WORLD AMATEUR TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP FOR EISENHOWER TROPHY

BRADLEY NEIL BOOSTS SCOTS IN JAPAN

WITH A SECOND-ROUND 65

A brilliant seven-under-par round of 65 by Bradley Neil (Blairgowrie), coupled with a 68 from Grant Forrest (Craigielaw) lifted Scotland up to joint sixth place - level with England, and only three shots behind leaders Argentina - on the second day of the men's world amateur team golf championship for the Eisenhower Trophy in Spain.

Scottish champion Chris Robb (Meldrum House) had a non-counting 74 as the Scots totalled 271 at the halfway stage.

SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD

Par 288 (4x72)

268 Argentina

269 Sweden, Switzerland, United States

270 Canada

271 SCOTLAND (B Neil 72 65, G Forres 68 68, C Robb 70 74), ENGLAND (B Stow 67 67, R Evans 72 68, A Chesters 69 72), Spain.

273 Denmark, Australia.

274 France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Taipei

275 Austria, Chile

276 Belgium, Czech Rep

276 IRELAND (G Hurley 69 68, G Moynihan 69 70, P Dunne 70 70).

278 Japan

279 Puerto Rico

280 Singapore, Norway, Venezuela, South Korea, China

281 Slovenia, New Zealand

282 Colombia

283 WALES (M Hearne 68 72, D Boote 70 73, R Pugh 70 73), India

284 Bermuda

285 Portugal

286 Poland, Malaysia, South Africa, Costa Rica, Hong Kong.

287 Finland, Guatemala, Brazil

288 Slovakia

289 Netheralnads

290 Guam

296 Malta, Turkey

297 Philippines

298 Russia, Fiji

288 Dominican Republic

301 Uruguay.

JAMIE McLEARY FIVE UNDER WHEN BAD LIGHT STOPS PLAY

LUITEN LEADS IN TITLE DEFENCE

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Joost Luiten made the ideal start to his bid for back-to-back KLM Open victories, firing a five under par opening round of 65 at Kennemer Golf and Country Club to establish a one shot clubhouse lead before fading light stopped play. 

Luiten (pictured) is bidding to become the first Dutchman to defend successfully a European Tour title, having defeated Spaniard Miguel Angel Jiménez in a play-off 12 months ago.
After starting on the tenth tee, the 28 year old birdied the 18th hole, but dropped his only shot of the day on the first immediately after making the turn. 
He made amends with a birdie on the third hole and then picked up four shots in three holes, with an eagle on the seventh hole sandwiched in between birdies on the sixth and eighth holes.
The eagle on the seventh came courtesy of a superb 216 yard four iron approach to 15ft, and helped Luiten on his way back to the top of the leaderboard, as he finished one stroke clear of Italian pair Edoardo Molinari and Andrea Pavan, and France’s Gary Stal who share second place on four under par. 
Scotland’s Jamie McLeary was five under par for his round through 16 holes when fading light stopped play.
Play had been suspended for 2hr 20min while Fabrizio Zanotti received treatment for a head injury sustained when he was struck by a ball. The first round will resume at 8am on Friday morning.
Key player quotes
Joost Luiten
“It is always nice to shoot a 65. I played well and didn’t make any mistakes. That’s the key on this course, keep the ball in play and take your chances. For me it was a good solid round and I hit some nice spots.
“I wasn’t playing bad on the front nine, but just not hitting it that close. Then a couple of holes on that stretch of five, six, seven are scoring holes and I took advantage. I thought if I made a couple of birdies it would be a nice round and the eagle on seven was a bonus. It was one of those putts that can go in or just stay on the edge. So that was a bonus to see it go in for eagle. Then I hit it stiff on eight and all of a sudden you are five under for the round.
It’s the first day so you just stay patient and don’t make big mistakes and your chances will come. And they did.”
Edoardo Molinari
“It was a really good round especially as I wasn’t hitting the ball well off the tee. I chipped well and had a lot of good iron shots. So I need to work on my driving and then I should be alright.
“I always seem to manage to get a shot into the green and hit a lot of greens so overall four under is a good start.”
Gary Stal
“It is my first visit here and I like the course. It is a good course and you need to play good to score good. I like the vision of the course and I like the greens. I’ve played a few courses like this in England so I like this golf.
“My form has been ok and I felt good coming into this week. I’m feeling my game is more consistent. It has been up and down but I’m feeling better about my game.”


