Brits Allen, Young and Meek help Missouri

 complete Johnie Imes Invitational hat-trick


2016 Johnie Imes Final Results (PDF)

Missouri University women's golf team won its third consecutive Johnie Imes Invitational this week  by three strokes over Fresno State at the Club at Old Hawthorne, Missouri.

Missouri battled with Fresno State throughout the 54-hole tournament and contributions of Emma Allen (pictured right)  from Southampton and Scots Clara Young and Jess Meek, helped to total an even par total of 864, just three strokes ahead of Fresno State.

Third-year student Clara Young, a former Scottish women's champion from North Berwick, had an outstanding final day, shooting a three-under 69 with birdies on the 2nd and 3rd holes.

Clara, pictured left, finished T30 on 222 (74-79-69) alongside another Scot, team-mate Jess Meek from Carnoustie. Jess (72-74-76) had impressive eagles on the par 5s in her final round.
Second-year student Emma Allen from Southampton finished tied sixth after a stellar start to the tournament. Her opening round of 66 tied the lowest individual first-round score in the history of the tournament. He second and third rounds were 72 and 77 for a total of one-under-par 215.
Kennesaw State provided the first and second in the individual event with Thai Medy Thavong winning the title by two strokes at five-under-par 211 (70-69-72), two strokes ahead of team-mate, Dulcie Sverdloff, a final-year student from Southend. Dulcie, pictured below, scored 74, 67 and 72. 

Ashleigh Greenham, from London, a third-year student at Rutgers, finished T12 on 217 with scores of 77, 69 and 71.

LEADING INDIVIDUALS
Par 216 (3x72). Yardage: 6,204yd
211 Medy Thavong (Kennesaw State) 70 69 72
213 Dulcie Sverdlof (Kennesaw State) 74 67 72 (T2)

SELECTED SCORES
215 Emma Allen (Missouri) 66 72 77 (T6)
217 Ashleigh Greenham (Rutgers) 77 69 71 (T12)
222 Jess Meek (Missouri) 72 74 76, Clara Young (Missouri) 74 76 69 (T30). 

TEAM TOTALS
864 Missouri
867 Fresno State
875 Florida State
876 Kennesaw State

SELECTED TOTAL
889 Rutgers (8th)
Field of 15 teams

Aussie Giles leads from Snedeker and Houston in Fiji International 

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Matthew Giles is looking forward to going toe-to-toe with Brandt Snedeker over the weekend after taking the midway lead at the Fiji International.
Australia's Giles added a 66 to his opening 67 on Friday at Natadola Bay Golf Course to get to 11 under and sit a single shot ahead of American Snedeker and countryman Anthony Houston.
Snedeker arrived in Fiji on the back of earning three points from three in the United States' 17-11 Ryder Cup victory over Europe and is Number 23 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Giles sits 857 places lower than that but is happy with his game and is eager to make an impression over the weekend.
"It'll be good, it's why we're here, it's why we play," he said. "It's great that he's out here and promoting the event."
Giles was the first man to make a move in the morning and went birdie-birdie on the fifth and sixth before holing a nine iron on the eighth for an eagle to open up a two-shot lead.
A dropped shot on the 11th moved him back to eight under, though, and overnight leader Houston was able to join him at that mark with a birdie on the eighth.
Giles bounced straight back with a birdie on the 12th  and when he made another on the 14th, he was the first man this week into double figures and had a two-shot lead.
He extended that to three on the next and then went bogey-birdie on the 16th and 17th as Houston and Snedeker closed the gap.
Houston added further birdies on the 15th and 17th while Snedeker extended his bogey-free run to 34 holes.
The Nashville native birdied the tenth, 15th, 17th and first and made a big move with an eagle on the par five sixth before he birdied the ninth for the second day in a row.
The wind was getting up as the first wave were finishing their rounds and tougher conditions made it difficult for any of the later starters to make an impact.
"I played solid, definitely," added Giles. "I hit a few wayward shots but I managed to limit the damage.
"I feel like my game was pretty good coming into the week. I think around here depending on the weather conditions there are holes that offer birdie chances for you. At the same time, there are a few where you just want to make a par and get out.
"I've played fairly conservatively off the tee just to try and keep the ball in play. The short game has been really good, it's probably been the best part so far. It's really allowed me, when I've hit some poor shots, to scramble out of trouble."
Australia's Jake Higginbottom birdied three of his last four holes to sign for a 70 and an eight under par total, with countryman Aaron Pike at seven under after also recording a 70.
South Korea's In-hoi Hur was then five shots off the lead alongside Australians Matthew Griffin, Stephen Leaney, Brett Rankin and Aaron Wilkin.
Australians Daniel Fox and Aron Price, Austrian Lukas Nemecz and New Zealander Brad Shilton were then all five under.
Another Kiwi, Gareth Paddison, broke the course record with a 64 to sit at four under after starting his week with a 76.

