CARNOUSTIE, ST ANDREWS AND KINGSBARNS CENTRE STAGE

Dunhill Links Championship keeps Scotland in 

the golfing spotlight for another week

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Scotland remains at the centre of the golfing spotlight this week, with four of Europe’s victorious Ryder Cup team and captain Paul McGinley taking part in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on the country’s east coast.
World Number One Rory McIlroy will play alongside his father Gerry in the pro-am format across three of Scotland’s top links course; Kingsbarns, Carnoustie and St Andrews Old Course.
The four-time Major Champion, twice a runner up in the event, is joined by France’s Victor Dubuisson, Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher and Martin Kaymer, all of whom helped Europe to a 16½-11½ victory against the United States at Gleneagles last week.
Defending champion is Englishman David Howell, the former Ryder Cup player, who defeated American Peter Uihlein 12 months ago to claim his fifth European Tour title and first since 2006.
There is also a strong South African contingent in the field, including Major Champions Ernie Els, Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen, along with Branden Grace, the 2012 champion.

Key player quotes

Rory McIlroy
“I probably couldn't have picked a better week to play after The Ryder Cup. It is great to play on three of my favourite golf courses in the world and be able to walk around with my dad and my best friend, as well, who is on the bag this week.  It's a nice way to try and come down after really what as such an incredible week last week.
“I’m obviously still on a bit of a high from The Ryder Cup, but I’m looking forward to get to go and play some golf with my dad and hopefully continue the good golf that I have played over the past few months, and have another chance to win a tournament here.”

Stephen Gallacher
“When you get the chance to play three of the best courses in the world, it's hard not to play them.  We don't get a chance too often to play these courses in links golf, which is something I grew up playing.
“I'm a wee bit tired still just now, but I had a couple of days at home and drove up this morning.  I’m not going to over‑exert myself and try and play the three courses (in practice).  I know them well anyway.  Hopefully rest is going to be the key for me doing well this week.”

Martin Kaymer
“This (St Andrews) is a little bit of a magical place.  I feel very lucky.  It always feels like home, but this year it's definitely as close as it gets.  It was never a thought for me to skip the event, especially after The Ryder Cup.  I've always played well here in the past.  There are a lot of positives this week.”

Paul McGinley
“I played well here last year.  I really enjoyed it.  I'm playing with Kyle MacLachlan again - we started playing together in 2001.  We've only missed one or two, and he's become a great friend of mine and it's great to be able to spend that time with him.
“In some ways, this is the perfect event to follow The Ryder Cup.  It doesn't have the intensity of a normal event because there’s more room, things are spread out, and there's much more variety of people coming together.  So I'm doing it just like it's any week. I’m back to play golf again, and I enjoy playing golf.”

             
EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

 Selected pairings for tomorrow’s play are:
Carnoustie (All 1st tee)
09.22: Ernie Els and Johann Rupert / Ryan Palmer and Ogden Phipps II
09.33: Rory McIlroy and Gerry McIlory / Charl Schwartzel and Jeremy Ord
09.44: Louis Oosthuizen and  Andrew Chandler / Martin Kaymer and Patrick Roeseler
09.55: Colin Montgomerie and Jerry Yang / Padraig Harringto and J.P.McManus
10.06: Thongchai Jaidee and  Bill Murray / Danny Willett and Jamie Dornan
10.17: Tommy Fleetwood and Tim Henman / Peter Uihlein and Huey Lewis
10.50: Sir Nick Faldo and Matthew Faldo / Victor Dubuisson and Jean-Pierre Rouvet
11.12: Edoardo Molinari and Greg Kinnear / David Howell and Hugh Grant
11.23: Paul McGinley and Kyle MacLachlan / Robert Karlsson and Damian Lewis

St Andrews (All 1st tee)
09.00: Robert Rock and Joe Kernen / Oliver Fisher and  Brian O’Driscoll
09.22: Alvaro Quiros and  Johan Elliot / David Horsey and Sir Ian Botham
09.44: Ricardo Santos & Luis Figo / Fabrizio Zanotti & Michael Vaughan
09.55: Daan Huizing & Johan Cruyff / Marcel Siem & Michael Ballack
10.06: Morten Orum Madsen and Ruud Gullit / Darren Fichardt and Sir Bobby Charlton
10.17: Andrew Johnston and Alan Hansen / Ross Fisher and Jamie Redknapp
11.12: Darren Clarke and Andrew Harding / Chris Wood and Sir Steve Redgrave
11.23: Graeme Storm and Damon Hill / Sandy Lyle and Don Felder.

