100th City of Aberdeen foursomes for the Maitland Shield at Kings Links

Northern v Murcar Links and Hazlehead v 

Portlethen in Thursday's semi-finals

                                      Portlethen team. Picture by Matty Beattie.

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Extra holes were needed in three of the four quarter-finals to decide Thursday's semi-finalists in the 100th City of Aberdeen men's double foursomes match-play tournament for the Maitland Shield at the Kings Links on a cold, damp and windy night.
Northern won the all-Links match against Caledonian at the 20th, thanks to a great bunker shot from Cameron Johnstone at the second extra hole. Northern's first string of Stuart Slessor and George Paterson had won the 20th so Johnstone and Walker's success in the second tie clinched victory.
Murcar Links beat Nigg Bay at the 19th where Bryan Innes holed a match-winning birdie putt of 12ft. 
Hazlehead's quartet of Greig Kennedy, Adam Strachan, Paul Lawrence and Brian Nicholson KO'd Royal Aberdeen at the 20th.
Portlethen's Kevin Daglish, Clark Brechin, Keith Horne and Gary Esson, conquerors of title-holders Newmachar in the first round followed that up with a two-hole win over Bon Accord who reached the semi-finals last year.
Thursday's semi-finals are:
Northern v Murcar Links
Hazlehead v Portlethen

TONIGHT'S RESULTS

 QUARTER-FINALS
 Northern bt Caledonian at 20th
S Slessor, G Paterson 1, B Reid, A Doig 0.
N Walker, C Johnstone 0, M Beattie, A Cruickshank 1 

Murcar Links bt Nigg Bay at 19th.
A Styles, B Innes 2, G Grimmer, S Jamieson 0.
A Brews, R Brechin 0, Z Wood, R Forbes 2. 

Hazlehead bt Royal Aberdeen at 20th
G Kennedy, A Strachan 0, D Macandrew jun, M Halliday 1.
P Lawrence, B Nicholson 1, G Joss, D Sim 0. 

Portlethen bt Bon Accord by 2 holes
K Daglish, C Brechin 1, G Somers, B Edmond 0.
K Horne, G Esson 1, M Greig, M Dunn 0. 

THURSDAY'S SEMI-FINALS
4.47 Northern v Murcar Links
5.01 Hazlehead v Portlethen

      Murcar Links team. Left to right R Brechin, A Styles, B Innes and A Bews.. Pictures by Matty Beattie. 

   Northern team: C Johnstone, N Walker, S Slessor and G Paterson

                       

          Royal Aberdeen team: S Buchan, D Macandrew jun., G Joss and Daniel Sim. 

           Caledonian team: Alex Cruickshank, Matty  Beattie, Barry Reid and Alan Doig. 

 Hazlehead team (not in left to right order): Brian Nicholson, Greig Kennedy, Adam Strachan, Paul Lawrence

David Doak is Renfrewshire senior champion 

                         David Doak with Renfrewshire GU president Graham McGee

 RENFREWSHIRE GOLF UNION NEWS RELEASE
    kgmcgee@hotmail.com

David Doak of Greenock Whinhill Golf Club has become the winner of the Renfrewshire Golf Union Seniors Championship for 2016 after an amazing round at Kilmacolm Golf Club.

David, a late entry to the competition and playing with his fellow Greenock Whinhill member Jack Robertson, scored 80 – 17 – 63 to win bytwo shots from long time clubhouse leader Mike McGrenaghan Cochrane Castle who had scored 72 – 7 – 65. Mike is the father of the professional at Elderslie Golf Club, Scott McGrenaghan.

The competition was in some doubt after heavy overnight rain caused a lot of ground water on the course due to the earlier prolonged dry spell not permitting the water to soak away.

The greenkeeping staff, however,did a brilliant job in ensuring that the greens were fit for play, and not only having cut them they then applied the green iron to them to ensure a smooth and fast putting surface.

Due to poor entries in previous years this is the first time the competition had been held since 2012 and the RGU executive have worked hard to ensure that the competition would once again feature in their golf calendar and would like to thank all in Renfrewshire who took the time to participate and look forward to the continuing success of the competition.