FIRST-ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 70
65 J Luiten (Ned)
66 A Pavan (Ita) , G Stal  (Fra) , E Molinari  (Ita) 67 E Goya (Arg) , A Sullivan (Eng) , D Im (USA) , M Kieffer (Ger) , T Aiken (RSA) 68 D Foos (Ger) , M Warren (Sco) , P Larrazábal (Esp) , P Casey  (Eng) , M Manassero (Ita)  
69 C Doak (Sco) , J Doherty  (Sco) , R Karlsson (Swe) , R Ramsay  (Sco) , B Koepka  (USA) , V Riu  (Fra) , D Fichardt (RSA) , A Gee  (Eng) , P Waring  (Eng) , C Lee (Sco) , E Pepperell (Eng) , M Ilonen  (Fin) 
70 G Bhullar (Ind) , R Bland (Eng) , D Stewart (Sco) , W Ormsby (Aus) , J Blixt  (Swe) , S Lowry  (Irl) , S Dyson  (Eng) , S Kjeldsen (Den) , A Forsyth (Sco) , T Pieters  (Bel) , M Baldwin (Eng) , N Fasth (Swe) , J Carlsson (Swe) , J Quesne  (Fra) , P Whiteford (Sco) , P Harrington (Irl)  
71 M Madsen  (Den) , J Hahn (USA) , R Jacquelin (Fra) , R Derksen (Ned) , M Lampert (Ger) , M Jiménez (Esp) , G Fdez-Castaño  (Esp) , M Crespi  (Ita) , T Björn (Den) , M Nixon (Eng) , J Parry (Eng) , D McGrane (Irl) , N Elvira  (Esp) , C Del Moral (Esp) , J Krietemeijer (am) (Ned)
72 C Arendell (USA) , R Santos  (Por) , A Otaegui  (Esp) , K Broberg (Swe) , E Grillo (Arg) , L Slattery (Eng) , D Horsey (Eng) , N Colsaerts  (Bel) , A Kaleka  (Fra) , R Kind (Ned) , B An
(SKor)  
73 M Fitzpatrick  (Eng) , J Billing (Swe) , M Lundberg (Swe) , L Bjerregaard  (Den) , J Kruger (RSA) , R Rock (Eng) , G Storm  (Eng) , J Morrison  (Eng) , F Andersson Hed (Swe) , E De La Riva  (Esp) , D Drysdale (Sco) , D Clarke (Nir) , D Van Driel (am) (Ned)
74 F Calmels  (Fra) , D Lipsky (USA) , V Van Veen (am) (Ned) 
75 R Fisher (Eng) , A Hartø  (Den) , T Remkes (Ned) , D Brooks (Eng) , S Wakefield (Eng) , D Lynn (Eng) 
76 J Lara (Esp) , S Strüver (Ger)  77 J Dantorp (Swe) , J Kingston (RSA) , H Otto (RSA) , S Prins (am) (Ned)  
78 S Walker (Eng)
82 A Saddier (Fra)
 ** F Zanotti (Par) , F Aguilar (Chi) , R Gonzalez (Arg) , T Levet (Fra) ,



EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

DUMFRIES AND COUNTY MAN TAKES TITLE IN BLAIRGOWRIE FINALE

IAN BROTHERSTON WINS SCOTTISH 

SENIORS' ORDER OF MERIT

Jack Keeney, SGU vice-president, left, presents the Order of Merit Trophy to Ian Brotherston.