Entrance to the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship will be FREE at all three courses on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  
A ticket price of £20 (concessionary £15) will be charged for the final day’s play over the Old Course on Sunday, October 5.  
Entry for under 16s and students is free. Tickets are available through the ticket hotline on 0844 581 4922 or at the entrance gates. 

SCOTTISH AMATEUR CHAMPION SHARING NINTH PLACE AT FRILFORD HEATH

CHRIS ROBB SITTING PRETTY AFTER 

TWO ROUNDS OF Q SCHOOL

Scottish amateur champion Chris Robb (Meldrum House) from Banchory stayed on course to qualify for Stage 2 in Spain of the European Tour Q School with a solid 71 in the second round at Frilford Heath GC, Abingdon in Oxfordshire today.
Robb is sharing ninth place on four-under-par 140 and with the news that the top 23 and ties will advance at the end of this 72-hole eliminator, his prospects look very good indeed.
Not so for fellow Scots Jay Taylor and Magnus Eilertsen.
Taylor is joint 83rd on 155 after rounds of 77 and 78 while Eilertsen is joint 86th on 156 (79-77).
England's Ryan Brown leads the way by two with a 12-under-par tally of 132 (67-65).

ONE ROUND TO GO IN THE TOMATIN 54-HOLE PRO-AM

NEIL FENWICK LEADS BUT GAVIN HAY 

IS BREATHING DOWN HIS NECK


By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
On the face of it Neil Fenwick is a hot favourite to win the £6,000 first pro prize in the Tomatin Single Malt 54-hole pro-am which ends tomorrow (Thursday) with the final rounds at Royal Dornoch (par 70), Nairn (par 71) and Castle Stuart (par 72).
The Dunbar man is on 133 - three strokes ahead of Gavin Hay (Nairn Dunbar) and four clear of the joint third-placed Paul O'Hara (Clydeway Golf) and Stephen Gray (Hayston).
But it is not quite so clear-cut as that.
Fenwick leads but he is eight under par after that brilliant seven-under 63 at Royal Dornoch on Tuesday followed by a one-under 70 at Nairn today.
He finishes his campaign at Castle Stuart.
Hay, the Scottish young professionals champion, is only one behind in accumulative par terms - seven under par after a three-under 68 at Nairn in the first round and a very good four-under 68 at Castle Stuart today.
Hay finishes at Royal Dornoch.
O'Hara is by no means out of the hunt with rounds of 68-69 for 137. On the same mark is Stephen Gray (70-67) who certainly knows what it takes to win this tournament.
This is only the third year of the "Tomatin" and Gray is bidding for a hat-trick of triumphs.

SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
133 N Fenwick (Dunbar) 63 70
136 G Hay (Nairn Dunbar) 68 68
137 P O'Hara (Clydeway Golf) 68 69, S Gray (Hayston) 70 67
138 D Orr (Mearns Castle) 69 69
140 G Hutcheon (Paul Lawrie GC) 70 70
141 C Matheson (Falkirk Tryst)  71 70, G McBain (Paul Lawrie GC) 69 72, M Kerr (Marriott Dalmahoy) 73 68
142 C Lawrie (Paul Lawrie GC) 73 69, R Arnott (Bishopbriggs) 71 71, G Brown (Montrose Links) 71 71, C Currie (Caldwell) 71 71.
143 S Henderson (Kings Links) 69 74, L Saltman (Archerfield Links) 72 71, G Wright (West Linton) 74 69 
144 S Taylor (Bothwell Castle) 71 73, G Fox (Clydeway Golf) 71 73, B McColl (Scotland for Golf) 74 70.
145 C Elliott (Haggs Castle) 73 72, N Walton (Glasgow) 73 72
146 J McCreadie (Buchanan Castle) 73 73, J Lomas (Caprington) 71 75, C Ronald (Carluke) 71 75, M Isaacs (Newmachar) 73 73, G Dingwall (Royal Dornoch) 70 76.
147 G Forbes (Murcar Links) 75 72, A Scrimshaw (Close House) 77 70, W De Vries (unatt) 73 74
148 N Lythgoe (Royal Norwich) 76 72
149 F Cromarty (Nairn) 79 70, G Shoesmith (Westhill) 77 72
150 K Hutton (Downfield) 72 78, J Martin (unatt) 75 75, B Davidson (River Oaks CC, Texas) 76 74
151 Murray Urquhart (Spey Valley) 72 79, S Morrison (Tain) 71 80
152 P Wardell (Whitekirk) 75 77, S Mitchell (Golf at Goodwood) 80 72
155 G Nethercott (Deeside) 79 76
157 R Harrower (Boat of Garten) 78 69
158 R King (Carrick on Loch Lomond) 79 79, C Everett (Caldwell) 81 77, P Cairns (natt) 81 77
160 I Colquhoun (Loch Lomond) 82 78
164 T Dingwall (Kemnay) 82 82
167 S Minuto (unatt) 84 83
173 D Thomson (Carnegie Club) 90 83

ENGLISHMAN FILL FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD PLACES

LUTTON AND BUCHANAN JOINT TOP 

SCOTS IN ABU DHABI OPEN

Clarke Lutton and Tom Buchanan shared the honour of being the top Scot in the final placings at the Abu Dhabi Open championship at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club today (Wednesday).

They finished joint 20th on the level par 216 mark. Lutton shot 72, 73 and 71; Buchanan 71, 71 and 74.

Another ex-pat, Simon Dunn finished joint 28th on 218 (73-69-66) and amateur Daniel Kay shot 76, 70 and 73 for 219 and joint 30th place.

Englishmen filled the first three place with Luke Joy earned the US $9,000 first prize with scores of 70, 67 and 68 for 11-under-par 205 - a shot ahead of Ross McGowan (68-66-72) with Zane Scotland third on 207 (65-71-71).

LEADING FINAL TOTALS

Par 216 (3x72)

205 L Joy (Eng) 70 67 69

206 R McGowan (Eng) 68 66 72

207 Z Scotland (Eng) 65 71 71.

SCOTS' TOTALS

216 C Lutton 72 73 71, T Buchanan 71 71 74 (T20)

218 S Dunn 73 69 76 (T28)

219 D Kay (am) 76 70 73 (T30).

CRUDEN BAY PLAYER HEADS FIELD OF 87 WITH FOUR-UNDER-PAR 64

KEVIN DUNCAN OUT IN 29 AT ABOYNE 

ON  WAY TO N E ALIANCE VICTORY

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Colin@scottishgolfview.com 

Not only was it a glorious sunny day at Aboyne Golf Club today, some of the scoring on a parkland course in tip-top condition was pretty hot stuff as well!

For instance Cruden Bay's Kevin Duncan, pictured, covered the par-34 outward half in only 29 shots - birdieing five holes in a row from the third to the seventh - on his way to heading a field of 87 with a splendid four-under-par round of 64.