TO VIEW ALL THE FIJI SCORES

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All six Scots, headed by Duncan Stewart,  

make the Challenge Tour cut in Italy

FROM THE CHALLENGE TOUR WEBSITE
Victor Riu and Aaron Rai moved into a share of the halfway lead of this weekend's European Challenge Tour event in Italy, the Terre dei Consoli Open, reaching eight under par after round two – a mark shared by José-Filipe Lima and overnight leader Rhys Enoch.
Rai and Riu thrived in cold and wet morning conditions before Enoch and Lima had to battle gusting winds, albeit in bright Italian sunshine, at Terre dei Consoli Golf Club.

Frenchman Riu, winner of the 2013 Swiss Challenge, had a slow start to his round but ignited on the back nine, two eagles helping him home in 32 for a three under par second round of 69.
“I’m feeling good,” said the 31 year old. “I played well yesterday and in the end I did today, because I started badly – I made two eagles on the back nine so that helped my score, and it was a solid round.
“I really like this course. The conditions are good and it’s very long, and it’s unusual on the Challenge Tour to play such a long course.
“I prefer a long course to a short course, it seems to be more selective and more like the European Tour – the cut is over par, so it shows it is a tough course, and I enjoy playing that more.
“The season so far has not been good at all for me. My goal at the start of the year was to finish in the top 15, as I did two years ago. 
" I’ve struggled with my short game but I’m getting much better – I had a good feeling in the last round in Kazakhstan so I’ve carried that on this week.
“I’ve got nothing to lose, it’s not too late to have some good results, and I’m feeling good in my game so I will just try to carry on this way.”
England’s Rai shot the round of the day, an outstanding 66 – later matched by Italian Filippo Bergamaschi – that has moved him in contention for a maiden Challenge Tour title.
The 21 year old has come close to breaking his duck several times on his debut season on the Road to Oman, finishing in the top four on three occasions, but despite sitting 14^th in the Rankings he is refusing to get ahead of himself.
“I’m just trying to play the same way as I have all season,” he said. “I approached this tournament in the same way, prepared as well as possible, but also tried to save energy for the next few events.
“At the start of the season I tried not to set too many goals and just tried to prepare and play as well as possible, and fortunately so far it’s worked well.
“It’s been a really good year so far. With all the travel, all the events we’ve gone to, it’s all been really, really good, so it’s been an awesome experience to be part of the Challenge Tour this year.
“I’m not thinking too far ahead or setting too many goals, I just need to play my best and see how it goes.
“I’m not sure I’m due to win. There have been a couple of times this year where over the weekend my scoring hasn’t been so good, so we’ll have to see what happens this weekend.
“Playing four rounds instead of the three I’ve played before, it definitely adds something to it. I know it’s only an extra day, which sounds pretty easy, it can be tough, but if you stick to your game and play steady you should hopefully give yourself a shot.”
Enoch briefly reached ten under par after an eagle on the ninth, but followed up with a double bogey and ultimately the 28 year old Welshman had to settle for a share of the lead.
Lima bogeyed his first hole but thereafter the Portuguese played flawless golf and he remains firmly in the hunt for a second title of the season to add to his Najeti Open win.
One shot behind the leaders on seven under par is James Heath, while a birdie on his final hole took Romain Langasque – the highest-ranked player in the field – to the cut mark of one over par, with 69 others also making the weekend.
All six Scots in the field made the halfway cut at145 and better. Top Scot is Duncan Stewart (pictured) with 71 and 70 for 141 and T15 position, a shot ahead of David Law (69-73), Jack Doherty (70-72) and Peter Whiteford (69-73).

CHALLENGE TOUR
Terre Dei Consoli Golf Club, 
Monterosi, Italy
LEADING SECOND-ROUND SCORES
Par 144 (2x72)
136 Rhys Enoch (Wales) 65 71, Victor Riu (France) 67 69, Jose-Filipe (Portugal) 67 69, Aaron Rai (England) 70 66
137 James Heath (England) 69 68

SCOTS' SCORES
141 Duncan Stewart 71 70 (T15)  
142 David Law 69 72, Jack Doherty 70 72, Peter Whiteford 69 73 (T26)
144 Paul Shields 69 75 (T44)
145 Scott Henry 71 74 (T56)

CUT FELL AT 146, i.e. 145 and better qualified.  

Alfred Dunhill LInks Championship at St Andrews, Kingsbarns and Carnoustie

 In-form Ross Fisher leads by one

ST ANDREWS: England’s Ross Fisher shot a battling 68 in windy conditions at St Andrews to take a one-shot lead into Saturday’s third round of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
Fisher started the day a shot behind first round leader Alex Noren, but he caught and overtook the Swede, who could only manage a 71 at Kingsbarns.
Fisher is starting to enjoy a rich vein of form. Just two weeks ago he lost a play-off in the Porsche European Open to Alexander Levy and now has his sights firmly set on his first European Tour victory since March 2014.
He said: “I’m delighted. This is always an event I really look forward to. I had a chance to win back in 2008 when I lost in a play-off with Robert Karlsson and Martin Kaymer. I just enjoy coming here. Hopefully I can keep it going.
“Not dropping a shot at Kingsbarns was a real achievement, then coming to St. Andrews, where the greens are going to be a little bit slower, I felt like I played well. I bogeyed the 11th, but I bounced back. To shoot 4-under, I'm very, very pleased.”
Fisher, who plays the more difficult Carnoustie today, is on 11-under-par, with another Swede, Joakim Lagergren, one shot behind and Noren a further shot back.
The tournament, conceived as a celebration of links golf, is played over three of the world’s best known and respected links courses - the Old Course at St Andrews, the Championship Course at Carnoustie and the highly regarded Kingsbarns Golf Links. 
One of the rounds of the day was a 66 on the Old Course by Scotland’s Marc Warren, which lifted him into a tie for sixth, five shots behind Fisher. He said: “I had a poor start at Kingsbarns, so knew I had to play well today and thankfully I did. From start to finish I stroked the ball really well and managed to hole some good par putts and kept everything going.
“This is one of the best tournaments we play all year. The golf courses are amazing and it’s a very enjoyable week. The amateur partners I have had over the years have been interesting and good fun.”
Lee Westwood's poor form in the Ryder Cup continued the the Englishman shooting rounds of 75 and 82 for 157 and last position in the 167 players who will tee it up in the third round.
Europe's Ryder Cup skipper Paul McGinley did not fare all that much better. He has had sores of 72 and 79 for 151 and a share of 152nd position.
With a prize fund of US$5 million, the championship incorporates two separate competitions - an individual professional tournament for the world's leading golfers and a team event in which the professionals are paired with some of the most celebrated amateur golfers which creates a unique atmosphere.
Among the celebrity amateurs playing are film stars Jamie Dornan, Andy Garcia, Matthew Goode and Hugh Grant, rock stars David Farrell, Ronan Keating, Huey Lewis and Brian McFadden and many great sporting idols including Sir Ian Botham and Sir Steve Redgrave, who have both played in all 16 Alfred Dunhill Links Championships, cricketers Kevin Pietersen and Shane Warne, Irish rugby star Brian O’Driscoll, record-breaking jump jockey Sir Anthony McCoy, star international footballers Michael Ballack, Luis Figo and Ruud Gullit and former Formula One world champion Damon Hill.
Leaders in the Team Championship remain Adrian Otaegui and Frank Quattrone who improved their score to 21-under and now take on Carnoustie tomorrow.

Admission is free for all spectators over the first three days with final day tickets on Sunday, October 9 available to purchase at the entrance gates for £20 (Seniors £15) or in advance at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/alfred-dunhill-links-championship-tickets-25844992067

SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 144 (2x72)
133 R Fisher (Eng) 65 68
134 J Lagergren (Swe) 66 68
135 A Noren (Swe) 64 71
136 J Kruger (S Africa) 68 68 

SCOTS' SCORES
138 M Warren 72 66 (T6)
140 A McArthur  70 70 (T20)
141 R Ramsay 70 71  (T31)
142 C Lee 69 73, S Jamieson 67 75 (T50)
144 D Drysdale 72 72 (T70)
145 J McLeary 71 74, G Forrest 73 72, S Gallacher 70 85 (T85)
147 E Ferguson 74 73 (T114)

OTHER SCORES
151 P McGinley (Ire) 72 79 (T152)
167 L Westwood (Eng) 75 82 (167th)

TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES

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Big Johnson's Tour Final on Sunday at Dundonald Links

FROM JOHN HENRY
 Our season finale is this Sunday at Dundonald Links, venue for the 2017 Scottish Open!
Our top 10 players in our order of merit have qualified for this event.

Here is Sunday's draw with each players points as it stands our winner of the order of merit will receive a Big Johnson's Tour tour bag supplied by Bridge Golf Scotland

12.50
Mark Loftus  240 points
Paul Mckechnie 200 points
James Hendrick 105 points

13.00
James Steven  165 points
Stephen Maxwell  135 points
Ryan Campbell  135 points

13.10
Bradley Neil  120 points
Chris Kelly  135 points
John Henry  182.5 points
Neil Fenwick  147.5 points

Points break down for Sunday
1st 150 points    6th 50 points
2nd 90 points      7th 40 points
3rd 80 points      8th 30 points
4th 70 points      9th 20 points
5th 60 points      10th 10 points

2017 Scottish Alliance Championship at Monifieth Links

The Scottish Golfers' Alliance Championship will be played at Monifieth Links from Tuesday to Thursday, October 10-12 next year.