The Renfrewshire Golf Union would like to thank Kilmacolm Golf Club for the use of their facilities to host this event, and to congratulate them on the condition of the course.

RESULTS

Division 1

Michael McGrenaghan (Cochrane Castle) 72 – 7 – 65

Gordon Cameron (Greenock) 73 – 6 – 67

Derek Nimmo (Bonnyton) 81 – 11 – 70

Henry McDaid (Ranfurly Castle) 79 – 9 --70

Division 2

David Doak (Greenock Whinhill) 80 – 17 – 63 (overall winner)

Dan McAulay (Greenock Whinhill) 83 – 15 – 68

Donald Stewart (Bonnyton)  83 – 13 – 70

Tony Pietryga (Lochwinnoch) 83 – 13 – 70

Graham McGee 
President
 Renfrewshire Golf Union

+We hope to display a picture of  David Doak with Graham McGee, after overcoming a technical difficulty: EDITOR

Nairn 2 beat Elgin in Senior Northern 

 

Counties Cup at Royal Dornoch

 

By GARY ABEL

There were no real surprises on the opening day of the Senior Northern Counties Cup men's foutrsomes tournament at Royal Dornoch but probably The Nairn 2 team victory over Elgin was the least predictable result along with Duff House Royal 2 beating Deeside. 

This event is not normally held at Dornoch but they requested it this year as they are celebrating 400 years of golf in the Dornoch. 

Whether or not Royal Dornoch will be celebrating a victory in this tournament after Friday's final  is a moot point. Their No 2 team went down in the first round to Duff House Royal 1 but the Royal Dornoch No 1 team beat Nairn Dunbar 2 by six holes to reach the third round.

Feature of the Inverness 9-0 win over Eriskay was that the nine-hole margin was provided by the Inverness lead-off pairing of Laurie Chancellor and Steve Barron. The Inverness second string of Fraser Urquhart and Jim Elliott were five down at one stage but fought back to level pegging.

SENIOR NORTHERN COUNTIES CUP

Royal Dornoch Golf Club

FIRST ROUND

Cruden Bay bt Forres by 10 holes

(M Kiddie, A Middleton 7, A Duffus, A Thorne 0; W Livingston, A Gauld 3, D, McCartney, N Parsons 0)

The Nairn 1 bt Royal Aberdeen 2 by 10 holes

(P Sagers, R Smith 8, N Whitehead, N Smith 0; P Tomisson, W Morris, 2, K Anderson, R Haites 0)

Duff House Royal 1 bt Royal Dornoch 2 by 13 holes

(A Kennedy, D Clark 8, P York, E Millard 0; M Jenkins, I Angus 5, J Horak, I McGruer 0)

Moray bt Fortrose and Rosemarkie by 8 holes

(J Young, M Dean 6, N O'May, M McArthur 0: M MacLeman, G Devine 2, A Tait, J Hearmon 0)

SECOND ROUND

Inverness bt Eriskay by 9 holes

(L Chancellor, S Barron 9, P Bannerman, B MacKenzie 0; F Urquhart, J Elliott 0, E Donaldson, A McGinn 0)

 Duff House Royal 2 bt Deeside by 3 holes

(J Sim,  A Cruickshank 0, N Harper, D Bisset 0; G Kelly, A  Alexander 3, R Bickerton, H Morrison 0)

Murcar Links bt Cruden Bay by 5 holes

(M Lornie, A Bochel 6, M Kiddie, A Middleton 0; D Templeton, C  Alexander 0, W Livingston, A Gauld 1)

The Nairn 1 bt Nairn Dunbar 1 by 5 holes

(P Sagers, R Smith 3, D Bunker, H Clunas 0; P Tomisson, W Morris, 2, C Duffy, D Lamb 0)

Duff House Royal 1 bt Moray by 2 holes

(A Kennedy, D Clark 0, J Young, M Dean 0; M Jenkins, I Angus 2, M Macleman, G Devine 0)

