hole victory, the second match was in a very strong position for Northern whose pair of Richard Hyland and Paul Vass were three up with two to play.
However, the Northern duo managed to lose the last two holes and so could only post a one-hole victory. This meant the match was halved and extra holes were required. Incredibly, despite Bon Accord hitting their tee shot out of bounds, the 19th hole was halved in fives.
The second pairing also halved the 19th and so the match went to the 20th where Bon Accord triumphed when their first paring managed a win and the second pairing halved in fours.
The second tie was slightly more straight forward with Murcar Links’ first pairing of Anthony Bews and Corin Stewart establishing a lead by the turn and eventually running out winners by five holes.
 This meant that the second pairs could shake hands on the 17th with the match all square.
Nigg Bay were able to take full advantage of their miraculous win over Banchory the previous night by defeating Peterculter by two holes. This was due to the 4-hole win that their first pairing of Steve Jamieson and Ian Welsh achieved as their second pair went down to a two hole loss.
Host club Stonehaven’s involvement was ended with a five hole loss to Newmachar. Stonehaven seemed certain to go ahead in the first match at the 11th but a long range putt by Euan Kennedy of Newmachar meant that it was the ‘away’ side who actually went 1up. Newmachar’s first pairing never looked back and ran out 5up winners. This was meant that a fantastic fight back by Stonehaven’s second pair of Neil Irvine and Jason Barbour, who were 5 down after eleven holes but finished all square, was ultimately futile.
 RESULTS
QUARTER-FINALS
Bon Accord bt Northern at 20 th (B Edmond and M Dunn 1, G Paterson and C Johnstone 0; M Greig and G Somers 0, R Hyland and P Vass 1)
Murcar Links beat Caledonian by 5 holes (A Bews and C Stewart 5, B Reid and L Morrice 0; B Innes and D Raitt 0, S Finnie and A Doig 0)
Nigg Bay beat Peterculter by 2 holes (S Jamieson and I Welsh 4, D McLean and M Aitken 0; N Slater and R Forbes 0, G Watson and J Kennedy 2)
Newmachar beat Stonehaven by 5 holes (E Kennedy and C Simpson 5, K Riddell and C Brown 0; E MacIntosh and C Cheyne 0, N Irvine and J Barbour 0)
SEMI-FINALS
5pm – Bon Accord v Murcar Links
5.15 – Nigg Bay v Newmachar

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BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP HAS A WEATHER-AFFECTED OPENING DAY

THOMAS BJORN SAYS HIS 63 AT 

WENTWORH IS HIS BEST CAREER 

ROUND


FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Local knowledge and a fierce determination paid massive dividends for former Wentworth resident Thomas Björn on a weather-affected opening day of the BMW PGA Championship. 
Björn hailed the best round of his entire career, and the lowest on Wentworth’s redesigned West Course, after carding a brilliant 62, a round completed just moments before the first of two suspensions of play due to the threat of lightning which left 33 players unable to complete their rounds.
 "I was signing my scorecard when the siren went and Stephen Gallacher looked at me and says, 'You're not having a very bad day, are you?'" Björn said.
 "We could kind of feel there was something going on in the weather, so it was nice to get in." At ten under par, Bjorn held a two shot lead over Ireland's Shane Lowry, with Spain's Rafael Cabrera-Bello on seven under and the likes of Henrik Stenson, Martin Kaymer and Rory McIlroy all four under. 
Stenson could need as little as a top-30 finish this week to replace Adam Scott as World Number One. 
Björn missed the cut in last week's Open de España and feared the worst in a tournament where he has produced just one top-ten finish - in 1998 - in 16 previous appearances.
 "You shoot great rounds in your career but to shoot 62 on this course, you can't ask for more," said Björn, who went on to win the European Masters in 2011 the last time he shot 62 on The European Tour. 
"I don't really know where to start. Last week was awful and I was starting to feel a little frustrated with things. Practice this week I was not good either. 
"To step out on this course of all courses and play like I did today was surprising. Although I lived here for nine years it's not a place where I think it's going to be a great week, but I have to stick my head down now and focus on the rest of the week."
 Björn, who looks set to qualify for his first Ryder Cup appearance since 2002, birdied the second, fourth and seventh to reach the turn in 32 before a superb scoring burst on the back nine. 
The 43 year old Dane birdied the tenth and 11th and holed from just six feet for an eagle on the par five 12th, before picking up further birdies on the 14th, 16th and 18th. 
Asked to explain his renaissance after falling out of love with the game five or six years ago, Björn added: "Hard work. Determination to not let a golf career fade away. I've just been determined to get myself to where I can play with the best in the world and I'll keep continuing to do that as long as my body allows me to.
 "I enjoy being out here, which I probably didn't do for a couple of years. It's very easy when you get past 40 to stop enjoying this after a long career. I have travelled with my golf clubs since I was 14 years old and sometimes you forget why you love the game and it becomes hard work." Björn is currently third in the Ryder Cup qualifying race but added: "I still think I need to do a lot more. There's a lot of guys playing great golf at the moment and over the last few weeks a few names are all starting to come back into the frame.
 "I've watched a lot from the sidelines (he has been vice-captain three times) and that can hurt a little bit, but I wanted to play in another Ryder Cup and I've got to stay focused and determined to keep playing good golf to get there." Lowry's round was twice disrupted by the bad weather, but the 27 year old - who won the Irish Open as an amateur in 2009 - was not about to complain. "I love it around here," said Lowry, who was fourth in 2011 and 12th last year. "It's a great event. It's a great golf course. "I've been struggling and my best finish this season was last week, tied 15th in the Spanish Open. I've missed a few cuts and haven't really been putting that well but I managed to find something at home a couple of weeks ago and hopefully can keep it going
 "I went back to an old putter that I used years ago and it brought back good memories maybe." 
A knee injury forced Sergio Garcia to retire from the tournament after an opening round of 73, while defending champion Matteo Manassero slumped to an eight over par 80 which included two double bogeys and a nine on the 17th.

