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EUROPEAN TOUR REPORT AND SCORES

Big guns taking aim at Italian Open

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Jens Fahrbring of Sweden and the Dane Lucas Bjerregaard share the halfway lead at the 72° OPEN D'ITALIA presented by DAMIANI, but the Scandinavian duo will have to hold off a world-class chasing pack if they are to get their hands on the trophy on Sunday afternoon.
Martin Kaymer, Nicolas Colsaerts, Danny Willett, Miguel Angel Jiménez and Bernd Wiesberger are among the big names taking aim at the leaders as the quality quintet moved within striking distance.
Fahrbring and Bjerregaard set the pace of 13 under par after respective second round scores of 64 and 65, with last year’s US Open Champion Kaymer carding a 66 to move to ten under, joining Weisberger, Rikard Karlberg, Craig Lee, David Lipsky and leading Italian Andrea Perrino in a tie for seventh place.
Jiménez and Willett are one stroke behind Kaymer and company, while Colsaerts followed up his outstanding first round of 63 with a solid 70 to join Pedro Oriol, Romain Wattell and Fabrizio Zanotti in a tie for third place just two strokes off the lead.
It was an emotional day at the Golf Club Milano as Italian golf legend Costantino Rocca waved farewell to an adoring home crowd as he made his last appearance on The European Tour.
The 58 year old, who enjoyed a brilliant career that included a victory in The European Tour’s flagship event, the 1996 PGA Championship, as well as making three Ryder Cup appearances and helping Europe to victories in 1995 and 1997. Rocca remains the only player to have defeated Tiger Woods in a Ryder Cup singles match, beating the great American 4 and 2 at Valderrama in 1997.
Player Quotes
Jens Fahrbring: “I am quite surprised where I am because I was not well at the start of this week. I picked up a cold and a fever last week in Kazakhstan on the Challenge Tour so yesterday was a struggle and I didn’t expect to play so well. Today was a little better in terms of how I felt, and perhaps being unwell helped calm me down and lowered my expectations.
“It was great to be out there with Lucas as he was playing well and we have played a lot of golf together over the years so I think we helped each other along.
“Winning this year on the Challenge Tour has taught me a lot about my game. The more you can do that and put yourself under pressure then the better player you will become. Hopefully that helps into this weekend but this is the first time I have been this high at a European Tour event.”
Lucas Bjergaard: “It was great to be able to follow up yesterday’s score with another good one today – I can take a lot of confidence from that. I didn’t play as well as I did yesterday, especially off the tee but I made some good par saves.
“I am looking forward to the weekend – hopefully I can keep it going and draw on the experiences I have built up to get into contention. It’s been a tough summer for me so it’s nice to be in this position again.
“I was in the final group going into the last round at Leopard Creek and had a really bad day, but I have to use that experience going into the weekend here and hopefully I can do that because I learned a lot about being in that situation and a lot about myself as a person in South Africa.”
“It was great fun to play with Jens today – it’s nice to see him bringing his great form from the Challenge Tour onto The European Tour.”
Martin Kaymer: “I didn’t play as well as yesterday in terms of striking the ball but I managed the par fives really well today and played them in five under par and then it was nice to finish off with a birdie to put myself in a really good position for the weekend.
“These are the days you need to enjoy because it was one of those days where I scored better than I played and they do not come along too often – usually it goes the other way! The main difference to yesterday was that I missed more fairways than yesterday and six under isn’t an amazing score today but ten under for two rounds is not too bad.
“I feel like I have been playing good for the last couple of months but not good enough to have a chance on Sunday, but it has been getting better and better and hopefully I can give myself a chance to win this weekend.”