Royal Dornoch 1 bt Nairn Dunbar 2 by 6 holes

(D Pearson, R Murray 5, K Campbell, R Kay 0; G Sutherland, P Lee 1, D Brodie, I Duncan 0)

The Nairn 2 bt Elgin at 19th

(A Adam, J McGinlay 1, J Porter, B Inch 0; J Taylor, I Cooper 0, B C Milne, J Stirrat 1)

Royal Aberdeen 1 bt Muir of Ord by 10 holes

(I Morrison, I Donald 4, K MacGruer, C Macmillan 0; J Christie, J Johnston 6, B Nickelson, G Stuart 0)

McKECHNIE LEADS TARTAN ARMY 

WITH A 68 ON EUROPRO TOUR DAY 1

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Braid Hills' Paul McKechnie headed the "Tartan Army" of 19 competitors by birdieing four of the last five holes for a four-under-par 68 and joint third place at the end of the opening day of the PGA EuroPro Tour's first competition of the 2016 season at Frilford Heath Golf Club, Oxfordshire.

McKechnie, pictured,  had six birdies in all and is two strokes behind the English pacemaker, Simon Lilly and one behind second-placed Alex Wrigley, also an Englishman.

Other Scots who broke par were Michael Stewart with a 69 for joint 12th place, Bradley Neil, a 70 for joint 22nd place and Zack Saltman, a 71 for a share of 35th position.

Brother Elliot Saltman and John Henry are bracketed on 72 in joint 49th place.
Craig Lawrie - and at least half the Scottish contingent - will know as they tee it up in the second round that they will need a sub-par score to have a chance of making the leading 50 and ties who will advance to Friday's third and final round. 

PGA EUROPRO TOUR

Frilford Heath GC

LEADING FIRST-ROUND SCORES

Par 72

66 S Lilly (Eng)

67 A Wrigley (Eng)

SCOTS' SCORES

68 P McKechnie (T3)

69 M Stewart (T12)

70 B Neil (T22)

71 Z Saltman (T35)

72 E Saltman, J Henry (T49)

73 J Hendrick, N Fenwick, C O'Neil (T76).

74 C Lawrie, N Henderson, L Gaughan, J McColl (T95).

75 L Saltman, S Drummond (T118)

76 C Macaulay (T136)

77 K McAlpine (T146)

78 F Moore (T154)

80 S Borrowman (T161)

TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES AND SCORECARDS

CLICK HERE

German PGA's Pro Golf Tour report and scores

 Chris Robb's seven birdies put him in the mix 

in Austria with a six-under 66

By COLIN FARQUHARSON 
Banchory's Chris Robb (Meldrum House) had seven birdies and one bogey in an opening round of six-under-par 66 in the German PGA's Pro Golf Tour event, the Haugschlag Open, at the Haugschlag Golf Resort, Austria today.

Robb, pictured, who birdied the sixth, ninth, 11th, 12th, 13th, 15th and 16th, dropping a shot only at the 14th, is joint fourth, three strokes behind the Czech Republic leader Stanislav Matus.
Ross Cameron (tied seventh) and Sam Kiloh (tied 13th), with scores of  67 and 68 respectively, are two other North-east players in the leading 10 overnight.
Cameron (Saltire Energy) from Ellon had a five-birdie bogey-free round while Portlethen's Kiloh (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre) had six birdies but also a double bogey 6 at the 14th.
Ellon's Kevin Duncan (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre) finished with a 73 and a share of 79th position after a poor inward half which saw him double bogey the 14th and also drop shots at the 13th and 17th.
Peterhead's Philip McLean (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre) had a double bogey 6 at the 17th in a round of 76 for a share of 113th position.