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THOMAS BJORN SPREADEAGLES FIELD WITH TEN UNDER PAR ROUND OF 62

A WET START TO PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

PLAY SUSPENDED AS LIGHT FAILS

LEADERBOARD
Par 72
62 Thomas Bjorn (Denmark)
64 Shane Lowry (Ireland)
65 Rafa Cabrera-Bello (Spain)
66 Gary Stal (France)
67 Justin Walters (S Africa), Anthony Wall (England), Fabrizio Zanotti (Paraguay)
68 David Horsey (England), Martin Kaymer (Germany), Henrik Stenson (Sweden), Thomas Aiken (S Africa), Jonas Blizt (Swe+den), Rory McIlroy (N Ireland)
SCOTS SCORES
-3 with 5 holes to play: Chris Doak
70 Stephen Gallacher, Richie Ramsay, Craig Lee, Peter Whiteford (T22)
72 Paul Lawrie (T58)
73 Marc Warren, David Drysdale (T78)
76 Scott Drummond (T124).
79 Chris Kelly (T149)

+1 with 3 to play: Scott Jamieson
+1 with 4 to play: Greig Hutcheon
+1 with 4 to play: Graham Fox
+3 with 9 to play: Jamie McLeary

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DUNBAR TOUR PRO JOINT SIXTH, SIX SHOTS OFF THE PACE WITH A ROUND TO GO

FENWICK, NICOL LEAD SCOTS' CHASE

FOR £10,000 EUROPRO TOUR PRIZE

Dunbar's Neil Fenwick, joint sixth with a round to go, and Fraserburgh's Kris Nicol (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre), just outside the top 10, are best plaed after 36 holes of the PGA EuroPro Tour event,  the Dawson and Sanderson Travel Classic at Longhirst Hall Golf Club, Morpeth in Northumberland.
But generally it's been a so-so tournament for the Scots who made the trip over the Border in the quest for the £10,000 first prize: eight of them made the cut at four-over 148 and better while for another  12 Scots the tournament is over.
Favourite for the jackpot prize is Englishman Wilm Harrold, a former US college circuit player.
The Norfolk-based player has shot 70-67 for seven-under 137 and leads by three shots from Wales' Bradley Dredge.
Harrold (Sheringham Golf Club) won the opening event of the season, the Matchroom Championship at The Belfry, and a second win would see him close in on securing a Challenge Tour card for 2015, which is awarded to the top five on the HotelPlanner.com PGA EuroPro Tour’s Order of Merit. Heavy rain made for difficult conditions at Longhirst Hall.

