www.mygolfranking.net, Fife Men, Week 2016/04

1 Fraser Carr (Crail) 1158pts

2 Gary Wishart (Charleton) 1144

3 Michael Riddell (Cupar) 1120

4 Blaine McGowan (Thornton) 1117

5 Stewart Lamond (Pitreavie) 1100

www.mygolfranking.net, Fife Clubs Men, Week 2016/04

1 Dunfermline 898 pts

2 Dunnikier Park 882

3 Balbirnie Park 860

4 Ladybank 837

5 Aberdour 815

For up-to-date ranking lists of participating clubs, the full Regional, National and International Rankings and how it works, visit www.mygolfranking.net.

The MyGolfRanking service is free to clubs and members. Clubs wishing to participate should register on www.mygolfranking.net or email info@mygolfranking.net for information.

David Moir

MyGolfRanking

In League with Golf Ltd

European Senior Tour Q School Stage One

Stewart Henderson lone senior Scots qualifier 

on Algarve but Nick Robson has hole in one!

By COLIN FARQUHARSON 
Only one Scot, amateur Stewart Henderson, a member of Hamilton Golf Club and Lanarkshire champion in 2014, was among the 33 qualifiers from the European Senior Tour Qualifying School Stage 1 36-hole tournament on the Algarve Thursday-Friday.

Henderson had scores of 70 and 72 for 142 to be one of the leading 17 at that venue who advanced to next week's Senior Q School Final Stage.

Among the failures at the other venue, Gramacho, were Alan Saddington, who plays out of The Dutch Club, Netherlands, who missed out by three shots with rounds of 72-77 for 149 and  tied 25th place, and Aberdeen businessman Nick Robson (Meldrum House), one of three sponsors of the Aberdeen Senior Masters. He shot 84-75 for 159 and a T45 finish (Meldrum House and The Gym Rental Company are the other tournament sponsors).
Said Robson: " I played the first round with a back brace on and probably shouldn't have bothered ! It was a bit better today so no brace required. Still shot a poor 75 but helped by an ace at the 15th!
"The hole is about 200 yds long. I used a 4 iron and it is my fifth career hole in one.  The ball went straight into the hole , no bounce, a slam dunk according to my American playing partner !"


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Paul Lawrie leads by two shots with a round to 