Ian Brotherston (Dumfries and County Golf Club) won the Scottish Seniors Golfing Society's  Order of Merit title on a perfect day for golf at Blairgowrie today (Thu).

A round of 73  over the Lansdowne course was good enough to maintain the Doonhamer's narrow lead at the top of point table over  John Fraser (Royal Burgess) with Scottish champion, Barry Brooks (Meldrum House) finishing in third place.

Ian had a poor start but rallied with  a birdie at the short fifth and an eagle at the eighth. A double bogey at the tenth was a setback but Ian knuckled down to the task and played the last eight holes in one under par to secure the title.

The best round of the day - a fine 72 -  came from David Imrie (Thornton). He was closely followed by Les Pirie (Millport), Graham Forrest (Northumberland), Ian Gillan (Bishopbriggs ) and Brotherston on 73.

Although not decided today, David Smith (Stirling), the former European seniors champion, is the winner of the Handicap Net Order of Merit and also the Super Seniors (over 65) Order of Merit title, both sponsored by McCrea Financial Services.

Jack Kenney, vice-president of the Scottish Golf Union, was a welcome visitor to the event and presented the trophy to Ian Brotherston.

 SCOTTISH SENIORS GOLFING SOCIETY

Blairgowrie Lansdowne course.

FINALS DAY

72 David Imrie (Thornton)

73 Les Pirie (Millport), Graham Forrest (Northumberland), Ian Brotherston (Dumfries & Co). Ian Gillan (Bishopbriggs) 

74 Joe McManus (Uphall), Nick Robson (Meldrum House), Jalil Aman (Grangemouth)

75 Michael Rust (Tillicoultry), John Fraser (Royal Burgess), Lindsay Blair (Grangemouth), Jim Watt (Edzell) 

76 Colin Halcrow (Windyhill), Ricky Gray (Irvine)

77 Stuart Black (Cathcart Castle), Barry Brooks (Meldrum House), Ken Thomson (Bramhall Park), Stewart Millar (Cochrane Castle)

78 Malcolm Reid (Sonning) 

79 John McDonald (Cowglen), Lindsay Gordon (Turnhouse), Gordon MacDonald (Glenbervie), Ronnie Clark (Erskine), Bob Stewart (Tulliallan)

80 Ian Jeen (St Andrews New), Robin Craw (Glenbervie), David Shields (Glenearn)

83 David Gardner (Broomieknowe )

FINAL ORDER OF MERIT LEADING POSITIONS

1 Ian Brotherston (Dumfries & Co)

2 John Fraser (Royal Burgess)

3 B Brooks (Meldrum House

ONE ROUND TO GO IN EUROPEAN TOUR Q SCHOOL STAGE 1

GREAT SCOTT! AMATEUR BORROWMAN

SHARES KELSO LEAD WITH FENWICK

A brilliant, seven-under-par round of 65 lifted Dollar amateur Scott Borrowman (pictured) up into a share of the lead with Dunbar tour pro Neil Fenwick on 12-under-par 204 with one round to go in the European Tour Qualifying School Stage 1 event at the Roxburghe course, Kelso.

England's Mark Young is another amateur in the mix. He had a 69 for 209 and shared third place with compatriot Jamie Moul who had a 66.

Elliot Saltman leapfrogged over younger brother Lloyd with a 65 for eighth place on 209 - one shot ahead of Lloyd who had a repeat 73 for 210.

Only the leading 17 and ties after Friday's final round will advance to Stage 2 at one of four venues in Spain.

The third-round cut spelled the end of European Tour dreams for another year for former Walker Cup player and two-time Northern Open champion James Byrne, who flew home to Scotland from his Thailand base from where he plays on the Asian Development Tour.