LEADERBOARD
Par 144 (2x72)
137 W Harrold (Eng) 70 67
140 B Dredge (Wal) 70 70
141 R Walsh (Eng) 74 67
SCOTS' SCORES
143 N Fenwick 70 73 (T6)
144 K Nicol 72 72 (T11)
145 Z Saltman 74 71, R Kellett 76 69, P Robinson 71 74 (T18)
147 C Macaulay 70 77 (T31)
148 E Saltman 73 75, R Cameron 77 71 (T47))
MISSED THE CUT (148 and better qualified)
152 M Kerr 75 77, P Doherty 76 76, L Saltman 77 75
153 J Findlay 74 79, P Shields 70 83.
154 G Rankin 875 79
155 F McKenna 77 78, N Henderson 80 75
157 S Binning 75 82
159 J McColl 8`1 78
163 G Forbes 82 81, C Lawrie 82 81

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O'NEIL, KILOH AND MCLEAN MISS OUT AFTER TWO ROUNDS



NO SCOTS BEAT EPD TOUR CUT IN 

AUSTRIA

No Scots survived the second-round cut in the German PGA's developmental EPD Tour event, the Haugschlag Open in Austria.
Only players with 36-hole tallies of 145 and better made it through to the final round.
Conor O'Neil from Pollok missed out by one shot with rounds of 72 and 74 for 146.
Young Portlethen rookie Sam Kiloh had rounds of 76 and 71 for 147, three better than Philip McLean who had 78-72 for 150.
Germany's Sean Einhaus had gone five shots clear of the field with two great scores of 67 and 64 for a 131 tally.



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NEWS FROM PGA IN SCOTLAND

CAWDER PRO-AM PRO TEE TIMES
FOR JUNE 6, 2014
 

 Tee  Time      Name

  1   8:00 AM   Craig Haugh, Cawder Golf Club

  1   8:10 AM   Paul Brookes, Pitreavie Golf Club

  1   8:20 AM   Craig Gordon, Edinburgh Golf Centre

  1   8:30 AM   Ryan Buckley, Royal Musselburgh Golf Club

  1   8:40 AM   Calum Lawson, Wellsgreen Golf Range

  1   8:50 AM   Kevin Campbell, Greenock Golf Club

  1   9:00 AM   Alastair Forrow, Whitecraigs Golf Club

  1   9:10 AM   Craig Matheson, Falkirk Tryst Golf Club

  1   9:20 AM   Greg Paxton, Ralston Golf Club

  1   9:30 AM   Craig Ronald, Carluke Golf Club

  1   9:40 AM   Stewart Savage, Dalmuir Golf Club

  1   9:50 AM   David Patrick, Kingsfield Golf Range

  1   10:05 AM  Grant Smith, Gleneagles Hotel Golf Courses

  1   10:15 AM  James McKinnon, Irvine Golf Club

  1   10:25 AM  Christopher Robinson, Portpatrick Dunskey Golf Club

  1   10:35 AM  Chris Kelly, Cawder Golf Club

  1   10:45 AM  Paul Wardell, Whitekirk Golf Course

  1   10:55 AM  Paul Robinson, Largs Golf Club

  1   11:05 AM  Greig Hutcheon, Paul Lawrie Golf Centre

  1   11:15 AM  Graham Fox, Clydeway Golf

  1   11:25 AM  Jason McCreadie, Buchanan Castle Golf Club

  1   11:35 AM  Steven Taylor, Bothwell Castle Golf Club

  1   11:45 AM  Mark King, Kingsfield Golf Range

  1   11:55 AM  Scott Henderson, Kings Links Golf Centre

  1   12:10 PM  Graeme Brown, Montrose Golf Links Ltd.

  1   12:20 PM  Gordon Stewart, Cawder Golf Club

  1   12:30 PM  Christopher Currie, Caldwell Golf Club

  1   12:40 PM  Stephen Gray, Hayston Golf Club

  1   12:50 PM  James McGhee, Bishopbriggs Golf Range

  1   1:00 PM   Gareth Wright, West Linton Golf Club

  1   1:10 PM   Greg McBain, Kemnay Golf Club

  1   1:20 PM   Jonathan Lomas, Caprington Golf Club

  1   1:30 PM   Mark Kerr, Marriott Dalmahoy Golf & Count

  1   1:40 PM   David Broadfoot, Kirkcudbright Golf Club

  1   1:50 PM   David Orr, Mearns Castle Golf Academy

  1   2:00 PM   Christopher Tierney, Carrick on Loch Lomond


Complete information is available at Tournament Information Page (TIP)

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