go in Qatar Masters

EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Paul Lawrie and Branden Grace will go head-to-head on the final day of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters as both men chase history at Doha Golf Club.
Lawrie is seeking to become the first man to lift the Mother of Pearl Trophy three times after his triumphs in 1999 and 2012, while a win for Grace would make him the first player to successfully defend the title.
On a day when the trademark winds in Doha were the strongest they had been all week, Lawrie was a picture of consistency, recording 16 pars and birdies on the 14th and 18th to get to 13 under and open up a two-shot lead over Grace and Thorbjørn Olesen.
The South African outdid Lawrie with a run of 14 straight pars but they were book-ended by birdies on the first, 16th, 17th and 18th, while Olesen also finished well, with birdies on the 16th and 18th helping him to a 69.
Englishman Tommy Fleetwood was then at ten under alongside Rafa Cabrera-Bello, with 15 players within five shots of the lead.
World Number 11 Grace arrived in Qatar talking of his desire to break into the top ten after four consecutive top tens to start the season but for Lawrie, the ambitions are closer to home.
The Scot made the European Ryder Cup team both the previous years he won this event and a third victory would vault him into contention for Hazeltine in the autumn.
Said Lawrie:
"There's a lot of good players behind me. Branden Grace is obviously defending champion, won here before and well up the World Rankings.
"So tomorrow is going to be a different challenge but I'm looking forward to it.
"I had a couple top tens back-to-back last year at KLM and Denmark and really should have been higher up in both of them. I had a good chance to win both tournaments on the back nine.
"It's not as though it's been years, and hopefully I kind of get in there and hit the shots that I'm hitting and knock a few putts in and it all goes well."
Despite signing for a 70 on a day when only six players could manage rounds in the 60s, Lawrie admitted to some frustration as the birdie putts failed to drop.
"I was a little frustrated today on the middle of the round," he said. "I felt as though I hit an awful lot of good putts that didn't go in, but I'm sure I'm not alone in that.
"It was nice to end the day on a positive note and hit a nice putt and it actually go in the right pace and right side of the hole, which is what we're always looking to do.
"It was a tough day, the wind was blowing. You could tell by the scoreboard that it was hard to make birdies. So I got around there a bit frustrated but, two under, it's a good day."
The par five first brought a shower of birdies with Grace, Olesen and Andrew Johnston all moving a shot closer to Lawrie before the final group got started.
When they did, it was Nicolas Colsaerts who took advantage, making a birdie to get to the top of the leaderboard. He was not there for long, though, as the big-hitting Belgian bogeyed the second to drop back to ten under before he recovered with another gain.
Johnston and Olesen both slipped up on the fifth to drop further from the lead while the leading duo both secured pars on the fourth and fifth to maintain their advantage.
Johnston was in the group at nine under and they were joined by Lee Slattery who turned in 33 thanks to birdies on the first, second and ninth.
Johnston picked a stroke straight back up on the sixth courtesy of a wonderful approach but Slattery was flying and he put his approach on the tenth close to get to ten under.
He was joined there by Colsaerts who found trouble off the tee on the sixth to put Lawrie back out in front on his own, while Olesen got back to nine under after an excellent tee shot on the eighth.
Slattery made his first mistake of the day on the 11th as he three-putted to drop back to nine under and when Colsaerts let one go on the par five ninth, Johnston was all alone in second.
He soon had a share of the lead as he got up and down from 109 yards on the tenth to birdie that hole for the third time this week, but he gave the shot straight back on the 11th after flying the green and finding some nasty rough.
Cabrera-Bello had also birdied the tenth to get back to nine under in a battling effort. The Spaniard, who has two top threes in this event, had bogeyed the second and third but his gain at the tenth was added to one at the seventh to be level par for the day.
Lawrie had his first real scare on the 12th but holed from eight feet after a poor chip and maintained his run on the 13th where a wayward tee shot saw Colsaerts drop back to eight under.
Grace had gone one better than Lawrie with 14 straight pars after his birdie on the first but broke the pattern with a gain on the 16th, where he was followed in by Fleetwood, who got back to level par for the day.
A first birdie of the day from Lawrie, eight feet up the hill on the 14th, gave him a two-shot lead and Colsaerts' hopes ended as he recorded a triple and then bogeyed the next.
Johnston also bogeyed the 15th and, when he dropped another shot on the 17th, he went tumbling down the leaderboard, but Grace and Fleetwood were heading the other way.
They both birdied the 17th, with Grace putting his tee shot inside five feet, and followed that with further gains on the last to play their way right into contention.
Olesen had made seven straight pars before his two late birdies and playing partner Cabrera-Bello followed him in on both the 16th and 18th after dropping a shot on the 15th.
It looked at that stage that Lawrie would only have a one-shot 54-hole lead but his approach to the 18th was inside ten feet and he rolled home for an unblemished 70.
Slattery finished with seven straight pars to finish at nine under alongside Johnston and Frenchman Grégory Bourdy, who birdied the 15th and 16th to rescue a level par 72.
Pelle Edberg was also four shots behind Lawrie after three birdies and two bogeys in his 71.
Richard Bland recorded the low round of the day with a very impressive 67 in the windy conditions. He birdied the fourth and fifth but dropped a shot on the seventh before birdieing the ninth to turn in 33. He picked a shot up on the 13th and then had a birdie-birdie finish as he seeks a first European Tour win in his 376th event.
Bradley Dredge, Grégory Havret, Ricardo Gouveia and Bernd Wiesberger all finished with 70s to also sit five shots off the lead alongside Johan Carlsson, who signed for a 72.