Those who failed to make the 219 cut-off mark included former Scottish youths champion, US-based Joel Hendry (227), Paul Lawrie's older son Craig (227) and another from the Paul Lawrie Golf Centre stable, former British boys champion Jordan Findlay (229)

LEADING THIRD-ROUND TOTALS

Par 216 (3x72) Players from Scotland unless stated

204 S Borrowman (am) 68 71 65, N Fenwick 68 66 70

207 J Moul (Eng) 69 72 66, M Young (Eng) 69 69 69

208 G Porteous (Eng) 71 68 69, P Shields 66 73 69, B Melton (USA) 69 67 72

209 E Saltman 74 70 65

210 T Murray (Eng) 69 74 67, L Saltman 64 73 73, T Whitehouse (Eng) 69 70 71

SELECTED SCORES

212 P McLean 70 73 69, A Culverwell (am) 69 72 71 (T14)

213 F McKenna 71 69 73 (T21)

215 S Gray 70 73 73, K Nicol 71 69 75 (T29)

216 P Doherty 71 68 77 (T34)

MISSED THE CUT (219 and better qualified)

220 J Byrne 71 68 71, C Sutherland 74 75 71

222 E Ramsway 73 79 70

223 J Mullaney 73 72 78, C Lutton 74 78 71

224 T Innes Ker 75 73 76

227 J Hendry 74 80 73, C Lawrie 71 82 74

229 J Findlay 78 77 74

ends.

JAMES WHITE STRUGGLES IN ALPS TOUR EVENT

An inward half of 42 for a five-over-par 77 saw James White finish the first day in joint 91st place in a field of 126 at the Alps Tour's Citadelle Trophy Internationale at Golf de Freisch, France today White. from Lundin, Fife, is 10 shots behind the leader, Frenchman Mattieu Pavon who shot a 66 to lead Englishman Andrew Cooley by one stroke.
Cooley was the long-time clubhouse leader until late starter Pavon birdied six of his last 12 holes to take over the pole position.

FORTROSE and Rosemarkie pair win Captains and Secretaries Tournament

Fortrose and Rosemarkie’s Mike MacDonald and John Jack produced a superb better-ball score of 63 to storm to a four-shot victory in Tuesday's  Belhaven Best Captains and Secretaries Championship final at Crail’s Craighead Links.
MacDonald, the club secretary, and Jack, the match and handicap secretary, dovetailed to perfection as the Highland club took the title for the first time.
They finished four shots clear of the Turnhouse duo of Douglas Sime and Lindsay Gordon, who combined for a net 67.
Duddingston took third place with a 68, edging out Strathaven, courtesy of the better inward half, on a glorious sunny and calm day in the East Neuk of Fife, with the speedy greens of the Craighead course proving a testing challenge for the field.
Scratch player MacDonald, playing in his fourth final, attributed his team’s success to consistency from both players throughout the round:
“We gelled really well out there today and it helped having a practice round yesterday to get to know the course. We were both in nearly every hole so we gave ourselves good chances, and I managed to knock in quite a few birdies.
“I’ve been to a few Captains and Secretaries finals so its nice to finally win one – it must be down to my partner John! We only just scraped through the regional final so probably weren’t expecting to win, but it’s great to be crowned champion of what is a great national event on a superb golf course.”
The win caps a fine year for Fortrose and Rosemarkie, who’s fantastic work in developing grass roots golf in their community earned them the title of RBS Junior Club of the Year at the Scottish Golf Awards back in February.

MIKE MACDONALD WINS FORTROSE AND 

ROSEMARKIE OPEN
Home CSS 70. Away CSS 73 
Players from Fortrose and Rosemarkie unless otherwise stated
Scratch
M MacDonald 69; A Cameron 73; D. Ewen (Whitekirk) 74; E. Skinner 75
Handicap 
Class 1 – P Schnier (6) 66; D Younie (7) 69; D Tuach (9) 70; A Brown  (4) 71; 
Class 2  – G Godsman (16) 65; D Lackie (14) 65; R MacLeman (12) 69; D Newbigging (10) 70

JACKSON LOSES SARAWAK LEAD TO THAI ROOKIE

NEWS RELEASE

Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia: Thai rookie Tirawat Kaewsiribandit snatched a one-shot halfway lead at the  US$80,000 PGM MNRB Sarawak Championship after a fine four-under-par 68 today.