Jason Day pulls out of World Cup of Golf

Tournament officials announced today that a back injury has
forced Australian Jason Day to withdraw from the upcoming World Cup of Golf in Melbourne, where the 10-time winner on the US PGA Tour was planning on returning to his native country for the first time since he and partner Adam Scott won the event
in 2013.
Scott, now the highest-ranked player from Australia, has the opportunity to pick a player to take Day's place

ournament officials announced today that a back injury has forced Australian Jason Day to withdraw from the upcoming World Cup of Golf, where the 10-time winner on the PGA TOUR was planning on returning to his native country for the first time since he and partner Adam Scott won the event in 2013.

Scott, now the highest-ranked player from Australia, has the opportunity to select his partner to form one of the 28 two-man teams who will represent their countries in the World Cup of Golf, at Kingston Heath Golf Club, from November 23-27. - See more at: http://www.pga.org.au/news/international/world-cup/jason-day-withdraws-from-world-cup-of-golf-to-rest-back-during-off-season#sthash.zzPFxkHn.dpuf

ournament officials announced today that a back injury has forced Australian Jason Day to withdraw from the upcoming World Cup of Golf, where the 10-time winner on the PGA TOUR was planning on returning to his native country for the first time since he and partner Adam Scott won the event in 2013.

Scott, now the highest-ranked player from Australia,

Aberdeen's Adam Fisher ties for second in 

Missouri college tournament

Adam Fisher, pictured above, from Aberdeen, at 19-year-old second-year student at Missouri State University, tied for second place in a field of 72 players  this week in the Bill Ross Intercollegiate tournament over 54 holes at Creekmoor Golf Club, Missouri.
The former Cults Academy pupil had rounds of 70, 69 and 72 for a five-under-par total of 211 over a long par-72 course (7,156yd).
Fisher tied with Matt Green (Kansas State) (67-70-72), only one stroke behind the winner, Jake Chanen (Grand Canyon) who had scores of 66, 71 and 73 for 210.
Grand Canyon (868) won the team event by a shot from Kansas State with Missouri State (892) finished eighth of 12

 Kay and Doak only Scots to advance to 

Stage 2 at European Tour Q School

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Only two Scots, Daniel Kay and Chris Doak, advanced to Stage 2 from the European Tour Qualifying SChool Stage 1 Section D 72-hole competitions at Frilford Heath Golf Club, Abingdon and the Bogogno Golf Resort, Italy, which finished today (Friday).

Kay tied for first place at Frilford Heath with scores of 70, 66, 69 and 74 for nine-under-par 279, the same total as Sweden's Philip Eriksson.

Only the leading 23 and ties go on to Stage 2.

Peterhead's Ross Cameron missed out by finishing 29th on 290 with scores of 74, 76, 71 and 69.

Craig Lawrie (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre) finished joint 38th with rounds of 73, 76, 72 and 74 for 295.

In Italy, Chris Doak made it through about the leading 25 and ties. He shot 73, 70, 74 and 70 for joint 25th place on 287 - 16 shots behind the amateur winner from Switzerland, Marco Iten.

Aberdeen-born Clarke Lutton missed out with a total of 300 (73-70-75-82).

EUROPEAN TOUR QUALIFING SCHOOL Stage 1

Frilford Heath GC, Abingdon

LEADING FINAL TOTALS

+Top 23 and ties to advance to Stage 2

Par 288 (4x72)

279 P Eriksson (Swe) 69 69 73 68, D Kay (Sco) 70 66 69 74

280 A Turner (Eng) 71 72 68 69, L Cornford (Eng) 67 69 74 70.

FAILED TO QUALIFY

290 R Cameron (Sco) 74 76 71 69 (29th)

295 Craig Lawrie (Sco) 73 76 72 74 (T38)

AT BOGOGNO GOLF RESORT, ITALY

+Top 25 and ties to advance to Stage 2

Par 288 (4x72)

LEADING FINAL TOTAL

271 M Iten (Swi) 67 67 70 67

Other qualifiers included:

287 C Doak (Sco) 73 70 74 70 (T25)

Failed to qualify

300 C Lutton (Sco) 70 73 75 82 (66th).

emds


To view all the final totals
 
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Link to scores from Round 2 of Alfred Dunhill LInks Championship at St Andrews, Carnoustie, Kingsbarns

CLICK HERE