SCOREBOARD 
203 P Lawrie (Sco) 67 66 70,
205 B Grace  (RSA) 70 67 68, T Olesen (Den) 67 69 69,
206 T Fleetwood  (Eng) 67 69 70, R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 67 68 71,
207 A Johnston (Eng) 66 69 72, L Slattery (Eng) 69 69 69, P Edberg (Swe) 70 66 71, G Bourdy (Fra) 67 68 72,
208 B Dredge (Wal) 71 67 70, R Bland (Eng) 72 69 67, B Wiesberger  (Aut) 68 70 70, G Havret  (Fra) 71 67 70, R Gouveia (Por) 67 71 70, J Carlsson (Swe) 69 67 72,
209 R Rock (Eng) 68 70 71, L Oosthuizen  (RSA) 65 73 71, P Larrazábal (Esp) 65 72 72,
210 E Els (RSA) 68 70 72, M Ilonen  (Fin) 71 68 71, S Garcia  (Esp) 70 66 74, J Campillo (Esp) 69 68 73, T Hatton (Eng) 71 70 69, G Coetzee (RSA) 67 70 73,
211 T Fisher Jnr (RSA) 72 70 69, T Jaidee (Tha) 68 72 71, R Ramsay  (Sco) 71 69 71, N Colsaerts  (Bel) 66 68 77, K Broberg (Swe) 67 70 74, J Luiten (Ned) 70 67 74,
212 P Meesawat  (Tha) 72 67 73, R Paratore (Ita) 75 66 71, B Hebert  (Fra) 71 70 71, S Benson (Eng) 74 67 71, R Kakko  (Fin) 69 71 72, C Shinkwin (Eng) 68 74 70,
213 N Holman  (Aus) 70 71 72, M Kieffer (Ger) 69 68 76, A Noren  (Swe) 69 69 75, B Åkesson (Swe) 66 73 74, J Morrison  (Eng) 70 70 73, R Karlsson (Swe) 73 67 73, A Cañizares  (Esp) 73 67 73, G Stal  (Fra) 74 68 71, J Cheng (am) (Chn) 72 70 71,
214 S Kjeldsen (Den) 70 69 75, A Dodt (Aus) 72 71 71, T Pieters  (Bel) 75 68 71, M Warren (Sco) 73 68 73, K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 69 73 72, J Fahrbring (Swe) 69 68 77, B Evans  (Eng) 69 71 74,
215 R Davies (Wal) 69 73 73, B Rumford (Aus) 68 69 78, J Lagergren (Swe) 72 68 75, O Wilson (Eng) 72 69 74, B Stone (RSA) 72 68 75, M Siem  (Ger) 69 71 75, M Korhonen (Fin) 72 68 75, L Bjerregaard  (Den) 68 70 77, H Porteous (RSA) 71 71 73,
216 S Jamieson  (Sco) 73 70 73, P Hanson (Swe) 74 67 75, M Fraser (Aus) 69 72 75, W Ashun (Chn) 73 70 73, C Lutton (Sco) 68 72 76, J Hansen  (Den) 71 72 73,
217 T Immelman  (RSA) 68 74 75, M Lorenzo-Vera  (Fra) 72 71 74, T Bjørn (Den) 69 72 76, B Dechambeau (am) (USA) 73 70 74,
219 N Fasth (Swe) 71 71 77, D Lipsky (USA) 71 72 76, A Quiros  (Esp) 70 73 76

North Scottish Alliance due to resume

 at Spey Bay tomorrow

NORTH ROUND-UP by ROBIN WILSON

The Spey Bay links, which lie to the east of the River Spey where it enters the Moray Firth, hosts the North Scottish Alliance members' first fixture of 2016  on Saturday.

With October fixtures at Grantown on Spey and Inverness cancelled because of weather and course conditions, only a few of the members have played in the other six to complete an aggregate counting towards these scratch and handicap aggregate trophies but with four eligible qualifying fixtures remaining after Spey Bay it is early days yet to pick a winner.

Current scratch leader is last season's runner up, Jeff Wright (Forres), with an excellent to date total of 405, a winning 64 at Moray the pick of his six, and only one score in the 70s. 

Wright is ten ahead of Moray attached professional Rodger Clarke and only two more members, Nairn Dunbar's Gary Hay and Elgin's David Hector, have six scores recorded.. 

All four will have to keep a close watch on last season's scratch winner Kyle Godsman (Moray), the  the prolific winner at five venues last season but no wins this year so far. Currently Godsman has a five-score total of 346. A sub-70 return at Spey Bay will hoist him into the frame.

The Handicap 1 leader is Ian Murray (Boat of Garten) on 428 with Gordon Hay (Grantown on Spey) chasing him on 432. Both have high scores of 80 and 77 respectively which they can improve

 upon. Section two leader is Robbie Innes ((Torvean) with 418, five ahead of Alan Box (Boat of Garten).

The use of the Kinloss Country Club course as a venue may be come a problem for the Alliance members next season as the owners are considering going back to a nine-hole course only. The original first nine holes only to be retained.

As half expected the Paul Lawrie Golf Foundation junior tour event due at Royal Dornoch last Saturday was postponed due to course conditions. 

The club and the Foundation are looking at an alternative date in March before the final fixture at Castle Stuart on March 27.  The next scheduled fixture is due at Tain on February 20. 

Entry fees for Dornoch will be refunded but if these young golfers re enter the rescheduled fixture they will be given priority if the entry fills up.