Complete Second Round Scores:
par 144 (2x72)
131 L Bjerregaard  (Den) 66 65, J Fahrbring (Swe) 67 64,
133 R Wattel  (Fra) 67 66, P Oriol (Esp) 68 65, F Zanotti (Par) 66 67, N Colsaerts  (Bel) 63 70,
134 D Lipsky (USA) 67 67, M Kaymer (Ger) 68 66, B Wiesberger  (Aut) 66 68, C Lee (Sco) 67 67, A Perrino  (Ita) 67 67, R Karlberg  (Swe) 67 67,
135 D Willett  (Eng) 68 67, M Jiménez (Esp) 69 66, P Lawrie (Irl) 68 67,
136 M Lundberg (Swe) 68 68, M Nixon (Eng) 67 69, W Ormsby (Aus) 69 67, D Brooks (Eng) 71 65, J Scrivener (Aus) 68 68, M Korhonen (Fin) 66 70, J Van Zyl (RSA) 71 65, S Fernandez (am) (Esp) 69 67, S Mazzoli (am) (Ita) 66 70,
137 M Foster (Eng) 66 71, R Santos  (Por) 69 68, J Barnes (Eng) 69 68, K Broberg (Swe) 65 72, A Cañizares  (Esp) 68 69, M Ford (Eng) 69 68, S Cink (USA) 69 68, G Storm  (Eng) 71 66, P Maddy (Eng) 68 69, J Singh (Ind) 68 69, S Fallon (Eng) 67 70, T Fleetwood  (Eng) 70 67, S Kapur (Ind) 65 72, L Gagli  (Ita) 67 70, F Molinari (Ita) 65 72, L Scalise (am) (Ita) 71 66,
138 J Lando Casanova  (Fra) 71 67, S Chawrasia (Ind) 69 69, M Fitzpatrick  (Eng) 70 68, B Hebert  (Fra) 69 69, E Kofstad (Nor) 69 69, J Lagergren (Swe) 72 66, O Fisher  (Eng) 70 68,
139 E Molinari  (Ita) 72 67, D Fichardt (RSA) 69 70, W Homan  (USA) 73 66, R Kakko  (Fin) 67 72, G Mulroy (RSA) 72 67, D Drysdale (Sco) 70 69, R Rock (Eng) 72 67, V Riu  (Fra) 71 68, R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 70 69, M Bremner (RSA) 71 68, E Goya (Arg) 71 68, D Howell (Eng) 70 69, E De La Riva  (Esp) 69 70, Y Yang (SKor) 68 71, T Lewis (Eng) 72 67,
140 P McGinley (Irl) 68 72, M Crespi  (Ita) 70 70, F Fritsch  (Ger) 68 72, M Tullo (Chi) 69 71, S Manley (Wal) 72 68, T Olesen (Den) 72 68, R Gonzalez (Arg) 68 72, D Clarke (Nir) 70 70, T Fisher Jnr (RSA) 71 69, H Otto (RSA) 69 71, P Harrington (Irl) 70 70, J Roos (RSA) 70 70, R Karlsson (Swe) 69 71, J Parry (Eng) 71 69, J Lara (Esp) 68 72, A Levy (Fra) 70 70,
141 R Ramsay  (Sco) 74 67, A Hansen (Den) 68 73, P Uihlein  (USA) 73 68, C Sordet  (Fra) 71 70, F Aguilar (Chi) 72 69, B Evans  (Eng) 70 71, O Farr (Wal) 71 70, R Finch  (Eng) 72 69, S Wakefield (Eng) 70 71, J Edfors (Swe) 70 71, T Van Der Walt (RSA) 71 70, S Kjeldsen (Den) 69 72, M Manassero (Ita) 70 71, D Gaunt (Aus) 72 69, R Jacquelin (Fra) 70 71, A Quiros  (Esp) 68 73, R Bland (Eng) 71 70, M Lorenzo-Vera  (Fra) 71 70, C Paisley  (Eng) 70 71, E Pepperell (Eng) 72 69,
142 C Bouniol (Fra) 71 71, A Pavan (Ita) 69 73, B Ritthammer (Ger) 73 69, N Quintarelli (Ita) 74 68, S Benson (Eng) 71 71, H Joannes  (Bel) 71 71, D Woltman (USA) 71 71, B Virto Astudillo (Esp) 66 76, A Tadini (Ita) 71 71, A Maestroni  (Ita) 70 72, J Campillo (Esp) 70 72, M Fraser (Aus) 72 70, N Elvira  (Esp) 72 70, A Otaegui  (Esp) 72 70, M Madsen  (Den) 73 69,
143 A Zemmer (Ita) 76 67, R Dinwiddie  (Eng) 70 73, J Hahn (USA) 72 71, N Ravano (Ita) 73 70, J Morrison  (Eng) 70 73, J Kim (Ita) 72 71, C Lloyd (Eng) 75 68, S Hend (Aus) 69 74, G Bourdy (Fra) 72 71, S Thornton (Irl) 73 70, J Vecchi Fossa (am) (Ita) 69 74,
144 C Del Moral (Esp) 73 71, A Hortal  (Esp) 71 73,
145 K Phelan (Irl) 73 72, P Edberg (Swe) 74 71, P Widegren  (Swe) 76 69, S Hansen (Den) 73 72, A Bruschi  (Ita) 73 72,
146 J Kruger (RSA) 72 74, D McGrane (Irl) 72 74, O Wilson (Eng) 73 73, F Maccario (Ita) 77 69, S Hutsby  (Eng) 70 76, M Delpodio  (Ita) 75 71,
147 R Paratore (Ita) 72 75, J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 75 72, P Sjöland (Swe) 73 74, B Neil (Sco) 75 72, L Jensen (Den) 76 71, M Ortolani (am) (Ita) 74 73,
148 N Fasth (Swe) 75 73, D Vancsik (Arg) 74 74, M Florioli (Ita) 76 72, A Velasco (Esp) 75 73, G Havret  (Fra) 74 74, L Cianchetti (am) (Ita) 73 75,
149 G Moynihan (Irl) 73 76, R McEvoy  (Eng) 73 76,
150 J Walters (RSA) 73 77,
152 C Rocca (Ita) 80 72,
153 L Magini (Ita) 78 75,
158 M Grönberg (Swe) 81 77,

** C Doak (Sco) 72 DQ,

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

Northern Counties Cup down to last four at Peterhead

Tain, Nairn, Nairn Dunbar and Peterhead 

reach semi-finals

Tomorrow morning's semi-finalists in the Northern Counties Cup double foursomes club match-play tournament at Peterhead  are Tain, Nairn, Nairn Dunbar .. and the local heroes, Peterhead.
Cup winners last year, Fortrose and Rosemarkie did not make it past the second round
They were beaten by near neighbours Tain in the tighest of matches, both Tain pairs finishing one hole up.
Tain later beat Brora to reach the semi-finals

The Nairn team first pairing of GB and I boy international Sandy Scott and Fraser Fotheringham were too strong for Fraserburgh’s duo of John Mitchell and Andrew Hepburn and finished 7 up. Nairn's second pair of Robert Smith and Bruce Thomson won by four holes. They also went to win in the afternoon, beating Nigg Bay by 4 holes.
Peterhead made it into the semi-finals by beating Inverness and Forres.

 FRIDAY RESULTS

SECOND ROUND
Tain bt Fortrose and Rosemarkie by 2 holes
M Ferris, D Thorburn 1, M MacDonald, C Gattens 0; F Mackle, B Ferris 1, L Reid, D Cameron 0

Brora bt Moray 1 at 20th
R Sutherland, E Polson 4, M MacLeman, P McPherson 0; J Macbeth, A Gill 0, K Thomson, K Godsman 4

Nairn Dunbar bt Murcar Links by 2 holes
G Burnett, W Barron 0, R Sharp, A Bews 0; B Watson, F Brown 2, A Doig, C Stewart 0

Newmachar 1 bt Moray 2 at 20th
C Simpson, J Wilson  2, I Geddes, I Meggatt 0; G Ingram, J Calder 1, J Edwards 0, D MacKay 2

Nigg Bay bt Meldrum House by 4 holes
L O’Connor, G Grimmer 2, G Cooper, G Duncan 0; I Welsh, S Jamison 2, K Riley, C Brodie 0

Nairn bt Fraserburgh by 11 holes
S Scott, F Fotheringham 7, J Mitchell, A Hepburn 0; B Thomson, R Smith 4, W Thomson, G Munro 0

Forres bt Muir of Ord by 6 holes
J Wright, G Stuart 0, A Begg, S Johnson 1; B Fotheringham, R Mckerron 7, R Moir, J Forbes 0
 
Peterhead 1 bt Inverness by 2 holes
C Foreman, C Leslie 3, J Keith, D Grindell 0; C Crawford, D Buchan 0, D Sanderson, D Joel 1

QUARTER-FINALS
Tain bt Brora at 19th
M Ferris, D Thorburn 0, R Sutherland, E Polson 1; F Mackle, B Ferris 1, J Macbeth, A Gill 0

Nairn Dunbar bt Newmachar by 3 holes
B Watson, F Brown 7, C Simpson, J Wilson 0; G Burnett, W Barron 0, G Ingram, J Calder 4

Nairn bt Nigg Bay by 4 holes
S Scott, F Fotheringham 3, L O’Connor, G Grimmer 0; B Thomson, R Smith 1, I Welsh, S Jamison 0
 
Peterhead 1 bt Forres by 2 holes
C Foreman, C Leslie 3, J Wright, G Stuart 0; C Crawford, D Buchan 1, B Fotheringham, R McKerron  0
 

Gordon MacDonald wins Scottish Super 

Seniors title by six shots at Boat of Garten

SSEPTEMBER 2015EPTEMBER

By GORDON THOMSON

Gordon MacDonald (Glenbervie) added a 75 to yesterday’s 

fine score of 70 to win the Scottish Super Seniors Open (for 

players over 65 years) by six shots at  Boat of Garten today.

