Gaughan and McKechnie leading Scots with round to go

 CRAIG AND SEAN LAWRIE MISS CUT 

AT EUROPRO TOUR FINAL Q SCHOOL

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Tempering the joy in the Paul Lawrie household at Bieldside this evening night following the success of Michael Lawrie in reaching the quarter-finals of the Scottish boys championship for the second year in a row was the fact that older brother Craig and cousin Sean Lawrie, professionals who play out of the Paul Lawrie Golf Centre, missed the cut in the PGA EuroPro Tour Final Qualifying School at Frilford Heath GC, Oxfordshire.

Craig missed out by two shots with a pair of 75s for 150.

Sean totalled 151 with a 76 and a 75.
Another Paul Lawrie Golf Centre player who missed the cut was Fraserburgh's Kris Nicol with 78 and 72 for 150 - one shot too maggny.

Former British amateur champion Bradley Neil from Blairgowrie and John Duff (Newmachar) also failed to make the grade. Neil had rounds of 74 and 77 for 151; Duff scored  79 and 77 for 156.

Top Scots going into the final round are the Lothians pair of Louis Gaughan (Bathgate) and   Paul McKechnie (Braid Hills) who has won on the EuroPro Tour in the past. 
Gaughan is tied fifth on 141 after an excellent second round of 69 which included irdies at the first, eighth, 11th and 15th. He had only one bogey at the 12th..
McKechnie shot 71-72 for 143 and a share of 12th place.
Leading the huge field, cut from 240 to the leading 80 and ties, is Billy Downing (Truro) with 68 and 71 for 139. 

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SECOND-ROUND SCORES

Par 144 (2x72)
139 B Downing (Truro) 68 71

140 B Stow (Rushmore) 74 66, A Wright (unatt) 70 70, N McCarthy (Moorytown) 70 70

141 N Kearney (Royal Dublin) 69 72, L Gaughan (Bathgate) 72 69.

142 J Godwin (Eng) 71 71, P Newman (E Berkshire) 70 72, R James (Aberystwyth) 70 72, J Maw (Rockliffe) 69 73, S Parry (NW Golf Acad) 73 69.

REST OF SCOTS' SCORES
143 P McKechnie (Braid Hills) 71 72 (T12).
146 N Henderson (Renaissance) 74 72, P Cormack (Bay Hill) 72 74 (T39) 

147 Z Saltman (Archerfield Links) 78 69, K McAlpine (unatt) 74 73, J McDonald (Kilmarnock Barassie) 71 76 (T72)
148 J Hendrick (Pollok) 76 72

MISSED THE CUT (149 and over)

150 J Henry 74 76, C Lawrie 75 75, R Campbell (am) 75 75, F Moore 78 72, P Robinson 74 76, K Nicol 72 78.

151 S Lawrie 76 75, J McGhee 78 73, C Baird (am) 77 74, B Neil (unatt) 74 77.

152 M Patterson 77 75, J Steven 76 76

154 C Sutherland 77 77

155 W Booth 74 81

156 J Duff 79 77, F McKenna 82 74

159 S Borrowman 82 77.

Retired: C O'Neil 80 ret.

View all the  Round 2 scores at Frilford Heath
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 FINAL STAGE QUALIFYING: DAY TWO ROUND-UP

NEWS RELEASE FROM NICK TEALE 

Billy Downing maintained his one-stroke lead at the end of the second round of HotelPlanner.com PGA EuroPro Tour Qualifying School Final Stage, as 87 golfers made the 36-hole cut.

Final Stage Qualifying is taking place at Frilford Heath Golf Club, where 240 golfers have now played one round on each the Red and Blue Courses and a cut to the leading 80 players and ties has been made. The 87 golfers whose 36-hole score is four over par or better will now play a concluding 18 holes on the Blue Course on Friday, April 8.

Players are competing to earn the highest possible category on the 2016 HotelPlanner.com PGA EuroPro Tour.

 All those who have progressed to Final Stage have already earned at least a category 14, with golfers making the Final Stage cut earning a minimum category 10 and the top 30 earning category 3.

Downing (Truro Golf Club) carded a second-round 71, one under par, on the Red Course, birdieing the ninth, his final hole, after a mixed bag of five birdies and two bogeys coming in.

He is trailed in the hunt for first prize by three golfers on four under par. Arron Wright and Nick McCarthy (Moortown Golf Club) both played their second round on the Red Course and have made successive 70s. Ben Stow (Rushmore Golf Club) carded the tournament’s best round so far when he made a six-under-par 66 on the Blue Course.

The afternoon’s play suffered a 47-minute disruption as heavy rain and hail left many greens with standing water, but once this cleared play resumed and was completed as scheduled for the day.

A full list of exemption categories can be found at www.europrotour.com/about/categories.