Spieth and Co delayed by Singapore weather

 ASIAN TOUR NEWS RELEASE

Sentosa, Singapore: South Korea’s Younghan Song surged up the leaderboard after carding a sparkling eight-under-par 63 in the second round of the weather-hit SMBC Singapore Open on Friday.

Play was suspended because of inclement weather at 3.06pm (local time) and could not resume due to thunderstorms and lightning activities around the Serapong Course at Sentosa Golf Club.

A total of 78 players, including world number one Jordan Spieth and Byeonghun An who completed seven holes, will return to finish their rounds at 7.30am on Saturday morning with round three scheduled to start immediately upon the completion of the second round. 

An was at seven-under while Spieth traded one birdie and one bogey to stay at four-under after six holes, five shots back of Song at the US$1 million event which is co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour Organisation (JGTO).

“I didn’t get off to a great start but made a good birdie on number two. That’s golf, that’s weather, you can’t control that. I could tell it was bad on other parts of the course,” said Spieth. 

Song was on fire as he marked his card with seven birdies, one eagle and a bogey to establish a two-shot advantage over Japan’s Shintaro Kobayashi with his two-day total of nine-under-par 133.

The South Korean stormed off the blocks quickly in the morning, going to five-under after four holes with two birdies and an eagle-three on four.

He charged towards the turn with another two birdies on seven and eight and continued to set the scorching pace with another pair of birdies on 10 and 11 before a bogey-five on 12 put the brakes momentarily on his charge. 

After three straight pars from 13, Song sunk another birdie on 16 before reaching home comfortably in 63.

“It was a superb round and I really have to thank my excellent putting for putting me in this position. 

“The goal is to win the tournament this week and for now, I just want to take a good rest before I come back again and hopefully play well like what I did today,” said Song.

Kobayashi meanwhile showed no signs of fatigue despite having to return early to complete his first round which was also suspended due to lightning yesterday. 

The Japanese followed up his opening effort of a 66 with a 69 to put himself in a commanding position for the weekend rounds.

The 29 year-old had slightly more than an hour of rest before he was back at the tee again. 

The Japanese went out in 35 after three birdies and two bogeys and would make another birdie on 17 to sign for a 69.

“I didn’t feel tired at all today. Maybe because it was cool in the morning and it only started to get a little hot and humid as the day went on.

“I feel comfortable on this course and if I continue to play like what I’ve done, anything can happen,” said Kobayashi.

 

LEADING SECOND-ROUND SCORES

par 142 (2x71) Yardage: 7,398

+A total of 78 players, including Jordan Speith, have still to complete their second rounds.

133 - Younghan SONG (SKOR) 70-63.

135 - Shintaro KOBAYASHI (JPN) 66-69.

138 - Paul PETERSON (USA) 68-70, Thanyakon KHRONGPHA (THA) 69-69, Brett MUNSON (USA) 71-67.

139 - Sanghyun PARK (SKOR) 70-69, Himmat RAI (IND) 70-69, Berry HENSON (USA) 66-73, Sam BRAZEL (AUS) 72-67, Tadahiro TAKAYAMA (JPN) 71-68, Yuki INAMORI (JPN) 67-72.

140 - Brad KENNEDY (AUS) 71-69, Michael HENDRY (NZL) 72-68, Masahiro KAWAMURA (JPN) 70-70, Juvic PAGUNSAN (PHI) 70-70, LEE Won-joon (AUS) 71-69.

141 - Carlos PIGEM (ESP) 70-71, Namchok TANTIPOKHAKUL (THA) 70-71, Mikumu HORIKAWA (JPN) 73-68.

142 - Steve LEWTON (ENG) 74-68, Y. E. YANG (SKOR) 70-72, Yoshinori FUJIMOTO (JPN) 74-68, Richard T. LEE (CAN) 70-72, Adilson DA SILVA (BRA) 70-72, Ippei KOIKE (JPN) 71-71, Natipong SRITHONG (THA) 69-73, James LEOW (am, SIN) 72-70.

Selected scores

147 - Thaworn WIRATCHANT (THA)

152 - Jeev Milkha SINGH (IND) 78-74

 

Bad weather stops James Byrne and 39 others 

from completing third rounds in Malaysia


ASIAN DEVELOPMENTAL TOUR NEWS RELEASE
 Selangor, Malaysia: Japan’s Shunya Takeyasu leads the chasing pack in the weather-interrupted third round of the PGM CCM Rahman Putra Championship today.