LEADING FIRST-ROUND SCORES
Par 72
63 Stanislav Matus (Cze)
64 Anton Kirstein (Ger)
65 Olivier Rozner (Fra)
66 Chris Robb (Sco), Max Eichmeier (Ger), Julian Kunzenbacher (Ger)
OTHER SCOTS' SCORES 
67 Ross Cameron (T7)
68 Sam Kiloh (T13)
71 Alexander Culverwell (T34)
73 Kevin Duncan (T79) 
76 Philip McLean (T113)
83 Ben Collier (149th) 


TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES AND CHECK THE SCORECARDS


CLICK HERE 

THE MAITLAND SHIELD DEBATE CONTINUES

 Stonehaven pull-out explained

FROM IAIN TAYLOR

Just an email to explain Stonehaven's pull-out from the Maitland Shield. We could only get four players of the six needed for the pool. 

Then two more said they could play but by then we had pulled out and by what I have been hearing for upcoming Pennant League matches we could struggle to get 10 players.  

Sign of times. Unfortunately guys just don't want to risk leaving work early so they can stay employed.

Can be a hassle getting to matches for 5-5.30pm. Maybe to save the Maitland Shield going the same way as the Aberdeen Trades foursomes,my suggestion is to relax the mandatory six-player pool system.

 We (Stonehaven GC) even struggled to get three guys for the Journal Cup. We are quite a small club in comparison to other clubs so it can be an effort to get players.

In my opinion there are just too much things to play in these days with the area's economy being way it is.

The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers

will announce the outcome of a membership ballot

on the admission of women as members

at 11:45 on Thursday 19 May 2016

Paul Doherty moves up to MENA Tour 5th

By VIREN VARMA

HUA HIN (Thailand) — Antonio Costa credited his hot putter as he turned the scenic Banyan course lay-out into his own personal playground, taking a massive six-shot lead into the final round of the MahaSamutr Masters

The 27-year-old Chilean backed up his opening 66 with another sparking 67 on Tuesday to reach 11-under for the tournament, leaving big names in the field trailing in his wake. 

Starting the day one shot in front, Costa once again delivered a fine exhibition of iron play and putting, rolling in six birdies against a lone bogey – his first in 36 holes – to move closer to his first win on the MENA Golf Tour he joined this season through the qualifying school.

Wolmer Murillo, the other Latin American in the field, carded a second-round 69 to join India’s Rayhan Thomas, who returned a level-par 72, and Sweden’s Fredrik Lindblom (70) for a share of second on five-under, one clear of Scotland’s Paul Doherty.

The English trio of Stuart Archibald, Miles Tunnicliff and Jordan Garnish were a further shot back at three-under as their compatriot Zane Scotland, an 11-time winner on the MENA Golf Tour, finished the day tied for 10th. 

“Again, I hit the ball very well and didn’t miss many shots out there. I think I missed just four greens, but got up and down on each occasion, which kind of kept the momentum going,” said the in-form Costa. 

“I putted really well, probably the best I've done in a long time. I feel like I’m in good position (to force a win), but I don't want to get ahead of myself,” said Costa, who boasts three wins — all in Chile — since turning professional in 2012.

“Golf is a mental game, everyone knows that. The thinking is to stay in the present, play one shot at a time and focus on the task at hand. Will see where things stand coming down the final stretch on the final day,” said the Chilean.

India’s Thomas, who leads the amateur division by a staggering 11 shots over Scotland’s Ben Alexander, eagled the third and picked up two more shots before making the turn at four-under.

A couple of wayward drives which resulted in double bogeys at No.14 and 18 halted his march as the 16-year-old Dubai-based prodigy, who is supported by the Shaikh Maktoum Golf Foundation, had to settle for a level-par round.

Venezuela’s Murillo, who is seeking back-to-back wins on the MENA Golf Tour, rebounded from a rocky double-bogey-bogey start, to sign off the second round with a flourish, playing his 16 holes in six under, highlighted by three birdies in a row from the 15th.

