Scot Euan Walker leads way as Missouri

 finish 12th at SEC Championship

                          Euan Walker studies line of a putt

• Top 20 Final Results
• Individual Results
• Team Leaderboard

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Georgia. - Missouri University men's golf team finished play at the 2016 SEC Championship on Sunday at Sea Island Golf Club, with third-year student Euan Walker from Troon leading the way for the Tigers by tying for 18th overall in the event.
Walker's strong play brought him his fifth Top 25 individual finish of the season, as the Tiger fired in rounds of 72-73-73 (+8, 218). Walker played his best golf on the course's most challenging holes, shooting 3-under-par on the Seaside Course's two par-5 holes over the entire tournament.
The Scot finished 11 strokes behind the individual winner, Lee McCoy (Georgia) who won by two strokes. 
Missouri finished 12th of 14 in the team event won by Georgia with an 853 total from Texas A and M (856) and Florida and Arkansas, tied third on 861.
Missouri's total was 881 - 28 shots behind the winner.

.


SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE US MEN'S COLLEGE GOLF NEWS

AND SWITCH OVER FOR US WOMEN'S COLLEGE GOLF  TO

www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk

R and A to stage nine-hole championship - for amateurs - at Royal Troon

 

NEWS RELEASE

 The R and A is demonstrating its support for nine-hole golf as an ideal way to play golf in less time whilst still doing so competitively and for handicap purposes by introducing a new championship at Royal Troon this summer.

The inaugural event for amateurs will be played on Saturday, July 9 at Royal Troon, giving the players the opportunity to play nine holes at the historic Ayrshire links on the eve of The 145^TH Open.

In 2017, the event will be expanded to cover golf clubs in Great Britain and Ireland with players being given the opportunity to qualify at nine hole events held by The R and A’s affiliated national associations in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Padraig Harrington, two-time Champion Golfer of the Year and R and A Working for Golf Ambassador, welcomed the initiative. 

“People who want to play golf are increasingly struggling to find the time to play and so positioning nine-hole golf as a legitimate alternative makes a lot of sense,” he said. 

“I’m really pleased to see The R and A taking the lead in this area. 

“For regular amateur golfers to be able to play The Open venue in championship condition immediately before the best players in the world is a fantastic initiative and I’m sure this new competitive format will encourage more people to get out on the golf course and play nine-hole golf.”

The R and A’s extensive survey on pace of play and the subsequent Time for Golf conference in St Andrews last November highlighted the challenges many people face in finding time to play 18 holes, with 60% of the golfers surveyed expressing the view that they would enjoy golf more if it took less time.

The survey also revealed that among 25-44 year-olds who are unhappy with the pace of play, 21% would like to see the playing time reduced by as much as one-and-a-half hours, while 19% said they would welcome the opportunity to play nine holes more often as an alternative format.

Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R and A, said, “One of the messages that came through clearly from the survey and the Time for Golf conference is that people would play more golf if they could do so in significantly less time. 

"Nine-hole golf is not new but we feel it is often overlooked as a perfectly valid way to play the sport, either with your family and friends or competitively.

“We are delighted to introduce a nine-hole championship and will be promoting this format as a way of playing golf in less time which can have wider appeal among people who lead increasingly busy lives today. 
"We are very much looking forward to working with the national associations to promote nine-hole golf and we hope to see more events being played throughout Great Britain and Ireland to cater for this important audience.”

This year’s event will see 30 golfers playing a nine-hole championship at Royal Troon. 

Two players will qualify from events held at each of the 13 Regional Qualifying venues for The Open throughout Great Britain and Ireland with host venues Royal Troon Golf Club and The Ladies’ Golf Club, Troon each providing two players. 

The handicap event will be open to men, women, boys and girls who are members of the clubs taking part.

