Jack Booth's years as Aberdeen Links champion

FROM PETER NORRIE

Reference Jack Booth holding the record number of Aberdeen Links Championship victories.

I believe Jack Booth won the event in 1947 and 1948, but not in 1950. He then won the championship the following three years in a row (1951-52-53) and retired from the competition. Not unusual in those days, after three consecutive wins.

Barry Reid(Caledonian), who beat Barrie Edmond in the final 

of last week's Aberdeen Links Championship, 

is pictured with the trophy.

Picture by courtesy of Kath Flannery

 of the Aberdeen Evening Express

Reid told the Evening Express that he now has two special goals.  He aims for a long run in the Scottish amateur championship over Royal Aberdeen's Balgownie links next month and he would like to earn a place in the North-east District team.

Reid is an accountant and he plays off +2 of a handicap.

 Old Course Ranfurly win Renfrewshire title

 RENFREWSHIRE GOLF UNION PRESS RELEASE

          kgmcgee@hotmail.com

On a day of mixed weather Renfrewshire Golf Union held their annual competition, this year at Gleddoch Hotel and Golf  Club, to decide who would represent them in the Scottish Club Champions final in September at Stranraer , with the winners there representing Scotland in the European Finals later in the year.

The scoring over the day showed a variable mix.

Early leaders were Caldwell Golf Club who posted a three-man scoring total of 224 and none of the clubs following them in could match their score.

This looked likely to be the winning score until The Old Course Ranfurly trio came in towards the end of the field and produced a score of 223 to beat them by a shot.

Old Ranfurly scores –

Stewart Watt 71

Louis Oliver 75

Matthew Dalrymple 77

Caldwell scores –

Josh Beatt 72

Sean Burns 75

Paul Alexander 77

Top scores of the day against a par of 72 were as follows –

71

Stewart Watt – Old Course Ranfurly

Craig Thomson – Paisley

David Dickson – Bonnyton

72 

Jamie Sinnamon – Greenock Whinhill

Thanks to all the clubs who participated and to their members for representing them.

The courtesy of Gleddoch Golf Club given to the Renfrewshire Golf Union for the use of the course during the event was much appreciated.

.

Graham McGe

President, Renfrewshire Golf Union

 Aviemore winner James Heath dedicates 

one-shot victory to his late mother

       Feeling just champion ... James Heath with trophy at Aviemore. Picture by courtesy of
                                                    Getty Images(c)

FROM THE CHALLENGE TOUR WEBSITE
An emotional James Heath dedicated his victory at the SSE Scottish Hydro Challenge hosted by Macdonald Hotels and Resorts to his late mother, after the Englishman marched to a two-shot triumph at Aviemore.
The 33 year old, who endured a tough start to the year when his mother passed away but has since experienced the joy of fathering a first child, was under the cosh for the duration of the final round at Macdonald Spey Valley Golf Club.
But he never looked unduly nervous as, much like the third round, he bounced back from the two bogeys he suffered in some style, birdieing the following two holes on each occasion.
The Londoner’s drive on the final hole found the long grass on the right hand side but he once again proved he was made of stern stuff in the difficult rainy conditions, putting his approach to 12 feet and two-putting for a closing par, a four under par final round 68 and a 21 under total.
Heath welled up as he dedicated the win to somebody very close to his heart.
“It’s a bit surreal at the moment,” he said. “It’s been ten years since winning so I had wondered if it was ever going to happen. At the moment it hasn’t quite sunk in yet but it feels good.
“Did I feel pressure? Probably from about the time I woke up at 5:40am this morning! My stomach was churning and all that stuff. When you’re in contention on both of the final days, it feels the same both days. 
“It’s great to be in contention on Saturday because it gets rid of some of the nerves and then the last day is a bit easier.
“It’s been a very tough year so far for my family, so it was nice to give them something to be happy about. It goes without saying that this one is for my mum.”
Having played eight full seasons on the Challenge Tour and two on the European Tour, Heath admits that he did wonder if he would ever win again and considered packing it in.
“It’s been a good few years in the wilderness for me, no question,” he said. “But I’m still standing, still getting the ball airborne. 
“I wasn’t even going to play this week. I made a double bogey on the 17th hole on Sunday in Saint Omer last week and I just thought, ‘I’ve had enough’. But I had a pep talk from my brother on Monday night and it was tough love.
“That conversation was the best thing that could have happened to me. It just narrowed my focus. I was annoyed with myself recently because I didn’t think I was doing the right things but sometimes that’s just me being hard on myself. 
“My brother just said, suck it up, get out there and you’re in control of your own destiny – just man up basically. It went down a treat.”
Heath will now go on to Open Qualifying at Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club in England with the hope of following in the footsteps of 2013 SSE Scottish Hydro Challenge champion Brooks Koepka, who went straight on to win the pre-qualifier for the year’s third Major two days after winning this event.
Ryan Fox of New Zealand, meanwhile, clinched his best result since winning Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge last year, carding a seven under par final round 64 to finish in second place outright on 19 under.
Jordan L Smith of England and Frenchman Damien Perrier, both winners on the Challenge Tour already this year, shared third place on 18 under par after respective rounds of 64 and 65.
George Murray was presented with the Douglas Lowe Memorial Trophy, awarded annually to the highest-ranked Scot, after the 33 year old finished in a share of 21st place.