Former Walker Cup player Scott Macdonald (Dunfermline), 

George Rodaks (Pitreavie) and Keith Bruce (Edzell) tied for 

second place on 151.

Title-holder, Bill Erskine (Kilsyth Lennox) and  David Millar (St Andrews New) shared fifth place on 154.

After a uncharacteristically slow start to the season, Gordon MacDonald, aged 67, has played strongly and this performance capped a fine season in which he has also won the Scottish Senior match-play championship and finished  10th  in the Seniors' order of merit. 

Scott Macdonald, who had the best score today of 74, retained the trophy for the best aggregate by a player over the age of 70.

The CSS for both days was 72 for the tricky par 70 course.

This was the penultimate event in the Scottish Seniors Golfing Society season before the inter-area championship next Wednesday at Montrose Links where Stirlingshire, led by the mighty Gordon MacDonald defend their title.

SCOTTISH SUPER SENIORS CHAMPIONSHIP
Boat of Garten Golf Club
FINAL TOTALS
Par 140 (2x70) SSS 69 CSS 72 72
145 G MacDonald    (Glenbervie) 70 75.
151 J S Macdonald (Dunfermline) 77 74, G Rodaks (Pitreavie) 76 75, K Bruce (Edzell) 76 65.
154 W Erskine (Kilsyth Lennox) 79 75, D Millar (St Andrews New) 78 76.
155 C Halcrow (Windyhill) 80 75.
156 I Dickson    (Lundin) 77 79, P Tomisson (Nairn) 76 80.
157 J Broadfoot    (Turnberry) 77 80, A MacNaught (Colchester) 76 81.
158 D McLaughlin (Bothwell Castle) 79 79
159 J Kinloch (Cardross) 81 78, B Grieve (King James VI) 78 81.
161 D Sim (Grange 83 78, B B G Hunter (Stirling) 80 81, T Carson (Lockerbie) 80 81, A Laird (Deeside) 80 81.
162 F Sharp (Boat of Garten) 83 79.
163 G Gray (Newmachar) 84 79, I Farquhar (Edzell) 84 79, P Kinloch (Cardross) 82 81.
164 D Wilson (Clober) 84 80, D Lindsay (Kilmarnock Barassie) 83 81, T Bennett (Great Barr) 81 83.
165 C Moir (Worksop) 79 86.
167 D Doodson (Temple) 83 84.
170 A K Pirie (Hazlehead) 87 83.
171 S Quinn (Stirling) 83 88.
172 D Nelson (Aboyne) 87 85
174 A MacLennan    (Stirling) 83 91.
177 G Sinclair (Bishopbriggs) 89 88.
184 J Bunting (Ballochmyle) 94 90.
186 M  Mather (Ballater) 89 87.
NRs A Hogg (Stirling) 80 NR, P Boyd (Fereneze) 82 NR, R Goodale (Aberdour) 82 NR
Withdrew: R Goodale (Aberdour) 92 wd.

Four wins in a row, McKechnie says he is a 

good enough player to be on the European Tour

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
At the age of 38, Paul McKechnie has not given up hope of making it on to the European Tour.
"If I could find a sponsor I would tackle the Qualifying School process. I believe I am a good enough player to hold my own on the European Tour. But I have to get on to it first," said Glasgow-born and based Paul who teaches at the Braid Hills Golf Range, Edinburgh when he is not playing in tournaments.
McKechnie was speaking after scoring his fourth Tartan Tour win in a row and breaking not only the Deeside course record with an eight-under 62 but also the Paul Lawrie Invitataionl tournament low aggregate record by seven shots with an 18-under 192 total.
"I have a wife and young family to support so there's no way I could give up my day job and embark on a costly pursuit of a place on the European Tour.
"I would need a sponsor to pay the bills and there's not one in sight. I am quite happy with my life as it is but, yes, I believe I am a good enough player to be on the European Tour." 
McKechnie has won more than once on the EuroPro Tour over the years and his £8,000 payday at the Paul Lawrie Invitational has hoisted him to third in the current Tartan Tour money table. He
has played far fewer events in Scotland than the men ahead of him - 44 to leader Greig Hutcheon's 53 and second-placed Graham Fox's 56, mainly due to his teaching role at Braid Hills.
Hutcheon has won £35,631, Fox £31,459 and McKechnie £29,626.
Scottish pro champion Chris Kelly is lying fourth with £24,558 from 53 events and Scottish young pros champion Paul O'Hara (Clydeway Golf) is fifth with £20,500 from 43 outings.
 

NE Alliance tee times for Newmachar next Wednesday

8-00 A Campbell G Esson8-08 C Cassie B Harper G Craig8-16 J Crawford W Beattie8-24 D Mackay H Mcnaughton B Mcpherson8-32 S Hanson G Chalmers C Dempster8-40 B Ritchie J Duff P McLean8-48 M Brown R Brown S Davidson8-56 M Rendall L Roger J Hamilton

9-04 S Ross D Lawrie S Dillon9-12 M Smith S Melvin S Faskin9-20 P Cheyne J Sunley D Wright9-28 N Chisholm W Skene R Ruddiman9-36 D Lain A Clark R Duncan9-44 J Scott P Walker S Shand9-52 B Lumsden N Stewart J Forrest 
10-00 K Mcgillvary L Duncan J Stewart10-08 L Fowler D Fleming G Cochrane10-16 D Leslie G Homer C Nelson10-24 D Cragie D Adam J Morrice10-32 D Brown M Lawrie T collie10-40 R Tulloch10-48 B Fyfe S Lawrie C Grant10-56 R Reid R Blackmore J Hopwood 
11-04 G Milne J Duncan M Forster11-12 S Allison R Davidson G Mackie11-20 A Graham S Mackie D Nelson11-28 N Parker J Murray M Rogers11-36 K Zeynalov M Patterson11-44 A Dunton R Mcken K Duncan11-52 A Gall L Vannet I Clark

12-00
12-0812-16 J Borthwick D Buchan12-24 B Nicolson G Allan S Scott12-32 N Young C Irvine12-40 S Finnie D Mckay

Calum Hill from Kinross ties for third in first 

event of 2015-16 US college season

FROM THE WESTERN NEW MEXICO UNIVERSITY WEBSITE
DENVER, Colorado.– Following one of the top final rounds of the day, the Western New Mexico University men's golf team made a strong push for the top spot before settling for second after the third round wrapped up the RMAC #1 North Invitational at the Heritage at Todd Creek Golf Course this week.

Four golfers posted top-11 finishes to power the Mustangs as they moved from third to second carding rounds of 285-298-296 for an 879, besting Colorado State University-Pueblo by a stroke. UC-Colorado Springs claimed the top spot with a 873 and also had the top individual in Colin Prater who tallied a 214 to win by a shot.
Senior All-American Calum Hill (Kinross, Scotland/Kinross HS), pictured,  saved his best golf for last as he moved up the leaderboard with a three-under 69 and into a tie for third with a 216 following opening rounds of 73 and 74. He landed in fourth in terms of par-five scoring (4.42) and tied for the lead in birdies with 16. 
Fellow senior All-American Thomas Neve (Epsom, England/Cams Hill School/Merrist College) wasn't far behind as he was near the top throughout the tournament and ended with a 219 to tie for ninth. 
Neve was right behind Hill in birdies, landing in fourth with 14 and tied Hill in par-four scoring (4.13). He used a solid starting round of 69 to pace his play, as he also added scores of 72 and 78. 
Junior All-American Harry Wetton (Bedford, England/The Bedford School) tied for 11^th on  222. Wetton was consistent as he had the same round scores of 74. He tied for fourth in par-four scoring (4.10). 
Sophomore Ross White (Dollar, Scotland/Kinross HS) rounded out the golfers for the Mustangs with a 241 (79-78-84) to land in 59^th.
Robbie Kemsley (Glasgow, Scotland/High School of Glasgow), who entered as an individual, just recorded a first round score of 77 before withdrawing from the rest of the tournament

WNMU will now prepare for a pair of WNMU hosted events, first on Sep. 28-29 in the WNMU Fall Intercollegiate that will take place in Las Cruces at the University Golf Course. Then in October from the 12-13 at the RMAC South Invitational in Albuquerque at the Paa-Ko Ridge Golf Course.