Duncan might have been thinking of finishing with the "magic" number of 59 until a double bogey 6 at the 10th knocked him out of his stride.
The +2 Cruden Bay man gained only one more birdie before the finish, at the 16th, in coming home in one-over 35.
Duncan's  outward half was: 3 4 3 2 3 3 4 3 4. He earned a prize voucher for £130.
Despite a number of pros in the field, including Challenge Tour player and Northern Open champion David Law (Paul Lawrie GC), who had a 70, amateurs filled the first three places.
Portlethen's +2 player Clark Brechin, making his NE Alliance deubt, finished second on 68 (31-37) and Newmachar's John Duff, who also has a +2 rating, came third on 69 (32-37).
Brechin, a past winner more than once of the North-east District Order of Merit, had three birdies in a row in his outward 31 but, like Duncan, he lost his momentum with a double bogey 6 at the 11th where he lost a ball.
After a birdie 2 at the 12th, Brechin bogeyed the 13th and 17th in a three-over 37 home.
The inward half was definitely playing a lot harder than the outward nine, underlined by Duff's triple bogey 7 at the 11th. He was four over par for the last eight holes.
The general agreement was that the Aboyne course has never looked better and the greens were the fastest they have been all year, according to local member and Alliance player David Nelson.
ALL THE SCRATCH SCORES

Par 68 (34-34)
64 Kevin Duncan (Cruden Bay) 29-35
68 Clark Brechin (Portlethen) 31-37
69 John Duff (Newmachar) 32-37
70 Kamran Zeynalov (Paul Lawrie GC) 35-35, Terry Mathieson (Murcar Links) 35-35, Lee Vannet (Craibstone) 32-38, David Law (Paul Lawrie GC) 34-36
71 Gary Esson (McDonald Ellon) 36-35, Joel Hopwood (Royal Aberdeen) 36-35

73 B J Ritchie (Newmachar) 35-38, G Craig (Aboyne) 37-36, C Nelson (Mackenzie Shop) 36-37, J Emslie (Royal Aberdeen) 36-37, F Bisset (Banchory) 37-36

74 B Fyfe (Paul Lawrie GC)37-37

75 B Robson (Newmachar) 35-40, C Grant (Portlethen) 36-39, R McConnachie (Peterculter) 35-40

76 S Murray (Nevada Bob) 38-38, K Beveridge (Kippie Lodge) 38-38

77 B Main (Murcar Links) 41-36, A Graham (Aboyne) 38-39

78 C Cassie (Nigg Bay) 410-37, D Leslie (Northern) 40-38, C Angus (Kemnay) 39-39

79 H Roulston (Stonehaven) 39-40, Steve Lawrie (Portlethen) 42-37

80 C Carnegie (Kemnay) 43-37, D Fleming (Portlethen) 40-40, G Angus (Kemnay) 39-41, S Shand (Kemnay) 39-41

81 P McKenna (Paul Lawrie GC) 39-42,  I Clark (Deeside) 36-45, A Gall (Deeside) 39-42, M Merchant (Newmachar) 41-40, K McGillivray (Craibstone) , I Taylor (Hazlehead) 42-39, J Duncan (Newburgh) 41-40, S Mackie (Hazlehead) 39-42

82  D Mackay (Newmachar), B Skene (Peterculter), K Stewart (Kemnay)

83 I D Smith (retired pro), B Lumsden (Northern), L Clark (Kemnay), R Davidson (Deeside)

84 J Scott (Peterculter), W Shaw (Banchory), D Craigie (Peterculter), D Nelson (Aboyne)

85 M Smith (Newmachar), H McNaughton (Cruden Bay), J Murray (Banchory), C Tawse (Strathlene)

86 L Roger (Royal Aberdeen), S Dillon (Kemnay), D Bisset (Banchory), P Cornfield (Hazlehead)

87 M Winton (Caledonian), D McKay (Caledonian)

89 G Homer (Northern)

90 D Lawrie (Aboyne), D Lane (Deeside), J Forrest (Northern)

91 N Chisholm (Kemnay)

92 R Duncan (Deeside), P Low (Craibstone) 

93 A Clark (Deeside)

96 M Rogers (Kemnay)

98 J Smith (Strathlene)

99 G McDonald (Craibstone)

HANDICAP PRIZEWINNERS
Class 1 -  G Craig (5) 68; G Esson (2), F Bisset (4) 69; S Lawrie (8), C Cassie (7) 71.
Class 2 - S Dillon (16) 70; M Smith (14) 71; B Lumsden (11), H McNaughton (13), B Skene (10) 72.