TO VIEW ALL THE FINAL TOTALS

CLICK HERE

 Henrik Stenson chalkes up 10th European 

Tour victory in BMW International Open

 FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Henrik Stenson won his tenth European Tour title as he held his nerve down the stretch to claim a three-shot victory at the BMW International Open at Golf Club Gut Laerchenhof today.
The Swede had to tackle 36 holes on Sunday after rain delays prevented him from taking to the course on day three and he signed for a third-round 67 in the morning to open up a one-shot lead.
He made three bogeys in five holes from the sixth in round four, though, and when South Africa's Darren Fichardt made a third birdie of the day on the 13th, the lead was shared.
But Stenson had birdied all four of the par fives in the morning and he took advantage of the 13th and 15th again before driving the 17th for another birdie and a 17 under total.
The victory is a fifth top-six finish in eight European Tour events this season and could move him up to fifth in the Official World Golf Ranking just a week after he had to withdraw from the US Open through injury.
It is also a second win in this event following his triumph in 2006 and a case of third time lucky after finishing in second place the past two seasons.
"It was hairy all the way, it was a tough one. I had to dig deep to come back. I didn't play well on the front nine, made a couple of mistakes, got caught out by the wind a few times and missed one or two putts I should have made as well.
"I felt like I was starting to make a bit of a mess of it and then I came back and made the birdies on the par fives. I made some good putts closing out.
"I really feel like I played well in 2015 and I just couldn't get a trophy. It was a bit hard at times but you've just got to keep on trying and put yourself in position. I did that once again and this time I managed to go all the way."
Dane Thorbjørn Olesen was alongside Fichardt at 14 under with Frenchman Raphaël Jacquelin three shots further back.
Olesen briefly held a share of the lead with a birdie on the first but Stenson hit back with one of his own and, despite turning in one over par 37, the 40 year old held a two-shot advantage at the turn.
When both Stenson and Olesen bogeyed the tenth, the chasing pack were brought back into serious contention and it was Fichardt who looked set to make a charge as he hit the front.
But Stenson found another gear and despite Fichardt cutting the gap to one with a birdie on the 17th after an exquisite pitch, he bogeyed the last and Stenson signed for a 71 and won his first event since the 2014 DP World Tour Championship, Dubai in comfortable fashion.
Olesen signed off with a 73 as he claimed a fifth top-20 finish in six events while Fichardt's 69 earned him his best finish of the season so far.
Jacquelin had held the first-round lead and a share after day two but a second consecutive 72 saw him settle for fourth place, a shot clear of Sergio Garcia and Kiradech Aphibarnrat.
David Horsey and Bernd Wiesberger were then at nine under, a shot clear of the group including defending champion Pablo Larrazábal.