Low scoring in Red Sea Challenge opening round

Cameron, Law and Whiteford lead Tartan 

Army in Egyptian heat with 68s

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Aberdeenshire's Ross Cameron and David Law plus Kirkcaldy-born Peter Whiteford led the eight Scots in the field with four-under-par 68s on the first day of the Red Sea Egyptian Challenge at Sokhna Golf Club, Ain Sokhna, Suez in Egypt.
On a windless day when the par-72, 6,969yd course was vulnerable, Englishman Jordan Smith, 23, from Wiltshire, a 2013 Walker Cup player and also the Brabazon Trophy winner during his stellar amateur career, led the birdie-fest with a nine-under-par 63 (33-30) which included one eagle (at the par-5 15th), nine birdies and two bogeys.
He leads by two from France's Joel Stalter.
Said Aberdonian David Law (pictured)

" Happy with my start today. I played some good golf and was six-under-par through 14 holes. A little disappointed to drop two shots over the closing holes but a good start to the week nonetheless. 
"It was about 32 degrees today with little wind so feeling very hot on and off the course!" 
Paul Lawrie Golf Centre player Law, looking for "big things" this year, had an eagle 3 at the long fifth and birdies at the short fourth, 12th, 13th and 14th before bogeying the 15th and short 16th in halves of 32-36.
Saltire Energy-sponsored Cameron, from Ellon, also had halves of 32-36 but his was a bogey-free round highlighted by birdies at the third, seventh, eighth and 10th.
Fifer Whiteford had one bogey but five birdies after the turn - at the 10th, 11th, 12th, 14th and 18th - in halves of 36-32.
Scott Henry had a double bogey 6 at the long seventh but that did not upset him too much as he had a bag of six birdies in his three-under 69 (34-35)
Ross Kellett (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre) had four birdies between the third and the 10th, bookended by bogeys at the second and 15th in his 70 (33-37).
Duncan Stewart and Jack Doherty both had halves of 36-37 in their 73s.
Paul Shields ran up a quadruple bogey 8 at the second and then a triple bogey 6 at the short fourth in taking 42 shots to the turn on his way to a 79.
More than 100 of the field of 144 shot par or less.
FIRST ROUND
Par 72. Yardage: 6,968
63 J Smith (Eng)
65 J Stalter (Fra)
66 M Wallace (Eng), E Kofstad (Nor), J Blauuw (SAf)
67 J L Casanova (Fra), F Bergamaschi (Ita), J Barnes (Eng), R Goger (Aut), R Langasque (Fra), L Gagli (Ita), J Wrisdale (Eng), S Heisele (Ger), G P Mateu (Spa), C-E Russo (Fra).
68 A Maestroni (Ita), A Saddier (Fra), T Pulkkanen (Fin), D Law (Sco), S Fernandez (Spa), R Cameron (Sco), V Riu (Fra), P Whiteford (Sco), D Frittelli (SAf), H Casey (Eng), E Dubois (Fra), P Mejow (Ger). 

OTHER SCOTS' SCORES
69 S Henry (T27)
70 R Kellett (T44)
73 D Stewart, J Doherty (T104)
79 P Shields  (T141)
Field of 144 players. 


TO  VIEW ALL THE SCORES

CLICK HERE


 Jordan Smith too hot to handle with a 63
FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE

Jordan Smith set the pace on day one of the Red Sea Egyptian Challenge  with an opening round of 63 at Sokhna Golf Club on the European Challenge Tour.
The Englishman was too hot to handle in the Egyptian sun, picking up nine birdies and one eagle in a blistering first round which saw him end the day on nine under par – just one shot shy of the course record.
The 23 year old, who won the 2015 Euro Pro Golf Tour to gain his playing rights for the 2016 Road to Oman, took full advantage of ideal conditions in Ain Sokhna and was delighted with his day’s work.
“I could tell it was going well out there today,” he said. “I didn’t really hit any bad shots. I hit a lot of shots close, holed a lot of putts and hit it really well tee to green.
“I missed a few greens on the par threes which led to two bogeys but apart from that I am over the moon.
“The pins out there were tough, they were tucked away in a lot of slopes, but it was fair apart from that with the large fairways.
“I got off to a nice steady start in Kenya and I am just ready to kick on and get the year going now.
“I got a lot of confidence from winning last year and I will use that to try and aim for a spot in the top 15 and a first win.”  
Smith, who represented Great Britain and Ireland at the 2013 Walker Cup, finished the day two shots ahead of Frenchman Joël Stalter.
The 23 year old from Caine, Wiltshire, who broke the course record at the Barclays Kenya Open in the first event of the Challenge Tour season, shot a bogey-free 65 to claim second place.
“I gave myself a lot of chances and it felt like an easy round,” he said. “I kept hitting the fairways and was in a position where I could just hit wedges in. I didn’t make that many putts but I think I only really missed one shot the whole round. 
“I thought my strategy was good today as I did not make any mistakes. I hit some good lines off the tee and I will just keep on doing what went well today.”
Former Challenge Tour Rankings winner Espen Kofstad carded a six under par 67 to tie for third place alongside Englishman Matt Wallace and South African Jacques Blaauw.
France's reigning British Amateur Champion Romain Langasque, fresh from his debut at Augusta National in the Masters Tournament, made a good start to life in the paid ranks by finishing the day five under par. 

                     The McNeese State University Cowboys with the SLC championship trophy.

Duncan McNeill helps McNeese State win first 

Conference title since 1979

  NEWS RELEASE

McKINNEY, Texas – The good old days appear to be back for the 

McNeese State University men's golf team - the "Cowboys".

.

For the first time since 1979 when the Cowboys won their third of three straight Southland Conference championships, the squad returned to its glory  at Stonebridge Ranch Country Club , McKinney, Texas on Tuesday to hoist the league title trophy for the first time in 36 years.
And on top of that, senior year student  Martin Eriksson became the first McNeese individual in that same 36-year span to take top individual honours in dominating fashion with a 7-under, three-round total of 209 to win by seven strokes over a longish course of 7,219yd with a par of 72.
 "It was a fun week," said fourth-year head coach Austin Burk whose team missed out on the title by two strokes last season. "The guys responded when they had to."
Did they ever.
After starting the final round in first place then jumping to a commanding 11-stroke lead through the first four holes, the team didn't so much slump as defending champions Sam Houston State started to streak.
With nine holes remaining, the Cowboys' lead had slipped to a two stroke lead over the Bearkats.

However the back nine was a lot kinder to the No. 1 team in the league as Eriksson posted birdies on holes 13 and 15, freshman Duncan McNeill, pictured right,  from Annan  birdied 13 and  Ian Berrigan birdied 15 to help widen the gap once again to nine strokes.
That allowed the Cowboys to widen the gap back to a nine stroke lead with four holes left and even though Eriksson bogeyed on 17 and 18, the title was already in hand.
McNeese finished with a three-round score of 877 to beat out Southeastern Louisiana University, whose team included Scots Lawrence Allan and Eamon Bradley, by seven strokes.

 The Lions edged past Sam Houston State over the final holes to take the runner-up spot by one stroke.
"This golf course doesn't forgive you but we played good enough golf overall to win," said Burk. "Martin put us on his back this week and carried us. I'm very happy to see him run away with the individual title.
"This team is made up of a special group of players, not only to me personally but to McNeese as well. We are going to enjoy this one for a few days then get back to work and prepare for the regionals."
Duncan McNeill tied for 13^th on the individual leaderboard with a 6-over 222 (76-72-74)

Lawrence Allan (SE Louisiana) from Alva finished T7 on 219 (72-73-74) and team-mate Eamon Bradley from Mt Ellen finished T36 on 230 with rounds of 78, 74 and 78.
 