The half-way cut was made at seven-over par with 55 players, including five amateurs, making it to the final round.
SCOTSWATCH: Paul Doherty moved up to fifth place on 140 - seven shots behind leader Antonio Costa - with a pair of 70s which included two eagle 3s, at the eighth and 12th. He also had birdies at the first and 10th.
Aberdeen's Clarke Lutton and Dunbar's Danny Kay are tied 20th on 146, Lutton with 74-72, Kay with 71-75.
Lee Harper is tied 34th with 77-72 for 149, one shot ahead of Renaissance Club amateur Ben Alexander who has scored 73-77 for a share of 40th place

 SECOND-ROUND LEADERS
  par 144 (2x72)
133 A Costa (Chile) 66 67
139 R Thomas (India) (am) 67 72 F Lindblom (Swe) 659 70, W Murillo (Venezuela) 70 69.

SCOTS' SCORES
140 P Doherty 70 70 (5th)
146 C Lutton 74 72, D Kay 71 75 (T20)
149 L Harper 77 72 (T34)
150 B Alexander (am) 73 77 (T40)



TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES

CLICK HERE 

Brewster and Hessey lead Brabazon qualifiers Yorkshire’s Ben Brewster set a course record of eight-under par to lead the northern qualifier for the Brabazon Trophy, and Gloucestershire’s Noah Hessey topped the leaderboard for the southern qualifier on four-under. Brewster (Wheatley) shot 64 at Fulford Golf Club, York, and Hessey (Long Ashton) returned 68 at Hadley Wood Golf Club, Hertfordshire. The top 32 players at both events qualified for the Brabazon Trophy, England Golf’s flagship open championship and one of the majors of men’s amateur golf. Almost 260 players were involved in the qualifying events and the cut-off at both courses fell at one-over par. The successful 64 qualifiers will join 89 exempt players in the championship field at The London Club from June 22-25. Brewster, 20, (pictured top) had two eagles in his 64, included in a superb run of five consecutive threes, from the seventh hole. “It’s my lowest-ever score and my first course record,” said Brewster, from Wheatley Golf Club. “It was a special day, one of those rounds of golf where I didn’t miss a single shot. I executed every shot and played every hole the way I wanted. All the hard work paid off.” He was so focussed that he wasn’t disturbed by anything, even when a player in the group behind hit a ball on to the 11th green as he was preparing to hit his eagle putt. He simply stayed composed and rolled the putt in. Brewster went on: “This is only a stepping stone, it’s only a qualifier – not the pinnacle of amateur golf! But it’s a great result and massive for my confidence.” He added: “I played in the Brabazon last year and it’s so nice to get in as qualifying champion. I hope I can carry that good form into the actual event. Brewster is a Yorkshire county player who recently won the Danny Willett Salver at Lindrick Golf Club. His closest challengers at Fulford were Dan Brown (Bedale) and Sam Done (Kenwick Park) on four-under. At Hadley Wood, Noah Hessey broke a logjam at the top of the leaderboard when he birdied the last two holes for four-under 68. Behind, him seven players were tied on two-under. “I really enjoyed the course, it was in fantastic condition,” said the 21-year-old (pictured left). “The greens were tough and if you got on the wrong side of the pins it was quite hard to save par, but I managed well. I got in a few sticky situations but my damage limitation was good!” He birdied the first, had a couple of early bogeys, but from the fifth his scoring was flawless, with five birdies and the rest pars.  “It’s nice to get a win,” he said “I know it’s only a qualifier, but to beat a lot of good players is good for my confidence.” Hessey played in last year’s Brabazon and was determined to return: “I enjoyed the tournament so much, it was fantastic and this year it’s at the London Club, which I can’t wait for. I’m really excited to be going there.” His win attracted good wishes on Twitter from European Tour player Chris Wood, who is both a friend and fellow club member. The joint runners-up at Hadley Wood, on two-under par, were Harry Ellis (Meon Valley), Timothy Martin (Worthing), Charlie Strickland (Ham Manor), Freddie Price (Royal Blackheath), Darren Walkley (Hayling), Rhys Evans (Celtic Manor) and Mark Collins (Chart Hills). Click here for full scores from the southern qualifier Click here for full scores from the northern qualifier Images © Leaderboard Photography Lyndsey Hewison Press Officer England Golf pr@englandgolf.org 07825 752 193