SCOREBOARD 
  par 284

1	Henrik Stenson	68	65	67	71	-1	-17	271	$433,329
T2	Darren Fichardt	68	69	68	69	-3	-14	274	$225,823
T2	Thorbjorn Olesen	67	67	67	73	+1	-14	274	$225,823
4	Raphael Jacquelin	65	68	72	72	E	-11	277	$130,000
T5	Sergio Garcia	71	68	70	69	-3	-10	278	$100,620
T5	Kiradech Aphibarnrat	69	64	74	71	-1	-10	278	$100,620
T7	David Horsey	73	70	66	70	-2	-9	279	$71,500
T7	Bernd Wiesberger	68	70	70	71	-1	-9	279	$71,500
T9	Robert Dinwiddie	69	73	69	69	-3	-8	280	$50,700
T9	Graeme Storm	69	70	71	70	-2	-8	280	$50,700
T9	Mike Lorenzo-Vera	69	69	67	75	+3	-8	280	$50,700
T9	Pablo Larrazabal	68	69	72	71	-1	-8	280	$50,700
T13	Lee Slattery	74	68	71	68	-4	-7	281	$39,953
T13	Paul Dunne	69	71	70	71	-1	-7	281	$39,953
T13	Matteo Manassero	72	67	73	69	-3	-7	281	$39,953
T16	Mikko Korhonen	71	72	74	65	-7	-6	282	$33,748
T16	Fabrizio Zanotti	71	71	73	67	-5	-6	282	$33,748
T16	Bernd Ritthammer	71	69	70	72	E	-6	282	$33,748
T16	Felipe Aguilar	67	70	74	71	-1	-6	282	$33,748
T16	Joost Luiten	70	67	73	72	E	-6	282	$33,748
T21	Y.E. Yang	74	69	67	73	+1	-5	283	$27,820
T21	Nino Bertasio	70	71	70	72	E	-5	283	$27,820
T21	Marcus Fraser	69	72	70	72	E	-5	283	$27,820
T21	Peter Hanson	71	70	73	69	-3	-5	283	$27,820
T21	Andy Sullivan	71	69	70	73	+1	-5	283	$27,820
T21	Johan Carlsson	70	68	75	70	-2	-5	283	$27,820
T21	Zander Lombard	67	68	71	77	+5	-5	283	$27,820
T28	David Lipsky	70	73	74	67	-5	-4	284	$23,140
T28	Robert Karlsson	72	70	74	68	-4	-4	284	$23,140
T28	Bradley Dredge	69	73	71	71	-1	-4	284	$23,140
T28	Ross Fisher	73	68	70	73	+1	-4	284	$23,140
T28	Magnus A. Carlsson	68	72	71	73	+1	-4	284	$23,140
T33	Daniel Brooks	75	68	71	71	-1	-3	285	$19,552
T33	Brandon Stone	70	72	74	69	-3	-3	285	$19,552
T33	Joachim B. Hansen	71	71	72	71	-1	-3	285	$19,552
T33	Oliver Fisher	66	75	71	73	+1	-3	285	$19,552
T33	Stuart Manley	71	69	74	71	-1	-3	285	$19,552
T38	Jason Knutzon	72	71	72	71	-1	-2	286	$16,380
T38	Roope Kakko	68	75	74	69	-3	-2	286	$16,380
T38	Chris Hanson	72	70	75	69	-3	-2	286	$16,380
T38	Francesco Laporta	72	69	73	72	E	-2	286	$16,380
T38	Clement Berardo	71	69	69	77	+5	-2	286	$16,380
T38	Thongchai Jaidee	69	71	73	73	+1	-2	286	$16,380
T38	Jaco Van Zyl	71	68	73	74	+2	-2	286	$16,380
T45	Lukas Nemecz	74	69	72	72	E	-1	287	$13,260
T45	Alex Cejka	72	71	72	72	E	-1	287	$13,260
T45	Ricardo Gouveia	74	68	71	74	+2	-1	287	$13,260
