Final-round pressure on David Law and Ross 

Kellett with European Tour cards on the line  

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Scott Henry is sitting pretty for a top 25 finish that would earn him European Tour status next season but David Law goes into the final round at the Qualifying School in Spain knowing that nothing short of a sub-par score, ideally in the 60s, will get him into the "Big League."
Henry had a four-under-par 68 over the Stadium Course at PGA Catalunya, Girona in north-east Spain and is tied 10th on seven-under 349 - seven strokes behind Italian leader by three, Edoardo Molinari (67 for 342).
Law bogeyed three of his first eight holes but covered the last 10 holes in two under par with birdies at the 15th and 18th to add to his earlier gains at the third and fifth. He finished the fifth round with a one-under 71 for 352 and is joint 31st ... only the leading 25 and ties after the sixth and last round will win playing rights on the European Tour in 2017.
Ross Kellett, who, like Law, plays out of the Paul Lawrie Golf Centre, had a 71 for two-under 354 and, in joint 43rd position, also needs a brilliant final round.
After the fifth round, the leading 25 and ties were on five-under-par or better, which means that Kellett needs at least a final score of 69 or better to have a chance.
Blairgowrie's Bradley Neil is out of it for another year. He goes into the final round in last place among the 72 who survived the fourth-round cut. Neil had a 78 for six-over 362.

EUROPEAN TOUR QUALIFYING SCHOOL FINAL STAGE
PGA Catalunya Resort, Girona, NE Spain
LEADING FIFTH-ROUND SCORES
Par 356 (3x72, 1x70)
342 E Molinari (Ita) 66 68 72 69 67
345 N Kimsey (Eng) 70 70 71 61 73
347 E Pepperell (Eng) 69 69 69 71 69, M Nixon (Eng) 67 73 71 68 68, T Lewis (Eng) 73 65 71 68 70, R McEvoy (Eng) 63 69 71 72 72.
348 J Rutherford (Eng) 72 72 70 66 68, M Orrin (Eng) 67 68 76 67 70, N Johansson (Swe) 70 67 70 69 72

SCOTS' SCORES
349 S Henry 64 75 70 72 68 (T10)
352 D Law 66 71 68 76 71 (T31)
354 R Kellett 72 66 73 72 71 (T43)

362 B Neil 64 72 71 77 78 (last of 72)

TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES

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Piperdam Golf and Leisure Resort sold 

to Coppergreen Developments for £25million

FROM GOLF BUSINESS NEWS

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Piperdam

Colliers International’s specialist holiday parks team (Edinburgh office) has secured the sale of the 600 acre Piperdam Golf and Leisure Resort, Dundee. 

Piperdam is one of Scotland’s premier leisure resorts offering 77 high quality holiday lodges, 27 holes of championship golf course and an outstanding wedding and conference venue.

The business was founded in 1989 by the sellers and has been acquired by Coppergreen Developments Ltd, a progressive UK holiday park operator, who have secured a £25m funding package from Business Growth Fund, the long-term equity investment company backed by five of the UK’s main banking groups, and HSBC to support the acquisition. 

The funding package will support the addition of 28 lodges and also the further provision of outdoor pursuits including mountain bike trails and quad biking.

Coppergreen was founded by husband and wife David Copley, CEO and Donna Copley, FD, and Richard Sidi, who will retain a non-executive role going forward. Sam Wall, who has previously worked with the Coppergreen team managing a portfolio of nine parks, will join as commercial director. 

As part of the investment, non-executive chairman Steve Brown, a founding director of Center Parcs UK and a former non-executive director at Forest Holidays will join the board alongside Barry Jackson, who led the deal for BGF, supported by Mike Clarke.

Lodges at Piperdam Golf and Leisure Resort

“Holiday and leisure parks of this size, quality and trading record rarely become available and it was no surprise that it attracted a progressive operator such as Coppergreen and indeed ticked all the boxes of BGF’s investment criteria,” said Richard Moss, Head of Colliers International’s Parks team, who advised the sellers on the sale. He continued:

 “It is great to see this level of investment in Scotland’s tourism and leisure sector which shows great confidence in the product, the area and the sustainability of Scotland’s tourist pull.”

The sellers were also advised by the specialist teams at Harper Macleod solicitors and Findlay & Co Chartered Accountants.

David Copley, CEO at Coppergreen Developments Ltd, added: “We are really excited by this acquisition and look forward to continuing the high standards of the business at Piperdam. We are focused on thoughtfully and sensitively expanding the site so that even more holidaymakers can enjoy first-class accommodation in beautiful surroundings. We are delighted to have received further support from our bank, HSBC, and to be entering into a new partnership with BGF as we implement our growth plans.”

Piperdam Golf and Leisure Resort www.piperdam.com

Colliers International www.colliers.com

Paul Lawrie's grandstand finish for a 68 wins 

him NE Alliance at windy Oldmeldrum

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Paul Lawrie birdied the 16th and 18th holes to head a field of 100, winning today's North-east Golfers' Alliance competition by one stroke with a two-under-par round of 68 (35-33) at Oldmeldrum Golf Club.
In windy conditions, Lawrie had birdied the first but, after parring his next 12 holes, he went back to level par with a bogey at the 14th. Then came his grandstand finish which won him the £150 first prize.

Paul said later:

"I hit it well from tee to green with only one shot offline all day. That was my tee shot at the 14th. But my putting was awful.I missed nine putts inside 10 feet, so should have been much lower. "The course was in decent conditions for this time of year."

It was Paul's second win of the NE Alliance season. His first was at Montrose on October 26.
Joint runners-up on 69 were Laura Murray (Kippie Lodge) and  Murcar Links amateur Andy Campbell
Laura, who played off the same tees as the men, birdied the second, 15th and 18th in halves of 35 and 34.
One-handicapper Campbell's three birdies came before the turn - at the second, fourth and eighth - in halves of 34 and 35.
Greig Hutcheon (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre Inchmarlo) had a rare No Return.

ALL THE SCORES AND PRIZEWINNERS
par 70
68 P Lawrie (Carnegie).
69 A Campbell (Murcar Links), Laura Murray (Kippie Lodge)
70 G Munro (Newmachar), P McLean (Paul Lawrie GC), S Lawrie (Paul Lawrie GC), S Griffiths (Dunes), S Kiloh (Paul Lawrie GC). 
71 G Esson (Portlethen), J Duff (Newmachar), F Milne (Banchory)
72 J Calder (Newmachar), D Macandrew (Royal Aberdeen), S Scott (Hazlehead), S Mackie (Kemnay), D Buchan (Peterhead), K Nicol (Dunes), S Finnie (Caledonian), Brian Nicholson (Hazlehead), I Still (Craibstone).
73 J Nicolson (Hazlehead), K Beveridge (Kippie Lodge), D Leslie (Bon Accord), I Esslemont (Cruden Bay), C Grant (Portlethen).
74 R Reid (Tarland), J Hopwood (Royal Aberdeen), S Hanson (Paul Lawrie GC), C Dempster (Paul Lawrie GC), C Nelson (Mackenzie Golf), K Duncan (Paul Lawrie GC), C Duffus (Royal Aberdeen).
75 A J Smith (Turriff), B Ritchie (Inverallochy), M Forster (Cruden Bay).
76 M Merchant (Newmachar), J Barclay (Hazlehead), M Allan (Hazlehead), P McKenna (Paul Lawrie GC)
77 C Cassie (Nigg Bay), M Herbertson (Newmachar), F Bisset (Banchory), J Borthwick (Craibstone), J Stewart (Banchory)
78 T Boyle (Northern), R Blackmore (Tarland), D Adam (Oldmeldrum), D Bisset (Banchory), D Lane (Deeside)
79 M Duncan (Murcar Links), M Lawrie (Kemnay), A Graham (Aboyne)
80 R Lamb (Newmachar), J Scott (Peterculter), R Davidson (Caledonian)
81 D Cassie (Nigg Bay), D Booth (Tarland), M MacDougall (Paul Lawrie GC), D Craigie (Portlethen), P Ch.eyne (Northern), D A Fleming (Portlthen), L Fowler (Royal Aberdeen), R Denning (Inverurie)
82 G Allan (Hazlehead), K McGillivary (Craibstone).
83 P Walker (Cruden Bay), R Duncan (Deeside).
84 B Lumsden (Northern), G Mackie (Newmachar)
85 H McNaughton (Cruden Bay), J Crawford (Craibstone), D Townsley (Peterculter), W Skene (Deeside)
86 J Forrest (Northern), G Homer (Bon Accord), G Thom (Murcar Links), D Nelson (Aboyne), W Beattie (Craibstone), S Christie (Aboyne).
87 S Davidson (Caledonan)
88 M Rendall (Stonehaven), N Chisholm (Kemnay)
89 D Robertson (Hazlehead), R Wright (Northern), R Macrae (Newmachar), S Allison (Caledonian), J Howie (Kemnay), P Low (Craibstone).
91 B Nicolson (Hazlehead)
92 L Roger (Royal Aberdeen
93 D Lawrie (Inchmarlo)
94 M Brown (Kemnay)
95 R Brown (Kemnay) 

HANDICAP PRIZEWINNERS
Class 1 - S Scott (6) 66; C Duffus (7) bih, M Foster (8) bih, M Allan (9) 67; J Stewart (9) 68 bih.
Class 2 - D Bisset (10) bih, D Lane (10) 68; R Denning (12) bih, P Walker (14) 69; G Allan (12) 70.

LOW AMATEUR (outwith scratch prizelist) - G Munro 70.