The consistent Japanese was 14-under through nine holes, two shots ahead of Australia’s Jordan Sherratt before play was suspended at 3.48pm due to inclement weather and could not resume at the Kelab Golf Rahman Putra Malaysia. 

A total of 40 players will continue the penultimate round at 7.40am on Saturday with the fourth and final round to be played immediately without a redraw.

The players who have still to complete their third rounds include Banchory's James Byrne.

Josh Salah of the United States and local hope Hans Jamil stayed within striking distance as they lurk on 11-under after playing 10 holes. 

Dodge Kemmer of the United States, who held the lead in the opening two rounds, was a further shot back in the RM200,000 (approximately US$46,600) Asian Development Tour (ADT) event.

The 28-year-old Hans is bracing himself for a marathon finish where he needs to complete 26 holes as he chases for a first ADT victory.

“Golf has been treating me okay this week. I’ve had a lot of good shots and the course is in great shape. It is disappointing with the rain suspensions but this is something which everybody is facing. It is Mother Nature. I just need to keep going,” said Hans.

“I’ve always thought about winning on the ADT. It has been on my mind but I need to go out there, do what I’ve been doing and hopefully the win comes,” he added.

 

 

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Jang bags medallist honours at NSW Amateur

by Dave Tease, Golf NSW

Seung-Bo Jang with the NSW Amateur Medallist trophy

South Korean Seung Bo Jang has emerged as the Medallist at the NSW Amateur Championship after the event was shortened to 54 holes as severe thunderstorms hit the Riverside Oaks Golf Resort today.
Golf NSW officials were faced with little option to discard play in the final round as the first of several predicted thunderstorms struck the Gangurru course just after lunch. A delay of almost two hours meant that the final round in the afternoon was highly unlikely to be completed.
About 12 groups were left to complete their third round after the lunchtime delay, with the leading group of Blake Windred, Austin Bautista and eventual winner Seung-Bo Jang still on the 12^th hole.
The race for the medal was turned on its head with the discard of the final round, and it was the Korean Jang, who grabbed the medal with a birdie putt on the last hole.

Speaking through an interpreter, Jang was very happy with his win.

Seung-Bo Jang in action during the third round of the NSW Amateur Championship.

“I hit the ball very well today. My putting wasn’t exactly on, but it was good enough.”
“I tried to focus a little bit more when it rained. I just thought about keeping the ball in play,” Jang said.
Jang was particularly happy with his final hole birdie to seal the title.
“I felt good over the putt, I felt I was going to make it – when it did drop, I was kind of shocked. I didn’t know I had won the medal then at all.”
Jang is looking forward to going to the match play rounds .
“I’m going to be a little more aggressive when I play the match play. I love match play.”
“I’m very proud to have won the medal. I know some famous golfers have won it before me,” he smiled.

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Ruffels, 17, shoots 70 in pro debut at Farmers

Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, SanDiego

FROM GOLF.COM

By Ryan Lavner

SAN DIEGO – Ryan Ruffels didn’t sleep much last night, not with his much-anticipated pro debut arriving Thursday at the Farmers Insurance Open. The 17-year-old’s nerves didn’t settle much once he arrived at Torrey Pines either – he practiced his opening drive over and over again on the range.
A beautiful fade off the tee and a routine par on his first hole helped ease him into the round, and he added three more birdies on an ideal day for scoring that gave him a 2-under 70. He is only four shots off the early pace.
“That’s probably the worst score I could have shot,” he said afterward, “which is actually kind of motivating for me because if I keep doing that and sinking a few putts, it’s going to be quite good from here, I think.” 
Ruffels, who drew the ire of Phil Mickelson after a friendly wager was made public, has been hailed as one of golf’s top prospects after top-25 finishes at the Australian Open in both 2013 and ’14. He signed an equipment and apparel deal with Nike and hopes to gain the maximum seven sponsor exemptions allowed to non-PGA Tour members.
Ruffels showed plenty of potential Thursday, hitting 15 greens en route to a stress-free debut. Now he heads to the South Course, where he won the 2014 Junior Worlds.
“I’m not intimidated by the South Course,” he said. “I’ve played good rounds out there, and obviously it’s a little tougher now; the rough is up and that sort of stuff. But I’m playing good, so there’s nothing that’s going to stop me. If I keep playing like that, nothing’s going to stop me from shooting low numbers tomorrow.”

Scot Martin Laird is T15 with a 69

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