T45	Richard Bland	71	68	73	75	+3	-1	287	$13,260
T45	Craig Lee	70	69	75	73	+1	-1	287	$13,260
T50	Callum Shinkwin	75	68	71	74	+2	E	288	$11,440
T50	S.S.P. Chawrasia	70	72	73	73	+1	E	288	$11,440
T52	Mark Foster	74	69	74	72	E	+1	289	$9,880
T52	Prom Meesawat	69	74	73	73	+1	+1	289	$9,880
T52	Edoardo Molinari	73	70	72	74	+2	+1	289	$9,880
T52	Andrew McArthur	71	71	70	77	+5	+1	289	$9,880
T56	Jeremy Paul	72	70	74	74	+2	+2	290	-
T56	Richie Ramsay	71	71	73	75	+3	+2	290	$8,320
T56	Anders Hansen	70	68	73	79	+7	+2	290	$8,320
T59	Nick Cullen	72	69	75	75	+3	+3	291	$7,410
T59	Benjamin Hebert	77	64	73	77	+5	+3	291	$7,410
T59	Anthony Wall	70	69	78	74	+2	+3	291	$7,410
T59	Jeff Winther	68	71	78	74	+2	+3	291	$7,410
T63	Alejandro Canizares	75	68	74	75	+3	+4	292	$6,630
T63	Rafa Echenique	70	71	75	76	+4	+4	292	$6,630
T65	Thomas Bjorn	70	73	76	74	+2	+5	293	$5,850
T65	Nacho Elvira	70	73	74	76	+4	+5	293	$5,850
T65	Ross McGowan	68	72	74	79	+7	+5	293	$5,850
T65	Tom Lewis	71	69	75	78	+6	+5	293	$5,850
69	Mikko Ilonen	71	72	82	69	-3	+6	294	$5,200
70	Scott Jamieson	69	74	74	81	+9	+10	298	$4,940
71	Borja Virto	73	69	86	73	+1	+13	301	$4,745
T72	Eduardo De La Riva	74	70	MC	MC	-	-	144	-
T72	Simon Dyson	72	72	MC	MC	-	-	144	-
T72	Nathan Holman	69	75	MC	MC	-	-	144	-
T72	Miguel Angel Jimenez	73	71	MC	MC	-	-	144	-
T72	Andrew Johnston	74	70	MC	MC	-	-	144	-
T72	Maximilian Kieffer	71	73	MC	MC	-	-	144	-
T72	Philipp Mejow	72	72	MC	MC	-	-	144	-
T72	Adrian Otaegui	69	75	MC	MC	-	-	144	-
T72	Justin Walters	71	73	MC	MC	-	-	144	-
T72	Jeung-hun Wang	73	71	MC	MC	-	-	144	-
T72	Marc Warren	76	68	MC	MC	-	-	144	-
T72	Danny Willett	74	70	MC	MC	-	-	144	-
T84	Bjorn Akesson	71	74	MC	MC	-	-	145	-
T84	Seve Benson	72	73	MC	MC	-	-	145	-
T84	Gary Boyd	73	72	MC	MC	-	-	145	-
T84	Nicolas Colsaerts	73	72	MC	MC	-	-	145	-
T84	Richard Green	74	71	MC	MC	-	-	145	-
T84	Tyrrell Hatton	72	73	MC	MC	-	-	145	-
T84	Daniel Im	70	75	MC	MC	-	-	145	-
T84	Joakim Lagergren	76	69	MC	MC	-	-	145	-
T84	Morten Orum Madsen	70	75	MC	MC	-	-	145	-
T84	Chris Paisley	72	73	MC	MC	-	-	145	-
T84	Ulrich Van Den Berg	75	70	MC	MC	-	-	145	-
T84	Steve Webster	76	69	MC	MC	-	-	145	-
T84	Ashun Wu	71	74	MC	MC	-	-	145	-
T97	Jorge Campillo	71	75	MC	MC	-	-	146	-
T97	Ryan Evans	72	74	MC	MC	-	-	146	-
T97	Tommy Fleetwood	73	73	MC	MC	-	-	146	-
T97	Jason Scrivener	71	75	MC	MC	-	-	146	-
T97	Matthew Southgate	71	75	MC	MC	-	-	146	-
T97	Romain Wattel	73	73	MC	MC	-	-	146	-
T103	David Dixon	75	72	MC	MC	-	-	147	-
T103	Scott Hend	71	76	MC	MC	-	-	147	-
T103	Jean Hugo	74	73	MC	MC	-	-	147	-
T103	Rikard Karlberg	73	74	MC	MC	-	-	147	-
T103	Richard T. Lee	73	74	MC	MC	-	-	147	-
T103	Lee McCoy	74	73	MC	MC	-	-	147	-
T103	Richard McEvoy	72	75	MC	MC	-	-	147	-
T103	John Parry	75	72	MC	MC	-	-	147	-
T103	Eddie Pepperell	72	75	MC	MC	-	-	147	-
T103	Alvaro Quiros	73	74	MC	MC	-	-	147	-
T103	Brett Rumford	72	75	MC	MC	-	-	147	-
T103	Gary Stal	74	73	MC	MC	-	-	147	-
T103	Jordan Zunic	76	71	MC	MC	-	-	147	-
T116	Laurie Canter	73	75	MC	MC	-	-	148	-
T116	George Coetzee	74	74	MC	MC	-	-	148	-
T116	Andrew Dodt	73	75	MC	MC	-	-	148	-
T116	Niclas Fasth	72	76	MC	MC	-	-	148	-
T116	Matt Ford	73	75	MC	MC	-	-	148	-
T116	Florian Fritsch	77	71	MC	MC	-	-	148	-
T116	David Howell	74	74	MC	MC	-	-	148	-
T116	Marcus Kinhult	78	70	MC	MC	-	-	148	-
T116	Paul Lawrie	73	75	MC	MC	-	-	148	-
T116	Tjaart Van der Walt	77	71	MC	MC	-	-	148	-
T126	Matthew Baldwin	76	73	MC	MC	-	-	149	-
T126	Ben Evans	76	73	MC	MC	-	-	149	-
T126	Jens Fahrbring	76	73	MC	MC	-	-	149	-
T126	Trevor Fisher Jr.	78	71	MC	MC	-	-	149	-
T126	Michael Hoey	76	73	MC	MC	-	-	149	-
T126	Jonas Kolbing	74	75	MC	MC	-	-	149	-
T126	Julien Quesne	77	72	MC	MC	-	-	149	-
T133	Lucas Bjerregaard	77	73	MC	MC	-	-	150	-
T133	Renato Paratore	76	74	MC	MC	-	-	150	-
T133	Jeev Milkha Singh	75	75	MC	MC	-	-	150	-
T136	Daniel Gavins	81	70	MC	MC	-	-	151	-
T136	Lasse Jensen	76	75	MC	MC	-	-	151	-
T136	Soomin Lee	75	76	MC	MC	-	-	151	-
T136	Yannik Paul	73	78	MC	MC	-	-	151	-
T140	Sebastien Gros	79	73	MC	MC	-	-	152	-
T140	Gregory Havret	77	75	MC	MC	-	-	152	-
T140	Thomas Linard	77	75	MC	MC	-	-	152	-
T140	Oliver Wilson	72	80	MC	MC	-	-	152	-
T144	Kristoffer Broberg	80	73	MC	MC	-	-	153	-
T144	David Drysdale	76	77	MC	MC	-	-	153	-
T144	Hao Tong Li	79	74	MC	MC	-	-	153	-
T144	Jamie McLeary	76	77	MC	MC	-	-	153	-
T144	Haydn Porteous	79	74	MC	MC	-	-	153	-
149	Jin Jeong	77	77	MC	MC	-	-	154	-
T150	Rhys Davies	79	76	MC	MC	-	-	155	-
T150	Marcel Siem	73	82	MC	MC	-	-	155	-
152	Edouard Espana	81	76	MC	MC	-	-	157	-
153	Maximilian Rohrig	74	84	MC	MC	-	-	158	-
154	Pelle Edberg	79	80	MC	MC	-	-	159	-
155	Nick Dougherty	84	86	MC	MC	-	-	170	-
156	James Morrison	75	WD	WD	WD	-	-	75	-