The 24-year-old, who turned professional at the start of the year, propelled into contention for a maiden Asian Development Tour (ADT) victory with five birdies against a lone bogey at the Sarawak Golf Club.

Overnight leader Grant Jackson of England slipped to tied second place following a 70 while another Thai, Pasamet Pogamnerd also carded a second straight 68 to move into the title hunt.

 

Leading second round scores

Par 144 (2x72)

135: Tirawat KAEWSIRIBANDIT (Tha) 67-68

136: Grant JACKSON (ENG) 66-70, Pasamet POGAMNERD (THA) 68-68

137: Sukree OTHMAN (MAS) 69-68

138: Pavit TANGKAMOLPRASERT (THA) 69-69, Nakarintra RATANAKUL (THA) 69-69

139: Michael MOORE (AUS) 68- 71, Arie IRAWAN (MAS) 71-69, KHOR Kheng Hwai (MAS) 69-70, Mohd Iylia JAMIL (MAS) 71-69, Wisut ARTJANAWAT (THA)       70-70,

141: Zen DHARMARATNE (MAS) 70-71, Shaaban HUSSIN (MAS) 68-73, KOH Deng Shan (SIN) 69-72

ASIAN TOUR REPORT AND FIRST-ROUND SCORES

SALVADOR'S HOT PUTTER GETS

 HIM A  66 AT TAIPEI

 

Taipei: Filipino veteran Elmer Salvador rode on a hot putter to grab the opening round lead with a six-under-par 66 at the US$500,000 Yeangder Tournament Players Championship (TPC) today.

The 45-year-old registered seven birdies against one bogey to lead by one shot from three-time Asian Tour winner Marcus Both of Australia, Lien Lu-sen of Chinese Taipei and Thailand’s Prom Meesawat at the Linkou International Golf and Country Club.

The flamboyant Angelo Que of the Philippines produced the shot of the day when he aced the par-three fifth hole with a seven iron to share fifth place alongside countryman Antonio Lascuna, Malaysia’s Danny Chia and Hsu Hao-sheng of Chinese Taipei.

Que had a day to remember when his first official hole-in-one earned him an Audemars Piguet watch worth 584,000 NT (approximately US$19,000) and 200,000 NT in cash (approximately US$6,500).

FIRST-ROUND SCORES

Par 72 Yardage 7,125

66 Elmer SALVADOR (PHI).

67 LIEN Lu-sen (TPE), Prom MEESAWAT (THA), Marcus BOTH (AUS).

68 Angelo QUE (PHI), Antonio LASCUNA (PHI), HSU Hao-sheng (TPE), Danny CHIA (MAS).

69 Gunn CHAROENKUL (THA), Guy WOODMAN (ENG).

70 Rahil GANGJEE (IND), Thaworn WIRATCHANT (THA), LAM Chih Bing (SIN), Cameron SMITH (AUS), Christ GAUNT (AUS), Jake HIGGINBOTTOM (AUS), LIN Wen-tang (TPE), Jack MUNRO (AUS), TSAI Kai-jen (am, TPE), FAN CHIANG Hao-chuan (TPE).

71  Paul PETERSON (USA), CHAN Shih-chang (TPE), Unho PARK (AUS), Chawalit PLAPHOL (THA), Bryce EASTON (RSA), Sam BRAZEL (AUS), Arnond VONGVANIJ (THA), Sutijet KOORATANAPISAN (THA), James BOWEN (USA), Daniel CHOPRA (SWE), Rashid KHAN (IND), Atthaphon SRIBOONKAEW (THA), Kalem RICHARDSON (AUS), Ryan YIP (CAN).