 Calum Hill from Kinross wins Rocky  

Mountain title by five strokes

NEWS RELEASE FROM WESTERN NEW MEXICO UNIVERSITY
GOODYEAR, Arizona–Final-year student at Western New Mexico University, All-American team selection Calum Hill, pictured above, from Kinross, Scotland, continued his domination on the Division II field of the US men's college golf circuit this spring by rolling to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference individual title by five-strokes. 
Hill was later named the Conference's Golfer of the Week. 
Western New Mexico  ended up fifth as a team at the Golf Club of Estrella on Tuesday.
The Mustangs had already been eliminated by Colorado Mesa in the first round of the medal/match play RMAC Championship, but all eight teams played both 36 holes of stroke-play on Monday and Tuesday to decide the individual champions. 
UC-Colorado Springs defeated Colorado School of Mines to win the RMAC match-play team tournament and they also finished top overall with a 584 to win the stroke-play team title by 13 strokes.
Calum Hill was untouchable in a field of 44 golfers. If his first- round, three-under 69 wasn't enough, he began to shoot near his career-best numbers when he carded a five-under final round 67 for a 136 total - which included 10 birdies and was five strokes better than his previous best two-round total in America. 
This gave the Scot 13 rounds below par this year and his 72.5 scoring average coming in the tournamengt will continue to go down.
Another Western New Mexico final-year student, All-American selected Tom Neve from Epsom was just outside the top-10 coming in 11^th with scores of 74-76 for a 150.  He collected six birdies 
A third final-year WNMU student, Daniel Young from Cheshie had rounds of 80 and 79 for 159, tieing for 31st place.
Second-year student Ross White from Dollar shot a pair of 86s fpr 1172 to finish 43rd.
WNMU had to play the second round without third-year All-American Harry Wetton from Bedford. He had to withdrew due to an injury after opening with a 77.

The Mustangs will now wait for the NCAA Championship selection show to see if they will make the regional field. The show will take place this Friday, Apr. 22 at 4 p.m local time.
The top 10 teams from both the South Central and West Regionals will make up the 20 teams that will participate in the Super Regional May 1-3 hosted by WNMU at the NMSU Golf Course. The Mustangs are in good shape, currently third in the latest rankings.

US WOMEN'S COLLEGE GOLF NEWS CAN BE VIEWED ON

www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk

Alistair Kyle from Glasgow named

Conference Golfer of the Week


NEWS RELEASE FROM DAVIS and ELKINS COLLEGE

Davis and Elkins College, West Virginia third-year student  Alistair Kyle from Glasgow, a former pupil of Hutcheson's Grammar School, was named the final Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men’s Golf Athlete of the Week for the 2016 spring season
East Renfrewshire Golf Club member Kyle, whose mother Gillian is a well known golfer in Scotland, led the Senators to a first-place team finish at the Ohio Valley Spring Championship in Marietta, Ohio before travelling to the G-MAC Championship.
Kyle, who stands 6ft 5in tall, carried the torch for Davis and Elkins with top individual honours following his round of 73 (+2) on the par-71 lay-out.
Davis and Elkins edged out host Ohio Valley and Glenville State in the one-day event at the Marietta Country Club.
The Senators combined to shoot a 306 (+22) to beat host OVU by a slim three-shot margin.
LATER NEWS:
Davis and Elkins College (939) finished fourth behind team title winners Trevecca Nazarene (887) at the G-MAC Championship, hosted by Four Bridges Golf Club, Middletown, Ohio.

James Sutherland, pictured left, a second-year student from Glasgow, was the leading D and E player with rounds of 73, 78 and 80 for a total of 231 and a T11 finish over a par-72 course of 6,736yd.
Alistair Kyle shot 82, 80 and 72 for 234 and a 16th place finish.
Alistair Cameron, a third-year D and E student from Buckinghamshire, finished T23 in the field of 30 players. He scored 84, 85 and 78.
Three players, Aaron Burnett (Trevecca) (73-67-80), Jordan Reese (Cedarville) (73-73-74) and Payton Williams (Trevecca) (71-73-76) tied for first place on 220.
+Davis and Elkins College West Virginia has eight students from the United Kingdom on its 12-strong men's golf roster

THERE'S MORE US COLLEGE GOLF NEWS ON 
www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk