LPGA Final Qualifying School Day 2 in Florida

KATHRYN MARKS TIME WITH
SECOND 74 WHILE
VIKKI IMPROVES WITH 75

Kathryn Imrie from Dundee repeated her first-round 74 on the second day of the LPGA Final Qualifying School at Daytona Beach, Florida. That put the 39-year-old Scot in joint 70th place on the four-over-par 148 mark.
Only the top 70 and ties at the end of four rounds will contest the fifth and final round to decide which 15 players will gain full playing rights on the world's most lucrative women's professional tour next season.
Vikki Laing, pictured right, from Musselburgh improved from a 78 to a 75 but a tally of 153 for 36 holes still leaves her languishing in joint 120th position in a field of 38 players.
The lead is shared on seven-under-par 137 by 18-year-old Angela Park from Torrance, California) and South Korean Hye Jung Cho who was a LPGA Tour rookie this year but only with conditional status - which meant she managed to enter only two tournaments, something the same as Vikki Laing's experience. The gap between full playing rights and conditional status is enormous.

SECOND-ROUND LEADERS
137 Angela Park (US) 70 67, Hye Jung Cho (SKor) 67 70.
138 Clarissa Childs (US) 70 68.
Other scores:
147 Samantha Head (Eng) 74 73, Rebecca Coakley (Ire) 71 76 (jt 58th).
148 Kathryn Imrie (Sco) 74 74 (jt 70th).
149 Louise Stahle (Swe) 71 78 (jt 78th).
151 Jo Clingan (Eng) 74 77, Gwladys Nocera (Fra) 80 71 (jt 101st).
153 Vikki Laing (Sco) 78 75 (jt 120th).

Stenson (67) leads in Nedbank Challenge at Sun City

MONTY IS BOTTOM OF
THE PILE WITH A 75

Colin Montgomerie, pictured right smiling (but not at this tournament), is bottom of the pile at the end of the first round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Gary Player Country Club, Sun City in South Africa.
The big Scot just couldn't get his teeth into this one and, with a 75, was eight shots behind leader and Ryder Cup team-mate, Henrik Stenson (Sweden).
SCOREBOARD
67 Henrik Stenson (Swe).
68 Jim Furyk (US).
69 David Howell (Eng), Padraig Harrington (Ire).
70 Retief Goosen (SAf), Charl Schwartzel (SAf).
71 Jose Maria Olazabal (Spa), Trevor Immelman (SAf).
72 Sergio Garcia (Spa), Ernie Els (SAf).
74 Chris DiMarco (US).
75 Colin Montgomerie (Sco).

European Challenge Tour tees off in South America

GEORGE MURRAY
STARTS HIS PRO
CAREER WITH 75
IN ARGENTINA

Former Scottish amateur champion George Murray (Earlsferry Thistle) returned a four-over-par score of 75 in his first round as a tour professional.
George is making his debut also on the European Challenge Tour which teed off its new season at Pilar Golf Club (pictured above), Argentina today in the Campeonata Abierto Visa de la Republica.
Fellow Fifer Peter Whiteford was level par after 15 holes
Jamie McLeary from Kinross was one under par after six holes.
Mark Tullo from Chile was setting the pace on four-under-par 67 with about half the field still to finish.
Michael Hoey (Northern Ireland) and Colm Moriarty (Ireland) had 73s.
Jamie Little (England, Tim Rice (Ireland) and Walker Cup player Robert Dinwiddie (Barnard Castle) were on the 74 mark.
England's Sam Osborne and Stuart Davis both had 76s.
Gary Clark, Daniel Dennison and Iain Pyman all had 77s. Matthew King had a 78.

==================================================================
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More suggestions on how to speed up NE Alliance rounds

From: PETER NORRIE (Murcar Links)

There's no doubt in my mind that television coverage is the main reason for today's slow play. What is an acceptable pace of play for a three-ball? Twenty years ago I'd have said 3hr 15min was more than enough.
Today I'd be thrilled if the answer was 3hr 30min! For those of us with "Ronnie Grant" tendencies, playing golf at the weekend has become a chore. I have no idea what goes through the head of those that take forever to hit the ball.
Commentators harp on about pre-shot routine and to start again if your concentration is interrupted. That's fine for the tournament pros, but the best pre-shot routine in the world isn't much use to a flawed amateur swing.
Solutions for the NE Alliance? Restrict the field is the obvious one or only play 15 holes or 16 holes, depending on the course lay-out.
It's winter golf, so try some innovative solutions.
1 How about a local rule allowing only 2min to look for a lost ball?
2 Play "ready golf" - hit your shot if you're ready instead of waiting for the guy taking off his waterproofs. It's winter golf, for goodness sake!

A more drastic solution? Have an official on the course, timing groups through three, six and nine holes. If a group is falling behind and can't keep up to the agreed pace, give them all a two-shot penalty. The main culprit will soon get the message from his playing partners and will be struggling to find a game the following week!

++Send your E-mail to colin@scottishgolfview.com if you have some different ideas for speeding up play in the North-east Alliance weekly competitions.

Surprise, surprise - the Brits are demoted in US list

RICHIE RAMSAY ONLY 12TH IN
AMERICAN WORLD RANKINGS

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

I wondered how long the Americans would tolerate the Royal & Ancient’s World Men’s Amateur Rankings whose leading places are dominated by British and Irish players with hardly an American in sight.
Now comes the answer.
Here are the Golfweek/Titleist men’s amateur rankings this week, “based on points awarded for specific finishes in designated tournaments” … and notice the BIG difference.
Americans or players at American colleges are the dominant force in its list.
Richie Ramsay, No 1 in the R&A World Rankings for the 14 weeks since he won the UNITED STATES amateur championship, is only 12th in the Golfweek/Titleist table.
And the compilers manage to list the home towns of all the Americans and even Spain’s Pablo Martin – but for Richie Ramsay, it is simply “Scotland.”
Here is the rival top 20 as seen through the eyes of the Golfweek/Titleist rankings:
1 Webb Simpson, Raleigh, NC 245.
2 Jonathan Moore, Portland, Ore 235.
3 Chris Kirk, Woodstock, Ga 180.
4.Dawie Van der Walt, Capetown, South Africa 170.
4 Trip Kuehne, Irving, Texas 170.
4 Pablo Martin, Malaga, Spain 170.
7 Dustin Johnson, Lexington, SC 155.
8 Bronson La'Cassie,Queensland, Australia 145.
9 Seung Su Han, Korea 135.
9 Carlton Forrester, Birmingham, Ala 135.
9 Richard Scott, Ontario, Canada 135.
12 Richard Ramsay, Scotland 125.
13 Colt Knost, Aubrey, Texas 115.
13 Billy Horschel, Grant, Fla 115.
13 Oliver Fisher, West Essex, England 115.
16 Bob Niger, El Dorado Hills, Calif 110.
17 Kyle Stanley, Gig Harbor, Wash 100.
18 Julien Guerrier, France 90.
18 Wonjoon Lee, Australia 90.
20 Mark Ogren, Daphne, Ala 85.

Mission Hills Asian-Pacific open amateur championship

GARY GLITTERS WITH BARGAIN
BUY PUTTER IN CHINA

England’s Gary Boyd – five shots off the pace in fourth place with one round to go – has only an outside chance of victory in the inaugural Mission Hills Asia-Pacific open amateur championship at Shenzhen, China.
But Gary could have had an even bigger mountain to climb had leader
Anthony Fernando from the Philippines not dropped four shots over the final five holes.
Fernando, 23, has had rounds of 71, 70 and 71 for a four-under-par tally of 212 over the Mission Hills 7,303yd course which will host the next two professionals’ World Cup tournament.
Boyd and Japan’s Ryutaro, who is lying joint second on 214, shared a new amateur course record of 69.
Gary should have been sole possessor of the record but, after being five under par for the round with one hole to play, the 20-year-old from Cherwell Golf Club, Banbury, near Oxford, pulled his drive at the par-4 18th and finishing up three-putting for a double-bogey 6.
A shopping trip to Shenzhen on Wednesday night proved very worthwhile for the young Englishman who has +4 of a handicap. He bought a new putter from a golf shop – “The same putter back home would have cost £100 but I paid just £30 for it in Shenzhen – and it has repaid that already!”
Boyd has scored 72, 76 and 69 for 217.
Reinstated amateur Craig Evans, a former Welsh amateur champion, dropped down to a share of seventh place on 222 after a round of 77. His earlier efforts were 75 and 70.
Walker Cup veteran Gary Wolstenholme from Kilworth Springs is gradually coming to terms with the course but is 23 shots behind leader Fernando. Gary has shot 81, 78 and 76 for 235. At least he kept a 6 or higher figure off his card for the first time during his third round.
Promising Welsh youngster Zack Gould had a No Return in the second round after a nightmare first-day 88.

LEADING THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
Par 72
212 A Fernando (Philippines) 71 70 71.
214 T H Choo (Singapore) 70 73 71, R Nagano (Japan) 74 71 69.
217 G Boyd (England) 72 76 69.
218 R Kulacz (Australia) 73 72 73.

Other scores:
222 C Evans (Wales) 75 70 77 (jt 7th).
235 G Wolstenholme (England) 81 78 76 (jt 33rd).
No Return: Z Gould (Wales) 88 NR -

HENDERSON HAS A 73 IN NZ OPEN

Scott Henderson had a two-over-par 73 to be lying joint 59th at the end of the first round of the New Zealand Open at Gulf Harbour Golf Club.
Australian Scott Strange birdied three of the last four holes to lead at four-under-par 67.
If you think the weather is bad in Scotland, it's not all that much better in what is coming up to New Zealand's summer - there was a rainstorm at one point of the first day's play.

LEADING FIRST-ROUND SCORES
67 Scott Strange (Aus).
68 Kim Felton (Aus), Jarrod Moseley (Aus), Greg Chalmers (Aus).
69 Lee James (Eng), Nick Dougherty (Eng), Simon Wakeford (Eng), Marcus Fraser (Aus), Peter Senior (Aus), Craig Parry (Aus), Michael Long (NZ), Stephen Scahill (NZ), Mark Purser (NZ).
Other score:
73 Scott Henderson (Sco) (jt 59th).

SGU president's gift to mark Elgin Golf Club Centenary Year

Scottish Golf Union president Gordon McInnes from Glasgow presents a gift to Elgin Golf Club captain Jim Manson (left) to mark the club's centenary year. On the right is Elgin GC vice-captain David Mitchell. Picture by Robin Wilson.

Peter Abbott succeeds David Black as North District SGU secretary

New North District SGU secretary Peter Abbott (Nairn) is "welcomed" - Peter's been a North District committee member for a number of years - on board as secretary of the district by North District president Martin Robertson (Gairloch). Retiring secretary David Black (Forres) is on the right. Picture by Robin Wilson.

KATHRYN (74), VIKKI (78) AS
LPGA FINAL Q SCHOOL
STARTS IN FLORIDA

Scots Kathryn Imrie, pictured right, and Vikki Laing did not make the flying start they had hoped for over the first 18 holes of the five-round LPGA Final Qualifying School at Daytona Beach, Florida.
Kathryn, 39-years-old from Dundee and a former winner on the No 1 women’s world professional circuit, had a round of 74 (38-36) to be in joint 79th position in a field of 138.
Vikki, 25, from Musselburgh, is worse placed – sharing 131st place after a 78 (38-40). Both started their campaigns over the Champions course.
Both girls have three rounds to get their acts together. The field, having played two rounds over the Legends Course and two rounds over the Champions Course, will be cut to the leading 70 and ties after 72 holes.
After the final round, only the top 15 will gain full playing rights for the 2007 season. The next 35 will have conditional status, which means they will get into some of the tournaments with lesser prizemoney, in which all the entry spots are not taken up by those with full players’ cards.
Two South Koreans from Seoul, Hye Jung Choi (35-32) and 18-year-old amateur In-Kyung Kim (33-34), the 2005 United States girls champion, share the lead on five-under-par 67.
Twice former British women’s open champion Louise Stahle is sharing 22nd place on 71 (33-38). The Swede, who gained playing rights at last week’s Ladies European Tour Q School, is in joint 22nd place.
England’s Jo Clingan (34-40) from Gloucester and Bedford’s Samantha Head (39-35) are on the same 74 mark as Kathryn Imrie.
One of the surprises of the first day was the performance of France’s Gwladys Nocera, one of the more successful players on the LET. She is in 136th place after an 80 (40-40).
LEADING FIRST-ROUND SCORES
67 Hye Jung Choi (Kor) 35-32, (am) In-Kyung Kim (Kor) 33-34.
68 Paige MacKenzie (US) 33-35, Irene Cho (US) 32-36, Erica Blasberg 32-36.
Other scores:
71 Louise Stahle (Swe) 33-38.
74 Kathryn Imrie (Sco) 38-36, Jo Clingan (Eng) 34-40, Samantha Head (Eng) 39-35.
78 Vikki Laing (Sco) 38-40.
80 Gwladys Nocera (Fra) 40-40.

Suggestions on how to speed up play in NE Alliance

From the Editor, Colin Farquharson.

To make sense of the following comments from viewers of this website, you really have to scroll down and read my piece on the slow play blight that has hit the North-east Golfers' Alliance over the last few weeks.
Here are the first responses and I'll publish every one that I receive and also let NE Alliance secretary Ron Menzies have a copy as well.

GARY HOMER (Lumphanan)

It was 40 mins late at 10.22am so you can't blame the groups that started 9.30. to 10.00. If everyone was to tee off on time and just get on with it, I think it would move along well.


DENNIS SHERRIFFS (Hazlehead)

Television hasn't helped, but basically it's down to players to just get a bloody move on ... walking more quickly between shots, slicker on the greens - "if you're going to miss them, miss them quick."
Or perhaps here's a more novel suggestion. As everyone now seems to have electric caddy-cars, why not a built-in system of a minimum of 10-15mph. It might not improve the golf, but play would be "Ronnie Grant quick" - and everyone would become super fit into the bargain!

GILLIAN KIRKWOOD (Broomieknowe)

My solution to slow play in the North-east Alliance would be to restrict players to five clubs, as they did in the recent World Hickory championship. Everyone can then carry their clubs, no need for caddies or caddy cars, and they don't spend ages with club selection. The players have to manufacture shots, which means the most skillful players do best.

+++Send your solution on how to speed up play in future North-east Golfers' Alliance competitions to Colin Farquharson at colin@scottishgolfview.com

Banchory boys' second rounds suspended

BAD WEATHER IN FLORIDA HOLDS
UP NGA HOOTERS TOUR EVENT

So you think Florida must be the place to be at this time of the year rather than cold and windy Scotland?
Think again!
Play in today's second round of the NGA Hooters Tour winter series tournament at Timacuan Golf Club, St Mary in Florida first had to be suspended and eventually abandoned for the day due to bad weather.
It is hoped to resume play on Thursday, complete the second round and possibly squeeze the third and final round into the three-day schedule.
Banchory boys Mark Barnard (73) and Paul Cormack (75) were lying joint 44th and joint 68th at the end of the first round. Only the top 50 and ties will go forward to the final round.

Too many players, not enough daylight - what's the answer?

NORTH-EAST ALLIANCE
MEETINGS RUINED FOR
MANY BY CHRONIC
SLOW PLAY

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
(colin@scottishgolfview.com)
What’s to be done about the mini-crisis that is besetting the North-east Alliance competitions?
“Crisis? What crisis?” Well, slow play – rounds taking the best part of 4 ½ to five hours – is ruining the enjoyment of many players, particularly those who, for various reasons, have to go out at the tail-end of the field.
There were many moans in the Portlethen clubhouse today – just as there have been at almost every meeting as the fields show no sign of shrinking but there are, of course, fewer and fewer hours of daylight to complete a round of golf.
Today’s field of 100 equalled the best of the season but it caused major problems for the second half of the field.
“I don’t think we would have bothered going out if we had known that we would have to play the last few holes in almost complete darkness,” said David Corkey, the two-handicap East Aberdeenshire player.
COULDN’T SEE A THING
“Our threesome were going quite well until there came the point when we just couldn’t see a thing.”
Nigel Parker (Murcar Links) pointed the finger at the origin of today’s snail's pace at those who started between 9.30am and 10am and did not finish until about 4 ½ hours later.
"If they couldn't get round in around in four hours, what chance was there for us at the end of the field?" asked Nigel.
It may be, of course, that the players around that time were taking a lot of shots to get round in what were very wet conditions. With no run – and the back tees being used – the Portlethen course was playing very long indeed.
Secretary Ron Menzies, pictured above, is certainly considering – until the daylight hours lengthen – playing future competitions off forward tees, which might not please the low-handicap players and the professionals but it might help the higher-handicap players get round in fewer shots and, consequently, a lot more quickly.
RESTRICT SIZE OF FIELD
The obvious answer is to put a cap on the size of the fields during the months of November-December-January at around 75 players. That means that around 25 players each week would be disappointed. They would not get a game at all, slow or fast.
Another answer is to use a two-tee start … which will be the case at Cruden Bay next Wednesday. But not all courses lend themselves to that arrangement.
The basic answer is that players should get their fingers out and play the “old” Alliance way … quickly. I remember in my younger days when I played the North-east Alliance circuit a round took little more, sometimes less, than 3 ½ hours. We’re not talking about 100 years ago, only as far back as the 1960s.
Why has the pace of play dropped so dramatically since then?
Should Ron Menzies consider something really dramatic like banning the marking of a ball on the green unless it is in the way of a player farther from the hole.
Ron and I would like to hear your view. Maybe there is a Solomon out there who has the answer to the problem. E-mail me at colin@scottishgolfview.com and I’ll publish your views on the situation on the website and pass them on to Ron Menzies.

++SCROLL DOWN TO READ A REPORT AND THE SCORES FROM TODAY'S ALLIANCE AT PORTLETHEN.

Wolstenholme struggles, Young Gould has a No Return

EX-PRO EVANS LEADING
BRITISH PLAYER IN
CHINESE TOURNAMENT
Reinstated amateur Craig Evans from Wales is the leading British player at the halfway point of the Mission Hills Asia-Pacific open amateur championship at Mission Hills Golf Club, Shenzhen in China.
Craig, Welsh amateur champion in 1994, turned pro in 1996 but his amateur talent did not transfer to the paid ranks and he soon sought reinstatement which was granted by the R&A in 2001.
Evans’ round of 70 over a 7,303yd course, which will be used for the World Cup next year, was the best by anyone in the second round and enable him to move up to a share of third place on 145 – four shots behind the new leader, Anthony Fernando, a +3 player from the Manila Southwoods Golf Club in the Philippines.
Anthony, 23, added a 71 to his opening 70 to be two shots clear on three-under-par 141.
Englishman Gary Boyd dropped to a share of 10th place after a 76 for 148.
Boyd's bogeys outnumbered his birdies on the second day. He birdied the seventh and eighth but dropped shots at the third, 11th, 12th, 14th, 17th and 18th.
Compatriot Gary Wolstenholme, pictured above, improved marginally with a 78 for 158 to be 17 shots off the pace after two rounds. The Walker Cup veteran had two 6s - at the long second and 16th - on his scorecard. He had only one birdie.
Welsh youngster Zack Gould had a No Return after starting at the 10th and requiring 46 strokes for his first nine holes. He did not return a score for the first hole onward. In the first round he had a sad 88.


SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2 x 72)
141 A Fernando (Philippines) 70 71.
143 T H Choo (Singapore) 70 73.
145 C Evans (Wales) 75 70, R Nagano (Japan) 74 71, R Kulacz (Australia) 73 72, J Bayron (Philippines) 73 72.
146 B Leong (Malaysia) 74 72.
147 T Huang (Taiwan) 75 72, K Y Goh (Singapore) 73 74.
148 J Chakola (Indkia) 71 77, Y Ch Liu (Taiwan) 74 74, P X Quek (Singapore) 75 73, G Boyd (England) 72 76.
149 H Singh (India) 73 76, J Han (Singapore) 75 74.

Other scores included:
158 G Wolstenholme (England) 81 78.
No Return: Z Gould (Wales) 88 -.

HOLE IN ONE NEWS FROM NEWMACHAR GOLF CLUB

Note from Editor: We invite all golf clubs to E-mail me - colin@scottishgolfview.com - with interesting news from their clubs. Here's a message from Carol O'Neill (I can never remember if she has one 'l' or two 'ls' on the end of her surname):

Colin
A wonderful day at Newmachar on Sunday!!! Members had holes-in-one on both the Hawkshill and Swailend courses.
Using a wedge, John W Lawrence had his hole in one at the 143yd ninth hole during a charity Texas scramble event being held on Hawkshill. His playing partners were Ian A Smith, Martin McCaffrey and Frank Shearer.
Over on the Swailend course, A Graham Moir achieved his first ever hole in one at the 161yd 12th hole with a seven-iron. His playing partner was David Ritchie.
Don’t know if this is news worthy or not but it certainly got Newmachar Golf Club buzzing at the weekend.
Regards
Carol

News from today's North-east Alliance meeting

Banchory
assistant
scores 1st
win with
help of
10 single
putts

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Banchory assistant Stewart Davidson (pictured above left) boosted the number of first-time winners on the North-east Alliance circuit this season to seven, thanks to a two-under-par round of 70 in cold and windy conditions over a very wet Portlethen course today.
Davidson, 25, originally from Braemar, highlighted his card with an eagle 3 at the fourth and birdies at the short fifth and 10th as well at the 14th and 18th in halves of 36 and 34.
“I three-putted the third from about 25ft but thereafter my short game was quite good and I reckon I had 10 single putts,” said Davidson who reduced the 466yd of the par-5 fourth to a driver, four-iron and a 25ft putt.
Stewart birdied the short third with a nine-iron and a 10ft putt; the short 10th with a driver and a 15ft putt, the third with a sand wedge second to three feet of the stick and the 18th with a driver, a five-iron which missed the green, and a pitch and a putt.
He dropped shots at the third, seventh and eighth (missing the green both times), and the sixth, where he was in the trees off the tee and took two shots to recover.
Stewart pitched and putted at the sixth, ninth, 11th, 13th, 16th and 18th.
Cruden Bay staff professional Neil Murray (pictured above on right) and Murcar Links leading amateur Terry Mathieson tied for second place on 71. Both were left rueing late bogeys.
Murray’s halves of 34-37 contained bogeys at the 13th, 14th and 16th apart from birdies at the fourth, eighth, 11th and 18th.
"I have just come back from a golfing trip to Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol, so my game was in pretty good nick," said Neil.
Mathieson (36-35) birdied the seventh, 12th, 14th and 18th but bogeyed the eighth, 16th and 17th.
"I was in the trees off the tee at the 16th and then three-putted the 17th, so that was disappointing, even though I got a birdie 4 at the last," said Terry.
Of the field of precisely 100 - equalling the best of the season so far - there were 28 No Returns, many of them towards the end when players walked in when it became too dark to complete their rounds.

Leading scores (Par 72)

SCRATCH
70 S Davidson (Banchory).
71 N Murray (Cruden Bay), T Mathieson (Murcar Links).
72 W Main (Murcar Links), I Buchan (Craibstone).
74 G Ingram (Inveurie).
75 G Grimmer (Nigg Bay), E Kennedy (Stonehaven), C Stephen (Meldrum House), N Reid (Deeside).
76 S Finnie (Caledonian).
77 A Campbell (Deeside), A S Buchan (Newburgh), W S Urquhart (Murcar Links).
78 S Fraser (Northern), J M Hamilton (Murcar Links), R Stewart (Cruden Bay), D Garrett (Huntly), D Corkey (East Aberdeenshire)
79 C Carnegie (Kemnay), R Pirie (Caledonian), R McDonald (Kemnay).
80 C Nelson (MacKenzie Club), A Grant (Portlethen), D Leighton (Murcar Links).
81 A Swift (Auchmill), A Thouless (Nigg Bay),.
82 B Harper (Newburgh), P Farnan (Royal Aberdeen), C Alexander (Murcar Linsk).
83 N Williamson (Banchory), J Murray (Banchory).
84 S Lawrie (Portlethen).

HANDICAP

Class 1 – G Ingram (Inverurie) (4) 70; A S Buchan (Newburgh) (6) 71; W Main (Murcar Links) (scr) 72; T Mathieson (Murcar Links) (+2) , G Grimmer (Nigg Bay) (2), J M Hamilton (5), A Grant (Portlethen) 73; E Kennedy (Stonehaven) (scr), D Leighton (Murcar Links) (5) 75; S Finnie (Caledonian) (scr), W S Urquhart (Murcar Links) (1), D Garrett (Huntly) (2), D Corkey (East Aberdeenshire) (2), R Pirie (Caledonian) (3) 76.

Class 2 – I Strachan (Royal Aberdeen) (11) 75; G Homer (Lumphanan) (12), D Sherriffs (Hazlehead) (13) 76; J Wilson (Deeside) (10), G Kennedy (Meldrum House) (13), G Travis (Auchmill) (15) 78; H McNaughton (Cruden Bay) (10), K Duncan (Cruden Bay) (12), D Wood (Newburgh) (14), B Lumsden (Northern) (16) 80; G Leslie (Newburgh) (10); R Alison (Deeside) (13), D Randall (Banchory) (13) 83.

LEADERS' SCORECARDS
Portlethen par:
OUT: 4-5-4-5-3-4-4-3-4-36
IN: 3-4-3-5-4-4-4-4-5-36

STEWART DAVIDSON 70
OUT: 4-5-5-3-2-4-5-4-4-36
IN: 2-4-3-6-3-4-4-4-4-34

NEIL MURRAY 71
OUT: 4-5-4-4-3-4-4-2-4-34
IN: 3-3-3-6-4-4-5-4-4-37

TERRY MATHIESON 71
OUT: 4-5-4-5-3-4-3-4-4-36
IN: 3-4-2-5-3-4-5-5-4-35

IAIN BUCHAN 72
OUT: 4-4-4-5-3-4-4-3-4-35
IN: 3-4-3-4-4-4-5-5-5-37

BILLY MAIN 72
OUT: 3-5-5-7-2-4-4-3-4-37
IN: 3-4-2-5-5-4-4-4-4-35

GREG INGRAM 74
OUT: 4-5-4-4-2-4-4-4-4-35
IN: 4-3-4-5-3-4-5-6-5-39

++Next Wednesday's competition - the last before the winter break - will be over a "composite" course at Cruden Bay - holes 1 to 7 and 17 & 18 on the main course PLUS the nine holes of the St Olaf course. To get as many players round in daylight as possible, some will start at the seventh hole.

SWEDE'S MALLORCA CLASSIC RECOVERY
WINS SHOT OF THE MONTH AWARD

By GORDON SIMPSON

Niclas Fasth of Sweden has been named as the October winner of the RBS Shot of the Month Award by a panel comprising TV, radio and golfing media.
The 34-year-old Swedish players receives the RBS Shot of the Month Trophy and a £1,000 cheque to donate to a charity of his choice.
Fasth produced a stunning shot in the final round on his way to claiming his fifth European Tour title in the Mallorca Classic. With Sergio Garcia in close pursuit at Pula Golf Club, Fasth found himself in rough off the tee at the 14th hole, but drew the ball brilliantly over trees and across water to within 10ft of the flagstick, setting up a crucial birdie 3.
In second place was Indian Jeev Milkha Singh's six-iron second shot to the par-5 17th at Valderrama on his way to capturing the Volvo Masters, while third was Irishman Padraig Harrington, who played a deft 62yd lob wedge to within 4ft of the cup to save par at the 72nd hole of the same tournament which secured his first European Tour Order of Merit title.

NORTH GOLF ALLIANCE

EXTRA SCORECARDS TURN UP - PRIZELIST
REVISED FOR COMPETITION AT WICK

BY ROBIN WILSON

The number of competitors not returning cards in the North Golf Alliance fixture at Wick on Sunday, November 19 was not as high as first reported after the discovery of more returns.
On the publication of the results , two Tain members contacted the Alliance secretary to complain that their scores had been better that those listed. The Wick club checked and found that several cards had been put through the office letterbox and not in a designated card box in the hallway.
It was agreed with the Alliance secretary that these cards would be accepted and Tain member Mike Keay had the lowest net score in Class 1 and his playing partner Steven Holmes earned third place.
Among the cards was the best net score of the day, a 67 from local member George Calder who immediately went onto the revised prize list as winner of Class 2.
Apologies to those who have now dropped out of the prize list, Wick pair John Harper and William Taylor, and Walter Sutherland (Thurso).
REVISED PRIZEWINNERS
SCRATCH – Ron Taylor and Bill Murray (Wick).
HANDICAP - Class 1 – M Keay (Tain) (8) 70; S Cowie (Thurso) (6) 71; S Holmes (Tain) (5) 72; G Grant (Helmsdale) (6), R Barker (Wick) (7) 73.
Class 2 – G Calder (Wick) (14) 67; W Williamson (Reay) (20), W. Rutherford (Thurso) (12) 72; L Sutherland (Thurso) (12) 73; W J Sutherland (Thurso) (21) 75.

NGA HOOTERS TOUR WINTER SERIES

BANCHORY BOYS DOWN THE
FIELD IN FLORIDA MINI-TOUR

Banchory’s Mark Barnard and Paul Cormack were lying joint 44th and 68th respectively in a field of 123 for the fourth event of the NGA Hooters Tour Winter Series in Florida.
At Timacuan Golf Club, Lake Mary, Barnard had a two-over-par 73 (37-36) while Cormack had a 75 (37-38).
The leading British player was Englishman Paul Curry with a 72 (35-37).
American Chad Poling leads the field on six-under 65 (33-32) by one stroke from compatriots Matthew Borchert (33-33) and Colby Beckstrom (33-33).
Barnard (Slaley Hall) and Cormack (Inchmarlo), both assistant professionals, will have played six events before they return home in mid-December.

MIDLAND ALLIANCE AT BALBIRNIE PARK

BOBBY WALLACE (69) HEADS BIG
FIELD BY THREE STROKES

Forrester Park assistant professional Bobby Wallace won the Midland Golfers' Alliance at Balbirnie Park Golf Club, Fife today with a fine score of two-under-par 69. He had three shots to spare.
Douglas Fordyce (Glenochil), with a net 69, won the leading handicap prize.
The meeting attracted the biggest turn-out of the season so far.

LEADING SCRATCH

69 B Wallace (Forrester Park) ap.
72 C Donnelly (Balbirnie Park) p, E Walker (Burntisland) ap.
73 M. Pirie (Pitlochry) p, E. Malcolm (Dunfermline)
74 L Vannet (Carnoustie Links) p, S Mann (Carnoustie), R Taylor (Crieff), A Reid (Murrayshall) p.
75 S Graham (Letham Grange) p.

LEADING HANDICAP

69 D Forsyth (Glenochil).
70 D Redford (Murrayshall).
71 L Kinnear (Carnoustie), R Taylor (Crieff).
73 J Irwin (Muckart), E Malcolm (Dunfermline), S Millar (Blairgowrie), R Francey (Glenrothes), B Stewart (Tulliallan).

Qualifiers for the Midland Alliance Championship at Scotscraig in April:
C Donnelly (Balbirnie Park) p, E Walker (Burntisland) ap, R Taylor (Crieff).

NEXT MEETING (sponsored by Fraser Bros (Tyres).
Tuesday, December 5 (9am-noon): Charleton Golf Course.

Mission Hills Asia-Pacific open amateur championship

BOYD IN FOURTH PLACE
AS DISASTERS HIT
WOLSTENHOLME, GOULD

Oxfordshire +4 player Gary Boyd, pictured right, was lying fourth on level par 72 at the end of the first round of the inaugural Mission Hills Asia-Pacific open amateur championship at Missions Hills Golf Club, Shenzhen in China.
Boyd, a member at Cherwell Edge Golf Club, had birdies at the fourth, fifth, 11th and 16th but four bogeys brought him back to level par although he avoided the disasters that befell players such as Walker Cup veteran Gary Wolstenholme from Kilworth Springs.
Gary had an 81 after triple bogey 8 at the second and a double bogey 7 at the 16th
Welsh prospect Zack Gould fared even worse. He returned a 16-over-par scorecoard of 88 after marking up an 8 at the par-5 second and a 9 at the par-5 sixth.
Choo Tze-Huang, a 19-year-old currently doing his national service in the Singapore Army, leads the field on two-under-par 70. Next summer Choo will enrol at the University of Washington, Seattle on a four-year golf scholarship.
"I'm very lucky that I get to practise every day. The army is very supportive of my playing international golf, " said Choo who is a storeman in the army.
A field of 65 players from 18 countries are taking part in the four-day 72-hole event which is endorsed by the R&A. The scores will count for R&A world amateur ranking points.

FIRST-ROUND LEADERS
70 Choo Tze-Haung (Singapore).
71 Anthony Fernando (Philippines), Joseph Chakola (India).
72 Gary Boyd (England).
Other scores:
81 Gary Wolstenholme (England).
88 Zack Gould (Wales).

JODI TOP GB&I PLAYER IN US
WOMEN’S COLLEGE RANKINGS

Freshman Jodi Ewart from Catterick, Yorkshire, pictured right, is the leading female British and Irish golfer in the Golfweek/Sagarin women’s college rankings at the winter break in the 2006-2007 season.
Jodi is 20th in a top 20 which is headed by Sweden’s Caroline Westrup (Florida State) and includes other Continentals in former British girls champion Anna Nordqvist (Arizona State), also from Sweden), in 11th place, Spain’s Maria Hernandez (Purdue) in 17th place and Germany’s Sandra Gal (Florida) 18th.
The leading Irish player is Tara Delaney (Kent State) from Carlow. She has dropped down to No 51 in recent weeks after being in the top 10 or 20.
Top Scot is Gemma Webster (Ohio State) from Glasgow. She is ranked No 212.
Scottish schoolgirls champion Michele Thomson (Jacksonville State) from Ellon has not yet settled to show the form of which she is consistent. Big-hitting Michele is down in 445th place.
Not all the Scots currently in America are ranked. Katy McNicoll (Lynn University) from Carnoustie, twice a winner this season, does not get a mention. That is because she does not play at NCAA Division 1 level.

LEADING WOMEN’S RANKINGS

1 Caroline Westrup (Florida State), 2 Taylor Leon (Georgia), 3 Jacqui Concolino (Vanderbilt), 4 Jennie Lee (Duke), 5 Amanda Blumenhirst (Duke), 6 Ashley Knoll (Texas A&M), 7 Alison Walshe (Arizona), 8 Stacey Lewis (Arkansas), 9 Whitney Wade (Georgia), 10 Leah Wigger (Virginia).
11 Anna Nordqvist (Arizona State), 12 Jennifer Osborn (Arizona State), 13 Brianna Broderick (Michigan), 14 Jenny Suh (Alabama), 15 Jennie Arseneault (Virginia), 16 Misun Cho (Pepperdine), 17 Maria Hernandez (Purdue), 18 Sandra Gal (Florida), 19 Tiffany Joh (UCLA), 20 Jodi Ewart (New Mexico).
Other British and Irish rankings:
51 Tara Delaney (Kent State) from Carlow, Ireland.
135 Danielle McVeigh (Texas A&M) from Kilkeel, N Ireland.
156 Hannah Burke (Baylor) from Hertfordshire.
176 Olivia Higgins (Charleston Southern) from Channel Islands.
212 Gemma Webster (Ohio State).
253 Dawn Marie Conaty (Memphis) from Dublin.
299 Karen Delaney (Kent State) from Carlow.
336 Claire Starkie (Georgia State) from Skipton, Yorkshire.
445 Michele Thomson (Jacksonville State) from Ellon.
466 Lucy Gould (East Tennessee State) from Bargoed, Wales.
525 Andrea Downer (Murray State) from Surrey.
579 Kate O’Sullivan (High Point) from Paisley.
580 AnnMarie Dalton (High Point) from Carlow.
590 Fern Grimshaw (Bethune Cookman) from Dorset.
691 Vicki Power (Northern Arizona) from Cambridge (Irish junior cap).
730 Laura Holmes (Old Dominion) from Ballina, Co Mayo.
737 Portia Abbott (Jacksonville State) from Wiltshire.
825 Becky Dowell (Bethune Cookman) from Thornecombe.
982 Shirley Harvey (South Alabama) from Belfast.
1135 Jenna Kinnear (High Point) from Belfast.

GEORGE MURRAY MAKES DEBUT ON
CHALLENGE TOUR IN ARGENTINA

Former Scottish amateur champion George Murray (Earlsferry Thistle), pictured right, will make his debut as a tournament professional in the first event of the Challenge Tour this week.
It is the Campeonato Abierto Visa de la Republica which has a prize fund of US $200,000 and is being hosted by the Pilar Golf Club, Buenos Aires.
It starts on Thursday and the only other Scots in the field, which includes top Argentinian players Angel Cabrera, Eduardo Romero and Ricardo Gonzalez, are Peter Whiteford and Jamie McLeary.
Murray is able to play on the Challenge Tour because he made the 72-hole cut in the European Tour Final Qualifying School at San Roque earlier this month.

ROYAL & ANCIENT WORLD MEN’S
AMATEUR GOLF RANKINGS
WEEK 46.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

In Week 46, there were some 15 ranked players who changed status to professional.
Richie Ramsay (Royal Aberdeen) retains the world No 1 spot for a 14th week.
Charl Coetzee (South Africa) moves up two places to No 18 and Robert Riesen (US), up one to No 20.
Australian Rick Kulacz, up 10 places to No 59, is the only entrant into the Top 50.
Having recorded a 64 in the first round and led the two amateurs who made the cut in Australasia’s MasterCard Masters, Aaron Pike (Australia) jumps a massive 88 places to enter the WAGR Top 100 at No 59.
Other new entrants are Kyle Stanley, up 64 to No 62, fellow American Luke List, up 35 to No 89, and Minnesota University student Niall Turner (pictured above) from Cork, up 69 to No 100.
Moving into the WAGR Top 150, with the minimum divisor of 32 scores, are two more American college golfers, Drew Weaver, up 42 to WAGRanking No 112, and Brendon Todd, up 14 to No 143.
Other upward movers are Mark Flint Haastrup (Denmark), up 58 to No 116, and Johan Du Buisson (South Africa), up 52 to 121.

Top 10 world rankings at Week 46 are:

1 Richie Ramsay (Sco) 1153.66.
2 Jamie Moul (Eng) 1117.02.
3 Pablo Martin (Spa) 1105.77.
4 Rory McIlroy (Ire) 1100.00
5 Ross McGowan (Eng) 1054.55.
6 Rhys Davies (Wal) 1044.23.
7 Chris Kirk (US) 1034.00.
8 Nigel Edwards (Wal) 1030.95.
9 Webb Simpson (US) 1020.41.
10 Gary Wolstenholme (Eng) 1018.64.

Other Scots in the top 200 are:

45 Lloyd Saltman 854.00.
53 Paul O’Hara 840.91.
71 Callum Macaulay 800.00.
80 John Gallagher 779.66.
84 Duncan Stewart 775.00.
103 Jonathan King 742.86.
106 Scott Henry 740.54.
113 Keir McNicoll 734.38.
114 Bryan Fotheringham 733.33.
117 Elliot Saltman 729.82.
125 Glenn Campbell 722.64.
128 Wallace Booth 720.00.
140 Mark Kerr 703.70.
197 Gavin Dear 631.25.
199 Iain Colquhoun 625.00.
200 Robert McKnight 622.22.

ANGLO-SCOTTISH PARTNERSHIP WINS LADIES MOROCCAN SALVER

Scot Carly McLaughlan from North Berwick and her English partner, Claire Ebrey, from Withington Golf Club, West Didsbury, Manchester, won the Ladies Moroccan Salver grand final at Sofitel Royal Golf, El Jadida.
Carly, whose parents own the Blenheim House Hotel in North Berwick, now lives and works in Manchester.
She and Claire were one of the winning pairs from 10 regional finals. In Morocco, they maintained their good form to total 36pt and win the competition by two points.
Banchory Golf Club pair Marjorie Clark and Jean Saunderson, winners of the Scottish regional final at Pitreavie, finished 10th with 25pt.
The tournament is played under the American greensomes stableford format whereby the two players tee off and then lay each other’s ball before deciding on which one to play thereafter.
The Douglas Bader Foundation benefit from the proceeds of the tournament. Lady Bader was in Morocco to present the salver to the winners.

FINAL TOTALS

36pt Carly McLaughlan & Claire Ebrey (Withington).
34pt Diane Hofman & Doreen Woolley (Buckingham) (better inward half 19-17), Julie Padgett & Laura Rhodes (Bingley St Ives).
33pt Doris Simm & Anthoinette Richards (Cape Cornwall).
32pt Betty Denman & Bridget Thomas (St George’s Hill).
31pt Jenny Dorrell & Lynne Pinner (Cleobury Mortimer), Lesley Green & Vicki Kemp (Cotgrave Place).
30pt Tish Morris & Jane Maulton (Whitehill).
29pt Carol Green & Cathy Pritchard (Strawberry Hill).
25 Marjorie Clark & Jean Saunderson (Banchory).

DUNCAN STEWART (86TH)
TOP SCOT IN US
MEN’S COLLEGE RANKINGS

It’s the halfway break time in the American college golf season … an ideal opportunity to scrutinize the rankings provided in the Golfweek/Sagarin performance index.
Today we bring you the men’s rankings. Tomorrow we will turn our attention to the ladies.
Edinburgh-born Welshman Rhys Davies, the star of the East Tennessee State University team, is the top-ranked British and Irish player in the No 4 position behind James Lovemark (USC), Charlie Beljan (New Mexico) and Billy Horschel of Florida.
Walker Cup player Davies has climbed four places since the end of October rankings.
The top-ranked Englishman is Peter Richardson (Purdue) from Carlisle, who finished well up in the Hawaii event a few days ago. He is in 48th place, one ahead of compatriot Charles Ford from Leicester, a junior at Tennessee.
The top Irish student is Niall Turner (Minnesota) from Cork. He is ranked No 58.
Duncan Stewart (Jacksonville), pictured right, from Grantown on Spey is the most highly rated Scot on the college circuit. He is ranked No 86, a drop of two places since the end of October.
Quite a few of the Scots don’t appear on the rankings because they do not compete at NCAA Division 1 level.

MEN’S RANKINGS
1 Jamie Lovemark (USC), 2 Charlie Beljan (New Mexico), 3 Billy Horschel (Florida), 4 Rhys Davies. (East Tennessee State), 5 Niklas Lemke (Arizona State), 6 Pablo Martin (Oklahoma State, 7 Dustin Johnson (Coastal Carolina), 8 Brian Harman (Georgia), 9 Zack Miller (Stanford), 10 Daniel Summerhayes).
11 Colt Knost (SMU), 12 Joseph Sykora (Alabama), 13 Derek Fathauer (Louisville), 14 Gary Woodland (Kansas), 15 Jonas Blixt (Florida State), 16 Gator Todd (Alabama), 17 Philip Pettitt Tennessee), Manuel Villegas (Florida), 19 Kyle Stanley (Clemson), 20 Zack Byrd (Coastal Carolina).
Other rankings include:
48 Peter Richardson (Purdue) from Carlisle.
49 Charles Ford (Tennessee) from Leicester.
58 Niall Turner (Minnesota) from Cork.
74 Johnny Caldwell (South Alabama) from Belfast.
86 Duncan Stewart (Jacksonville) from Grantown on Spey.
89 Gareth Shaw (East Tennessee State) from Lisburn, N Ireland.
102 Seamus Power (East Tennessee State) from Waterford.
143 Chris Paisley (Tennessee) from Newcastle.
146 Russell Knox (Jacksonville) from Inverness.
147 Ben Taylor (Georgia State) from Hexham.
174 Niall Kearney (East Tennessee State) from Dublin.
181 Lewis Kirton (Louisville) from Oldmeldrum.
184 Callum Macaulay (Ole Mississippi) from Tulliallan.
187 Wallace Booth (Augusta State) from Comrie.
223 Tom Sherreard (Georgia State) from Maidstone.
243 Daniel Willett (Jacksonvile State) from Sheffield.
245 Adam Hodkinson (East Tennessee State) from England.
275 Tom Oliver (Purdue) from Nottingham.
282 Farren Keenan (Texas) from Middlesex.
332 Alan Glynn (Xavier) from Middlesex.
348 Graham Benson (South-east Louisiana) from Leighton Buzzard.
407 Fergal Rafferty (Sam Houston) from Omagh.
414 Alex Hogben (Missouri-Kansas City) from Manchester.
504 Lewis Clarke (Memphis) from Exeter.
558 James Taverner (South-east Louisiana) from London.
645 Cian McNamara (East Tennessee State) from Limerick.
676 Mark Coppell (Campbell University) from Surrey.
755 Mark Trow (Memphis) from Oswestry, Wales.
829 Christopher Carson (Sam Houston) from Dunoon.
849 Peter McLachlan (Missouri-Kansas City).
883 Jordan Findlay (East Tennessee State).
968 Jamie Howarth (Ole Mississippi) from Stockport.
1147 David Daly (Minnesota) from Cork.
1205 Jamie Kennedy (Jacksonville) from Edinburgh.
1240 Kieran Lovelock (Xavier) from Surrey.
1738 Stephen Clark (Missouri-Kansas City).
2167 Colm Montgomery (South Alabama) from Malone, N Ireland.

**REMEMBER, LADIES, WE'LL HAVE THE WOMEN'S US COLLEGE RANKINGS ON DISPLAY FOR YOU TOMORROW.

NEW SGU NORTH DISTRICT
SECRETARY A HIGH FLIER
FROM RAF KINLOSS

David Black’s successor as secretary of the North District of the Scottish Golf Union has been a high-flier for many years … literally.
Peter Abbott, pictured right, joined the Royal Air Force in 1966 when he was 15 and was posted to RAF Kinloss in 1973.
“I have travelled all over the world flying in Nimrods. Having your own aircraft, meant you could take your golf clubs with you and if there was no course nearby you just left your clubs on the aircraft," says Peter.
"I have played courses all over the world from Ascension Island (volcanic rock) and the Gulf, putting on browns not greens (oil poured on to the sand to make putting surfaces) to Sawgrass and the Blue Monster in Florida,” says Peter who lives with his wife Jen, also a keen golfer, in Nairn.
"I joined Nairn Golf Club in 1979 and enjoyed the course so much I bought a house in Nairn and have lived there every since."
Peter has served on its committee on and off for the past 25 years during whch time he has helped to run such competitions at the Walker Cup, the Vagliano Trophy and two Scottish men’s amateur championships.
Peter became a member of the Scottish Golf Union executive committee in 2005. He has also passed the SGU Rules of Golf exam.
“I look forward to the new challenge of becoming secretary of the SGU North District and hope to take Scottish golf further. I love the game of golf and am very keen to help all I can in the golfing world.”

Hampshire lady has a trip of a lifetime to Hacienda del Alamo

LUCKY LISA’S DREAM ROUND WITH SPANISH STAR – AND MIGUEL BRINGS ALONG TOP BULLFIGHTER!

A 13-handicap club golfer from Hampshire has been describing her “dream round” – with European Tour star Miguel Angel Jiménez.
Lisa Reade, 34, from Rowlands Castle, won the game of golf with the Ryder Cup player in a competition and flew to Spain for the tee-off at the prestigious Hacienda del Alamo Golf Resort.
Situated near the picturesque town of Fuente Alamo in Murcia, Hacienda del Alamo is a luxury development of villas, townhouses and apartments built around a golf course which has been described as “the new Number One in Spain”.
“It was the round of a lifetime” said Lisa. “It was just incredible to play alongside such a great player on this superb course.”
“Miguel was the perfect gentlemen and coach. He put me at ease from the first and I was able to put the first-tee nerves behind me very quickly. He gave me some good tips on my swing and the round just got better and better. I surprised myself by actually managing to play quite well and got a few pars.”
WONDERFUL GOLF COURSE
Miguel Angel Jiménez represents Hacienda del Alamo Golf Resort on the European Tour. A two-time Ryder Cup player and former team vice-captain, he holds the course record of five under par at the course, which is the longest in Spain at 7,400 yards.
This time he shot level par in the company of Lisa and afterwards he commented:
“She is a very good golfer and played steady all day. Of course she was a little bit nervous beforehand but very quickly settled down and I think she enjoyed herself. It was a gloriously sunny day and perfect for golf on this wonderful course. It was a pleasure to play with her.”
Lisa´s VIP trip began with a flight to Murcia on Ryanair and a luxury stay in one of the resort´s villas. She then met the designer of the Hacienda del Alamo course, Dave Thomas.
There was a further surprise bonus for the round of golf with Miguel when he brought along his good friend Pepin Liria, one of Spain´s most famous bullfighters.
“It was all a bit overwhelming,” admitted Lisa “because there I suddenly was playing golf with not just one, but two big stars. The television cameras were there and lots of photographers as well with the lights flashing. I am just an ordinary golfer from Chichester Golf Club, used to playing in a weekly medal and then suddenly I am in the middle of a media scrum.
“But I enjoyed it and it took my mind off worrying about that first shot from the tee. It´s no bad thing playing golf with two very famous and handsome men either.
“All the girls at the resort were swooning when Pepin appeared. Bullfighters are treated like gods in Spain and he is one of the most famous so it was like being with a pop star. I certainly don’t expect to ever play a game of golf like that again.”
Lisa, a dental technician who lives near Portsmouth, is a member of the Golf TV Founders Club and saw the Hacienda del Alamo Golf Resort competition on that TV channel. She was picked from over 9,000 entrants as the winner.
POOR OLD BRIAN!
However a last-minute hitch meant that her fiancée Brian wasn´t able to join Lisa for the trip. He ruptured an Achilles tendon a few days before and had to pull out of the trip. The couple, who have been together for 10 years, plan to get married next year in Bali.
Following the round of golf, the Hacienda del Alamo resort held a special dinner in its award-winning “La Hacienda” restaurant where Lisa enjoyed a gourmet dinner with Miguel, Dave Thomas and resort executives including Billy Sim, the resort’s Scottish-born Director of Golf.
“We are delighted to have been able to arrange this round of a lifetime for such a delightful young lady. Lisa was the perfect guest and really enjoyed her few days with us," said Billy.
“She and Miguel got on like a house on fire and it was great to see that she was able to relax and enjoy her time on the golf course. To have one of the most famous bullfighters there as well was a fantastic bonus for everyone and we were very proud to have two of Spain’s best-known and most-loved sportsmen playing our course together.
“Hacienda del Alamo´s reputation is quickly growing as the best new course in all of Spain and the facilities we are building will be second to none.”
As she flew back to the UK at the end of her four-day trip Lisa revealed: “Miguel said I should come back next year for a rematch and I will be taking him up on the offer if I can. This was just a wonderful experience. I was a fan of his before this day but after spending this time in his company, I cannot speak highly enough of him. The other star of the trip was the golf course and resort which are just top class. Hacienda del Alamo deserves all the praise it gets”

***If you want to find out more about Hacienda del Alamo Golf Resort, log on to: http://www.hdagolf.com/

Thailand-based all-rounder likes life in the fast lane

SCOTS EXILE SIMON YATES GETS
HIS KICKS RACING CARS

Scotland’s Simon Yates is hoping that some inside knowledge will help him finish an injury-interrupted year on a high note with victory in next month’s US$650,000 Volvo Masters of Asia at Thai Country Club.
Yates, who is based in Thailand, will have Thai Country Club professional Daniel Wyborn on the bag for the Asian Tour’s season-ending event from December 14-17.
“Last year I was joint ninth. I played nicely but did not putt great. I did not know the greens very well,” said Yates, a two-time winner on the Asian Tour.
“Hopefully this year, Daniel Wyborn is going to caddy for me. He works there and plays there all the time so he knows the greens really well. So maybe I can putt better. It is always good to have a bit of inside knowledge.”
A shoulder injury kept the 36-year-old Scot off the circuit earlier in the year and he has struggled for consistency since his return in August. He is currently ranked 30th on the Asian Tour's UBS Order of Merit with winnings of US$109,842 but a recent change of putter could see an upswing in his fortunes.
NO CONSISTENCY
“It has been a pretty slow season for me. I have not had any consistency - played great one round, not so good the next,” said Yates. “My putting has not been great. I have gone back to an old putter which is about 12 years old and my statistics might come down. My short game is getting better. Hopefully I can finish the year with a good result.”
Yates, an all-round sportsman who represented Scotland as a downhill skier and now races sports cars, rates Thai Country Club as one of the best venues in Asia. “I think it is a great golf course, one of the best we play condition wise all year. As a golf course, it is very fair,” he said.
The course has been lengthened and toughened up since India’s Shiv Kapur won last year’s Volvo Masters of Asia with a score of 20-under-par 268.
“I played there recently and they are bringing the rough up and it is really tough. If you do not drive it straight it is going to be a difficult golf course. There again, it is like any golf course, if you drive it straight it makes it a lot easier,” added Yates, known to his peers as “The Wee Man”.
“They have two or three new tees, the rough is up and it is going to be very difficult. I do not think we will see 20 under par winning this year. More like 12 or 13 under. We will see.”
Yates lists Jyoti Randhawa, 2004 champion and last year’s runner up, fellow Indian Jeev Milkha Singh, seeking a Volvo hat-trick after his magnificent victories in the Volvo China Open and the Volvo Masters, 2003 winner Thongchai Jaidee and another local favourite, Prayad Marksaeng, as the players to beat.
SUPERCAR WINNER
“Jyoti is always going to be a good bet. He drives the ball well and he has been playing well recently,” said Yates. “Thongchai Jaidee and Prayad Marksaeng will also be in the frame. And Jeev, with his confidence and the way he has been playing, will be up there.”
Yates is making a bit of a name for himself in the fast lane with a first place finish under his belt in the Thailand Supercar Series.
“I enjoy car racing. I did six races this year and I have got an endurance race coming up on January 6. I like the adrenaline pumping through me. I have a need for speed. It is really good fun, a nice hobby,” said Yates of his new passion.
“The pressure is a lot different from golf. When you are on the grid and the red lights are going out one by one that is when your heart is pumping. But the minute you have started you do not even notice (the nerves).
“It is not like golf. Golf is a lot different. When you are on the first tee you feel your heart beating. Then you have time for the nerves to settle before the second shot. You have a lot of time to think.
“Motor racing is a total reaction sport, which is great. I love that sort of thing. There is not too much time to think which is good for me - I think too much on the golf course.”

TARA FINISHES JOINT SIXTH AS PUTTS
WON'T DROP FOR HER ON HAWAII

Ireland’s Tara Delaney (Kent State University) finished joint sixth with a 10-over-par total of 220 in the three-round Aloha Purdue Collegiate Invitational women’s tournament over the par-70, 6,183yd Kiahuna Golf Club course on Hawaii.
Individual winner was Natasha Krishna (UNLV) with a two-over-par score of 212. She won by three shots from Spaniard Maria Hernandez (Purdue) who came with a rush in the third round, returning a four-under-par 66, the best of the tournament.
Tara Delaney, pictured right, obviously couldn’t get the putts to drop over a course that was well within her compass. She scored 74, 73 and 73.
Purdue won the team event – their first victory of the year – from Pepperdine with UNLV and Kent State tied for third place.

LEADING INDIVIDUALS
212 Natasha Krishna (UNLV) 72 71 69.
215 Maria Hernandez (Purdue) 74 75 66.
217 Michaela Cavener (Tulsa) 71 74 72.
218 Leanne Bowditch (Pepperdine) 75 69 74.
219 Whitney Frykman (Purdue) 73 73 73.
220 Da Soi Chung (UNLV) 71 77 72, Tara Delaney (Kent State) 74 73 73.
222 Kelley Louth (Texas) 78 73 71, Christina Boeljon (Purdue) 76 75 71
223 Kira Meixner (Kent State) 75 74 74, Jayvie Agojo (Pepperdine) 71 76 76, Misun Cho (Pepperdine) 75 75 73.

TEAM TOTALS
878 Purdue.
885 Pepperdine.
893 UNLV, Kent State.
907 Texas Christian.
915 Texas.
921 Iowa State, Tulsa.
929 Michigan.

ROSE'S TWO-SHOT WIN DOWN UNDER

Justin Rose, pictured right, came off the boil with a final round of one-over-par 73 but still had enough in hand to win the European Tour MasterCard Masters by two strokes at Huntingdale Golf Club, Melbourne, Australia.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
276 Justin Rose 69 66 68 73.
278 Richard Green (Aus) 70 71 68 69, Greg Chalmers (Aus) 70 67 68 73
279 Aaron Pike (Aus) 64 69 72 74.
280 Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 68 71 70 71.
281 Kurt Barnes (Aus) 70 66 75 70.
282 Mathew Goggin (Aus) 74 70 71 67, Jarrod Lyle (Aus) 72 69 69 72, Simon Khan 71 66 72 73.
283 Matthew Millar (Aus) 76 69 68 70, Adam Bland (Aus) 72 70 67 74, Peter Lonard (Aus) 68 71 69 75, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 66 72 67 78
284 John Senden (Aus) 69 68 74 73, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 73 68 69 74, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 74 68 68 74
285 Jarrod Moseley (Aus) 73 70 71 71, Nathan Green (Aus) 73 67 71 74, Craig Parry (Aus) 68 72 69 76, Paul Casey 71 70 67 77
286 Daniel Chopra (Swe) 75 69 72 70, Andrew Tschudin (Aus) 71 73 70 72, Peter Wilson (Aus) 65 74 72 75, Peter Senior (Aus) 72 70 67 77
287 Rafael Bello (Spa) 74 71 70 72, Brendan Chant (Aus) 75 68 71 73, Brad Kennedy (Aus) 74 70 70 73, Damien McGrane 76 67 69 75, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 71 73 68 75, Andrew Butterfield 70 70 70 77, Gary Simpson (Aus) 75 65 71 76
288 Jason Norris (Aus) 74 71 73 70, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 74 71 70 73, Gavin Coles (Aus) 71 73 70 74, Steven Bowditch (Aus) 68 69 75 76, Robert Allenby (Aus) 69 71 72 76, Tony Carolan (Aus) 68 69 72 79, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 74 69 66 79
Other British scores:
289 Graeme Storm 71 73 68 77, Nick Dougherty 65 77 73 74.
290 Lee S James 74 69 71 76, Simon Dyson 77 68 69 76.

JEEV MILKA SINGH WINS AGAIN

Volvo Masters winner Jeev Milka Singh (India) continues to cash in on his good form. Today he won the Casio World Open at Kochi Kuroshio CC, Jpan with a 16-under-par total of 272.
LEADING TOTALS
272 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 66 69 69 68.
274 David Smail (NZ) 72 67 67 68.
276 Tetsuya Haraguchi 66 68 70 72, Toshinori Muto 69 68 69 70, Keng-chi Lin (Tai) 70 68 69 69, Shingo Katayama 70 68 70 68.
277 Yoshikazu Haku 68 71 68 70.
278 Hideki Kase 67 69 70 72, Tadahiro Takayama 68 72 71 67.

Nelson Mandela Invitational Charity tournament

PAUL AND SALLY SHOOT
8 UNDER PAR BUT
COME 10th IN S AFRICA

Paul Lawrie and former LPGA majors winner Sally Little shot eight under-par 136 in the seventh 36-hole Nelson Mandela Invitational Charity better-ball tournament at Arabella Country Club, South Africa over Saturday-Sunday.
Paul and Cape Town-born but now Florida-based Sally had only one bogey over the two rounds, scoring nine birdies, which was not bad going but so high was the standard of scoring that they finished last in the field of 10 pairs.
Sally, who will be 55 next month, won 15 events over a 30-year span on the LPGA Tour, including three majors. That's Sally pictured on the right of Paul Lawrie.
South Africans Retief Goosen and Bobby Lincoln won the title with an eagle at the second hole of a play-off after they had tied on 16-under-par 128 with compatriots John Bland and Alan Mitchell.
Sandy Lyle and South Africa's Omar Sandys tied for third place on 130 with a pair of 65s.
The event raises thousands of £s (South African Rand to be precise) every year for charity.

BETTER-BALL SCOREBOARD
FINAL TOTALS
128 Retief Goosen & Bobby Lincoln (SAf) 62 66, John Bland & Alan Michell (SAf) 64 64 (Goosen & Lincoln won play-off at second hole).
130 Hugh Baiocchi & James Kamte (SAf) 65 65, Sandy Lyle (Sco) & Omar Sandys (SAf) 65 65, Mark McNulty (Ire) & Charl Schwartzel (SAf) 65 65.
131 Moketeng J Mashebgo (SAf) & Adilson da Silva (Bra) 67 74.
134 Vincent Tshabalala & Doug McGuigan (SAf) 68 66, Gary Player & Trevor Immelman (SAf) 68 66.
135 Tony Johnstone (Zim) & Helen Alfredsson (Swe) 68 67.
136 Paul Lawrie (Sco) & Sally Little (SAf) 68 68.

You don't have to be of Walker Cup class to play in some Continental events

FANCY PLAYING IN THE
LATVIAN OPEN
AMATEUR (handicap
limit 15) IN 2007?

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Former Scottish Golf Union president Hugh Hunter, pictured right, is one of a band of not-so-young British amateur (club-class) golfers who are spreading their wings during the summer to go and have a golfing holiday with a difference – playing in the open amateur championships of a variety of Continental countries.
You do not have to have a very low handicap to be able to enter most of them. If you are interested in the prospect, you can call up the website of the golf federation who are running the tournament and get more details and how to obtain entry forms.
If you run into problems, send me an E-mail at colin@scottishgolfview.com and I’ll do my best to find the answers.
Here is the list of the appropriate 2007 events from the European Golf Association website (http://www.ega-golf.ch/).
Just in case you really are a low-handicap golfer, I have included some of the championships for which you do need to be in low single figures.


MEN

FEBRUARY
7-11 Portuguese open amateur championship (Quinta de Cima GC, Algarve). Handicap limit 3.
28-March 4 Spanish open amateur championship (Desert Springs). Handicap limit 3.

APRIL
27-29 Cyprus open amateur championship (Secret Valley GC). Handicap limit 12.

MAY
7-10 Israel open amateur championship (Caesarea GC). Handicap limit 9.
24-27 Austrian open amateur championship (venue tba). Handicap limit 3.

JUNE
14-16 Slovenian open amateur championship (venue tba). Handicap limit 6.4.
29 Russian open amateur championship (Le Meridien Moscow GC). Handicap limit 6.

JULY
11-13 Slovak open amateur championship (Lomnicky GC). Handicap limit 10.
12-14 Luxembourg open amateur championship (Golf de Clervaux) Handicap limit 4.4.
13-15 Polish open amateur champion (venue tba). Handicap limit 12.
27-29 Estonian open amateur championship (Estonian G&CC). Handicap limit 18.
28-29 Danish open amateur championship (Silkeborg GC). Handicap limit 2.

AUGUST
3-5 Swiss open amateur championship (Basle GC). Handicap limit 3.5.
8-11 Czech open amateur championship (Cihelny GC). Handicap limit 3.
9-11 Finnish open amateur championship (Helsinki GC). Handicap limit 1.
9-12 German open amateur championship (G&LC Seddiner See, Berlin). Handicap limit 1.9.
10-12 Latvian open amateur championship (Ozo GC, Riga). Handicap limit 15.

SEPTEMBER
6-8 Hungarian open amateur championship (venue tba). Handicap limit 10.
6-9 Turkish open amateur championship (Antalya GC). Handicap limit 4.
19-23 Italian open amateur championship (Villa d’Este GC). Handicap limit 2.
20-23 Hellenic open amateur championship (Glydfada GC, Greece). Handicap limit 4.

OCTOBER
6-7 Bulgarian open amateur championship (venue tba). Handicap limit 16.

WOMEN

FEBRUARY
7-11 Portuguese women’s open amateur championship (Quinta de Cima GC, Algarve). Handicap limit 6.
28-March 4 Spanish women’s open amateur championship (Sherry Golf). Handicap limit 6.

MAY
8-10 Israel women’s open amateur championship (Caesarea GC). Handicap limit 14.
19-20 Cyprus women’s open amateur championship (Secretar Valley GC). Handicap limit 30.
24-27 German women’s open amateur championship (Dusseldorfer GC). Handicap limit 4.9.
24-27 Austrian women’s open amateur championship (venue tba). Handicap limit 7.

JUNE
1-3 French women’s open amateur stroke-play championship (Golf d’Esery). Handicap limit 6.4.
14-16 Slovena women’s open amateur championship (venue tba). Handicap limit 9.4.
25-29 Russian women’s open amateur championship (Le Meridien Moscow GC). Handicap limit 10.
30-July 1 Irish women’s open stroke-play championship. Handicap limit 9.

JULY
11-13 Slovak women’s open amateur championship (Lomnicky GC). Handicap limit 15.
12-14 Luxembourg women’s open amateur championship (Golf de Clervaux). Handicap limit 9.4.
27-29 Estonian women’s open amateur championship (Estonian G&CC). handicap limit 24.
28-29 Danish women’s open amateur championship (Silkeborg GC). Handicap limit 5.

AUGUST
3-5 Swiss women’s open amateur championship (Basle GC). Handicap limit 8.5.
8-11 Czech women’s open amateur championship (Cihelny GC). Handicap limit 5.5.
9-11 Finnish women’s open amateur championship (Helsinki GC). Handicap limit 3.
10-12 Latvian women’s open amateur championship (Ozo GC, Riga). Handicap limit 20.

SEPTEMBER
4-5 Irish senior women’s open amateur stroke-play championship (Ennis GC). Handicap limit 20.5.
6-8 Hungarian women’s open amateur championship (venue tba). Handicap limit 14.
12-16 Italian women’s open amateur championship (Parco di Roma GC). Handicap limit 5.
20-23 Hellenic women’s open amateur championship (Glyfada GC, Greece). Handicap limit 9.

ENGLISH STUDENTS FINISH
JOINT THIRD AND
FIFTH IN HAWAII EVENT

England’s Peter Richardson (Purdue University) from Carlisle and Farren Keenan (Texas University) from Middlesex finished joint third and fifth respectively in the Aloha Purdue Collegiate Invitational 54-hole tournament over a 6,885yd, Par-70 course at Kiahuna Golf Club, Kauai on Hawaii.
Richardson, 22, who had a great opening round of seven-under-par 63, had led the field on 134 after 36 holes by three shots from Keenan (69-68). Peter is on the left and Farren on the right in the above pictures.
Peter signed off with a 74 for two-under-par 208 – one shot behind Kyle Stanley (Clemon) and Drew Weaver (Virginia Tech). Freshman Kyle won a sudden death play-off.
Keenan, 23 in January, had his best tournament for some time. A last round of 72 gave him a total of 209. He and freshman Lance Lopez, also joint fifth, spearheaded the Texas Longhorns to victory in the team event with a total of 847 – six ahead of runners-up Michigan with Purdue (856) third of the nine competing colleges.
“Farren and Lance played really good golf this week,” said Texas head coach John Fields. “This tournament included some of the best teams in the country, including No 1 Alabama so I’m really proud of the guys. Farren was a major part of this victory.”
LEADING INDIVIDUAL TOTALS
207 Kyle Stanley (Clemson) 71 67 69, Drew Weaver (Virginia Tech) 71 68 68 (Stanley won play-off).
208 Tim Schaetzel (Michigan) 68 71 69, Peter Richardson (Purdue) 63 71 74.
209 Lance Lopez (Texas) 68 72 69, Farren Keenan (Texas) 69 68 72.
TEAM TOTALS
847 Texas.
853 Michigan.
856 Purdue.
Also: 4 Virginia, 5 Clemson, 6 Pepperdine, 7 Alabama, 8 Notre Dame, 9 Rice.

Ladies European Tour Final Qualifying School

IRISH EYES ARE SMILING
AS CLAIRE AND MARTINA
WIN CARDS FOR 2007

Irish Curtis Cup player Claire Coughlan from Cork, entered as an amateur, tied with England’s 33-year-old experienced tour pro Samantha Head for first place in the Ladies European Tour Final Qualifying School at La Cala Golf Resort, near Marbella on Spain’s Costa del Sol.
Lynn Kenny, who lost her card after two years on the circuit, promptly won it back with a great run under pressure on the last day. She covered her last 12 holes in one under par to clinch a place.
(Scroll down for the story of Lynn’s last round).
Coughlan, whose 27th birthday will come along in March, carded a final-round 69 to Head’s 71 for a matching total of seven-under-par 281. Claire is pictured on right.
Claire’s compatriot and Curtis Cup team-mate, Martina Gillen also made it – they both played eight rounds in all, starting with the Stage 1 eliminator in Italy – to secure full playing rights for the 2007 Ladies European Tour.
Coughlan repeated her third-round 69 with birdies at the fourth, 16th and eighteenth after an eagle 3 at the eighth had given her the confidence boost she needed for the closing stages of probably the most important round of golf in her career.
LAST TWO CARDS
Martina Gillen from Beaverstown left her best until last with a two-under-par 70 to share 27th place with England’s Sophie Hunter. They won the last two full cards on offer – Nos 27 and 28.
Gillen had a lot to do at the start of the round – and she did it, turning in three under-par before a roller-coaster run of bogey at the 11th, birdie at the 12th and bogeys at the 14th and 17th.
She needed a birdie at the last to join the card-winners and, to her great credit, she got a 4 at the par-5 18th.
“It just feels tremendous,” said Coughlan, from Little Island in Cork. “I’ve had my fiancé David on the bag and we’ve enjoyed ourselves this week. We didn’t have too many expectations. It’s a new experience so we just thought we’ll see what happens.”
Coughlan’s fiancé David Ryan is a professional at Cahir Park Golf Club, Tipperary.
Gillen, too, was most pleased to secure a tour card at the third attempt.Samantha Head, 33, from Bedford regained her playing privileges after originally joining the Tour in 1995. She has been based in Florida.
Stacy Lee Bregman of South Africa, like Coughlan and Gillen, entered as an amateur, and English women’s amateur champion Kiran Matharu, who turned pro immediately after the Curtis Cup, tied for third place on five-under-par 283.
Matharu qualified as the Tour’s second youngest member after Korea’s Amy Yang, at the age of 17 years and nine months. She carded a final round 71 for a total of 283 to Bregman’s 70. Stefanie Michl of Austria took the fifth card after finishing on three-under-par after a final round 73.
VISIT TO INDIA
Tied third placed Matharu is looking forward to her first full year competing as a professional in 2007 and she said: “I’m happy but I think that my best achievement so far was getting through the last round of Pre Qualifying School in Italy. I was 11 over and I had to shoot one-under to get through. I’m going to work a bit harder over the winter.”
Matharu is planning a three-day trip to India in December, when she will meet a number of members of her family that she has never seen before and do some promotional activities. “I’ve never been so it should be interesting,” she said.
After 72 holes, exactly 28 players earned their full cards for the 2007 Ladies European Tour schedule, with five-over-par 293 being the cut off mark.
The remainder who made the last day gained conditional status, i.e. if there is room in any given tournament, they will be able to play, depending on their finishing position at La Cala.

LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR
Final Qualifying School Total at
La Cala Resort, Spain

CARD WINNERS
(Par 288: 4 x 72)
281 Claire Coughlan (Ire) 71 72 69 69, Samantha Head (Eng) 71 74 65 71.
283 Stacy Lee Bregman (SAf) (am) 70 75 68 70, Kiran Matharu (Eng) 72 70 70 71.
285 Stefanie Michl (Aut) 72 72 68 73.
287 Sophie Walker (Eng) (am) 71 71 74 71, Jade Schaeffer (Fra) 72 70 73 72, Jenni Kuosa (Fin) 73 70 72 72, Fany Schaeffer (Fra) 75 71 69 72, Anna Temple (US) 72 72 70 73, Louise Stahle (Swe) 76 73 65 73.
288 Lill Kristin Saether (Nor) 73 67 77 71, Felicity Johnson (Eng) 71 73 69 75.
289 Cassandra Kirkland (Fra) (am) 78 69 73 69, Anne Lise Caudal (Fra) (am) 73 71 75 70, Frederique Seeholzer (Swi) 75 72 72 70, Maria Verchenova (Rus) (am) 71 75 68 75.
290 Lee Anne Pace (SAf) 71 79 69 71, Hanna-Leena Salonen (Fin) 70 69 74 77.
291 Natalia Claire Booth (Eng) 78 69 72 72, Jo Clingan (Eng) 73 72 73 73, Anna Rossi (Ita) (am) (Ita) 75 73 70 3.
292 Nicole Gergely Aut) 70 79 73 70, Bree Turnbull (Aus) 76 76 69 71, Rikke Tasmussen (Den) 74 75 71 72, Lynn Kenny (Sco) 70 78 71 73.
293 Martina Gillen (Ire) (am) 74 77 72 70, Sophie Hunter (Eng) 71 73 77 72.

OTHER TOTALS

294 Kaisa Ruuttila (Fin) (am) 76 76 70 72, Eva Bjarvall (Swe) 73 73 75 73, Laura Terebey (US) 72 75 74 73, Janice Olivencia (Puerto R) 72 74 74 74, Melodie Bourdy (Fra) (am) 70 76 721 76, Libby Smith (US) 72 76 70 76, Maria Beautell (Spa) 69 73 75 77.
295 Marianne Skarpnord (Nor) 73 75 74 73, Zuzana Masinova (Cze) (am) 74 76 72 73, Julie Tvede (Den) 71 71 72 77, Dana Lacey (Aus) 69 75 74 74.
296 Morgana Robbertze (SAf) 75 76 72 73, Barbara Paruscio (Ita) 74 72 73 77, Heidi McCulkin (Aut) 71 73 74 78, Titiya Plucksatspron (Thai) 75 76 67 78, Suzanne Dickens (Eng) 74 72 71 79, Valerie Michaud (Fra) 73 75 72 77, Emma Zackrisson (Swe) 76 73 70 78.
298 Julie Berton (Fra) (am) 76 73 74 75, Melanie Holmes-Smith (Aus) 74 72 74 78.
299 Rui Yokomine (Jap) 70 74 78 77.
300 Patricia Bellard (Fra) 72 80 69 79.
302 Joanne Oliver (Eng) 76 75 72 789.
310 Shelley McKevitt (Eng) 80 71 72 87.

Former Scottish champion plays her last 12 holes in one under par

LYNN KENNY KEEPS HER NERVE - AND
HER PLAYING RIGHTS ON L E T TOUR

Lynn Kenny regained her player's card for next season's Ladies European Tour with a final round of one-over-par 73 for a final total of four-over-par 292 (earlier rounds 70 78 and 71).
With the leaders still to finish the LET Final Qualifying School at La Cala Resort, near Marbella, the Clydesdale-Bank sponsored Scot was assured of a share of 23rd place - and the top 28 and ties are guaranteed full playing rights for the new season.
Lynn, who finished too far down the final money table to retain her player's card at the end of only her second season as a tour pro, bogeyed the second and the eighth and, at two over par for the round, was in danger of sliding out of the leading 28.
But the former Scottish women's amateur champion responded to the challenged, got a grip of her nerves and covered her last 12 holes in one under par. She birdied the 12th and had pars at every other hole from the ninth to the 18th.
Well done, Lynn!
Ireland's Martina Gillen also looks safe, in which case she will be relinquishing her amateur status. Martina is in joint 27th place on 293 (74 77 72 70) with only the leaders to finish.
We'll be back at the end of play with a full summary of the final day's play.

JAMES BYRNE SIGNS
UP FOR ARIZONA
STATE UNIVERSITY

Arizona State University men's golf coach Randy Lein has announced that James Byrne of Banchory has signed a letter-of-intent with Arizona State and will join the Sun Devil programme next autumn.
Byrne is one of the most accomplished young golfers in Europe and he capped a very good 2006 season by winning his first Scottish Golf Union men’s Order of Merit 72-hole tournament in September.
That was the Newlands Trophy at Lanark where he shot a nine-under-par total of 271 (68-66-71-66) to win by four strokes.
"I first saw James play this past July at the European boys’ championship and my first impression of him was that of a champion," said Randy Lein, now in his 15th year at the helm of the Arizona State University golf programme, one of the best in America with excellent facilities at its base in Tempe.
"Confident people handle themselves in a special way and James has that look. He had a very successful summer and his game improved a lot from June to September. He will be a great addition to our program."
Byrne also became the youngest winner of the North-east District youth championships at Newburgh this past June as a 16-year-old. He equalled the course record of five-under-par 67 in the first round and went on to win the title by five shots.
James also won the Faldo Series Scottish Regional Qualifier (under-17) with a one-under 71 in June of 2006 at Blairgowrie G.C.
A WINNER IN THE STATES
He set or tied course records this past summer at Hazlehead Golf Club with a 64 en route to winning the NE District Boys Under-18 title.
Byrne has already been a winner in the United States. He earned medalist honors at the Texas Junior Golf Tour in December of 2005 with a 2-under 214 (73-70-71).During the year, James helped Scotland to win the boys’ home internationals at Moray Golf Club, Lossiemouth and he represented Great Britain & Ireland in the Jacques Leglise Trophy match against the Continent of Europe.
Byrne’s foursomes partner in the internationals, Lewis Kirton (Newmachar) has sinced enrolled at the University of Louisville, Kentucky.
Picture shows James Byrne in action at Lossiemouth, watched by Lewis Kirton.

ROYAL ABERDEEN
HONOUR US
AMATEUR CHAMPION
RICHIE RAMSAY

Richie Ramsay, ranked the world's No 1 amateur golfer since his victory in the United States amateur championship 13 weeks ago, was the guest of honour at a members' dinner held by Royal Aberdeen Golf Club at The Marcliffe at Pitfodels Hotel this week.
Richie is pictured accepting a framed scroll, awarding him honorary membership of one of the oldest golf clubs in the world, from the Royal Aberdeen club captain Michael Clark, OBE

Heather MacRae, Jenna Wilson miss cut in Spain

EAGLE FINISH GIVES LYNN
FIGHTING CHANCE
OF KEEPING L E T CARD

Lynn Kenny, pictured right, needs one more good round on the last day of the Ladies European Tour Final Qualifying School at La Cala Golf Resort near Marbella to be one of the 28 recipients of full playing rights in the 2007 season.
But, for Scotland international amateurs Jenna Wilson from Strathaven and Dunblane’s Heather MacRae, their hopes of becoming tour professionals are over for another season.
Lynn, sponsored by the Clydesdale Bank, is in joint 26th place after three rounds of 80, 78 and 71 for three-over-par 219.
She finished her third-round on a high with an eagle 3 at the 18th which makes her final-day task that bit easier. Earlier Lynn had birdied the fourth and sixth but bogeyed the first, ninth and 16th in halves of 36 and 35.
From a starting field of 95, the leading 50 players with 54-hole totals of seven-over-par 223 or better advanced to the day of reckoning.
Heather MacRae was two strokes over the limit with 76, 74 and 75 for 225. A double bogey 7 at the fourth hole on the first day was to prove the killer blow in the final analysis. In today’s third round she had her only birdie at the second before bogeying the third, 10th, 13th and 17th in halves of 36 and 39.
JENNA OUT OF TOUCH
Jenna Wilson, who had done so well in the LET Stage 1 eliminator in Italy, couldn’t find that form on the Costa del Sol. She finished on 14-over-par 230 with scores of 78, 75 and 77. She started her third round brightly enough with birdies at the second and fourth but it was downhill, or should that be uphill all the way after that with bogeys at the fifth, sixth, seventh, 10th, 11th, 14th and 18th in halves of 37 and 40.
Samantha Head, a 34-year-old twin from Ascot but Florida-based, took up the pole position with with a brilliant third-round of seven-under-par 65 – one eagle and six birdies - which put her on the six-under-par mark of 210. Her earlier rounds had been 71 and 74.
English amateur champion Kiran Matharu, who turned pro after this past summer’s Curtis Cup, has hit form at just the right time to be sharing second place with GB&I team-mate, Ireland’s Claire Coughlan, who is still an amateur, and experienced Austrian Stefanie Michl.
Kiran has put together three steady rounds of 72, 70 and 70 for 212. Claire, from Cork, birdied the second, fourth, fifth and 12th and had just one bogey, at the 17th, where she missed the green with her approach, for a 69, after scores of 71 and 72.
There will be two Irish players in action on the last day. Martina Gillen made the cut bang on the limit mark of 223 after carding a brave 72 , following rounds of 74 and 77.
Even today, it was not plain sailing for the Beaverstown player. She had a double bogey at the fourth but fought back with birdies at the fifth, eighth, 14th and 16th. But, in joint 48th place, Martina needs to produce a fourth-round score that will catapult her 23 places up the leaderboard if she is to collect a full player’s card for 2007.
A third Irish player, Hazel Kavanagh, who is one half of Ireland’s team for the Women’s World Cup in South Africa in January, failed to make the cut. A third-round 73 continued the progress she had shown each day – earlier rounds 77 and 75 – but a total of 225 left her two shots outside the limit.

QUALIFIERS FOR FINAL ROUND
Par 216 (72 x 3)
210 Samantha Head (Eng) 71 74 65.
212 Stefanie Michl (Aut) 72 72 68, Claire Coughlan (Ire) (am) 71 72 69, Kiran Matharu (Eng) 72 70 70.
213 Stacy Lee Bregman (SAf) (am) 70 75 68, Felicity Johnson (Eng) 71 73 69, Hanna-Leena Salonen (Fin) 70 69 74.
214 Louise Stahle (Swe) 76 73 65, Maria Verchenova (Rus) (am) 71 75 68, Anna Temple (US) 72 72 70.
215 Fany Schaeffer (Fra) 75 71 69, Jenni Kuosa (Fin) 73 70 72, Jade Schaeffer (Fra) 72 70 73.
216 Sophie Walker (Eng) (am) 71 71 74.
217 Suzanne Dickens (Eng) 74 72 71, Dana Lacey (Aus) 68 75 74, Maria Beautell (Spa) 69 73 75, Lill Kristin Saether (Nor) 73 67 77.
218 Titiya Plucksataporn (Tha) 75 76 67, Libby Smith (US) 72 76 70, Anna Rossi (Ita) (am) 75 73 70, Melodie Bourdy (Fra) (am) 70 76 72, Jo Clingan (Eng) 73 72 73, Heidi McCulkin (Aus) 71 73 74, Julie Tvede (Den) 71 72 75.
219 Lee-Anne Pace (SAf) 71 79 69, Emma Zackrisson (Swe) 76 73 70, Lynn Kenny (Sco) 70 78 71, Natalie Claire Booth (Eng) 78 69 72, Frederique Seeholzer (Swi) 75 72 72, Barbara Paruscio (Ita) 74 72 73, Anne Lise Caudal (Fra) (am) 73 71 75.
220 Rikke Rasmussen (Den) 74 75 71, Valerie Michaud (Fra) 73 75 72, Cassandra Kirkland (Fra) (am) 78 69 73, Janice Olivencia (Puerto Rico) 72 74 74 Melanie Holmes-Smith (Aus) 74 72 74.
221 Patricia Beliard (Fra) 72 80 69, Bree Turnbull (Aus) 76 76 69, Laura Terebey (US) 72 75 74, Eva Bjarvall (Swe) 73 73 75, Sophie Hunter (Eng) 71 73 77.
222 Zuzana Masinova (Cze) (am) 74 76 72, Nicole Gergely (Aut) 70 79 73, Marianne Skarpnord (Nor) 73 75 74, Kaisa Ruuttila (Fin) (am) 76 76 70, Rui Yokomine (Jap) 70 74 78.
223 Shelley McKevitt (Eng) 80 71 72, Martina Gillen (Ire) (am) 74 77 72, Joanne Oliver (Eng) 76 75 72, Morgana Robbertze (SAf) 75 76 72, Julie Berton (Fra) (am) 76 73 74.

++Leading 28 players after Saturday's final round will gain full playing rights in 2007 season.

MISSED CUT

224 Helen Beatty (Aus) 70 78 76, Sarah Nicholson (NZ) (am) 75 78 71.
225 Heather MacRae (Sco) (am) 76 74 75, Anna-Karin Salmen (Fin) (am) 75 74 76, Elena Giraud (Fra) (am) 73 76 76, Hazel Kavanagh (Ire) 77 75 73, Barbara Genuini (Fra) (am) 78 75 72.
226 Itziar Elguezabal (Spa) 78 73 75 Hanna-Sofia Svenningsson (Swe) 74 77 75, Kristie Newton (Aus) 79 73 74, Rachel Bell (Eng) (am) 78 78 70.
227 Kirsty J Fisher (Eng) 79 72 76 Caroline Afonso (Fra) (am) 74 81 72, Tamara Hyett (Aus) 75 80 72.
228 Laura Wright (Eng) 74 78 76, Antonella Cvitan (Swe) 75 79 74 Zuzana Kamasova (Slo) 77 78 73.
229 Karin Borjeskog (Swe) 78 74 77, Viva Schlasberg (Swe) (am) 75 78 76, Jillian Wyne (Can) 79 76 74, Nuria Clau (Spa) 81 74 74.
230 Jenna Wilson (Sco) (am) 78 75 77, Wendy Berger (Aus) 77 78 75, Johanna Lundberg (Swe) 78 77 75, Kelly Hutcherson (Eng) 79 78 73.
231 Camille Fallay (Fra) (am) 76 76 79, Caryn Louw (SAf) 78 75 78, Sofia Johansson (Swe) 77 79 75.
232 Katy Jarochowicz (Aus) 75 79 78, Shayne Wild (Zim) 77 79 76, Emma Lyons (Eng) (am) 77 80 75, Jenny Nilsson (Swe) 79 81 72.
233 Edita Nechanicka (CR) (am) 80 73 80, Marie Allen (Eng) 81 75 77.
234 Katharina Werdinig (Aut) 79 80 75 Josefine Skold (Swe) 79 83 72.
235 Angela Harris (Aus) 77 81 77.
236 Caroline Grady (Eng) 77 84 75.
238 Elizabeth Bennett (Eng) (am) 81 77 80.
239 Florence Luscher (Swi) 80 80 79.260 Anna Daffan (Ita) (am) 90 83 87.
Retired: Stephanie Evans (Wal) (am) 78 80 ret.
Disqualified: Pia Koivuranta (Fin) disq.

Four golfers tee off Aberdeen's Sporting Hall of Fame

Four Aberdeen-born golfers were last night among the first 21 inductees to the Aberdeen Sporting Hall of Fame at the Aberdeen Town House.
Pictured left to right are Sandy Pirie (Hazlehead), Walker Cup player of 1967, Elaine Farquharson-Black (Deeside), Curtis Cup player of 1990 and 1992, and Harry Bannerman (Murcar), Ryder Cup player of 1971.
Paul Lawrie, winner of the 1999 Open at Carnoustie, the fourth golfing inductee, was unable to be present on the night. His business manager, John Caven, deputised for him and is pictured with Sandy, Elaine and Harry.

OLIVER FISHER SIGNS UP WITH NIKE

Yesterday we told you that Oliver Fisher had turned professional at the age of 18 and would be managed by I M G.
Now we can tell you that Olly has joined the Nike Golf Tour Staff.
He has entered an exclusive, multi-year relationship with Nike Golf that includes clubs, ball, glove, bag, footwear, apparel, headwear and accessories.
To kick off his new relationship with Nike Golf, Fisher will be playing with the Nike SasQuatch Tour, Nike Forged blades 3-PW, Nike SasQuatch 3 wood, Nike Pro Combo OS 2 iron, Nike SV Tour wedges 54 and 60 degrees and the Nike One Black ball.
“I have used Nike Golf equipment throughout my amateur career and I’m very excited to become part of such a successful stable of golfers,” said Oliver Fisher. “I am looking forward to my first season as professional and a Nike Golf staff member.”

Ladies European Tour Final Qualifying School

WALKING THE TIGHTROPE TIME
FOR JENNA WILSON
AND HEATHER MacRAE

It’s crunch time for the three Scots competing at the Ladies European Tour Final Qualifying School over the North Course at La Cala Resort near Marbella on the Costa del Sol.
Only players in the leading 50 (and ties) at the end of Friday’s third round will go on to play in the fourth round, at the end of which the top 28 will gain full playing rights on next season’s circuit.
Lynn Kenny slipped back from a seven-birdie 70 on the opening day to a birdie-free 78 today. That gives her a 36-hole tally of four-over-par 148 and a share of 33rd place.
Barring a third-round nightmare, the Clydesdale Bank-sponsored former Scottish women’s amateur champion should survive into the crucial last day.
There were no bright spots on Lynn’s second-day card. She bogeyed the third, fourth, sixth, ninth, 10th and 13th in halves of 40 and 38.
Heather MacRae will be walking a tightrope in the third round although a two-shot improvement for a second-round 74 and 150 was a welcome sign that she is going the right way. Heather is sharing 46th place, which does not give her much leeway for slippage in the third round.
ONE BIRDIE, THREE BOGEYS
Heather deviated from par only four times. She bogeyed the seventh to be out in 37 and then bogeyed the 10th and 11th before birdieing the 12th. She parred her way home from there for an inward 37.
Jenna Wilson, who did so well in the Stage 1 eliminator in Italy, has it all to do in the third round. She is sharing 65th place on 153 after rounds of 78 and 75.
Jenna, pictured above, had a bad run from the fourth to the 11th in which she had six bogeys, having started with a bogey and then birdied the third. Out in four-over 40, Jenna soon slipped to six over par but then must have given herself heart for what lies ahead on Friday with birdies at the 12th, 14th and 18th for an inward 35.
Irish Curtis Cup player Claire Coughlan added a level par 72 (two birdies-two bogeys) to her first-day 71 and is four shots off the lead at the halfway stage. Finland’s Hanna-Leena Solonen, who turned pro only a month ago, is a shot clear of the field on five-under-par 139 after scores of 70 and 69.
Another Scandinavian who can't play golf back home meantime because of snow, Lill Kristin Saether (Norway) is lying second on 140 after a best of the day second-round 67.
Another Irish player, Martina Gillan in sharing 49th place after a 77 for 151. Martina struggled on the inward journey which cost her 43 shots (seven over par) after being two under par for the front nine. She had triple bogeys at the 12th and 14th.
LEADERBOARD
Par 72
139 Hanna-Leena Salonen (Fin) 70 69.
140 Lill Kristin Saether (Nor) 73 67.
142 Kiran Matharu (Eng) 72 70, (am) Jade Schaeffer (Fra) 72 70, (am) Sophie Walker (Eng) 71 71, Maria Beautell (Spa) 69 73.
143 Jenni Kuosa (Fin) 73 70, Julie Tvede (Den) 71 72, Dana Lacey (Aus) 68 75, (am) Claire Coughlan (Ire) 71 72.
144 Anna Temple (US) 72 72, Rui Yukomine (Jan) 70 74, Felicity Johnson (Eng) 71 73, Stefanie Michl (Aut) 72 72, Sophie Hunter (Eng) 71 73, Heidi McCulkin (Aus) 71 73, (am) Anne Lise Caudal (Fra) 73 71.
145 Samantha Head (Eng) 71 74, (am) Stacy Lee Bregman (SAf) 70 75, Jo Clingan (Eng) 73 72.
Other scores:
148 Lynn Kenny (Sco) 70 78 (jt 33rd).
149 Louise Stahle (Swe) 76 73 (jt 39th).
150 Heather MacRae (Sco) 76 74 (jt 46th).
151 (am) Martina Gillen (Ire) 74 77, Kirsty Fisher (Eng) 79 72 (jt 49th).
152 Hazel Kavanagh (Ire) 77 75 (jt 57th).
153 (am) Jenna Wilson (Sco) 78 75 (jt 65th).
156 (am) Rachel Bell (Eng) 78 78 (jt 75th).
158 (am) Stephanie Evans (Wal) 78 80 (jt 81st)
+Leading 50 and ties at end of third round will qualify for fourth and final round. The leading 28 after 72 holes will earn full playing status on the LET in 2007.

ICE-COOL MARTIN CLAIMS FOURTH CARD
FOR NEXT YEAR’S EUROPEAN SENIORS TOUR

Steve Martin’s experience gained from many pressure situations during his long career in amateur and professional golf helped him win a vital play-off at the European Seniors Tour Final Qualifying School on the Algarve today.
The Dundee man finished the regulation 72 hole competition over the par-71 Pinta Course (6,555yd) at the Pestana Golf Resort with four rounds of 70 for a four-under-par total of 280. He tied for fourth place with Frenchman Philippe Dugeny, Australian Mike Ferguson and South African John Mashego.
So far so good … but with only six full players’ cards for next year’s over-50s tour up for grabs, the quartet had to go out again in a sudden death play-off to eliminate one of them.
No sign of nerves from Steve as he won the play-off to claim the No 4 card with a birdie at the second extra hole. The fifth and sixth went to Dugeny and Ferguson, leaving Mashego with the first of the 11 conditional cards which will give their holders limited tournament opportunities next season.
ENTRY TO EVERY TOURNAMENT
Martin, with the No 4 card, will be able to play in every event if he so wishes.
Steve said: " I am just happy to get one of the cards and I will have a few beers tonight, that's for sure."
"The worst is definitely over now. Qualifying School is brutal and I can't believe that guys aged 60 and over come back to do this.
"I just hope I enjoy it next year as it's been 20 years since I was last on the European Tour. It will take a while to adjust, but as there is no cut on the Seniors Tour I can give it a rip and see where I finish."
Australian David Merriman defeated former European Tour player Emilio Rodriguez of Spain in a play-off to win the No 1 card. A club professional from Sydney, Merriman, playing in Europe for the first time, holed from 12 ft for a winning birdie on the second play-off hole.Earlier, both players had closed with 69s to finish the tournament with a four round aggregate of nine-under-par 275, four shots clear of New Zealand amateur Jim Lapsley in third place.The conditional-card winners included American Terry Dill, who, at the age of 67, completed six qualifying rounds in the space of eight days, starting with last week’s Stage 1 eliminator.
"I used to play a lot with Sam Snead and he has been my inspiration. He was making cuts on the regular tour when he was 67 and my motto is never, never give up," commented Dill, who, despite his age, still averages 290 yards of the tee.The ten other conditional cards went to the following players:
John Mashego (South Africa); Bill Malley (United States); Tim Rastall (England); Torsten Giedeon (Germany); John Benda (United States); Neville Clarke (South Africa); Rigoberto Velasquez (Columbia); Donald Stirling (Austria); Ivan Renjifo (Columbia) and Michael G Wolseley (Northern Ireland).

HOW THEY FINISHED

WINNERS OF FULL PLAYERS’ CARDS
275 D Merriman (Aus) 69 67 70 69, E Rodriguez (Spa) 67 72 67 69 (Merriman bt Rodriguez at second hole of play-off).
279 J Lapsley (am) (NZ) 74 67 69 69.
280 S Martin (Sco) 70 70 70 70, P Dugeny (Fra) 71 68 73 68, Mike Ferguson (Aus) 75 71 63 71 (Martin won four-way play-off for fourth card).
WINNERS OF CONDITIONAL CARDS.
280 John Mashego (SAf) 70 69 70 71 (lost play-off).
281 Bill Malley (US) 69 74 70 68.
282 Tim Rastall (Eng) 70 70 72 70.
283 Torsten Giedeon (Ger) 73 71 67 72.
284 John Benda (US) 73 66 69 76, Neville Clark (SAf) 70 72 70 72, Terry Dill (US) 69 71 72 72, Roberto Velasquez (Col) 71 69 71 73.
285 D Stirling (Aut) 69 73 72 71, I Renjifo (Col) 74 70 70 71, M G Wolseley (NI) 75 71 69 70 (after five-way play-off with J P Sallat (Fra) and A Mew (Tri).
Other scores:
285 Jean Pierre Sallat (Fra) 71 72 70 72, Alan Mew (Tri) 73 71 71 70.
286 Stewart Graham (Eng) 69 74 72 71 Jim Carson (US) 73 71 70 72.
287 Anders Johnsson (Swe) 73 74 72 68, Martin Foster (Eng) 72 73 71 71, Bill Hardwick (Can) 71 74 71 71.
288 John Curtis (Ire) 71 71 71 75.
289 Mike Inglis (Eng) 74 73 71 71, Chuck Milne (US) 75 71 71 72, Alex Romanoff (US) 72 74 68 75, Martin Morbey (Eng) 75 68 72 74, Bill McColl (Sco) 77 69 69 74.
290 Tim Huyton (Eng) 70 75 73 72, Tyrone Carter (am) (Eng) 75 71 71 73.
291 Mike Williams (Zim) 75 71 72 73, Peter Barber (Eng) 74 76 68 73.
292 Billy Todd (NI) 76 72 70 74, Mariano Aparicio (Spa) 74 69 76 73, Kent Nilsson (Swe) 70 75 72 75.
293 Malcolm Edmunds (Wal) 70 74 76 73, Gordon Townhill (Eng) 78 69 73 73, Mark Fernando (am) (US) 70 71 79 73.
294 Danny Garcia (Mex) 76 72 72 74.
295 Mitch Thomas (US) 72 72 73 78.
Disq - Luis Gallardo (Spa) 70 66 74 Disq.

HOW DID MICHELLE GET ON TODAY?
Michelle Wie took on the men again in Japan's Casio Open today. Find out if the 17-year-old did any better than of late by switching over to our sister website, www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk
Incidentally, Colin Montgomerie was due to play in the Casio Open but pulled out, citing "personal reasons."

CELTIC NATIONS TROPHY 2007
TOURNAMENT FINAL TO BE
HELD AT LOCH NESS COURSE

This year saw the very first golf inspired Celtic Nations Trophy held in the Highlands.
Next year as part of Highland 2007 – the year Scotland celebrates highland culture - the event will see golfers from all over Scotland and the Celtic nations of Ireland, Wales, France & Nova Scotia join with the people of the Highlands to mark 2007 down in history.
The Celtic Nations Trophy 2007 tournament finals will take place on Sunday, September 9 at Loch Ness Golf Course, Fairways, Castle Heather, Inverness IV2 6AA.
Entry to the event will be by a club stableford league table with the top 40 clubs being invited to participate on September 9.
Clubs will hold qualifying competitions throughout 2007 and submit scores for inclusion in the league table. All teams must consist of, and scores must be submitted from, one man, one woman, one boy and one girl. Exceptions will be made where clubs do not have any members in a particular group.
The aim of the event is to draw together teams of golfers from clubs in these countries so that they can represent their home clubs as well as their countries in a golf competition held in the Highlands.
This will give the competitors not only the opportunity to sample golf in the highlands but also take time to explore and discover the many other delights the area has to offer.
HIGHLAND BACKERS
The event is being backed by local Highland construction and development company UBC Group Ltd, golf and leisure business Fairways. Grant aid support has been given by Highland 2007.
This year’s tournament was run with clubs from within the Highlands so they could understand both the event and what Highland 2007 will mean for them. Eleven clubs from as far afield as Skye, Lochcarron, Brora, Nairn and Boat of Garten sent teams consisting of one man, one woman, one boy and one girl to play over Loch Ness Golf Course at Fairways in Inverness.
The resulting stableford scores were added together to provide the winning club and the first recipient of the Celtic Nations Quaich. Home advantage was used to the full as Castle Heather Golf Club, who use Loch Ness as their home course, were the runaway winners with a very impressive 146 stableford points.
Their team consister of Moyra Low, Stephen Chalmers Douglas Johnstone and Jamie Treasurer. Local rival Inverness Golf Club slipped into second place with a combined total of 117 points.
CARD COUNTBACK
Three teams tied for third place on 114 points with Tarbat golf club successful over Nairn Dunbar and Tain in a card countback.
Next year it is planned to have over 40 clubs from all of the Celtic Nations competing for the Fairways/UBC Quaich.
James Pedrana, managing director of UBC Group Ltd, said: “As a building, civil engineering and development company working throughout the Highlands and Islands we are delighted to be involved with Fairways in promoting the Celtic Nations Trophy.
“This is an event that does an excellent job in promoting the Highlands and Islands locally and overseas and an opportunity to show what our area has to offer. Golf is one of the Highlands biggest sports and it seemed only fitting that we used it to be part of Highland 2007.”
Mike MacKenzie of Fairways agreed: “Fairways promotes golf as a game for all and we are proud that we have introduced so many people to this great game. By being part of Highland 2007 we can extend this to golfers throughout the Celtic nations and introduce them to the myriad of things that the Highlands have to offer.
“Normally we are quiet people but 2007 is our chance to shout from the rooftops and we are very much looking forward to all the events, not just our own.”
*** Fairways was opened in 1989 as a driving range, bar, restaurant and function room by Sam Torrance, former Ryder Cup captain. The facilities have grown with the addition of larger bars and restaurant, opening of the 18 golf course in 1996, business suites in 2001, Travel Lodge and business park in 2005. The nine- hole family course was opened in September 2005 by Ronan Rafferty, former European Order of Merit winner.
CAPTION TO ABOVE PICTURE: Castle Heather Golf Club's winning team with the trophy. Back row (left to right): Douglas Johnstone, Stephen Chalmers. Front: Moyra Low, Jamie Treasurer.

KELSEY (16) PROMOTED TO SLGA
WOMEN'S SQUAD FOR
WINTER TRAINING

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
(Colin@scottishgolfview.com)

The Scottish Ladies Golfing Association selection committee has signalled that it believes 16-year-old Kelsey MacDonald (Nairn Dunbar), pictured right, is ready to step up into the women's international side next year.
Winner of the Northern Counties' women's title for the past two years, Kelsey's international honours so far have been restricted to Under-18 girls' teams. This past season she broke a string of course records in the North.
Now Miss MacDonald has been named as a member of the "National Ladies" squad for winter training.
Other North and North-east representatives in the squads are:
Kerri Harper (Inverness) and Laura Murray (Alford), now a student at Robert Gordon's University, in the Under-22 squad.
Mhairi Johnstone (Northern), Eilidh MacKay (Nairn Dunbar), Lauren MacCallum (McDonald Ellon), Samantha Leslie (Westhill) and Sammy Vass (Tain), in the Under-17 squad.
NOT FORGOTTEN
Ashton Ingram (Fort William) and Michele Thomson (McDonald Ellon), both currently attending colleges in the United States on golf scholarships, have been included in the lists as an indicator to the girls that they are in the international reckoning even though they will be unable to attend any training and practice sessions.
Three PGA professionals will supervise the training for five squads.
Kevin Craggs (Drumoig Golf Centre) will coach three squads – the National Ladies, the National Under-18s and the Under-22s.
Twice Northern Open champion Colin Brooks (Braid Hills Golf & Driving Range) will coach the Under-17 squad.
Scottish Golf Union national junior coach Spencer Henderson from Banff will coach the SLGA Under-15s squad.
The training sessions are scheduled for Drumoig. It is believed that there will be training matches between the squads and they are likely to be held at Dunbar Golf Club, which is the venue for next year's women's home international matches.
The squads are:

NATIONAL LADIES
Sara Bishop (Windyhill), Krystle Caithness (St Regulus), Louise Kenney (Pitreavie), Anne Laing (Vale of Leven), Fiona Lockhart (St Regulus), Kelsey MacDonald (Nairn Dunbar), Heather MacRae (Dunblane), Roseanne Niven (Crieff), Kylie Walker (Buchanan Castle), Jenna Wilson (Strathaven). In USA - Emily Ogilvy (Auchterarder), Gemma Webster (Hilton Park).

NATIONAL UNDER-18

Megan Briggs (Kilmacolm), Gilllian Monteith (Portpatrick Dunskey), Pamela Pretswell (Bothwell Castle), Jane Turner (Mortonhall), Rebecca Watson (Elie & Earlsferry). In USA – Sally Watson (Elie & Earlsferry), Carly Booth (Comrie).

UNDER-22

Emma Fairnie (Dunbar), Kerri Harper (Inverness), Lesley Hendry (Routenburn), Rachael Livingstone (Musselburgh Old), Laura Murray (Alford), Edwina Lowrey-Golf (Eaton). In USA – Louise Fleming (Roxburghe), Ashton Ingram (Fort William), Katy McNicoll (Carnoustie Ladies), Michele Thomson (McDonald Ellon).

UNDER-17
Jordana Graham (Southerness), Mhairi Johnstone (Northern), Samantha Leslie (Westhill), Eilidh MacKay (Nairn Dunbar), Lauren MacCallum (McDonald Ellon), Lauren Meldrum (Dullatur), Sammy Vass (Tain), Rebecca Wilson (Monifieth).
.
UNDER-15
Lesley Atkins (Minto), Eilidh Briggs (Kilmacolm), Cara Easton (Dalmahoy), Jill Meldrum (Dullatur), Annabel Niven (Crieff), Gillian Scanlon (Hamilton), Gillian Simpson (Baberton), Rachel Watton (Mortonhall).

Edinburgh & East of Scotland Alliance meeting

LLOYD SALTMAN (65) WINS AT
ROYAL MUSSELBURGH

Walker Cup player Lloyd Saltman, pictured right, just back from the European Tour Final Qualifying School, was the scratch winner of today’s Edinburgh and East of Scotland Alliance competition at Royal Musselburgh.
Saltman, still a Craigielaw Golf Club amateur, collected the £100 first prize voucher with a very good effort of seven-under-par 65, winning by four shots from Ally MacKenzie (Liberton) and Paul Terras.
Graham Grieve from Torphin Hill had the lowest net score of the day – a 68 off seven of a handicap. He just pipped Bob Clapperton and Stuart Wardlaw, who also hit the net 68 mark, with the best back nine.
There is no Alliance meeting next week but normal service will be resumed at Eyemouth on December 6.

LEADING SCORES AT ROYAL MUSSELBURGH

SCRATCH
65 L Saltman (Craigielaw) (£100 voucher).
69 A MacKenzie (Liberton) t, Paul Terras (Goswick) p (£70 each).
70 C Imlah (Peebles) p (£30), A Rothney (Deer Park) (£30 voucher).
71 N Colquhoun (Merchants of Edinburgh) p, N Forsyth (Peebles), D MacMullen (Dalmahoy) p, A Wight (Glencorse).
72 A Anderson (Peebles), S Grieve (Kings Acre) t, D Marshall (Dalmahoy), R Neill (West Linton) t, S Walker (Ratho Park).
73 M Chaplin (Deer Park), A Dunsmore (Bathgate) p, D Fish (Glenbervie), C Fraser (Peebles), G D Johnston (Glenbervie), S Lamb (unatt) p, G Walker (Kingsfield) p.
74 K Connachan (Royal Musselburgh), R Grant (Baberton).
75 G Black (Torwoodlee, S Gilhooley (Duddingston), G Grieve (Torphin Hill), P Henderson (Longniddry), A McLennan (Deer Park), R Noon (Longniddry), C Smith (Royal Musselburgh) p, G Wither (Lothianburn).
76 M Bonas (Pumpherston), G Clark (Duddingston), I Fyfe (Musselburgh), M D Graham (Duddingston), R Harrower (Cardrona) p, D Hegarty (Peebles), J Kerr (Deer Park), D P Miller (Murrayfield), W Morton (Dalmahoy), M Thomson (Cardrona).
Code: t, trainee; p, professional.
HANDICAP
68 G Grieve (Torphin Hill) (7) (£100 voucher), R Clapperton (Glenvbervie) (10) (£80 voucher), S Wardlaw (Harburn) (11) (£60 voucher).
69 L Saltman (Craigielaw) (+4), A Rothney (Deer Park) (1), A Wight (Glencorse) (2) (£10 voucher), A Anderson (Peebles) (3) (£10 voucher), S Walker (Ratho Park) (3) (£10 voucher), G D Johnston (Glenbervie) (4) (£10 voucher), R Grand (Baberton) (5), A McLennan (Deer Park) (6), D Fell (Murrayfield) (8), J Laurieston (Easter Moffat) (10).
70 N Forsyth (Peebles) (1), S Gilhooley (Duddingston) (5), J T Anderson (Kingsknowe) (7), R Finlayson (Harburn) (7), D Ferguson (Dunfermline) (12), D Meldrum (Prestonfield) (12).
71 D Marshall (Dalmahoy) (1), D Fish (Glen bervie) (2), P Henderson (Longniddry) (4), G Clark (Duddingston) (5), M D Graham (Duddingston) (5), K Chisholm (Liberton) (8), P Ritchie (Bathgate) (8).

OLIVER FISHER TURNS PROFESSIONAL
AND SIGNS UP WITH I M G

Oliver Fisher, pictured right, announced today that he has both turned professional and signed with the global sports management company, IMG.
Oliver’s decision to turn professional follows an extremely successful trip to European Tour Qualifying School last week at San Roque where he finished fifth, securing his full European Tour card at the first attempt.
He has enjoyed a distinguished amateur career and his move into the professional ranks is eagerly anticipated by the golfing fraternity.
In 2005 Oliver became the youngest ever member of the GB&I Walker Cup team at just 16 years of age and was runner up in the Brabazon Trophy in 2005. He also took part in his first professional tournament, the Australian Mastercard Masters, finishing 13th. In 2006 his feats included winning the St Andrews Links Trophy and finishing runner up in the English Amateur Championship in August. In October he played for England in the Eisenhower Trophy finishing 6th overall in the group standings and 5th overall in the individual standing.

Guy Kinnings, Managing Director of Golf at IMG, whose team represents the world's best golfers including Tiger Woods, Retief Goosen, Colin Montgomerie, Sergio Garcia, Luke Donald and Nick Dougherty, said; “Oliver’s outstanding amateur record has established him as one of the world’s best young golfers and he has the looks, personality and charisma to become one of the most sought after properties in golf.”

Oliver will be managed by Brendan Taylor, Vice President IMG Golf, who remarked; "We are thrilled that Oliver has signed with IMG, he has already has a high profile thanks to his great amateur career and we believe he has all the ingredients to become one of the World's best players. We are very excited to be part of his team."

Oliver said "IMG represent the world's best players, many of whom have served as my inspiration throughout my amateur career. I believe they will provide all the service and support I will need to make the transition into professional golf and I can't wait to get started."

INJURY BLOW FOR MICHAEL SIM
Rising Aberdonian-Aussie star must rest for two months with back injury

EXCLUSIVE By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Aberdonian Michael Sim, pictured right, will miss the whole of the Australasian PGA Tour – played over our winter but their summer Down Under – with a recurring back injury.
An MRI scan has revealed a postural problem related to the tilt of his pelvic bone.
Under medical advice, he will rest for the next two months.
The 22-year-old should be fit and ready to make his debut on the US PGA Tour after that.
Sim, in his rookie year as a pro after a stellar career as an amateur, finished in the top 20 of the Nationwide Tour, America’s No 2 pro circuit and automatically gained playing rights next year on the main tour.
Michael felt the injury coming on in the closing months of his first campaign in the United States. He withdrew from last weekend’s Australian Open and now medical tests have diagnosed the back problem.
“I’ll be back home in Perth (Western Australia) to work on my back but it could have been worse had I been forced to take time off in the middle of the season in the United States,” said Michael.
“The only problem I have is trying to retain my Australasian Tour card, having just played three instead of the required four tournaments.”
But he is confident he will be given a medical exemption by the tour authorities.
Sim, who was ranked the No 1 amateur in the world following a string of tournament wins in Australia and New Zealand, before he turned pro, has been voted the rookie of the year by the Australian Golf Writers’ Association and the Australian Golf Digest Magazine also name him their rookie professional of the year.
Michael’s parents, George and Sue Sim, decided to emigrate from Aberdeen to Australia in April 1991, when Michael was six years old.

Ladies European Tour Final Qualifying School

SEVEN-BIRDIE START FOR LYNN
KENNY (70) BUT HEATHER AND
JENNA STRUGGLE
Lynn Kenny, pictured right, got off to a super start in the Ladies European Tour Final Qualifying School but fellow-Scots Heather MacRae and Jenna Wilson have a big repair job to do over the two rounds at La Cala Golf Resort near Marbella on Spain's Costa del Sol.
Lynn had one of her best rounds after a miserable season on the LET.
She had seven birdies in all in recording a two-under-par 70 to be in joint third place behind first-round leader Dana Lacey (Australia) (68) and Maria Beautell (Spain) (69).
Miss Kenny must have thought "Here we go again" when she started bogey-bogey. But a hat-trick of birdies from the third put her back on track and she bounced back from another bogey at the sixth to birdie the seventh and eighth for an outward half of two-under-par 34.
A 2 at the short 11th set her up for the inward half and she held it together well until bogeying the 15th and 16th but she did collect her seventh birdie of the day at the 18th in an inward 36.
Heather MacRae, playing as an amateur still, is in joint 55th place after a 76.
Heather had birdies at the second, fifth, 12th and 18th in halves of 38.
A double-bogey seventh at the long fourth was a body blow to last year's British women's open amateur stroke-play championship winner at Nairn.
Heather also bogeyed the seventh, ninth, 10th, 11th, 13th and 17th in a scratchy kind of round.
Jenna Wilson deservedbetter than a 78 which put her in joint 71st place.
The Strathaven lass had 15 pars - but the other three holes cost her six shots to par. At the short ninth, she had a double bogey 5 to be out in 38.
Jenna dropped another shot at the short 11th but the final blow came at the long 18th where she ran up a tripble bogey 8 for an inward 40.
There will be a cut after the third round to the leading 50 and ties.
The top 25 after four rounds will gain full playing privileges on the 2006 Ladies European Tour.

SCOREBOARD
Par 72
68 Dana Lacey (Aus).
69 Maria Beautell (Spa).
70 (am) Stacy Lee Bregman (SAf), Melodie Bourdy (Fra), Helen Beatty (Aus), Nicole Gergely (Aut), Hanna-Leena Salonen (Fin), Lynn Kenny (Sco).
71 Felicity Johnson (Eng), (am) Claire Coughlan (Ire), Sophie Hunter (Eng), Heidi McCulkin (Aus), Samantha Head (Eng), (am) Maria Verchenova (Rus), Julie Tvede (Den), Lee-Anne Pace (SAf), (am) Sophie Walker (Eng).
Other scores included:
72 Kiran Matharu (Eng) (jt 19th).
74 (am) Martina Gillen (Ire) (jt 35th).
76 (am) Heather MacRae (Sco), Louise Stahle (Swe) (jt 55th).
77 Hazel Kavanagh (Ire) (jt 63rd).
78 (am) Jenna Wilson (Sco), (am) Stephanie Evans (Wal), (am) Rachel Bell (Eng) (jt 71st).
79 Kirsty Fisher (Eng) (jt 81st).

BRATTON SCORES THIRD WIN
OF N E ALLIANCE SEASON
WITH 68 AT BUCKPOOL

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Newburgh club professional Ian Bratton, pictured right, scored his third win of the North-east Golfers’ Alliance season with a two-under-par 68 at Buckpool today.
On a fine, sunny day, Bratton was one under par with five to play, having cancelled out bogeys at the fourth and eighth with birdies at the ninth, 11th and 12th. Then he “wobbled” with back to back bogeys at the 14th and 15th before finishing strongly with an eagle 3 at the 534yd 16th and a birdie at the 17th for 32 home.
Ian's earlier victories this 2006-2007 season were at Ballater and McDonald Ellon, where he shared first place. He has been there or thereabouts every time he has played and, not surprisingly, is easily the leading money-winner on the winter circuit.
Bratton had a stroke to spare from two amateurs, Terry Mathieson (Murcar Links) (34-35) and Stewart Finnie (Caledonian) (36-33). Terry three-putted the last for a bogey 5 but, like most of his fellow competitors in the field of 87, he considered the greens the best he had putted on for a long time.
Terry, who has been having his swing and technique scrutinized by Deeside Golf Club’s director of golf Frank Coutts, had earlier birdied the first, sixth, ninth and 16th with bogeys at the second, fourth and the afore-mentioned 18th in halves of 34 and 35.
Stewart Finnie was two under par after three holes, having birdied the second and third but only three holes later he had slumped to one over par, thanks to three bogeys in a row from the fourth.
Having got that rubbish out of his system, Stewart settled down in the perfect playing conditions – well, the pace of play did leave a lot to be desired! – to play the last 12 holes in two under par with 10 pars and birdies at the
Young Richard Hyland had the best outward half of the day - three-under-par 32, with birdies at the second, third and seventh.
A bogey at the 10th was his first slip but he countered that with his fourth bogey at the day at the 11th. Then he lurched off the straight and narrow with a double-bogey 5 at the short 13th.
"I've been changing my grip and it has worked well for me but my tee shot at the 13th just went straight right into a gorse bush," said Richard who then bogeyed the next two holes as well, just for good measure.
A birdie at the long 16th was followed by another bogey at the 17th as he stumbled home from a sublime 32 to a ridiculous 39 (four over) ... "ridiculous," of course, if you can play the game as well as young Hyland can. His day will come.

LEADING SCRATCH (Par 70)
68 I Bratton (Newburgh).
69 S Finnie (Caledonian), T Mathieson (Murcar Links).
71 R Hyland (Newmachar).
73 A Campbell (Deeside), C Nelson (MacKenzie
Club), I Buchan (Craibstone), B Ritchie (Inverallochy), S Fraser (Northern), R Stewart (Cruden Bayh), S Davidson (Banchory), E Kennedy (Stonehaven), N Reid (Deeside).
74 D Corkey (East Aberdeenshire), W Main (Murcar Links), C Duffus (Kemnay).
75 S Pert (Huntly), L Barbour (Cruden Bay), F Bisset (Banchory).
76 J Morris (Craibstone), P Lovie (Inchmarlo), D Garrett (Huntly), J Nicolson (Auchmill).
77 R Pirie (Caledonian), A Grant (Portlethen).
78 P Morrison (Oldmeldrum), A Graham (Portlethen).
79 R L Nicoll (Murcar Links) s, A Nelson (Banchory), N Williamson (Banchory).
80 P Farnan (Royal Aberdeen) s, D Bisset (Banchory) s, N Parker (Murcar Links).
81 B Harper (Newburgh), K Minty (Turriff), I D Smith (Hazlehead) s, J Murray (Banchory), D Nelson (Aboyne) s.
82 I Strachan (Royal Aberdeen), M Lawrie (Kemnay), R Penny (Portlethen), A Petrie (Oldmeldrum), D Leighton (Murcar Links).
83 J Dalgarno (Hazlehead), S Kidd (Newburgh), S Elrick (Kemnay).

LEADING HANDICAP
Class 1
S Finnie (Caledonian) (scr), C Duffus (Kemnay) (5) 69; A Grant (Portlethen) (7) 70; T Mathieson (Murcar Links) (+2), B Ritchie (Inverallochy) (2), F Bisset (Banchory) (4), J Morris (Craibstone) (5), D Bisset (Banchory) (9) 71; D Corkey (East Aberdeenshire) (2), S Fraser (Northern) (1), S Pert (Huntly) (3), J Nicolson (Auchmill) (4), R Hyuland (+1) 72; P Morrison (Oldmeldrum) (5), A Campbell (scr), K Mintyu (Turriff) (8), N Williamson (Banchory) (6), E Kennedy (Stonehaven) (scr) 73.
Class 2
I Strachan (Royal Aberdeen) (11), D Wood (Newburgh) (14), J Jones (Craibstone) (16) 71; C Hood (Alford) (10), B McBain (Turriff) (13) 74; H McNaughton (Cruden Bay) (10), R Addison (Newburgh) (18) 75; A Buchan (Northern) (10) 76; K Duncan (Cruden Bay) (12), J Jessiman (Oldmeldrum) (14), W Forbes (Murcar Links) (15) 77; G Homer (Lumphanan (12) 78; D Lawrie (Inchmarlo) (12), W D Rae (Kemnay) (11) 79.

TOP SCRATCH CARDS AT BUCKPOOL
Par of the course: 70
OUT: 4-4-5-4-4-3-4-3-4-35
IN: 4-4-4-3-4-3-5-4-4-35

IAN BRATTON 68
OUT: 4-4-5-5-4-3-4-4-3-36
IN: 4-3-3-3-5-4-3-3-4-32

STEWART FINNIE 69
OUT: 4-3-4-5-5-4-4-3-4-36
IN: 4-4-3-3-4-3-4-4-4-33

TERRY MATHIESON 69
OUT: 3-5-5-5-4-2-4-3-3-34
IN: 4-4-4-3-4-3-4-4-5-35

RICHARD HYLAND 71
OUT: 4-3-4-4-4-3-3-3-4-32
IN: 5-3-4-5-5-4-4-5-4-39

ROMANIANS LOOKING FOR NATONAL
PROFESSIONAL GOLF COACH

Rumania is the latest Continental country to decide that this game of golf really should be taken seriously.
The Romanian Golf Federation is currently looking to recruit a National Professional Golf Coach. This position includes accommodation and is a wonderful opportunity for the right person within a developing golf nation.
The post is open to interested candidates who have the ability to organise, supervise a complete national golf programme.
Previous coaching experience at Regional and/or National level is preferred for this position. Candidates must have a junior golf development track record. Strong inter-personal skills are necessary for the day-to-day inter-actions with pupils, staff, parents and Romanian Golf Federation officials.
The succesful candidate must be prepared to foster and develop relationships with the local community to encourage people to try golf as a sport and pastime, thus ensuring the healthy growth of golf within Romania; and create links with local schools and colleges with nearest golf club.
Interested parties should send their resume to graham@swmgolfmanagement.com as soon as possible.

PLAY IT AGAIN, STEVE - AND YOU'LL
BE ON SENIORS' TOUR NEXT YEAR!

By STEVEN FRANKLIN, European Seniors Tour Press Officer

Kent Nilsson, a former ice hockey legend and the husband of Ladies European Tour star Helen Alfredsson, was among 43 players to survive the 54-hole cut at the European Seniors Tour Final Qualifying School Finals on the Algarve today.
The powerful Swede had a third-round, one-over-par 72 at Pestana Golf Resort's Pinta Course to reach four over par for the tournament - three strokes inside the cut line.
Spain's Emilio Rodriguez and Australian David Merriman lead on seven under par with the top 14 at the conclusion of Thursday's fourth round earning a card to the 2007 European Seniors Tour.
The leading Briton in the field, former European Tour player Steve Martin from Dundee. He carded his third successive 70 and has moved up from joint seventh to joint sixth on three-under-par 210. All Steve needs to do is maintain that place through the final 18 holes and he will have achieved his ambition to be able to play on the European Over-50s Tour.
BILL REGRETS
The only other Scot who is through to the final, decisive round is Bill McColl who is rueing an opening round of 77. Since then he has shot a pair of 69s. Bill is sharing 22nd place on 215.
Former Tartan Tour maestro Russell Weir from Cowal failed by only one shot to beat the cut and play in Thursday's final round. Russell scored 77, 72 and 72 for eight-over-par 221. Amateur Brian Smith is also on the sidelines after scoring 77, 80 and 72 for 229.
Helen Alfredsson, Europe's 2007 Solheim Cup captain, caddied for her husband during the first two days of competition but on Wednesday morning flew to an event in South Africa, leaving Nilsson to fend for himself.
"I have a lot of ground to make up tomorrow and now I will have to rely on some advice by phone before I go out," commented Nilsson, who has precious little experience of dealing with the unique pressures of tournament golf.

European Seniors Tour Final Qualifying School

Pinta Course (Par 71), Pestana Golf Resort,
Algarve, Portugal
(par 71)
Third round scores
Following players made cut:
206 Emilio Rodriguez (Esp) 67 72 67, David Merriman (Aus) 69 67 70.
208 John Benda (US) 73 66 69.
209 Mike Ferguson (Aus) 75 71 63, John Mashego (SAf) 70 69 70.
210 Luis Gallardo (Spa) 70 66 74, Steve Martin (Sco) 70 70 70, Jim Lapsley (am) (NZ) 74 67 69.
211 Rigoberto Velasquez (Col) 71 69 71, Torsten Giedeon (Ger) 73 71 67.
212 Tim Rastall (Eng) 70 70 72, Philippe Dugeny (Fra) 71 68 73, Terry Dill (USA) 69 71 72, Neville Clarke (SAf) 70 72 70.
213 Bill Malley (US) 69 74 70, John Curtis (Ire) 71 71 71, Jean Pierre Sallat (Fra) 71 72 70.
214 Jim Carson (US) 73 71 70, Alex Romanoff (US) 72 74 68, Donald Stirling (Aut) 69 73 72, Ivan Renjifo (Col) 74 70 70.
215 Stewart Graham (Eng) 69 74 72, Michael G Wolseley (NI) 75 71 69, Alan Mew (Tri) 73 71 71, Martin Morbey (Eng) 75 68 72, Bill McColl (Sco) 77 69 69.
216 Martin Foster (Eng) 72 73 71, Bill Hardwick (Can) 71 74 71.
217 Kent Nilsson (Swe) 70 75 72, Chuck Milne (US) 75 71 71, Mitch Thomas (US) 72 72 73, Tyrone Carter (am) (Eng) 75 71 71.
218 Mike Inglis (Eng) 74 73 71, Mike Williams (Zim) 75 71 72, Peter Barber (Eng) 74 76 68, Tim Huyton (Eng) 70 75 73, Billy Todd (NI) 76 72 70.
219 Anders Johnsson (Swe) 73 74 72, Mariano Aparicio (Spa) 74 69 76.
220 Malcolm Edmunds (Wal) 70 74 76, Gordon Townhill (Eng) 78 69 73, Danny Garcia (Mex) 76 72 72, Mark Fernando (am) (US) 70 71 79.

NON-QUALIFIERS INCLUDED:

221 Russell Weir (Sco) 77 72 72.
229 (am) Brian Smith (Sco) 77 80 72.

MORE THAN 3000 SUGGESTED NAMES
FOR ST ANDREWS' SEVENTH COURSE

The search for a name for the seventh course at St Andrews Links has attracted another surge of interest, with the number of entries racing to more than 3000.

The naming competition is being run by St Andrews Links Trust and gives people a unique opportunity to name its new seventh course which will become the youngest sister to the historic Old Course.

Entries have flowed in from all over the world for the competition which marks the first time in 600 years of history at the Home of Golf that the public has been invited to suggest a name for a course.

The competition began on November 1 and visitors to http://www.standrews.org.uk/ are being invited to email or send in suggestions. With just over one week to go before the deadline for entries at 12noon on December 1, golf fans are exercising their grey matter in impressive style to suggest a variety of colourful names.

Some of this week’s suggestions include Bonnie Crag, The Intrepid, the Legacy, the Featherie and Stairway to Heaven. Some popular choices have included variations based on Old Tom Morris, the location of the course at Kinkell, the fact that it is the Links Trust’s seventh course and the main geographical feature with The Braes.

Alan McGregor, general manager of the Links Trust, said, “The number of entries the competition has attracted is way beyond our expectations. We thought there would be interest from around the world in a new course at the Home of Golf but we didn’t appreciate the strength of the emotional bond that golfers feel toward St Andrews. We have been hugely impressed with the thought that has gone into some of the entries and it will clearly present our Trustees with a difficult decision in selecting the winning name. There is still just over a week to go so there is still plenty of time for people to send us their suggestions.”

The best names will be submitted to the Course No 7 Working Party to select the winning name. The name of the new course will be announced in January. The competition winner will have the opportunity to play one of the first rounds on the new course when it opens in 2008 and will be a guest at the official opening ceremony along with VIPs from the world of golf.

The seventh course is under construction on a clifftop site to the south east of St Andrews centred on Kinkell Point and near Brownhills Farm. The 220 acre site features spectacular views over the town of St Andrews and out to the North Sea.

Full details for the competition and weekly information bulletins regarding the history and nature of the land at the seventh course are being provided at www.standrews.org.uk.
Entries should be emailed to namecomp@standrews.org.uk.
The deadline for entries is 12noon on December1.

All-American Classic at El Paso, Texas

KNOX FINISHES WITH PAR ROUND
- AND DROPS NINE PLACES!

Welshman Rhys Davies finish joint fourth and Scot Russell Knox tied for 13th place in the Western Refining College All-American Classic – the leading individual tournament of the US college golf season – at El Paso Country Club, Texas.
Walker Cup player Davies had rounds of 68, 69, 68 for an eight-under-par total of 205 over a course arguably too short at 6,837yd (par-71) for the top student golfers who normally are set to play lay-outs in excess of 7,000yd.
Edinburgh-born Rhys, from Bridgend, South Wales and a student at East Tennessee State University, had four birdies in a row from the 11th in his final round.
Jacksonville University, Florida senior student Knox, from Inverness, started the final round in joint fourth place and matched the par of 71 – but so high was the standard of play in this tournament for the elite that the Scot slumped nine slots in the final standings.
Russell finished with a bag of 13 birdies over the 54 holes, adding to his total at the first, 15th and 17th in his third round.
Niall Turner (Minnesota University), pictured above, from Cork had a fine last round of 67 (32-35) which included a hole in one at the 173yd third, only the third ace in the tournament’s history
Turner, who shot 71 and 69 on the opening day, finished in joint seventh place with Spaniard Pablo Martin (Oklahoma State).
Victory went to Chris Kirk (Georgia) with a tournament low score of 18 under par 195. His rounds were 65, 66 and 64. In his final round, he covered the inward half in 29 shots with an eagle and four birdies – further proof that a longer course is needed.
Kirk won by five shots from Billy Horschel (Florida)

FINAL TOTALS
195 Chris Kirk (Georgia) 65 66 64.
200 Billy Horschel (Florida) 71 62 67.
202 Luke List (Vanderbilt) 62 68 72.
205 Rhys Davies (East Tennessee State) 68 69 68, Brendon Todd (Georgia) 69 68 68.
Other scores:
207 Niall Turner (Minnesota) 71 69 67, Pablo Martin (Oklahoma State) 69 69 69 (jt 7th).
208 Russell Knox (Jacksonville) 71 66 71(jt 13th).

SCOTT MANN WINS MIDLAND
ALLIANCE WITH 70 OVER
CRAIL CRAIGHEAD LINKS

This week the Midland Golfers' Alliance held its meeting at a cold, windy but sunny Crail Golfing Society's Craighead links in Fife.
Showing the professionals in the field the way was Carnoustie +4 handicapper Scott Mann, pictured right, with a scratch score of two-under-par 70.
Charlie Marr (Glenrothes) led the way in the handicap prizes with a net 72.
Shot of the day came from Carnoustie professional Lee Vannet who hole his tee shot at the 140yd par-3 13th hole.

LEADING SCRATCH
70 S Mann (Carnoustie).
71 M Pirie (Pitlochry) p, L Vannet (Carnoustie) p.
72 S Rettie (Royal Troon) ap.
73 E Malcolm (Dunfermline).
74 A Lockhart (Ladybank) ap, S Craig (Edinburgh Leisure) p.
75 B Wallace (Forrester Park) ap.

LEADING HANDICAP
72 C Marr (Glenrothes).
73 R Beatt (Scotscraig), E Malcolm (Dunfermline).
74 L Cargill (Arbroath), R Barton (Alloa), S Millar (Blairgowrie), D Mason (Lundin), D Adams (Carnoustie).

Qualifiers for Midland Alliance Championship at Scotscraig in April:

S Mann (Carnoustie).
L Cargill (Arbroath).
A Reid (Murrayshall) p.

UPDATED MEN'S WORLD AMATEUR RANKINGS

WEEK 45 WINNERS & LEADING AMATEURS

Neil Schietekat (Central Gauteng Open).

The results of the Selangor Amateur are unavailable as yet.

* New WAGRanked Player.


MOVERS AND SHAKERS

Once again, in Week 45, there were many WAGRanked players (approximately 24) who changed status to Professional – this has in general improved the WAGRanking positions of others.
Royal Aberdeen's Richie Ramsay retains the R&A WAGR No 1 spot for a 13th week since his success in the US amateur championship final.
Dustin Johnson (US), moves up four WAGR places to No 19, and Johan Carlsson (Sweden), up 4 to No 20, enter the Top 20.
Andrew Dodt (Australia), up 13 places to No 38, and Scotland's Lloyd Saltman (Craigielaw), up 3 places to No 50, re-enter the WAGR Top 50 while South African Neil Schietekat (see Winners above) climbs 20 places to enter the Top 50 for the first time at No 47.
Three South Africans move into the WAGR Top 100. They are Ruan Botha, up 25 to R&A WAGRanking position No 88, Jacques Blaauw, up 19 to No 91, and Michael van de Venter, up 25 to No 99. Others entering this rarified atmosphere are Florian Fritsch (Germany), up three places to No 98, and Irish Eisenhower team member, Gareth Shaw, up 2 to 100.
Moving into the WAGR Top 150, with the minimum divisor of 32, are three more South African golfers - Wynand Dingle, up 47 to WAGRanking No 123, Steven Williams, up 43 to No 129, and team captain, Norman Raad, up 13 to WAGRanking No 142.
Other upward movers are Americans David May, up four to 147, Matt Harmon, up four to 148, and Erik Olson, up 4 to 149, and Choo Tze Huang (Singapore), up 4 places to WAGRanking 150.
Oliver Fisher (England) led the two amateurs who made the cut in the European Tour Final Qualifying at San Roque, Scotland's George Murray (Earlsferry Thistle) being the other.
Both Fisher and Murray have, as expected, taken up their respective European and Challenge Tour cards.
Andrew Dodt (Australia) made the halfway cut in the Australian Open Championship finishing ahead of the seven other amateur players who did likewise – there were 18 amateurs in the starting field.
R&A member Richard Connoly qualified to play four rounds in the Samsung Brasil Classic ahead of fellow Brazilian amateur, Rafael Becker.
The top 50 in the R&A World Amateur Rankings are:
+First column is updated ranking. Second column is his ranking last week.
1 1 Richie Ramsay SCO 1153.66
2 2 Pablo Martin ESP 1118.37
3 3 Jamie Moul ENG 1117.02
4 6 +2 Rory McIlroy IRE 1081.03
5 4 -1 Ross McGowan ENG 1054.55
6 7 +1 Rhys Davies WAL 1046.94
7 8 +1 Nigel Edwards WAL 1030.95
8 11 +3 Webb Simpson US 1020.41
9 9 Gary Wolstenholme ENG 1018.64
10 10 Chris Kirk USA 989.36
11 14 +3 Stephen Dartnall AUS 987.14
12 12 Billy Horschel US 985.71
13 13 Jonathan Moore US 983.64
14 16 +2 JBE Kruger SAf 981.13
15 18 +3 Bronson LaCassie AUS 974.58
16 17 +1 Julien Guerrier FRA 963.04
17 19 +2 Seve Benson ENG 941.18
18 20 +2 Josh Geary NZ 936.54
19 23 +4 Dustin Johnson US 936.36
20 24 +4 Johan Carlsson SWE 930.30
21 29 +8 Charl Coetzee SAf 928.77
22 25 +3 Robert Riesen US 928.57
23 26 +3 Dawie van der Walt SAf 923.53
24 27 +3 Kyung Tae Kim KOR 915.63
25 30 +5 Jason Palmer ENG 913.51
26 22 -4 Niklas Lemke SWE 912.50
27 32 +5 Stephen Lewton ENG 912.20
28 33 +5 Oscar Floren SWE 910.53
29 34 +5 James Gill NZ 907.27
30 35 +5 Sebastian Saavedra ARG 905.00
31 37 +6 James Love CAN 897.37
+6 Cameron Tringale US 897.37
33 39 +6 Adrien Bernadet FRA 897.22
34 36 +2 George Coetzee SAf 893.33
35 41 +6 Dandre Neumeyer SAf 888.24
36 42 +6 Bjorn Akesson SWE 887.50
37 43 +6 Alex Prugh US 884.44
38 51 +13 Andrew Dodt AUS 883.78
39 31 -8 Tim Stewart AUS 879.10
40 44 +4 Ryan Yip CAN 875.00
41 45 +4 Marius Thorp NOR 875.00
42 46 +4 Mark Purser NZ 874.07
43 50 +7 Christiaan Basson SAf 69 873.91
44 47 +3 Gary Woodland US 872.73
45 48 +3 Rob Grube US 866.67
46 49 +3 Heinrich Bruiners SAf 865.71
47 67 +20 Neil Schietekat SAf 45 864.44
48 40 -8 David Hewan SAf 69 862.32
49 21 -28 Ben Parker ENG 42 854.76
50 53 +3 Lloyd Saltman SCO 50 854.00

ST ANDREWS PAIR 11th IN
WORLD CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP
IN SOUTH CAROLINA

Daniel Sommerville, pictured right, and Jamie Farmer, representing St Andrews, finished 11th of 18 in the world club golf championship at Sage Valley Golf Club, Graniteville in South Carolina.
Royal Troon’s Robert Ferguson and William Templeton came 17th in a field of 18 clubs from 11 countries and five continents.
Only clubs which appeared in Golf Magazine’s 2005 list of the top 100 courses in the world were invited to the three-day event which was played under a better-ball format for the first two rounds and then the aggregate scores of both team players in the final session.
Clubs were asked to send their club champion along with a player of his choice as long as the guest had a handicap of three or better.
Pine Valley (David Abell and Kelly Miller) won the title at the first hole of a sudden-death play-off against Royal Melbourne (Jason Perry and Dr Nicholas Wilton).
They had tied with two-under-par totals for the 54-hole contest.
Daniel Sommerville, who is a freshman student at Clayton University, only had to make a short trip from Atlanta, Georgia to team up with Jamie Farmer.
They had a 15 over par total for St Andrews.
Robert Ferguson and William Templeton had a total of 49 over par for Royal Troon, almost half of that coming from the aggregate finale.
HOW THEY FINISHED
Two under par – Pine Valley, United States (David Abell & Kelly Miller), Royal Melbourne, Australia (Jason Perry & Dr Nicholas Wilton). Pine Valley won play-off at first hole.
Four over par – Durban, South Africa
Seven over par – Sage Valley, Seminole.
11 over par – Sunningdale, England (Jamie Gallacher & Marcus Ferguson Jones); Oakmont, United States; Ballybunion, Ireland (David O’Driscoll & Peter Sheehan).
12 over par – Riviera, United States.
13 over par – St George’s, Canada.
15 over par – St Andrews, Scotland (Daniel Sommerville & Jamie Farmer).
18 over par – Royal Portrush, Northern Ireland (Chris Hughes & Matt McAlpine).
29 over par – Merion, United States.
32 over par – Valderrama, Spain (John Davies & Felipe Ortiz-Patino).
36 over par – Morfontaine, France (Jean Pierre Corre & Patrick Rambaud).
38 over par – Royal St George’s, England (Sam Smale & George Taggart).
49 over par – Royal Troon, Scotland (Robert Ferguson & William Templeton).
51 over par – Nine Bridges, South Korea.

European Seniors Tour Qualifying School

STEVE MARTIN HALFWAY THERE
IN PURSUIT OF OVER-50s' CARD

If Steve Martin had hold his current joint seventh place over the last two rounds of the Final Qualifying School in Portugal, the Dundee man will be rewarded with one of the 14 players' cards for next season's European Seniors Tour.
Steve has been very steady so far with a pair of 70s over the 6,555yd Pinta course (par-71) at the Pestana Resort on the Algarve. He is four shots behind the joint leaders, Luis Gallardo (Spain) and David Merriman (Australia) at the halfway stage.
Gallardo has shot 70 and 66, Merriman a 69 and a 67.
Only Martin of the four Scots still playing - Aberdonian David Chillas, pictured right, withdrew from the tournament after one round - has a realistic chance of earning a key to the door of the over-50s club.
Bill McColl did step up his form considerably with a second-round 69 but, having started with a 77, he is back in joint 34th place on 146.
Russell Weir also shaved five shots off his opening score but he is on 149 with a 77 and 72.
Amateur Brian Smith is on the 157 mark after a 77 and 80.
Steven Franklin, the European Seniors Tour Press Officer, writes:
In seniors golf it is conventional wisdom that you start at your best and then go downhill as the years pass. But Terry Dill, who at the age of 67 is well placed to win his first card to the European Seniors Tour, is anything but conventional.
The towering Texan has impressed spectators with his powerful play during the first two rounds.
Rounds of 69 and 71 have left him tied seventh in a field of 75. In spite of his ageing limbs, Dill still averages 290 yards off the tee and his length is such that he has rarely needed to use his driver.
It's all a far cry from last year when Dill quit golf to follow his political dreams.The former US PGA Tour player ran for a seat in the Texas State House of Representatives, raising 70 per cent of his political money from his fellow senior tour professionals, but lost in the primary.
"My father and my grandfather were both politicians so I tried to run, but I just wasn't Conservative enough," explained Dill, who as well as harbouring political ambitions is also a trained tax lawyer.
"For eight months I didn't play any golf. The players really supported me but in my district the anti-abortion people are very strong and the people who don't want to pay any more taxes are very strong, while I think I am more of a reasonable person.
"Strangely, though, the experience seemed to really benefit my golf. I had played really hard for 15 years so it was nice to have some time off and I kept fit by walking the neighbourhoods canvassing. I am in good shape for my age."

HOW THEY STAND AT HALFWAY
Par 142 (2 x 71)
136 Luis Gallardo (Spa) 70 66, David Merriman (Aus) 69 67.
139 John Benda (US) 73 66, Philippe Dugeny (Fra) 71 68, John Mashego (SAf) 70 69, Emilio Rodriguez (Spa) 67 72.
140 Terry Dill (US) 69 71, Tim Rastall (Eng) 70 70, Rigoberto Velasquez (Col) 71 69, Steve Martin (Sco) 70 70.
141 Mark Fernando (am) (US) 70 71, Jim Lapsley (am) (NZ) 67 74.
142 Donald Stirling (Aut) 69 73, Neville Clarke (SAf) 70 72, John Curtis (Ire) 71 71.
143 Martin Morbey (Eng) 75 68, Jean Pierre Sallat (Fra) 71 72, Stewart Graham (Eng) 69 74, Bill Malley (US) 69 74, Mariano Aparicio (Spa) 74 69.
144 Ivan Renjifo (Col) 74 70, Malcolm Edmunds (Wal) 70 74, Jim Carson (US) 73 71, Torsten Giedeon (Ger) 73 71, Mitch Thomas (US) 72 72, Alan Mew (Tri) 73 71.
145 Tim Huyton (Eng) 70 75, Gavin Slabbert (SAf) 74 71, Harry Ferguson (Can) 75 70, Francisco Abreu (Spa) 74 71, Bill Hardwick (Can) 71 74, Martin Foster (Eng) 72 73, Kent Nilsson (Swe) 70 75.
146 Chuck Milne (US) 75 71, Mike Ferguson (Aus) 75 71, Bill McColl (Sco) 77 69, Alex Romanoff (US) 72 74, Rick Uhlir (US) 71 75, Armando Saavedra (Arg) 76 70, Keith Robson (Eng) 76 70, Mike Williams (Zim) 75 71, Michael G Wolseley (NI) 75 71, Tyrone Carter (am) (Eng) 75 71.
147 Anders Johnsson (Swe) 73 74, Gordon Townhill (Eng) 78 69, Mike Inglis (Eng) 74 73.
148 Butch Butler (US) 78 70, Danny Garcia (Mex) 76 72, Billy Todd (NI) 76 72, Tony Price (Wal) 73 75, TR Jones (US) 74 74, David Lavallee (Can) 75 73.
149 Jan Dorrestein (Net) 72 77, Terry Hanson (Wal) 74 75, Adriano Mori (Ita) 76 73, Russell Weir (Sco) 77 72.
50 Nigel Willett (Eng) 77 73, Peter Barber (Eng) 74 76.
151 Norman Bennett (Eng) 77 74, Mike Gallagher (Eng) 75 76, Dermot W Morris (am) (Ire) 74 77.153 Sigurour Hafsteinsson (Ice) 80 73, Jimmy Montecinos (US) 76 77.
154 Kalle Drotz (Swe) 77 77, Ricardo Ronderos (Col) 76 78, Miguel Angel Arcuci (Arg) 77 77.
155 Robin Mann (Eng) 75 80, George Green (US) 80 75, Tomas Persson (Swe) 78 77, Tony Feminis (US) 76 79, Neil Wall (Aus) 81 74.
157 Victor Garcia (Spa) 80 77, Brian Smith (am) (Sco) 77 80.
159 Willie Hickson (US) 78 81.
Withdrew: David Chillas (Sco)

2007 MEN & BOYS' DATES AND VENUES
(by courtesy of the Scottish Golf Union)

APRIL
1 SGU Junior Tour – Event 1 (Kingsbarns).
9-14 Scottish Boys Championship (Dunbar).
22 SGU Junior Tour – Event 2 (The Glen).
MAY
5 SGU Junior Tour – Event 3 (Cardrona).
20 Scottish Area Team Championship - Round 1 (Various venues).
22-24 Scottish Seniors Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship (Drumpellier).
26 SGU Junior Tour – Event 4 (Newmachar Hawkshill).
JUNE
1-3 Scottish Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship (Royal Dornoch).
10 Scottish Boys Area Team Championship Forres.
16-18 DM Hall Scottish Mid-Amateur Open Championship (Duddingston).
17 SGU Junior Tour – Event 5 (Barassie).
22-24 Scottish Youths Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship (Erskine).
JULY
3-7 European Team Championship Western Gailes.
10-12 Scottish Boys Under 16 Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship (venue tbc).
3 Scottish Boys & Girls Under 14 Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship (venue tbc).
024-26 Scottish Boys Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship (Cardrona).
30-Aug 5 Scottish Amateur Championship (Prestwick).
AUGUST
5 Scottish Area Team Championship - Round 2 (Various venues).
SEPTEMBER
19-21 Home Internationals (Co Louth, Ireland).
23 Scottish Area Team Championship - Round 3 Various venues.
30 Scottish Club Championship (Glenbervie).
OCTOBER
2-4 Seniors Home Internationals (Caldy, The Wirral).
6-7 Scottish Area Team Championship Finals (Powfoot).
To be arranged: Scotland v England (U16)

KNOX AND DAVIES UP WITH
LEADERS IN TOP
AMERICAN COLLEGE EVENT

Highlander Russell Knox from Inverness and Edinburgh-born Welshman Rhys Davies – the only two British players in the select field – were lying joint fourth at the end of the first day of the Western Refining College All-American Golf Classic at El Paso Country Club, Texas.
Knox, in his final year at Jacksonville University, Florida, has had rounds of 71 and 66 for five-under-par 137, the same total as Walker Cup player Rhys Davies (East Tennessee State), pictured right, who scored 68 and 69.
Knox, a member of the Scotland line-up who played in the European youths team championship in Spain during the summer, earned his place in the field by finishing in the top 20 in every event he played over the 2005-2006 college season.
He gained an honourable mention in the end-of-season All-American lists in which coaches and the like name their view of the players of the season.
Davies is one of the top-ranked players on the US college circuit so no surprise for this multi-tournament winner to be up there with the leaders with one round to go.
But for Knox to hold his own in this company is a very good achievement indeed.
He has had 10 birdies in 36 holes – three in the first round and seven in the second.
Davies, brought up in Bargoed, South Wales after being born in Edinburgh where his father was working, had six birdies on his second circuit, including the 14th and 18th, which lifted him up to a share of fourth place.
CORK STUDENT IN FIELD
Spaniard Pablo Martin (Oklahoma), like Davies a former winner of the British boys’ open championship, is in joint sixth place on 138 with a pair of 69s.
Niall Turner from Cork, a student at Minnesota University, has had rounds of 71 and 69 for a share of 15th place on 140. Niall had five birdies in his second round.
The All-American Golf Classic is rated by many to be the No 1 tournament on the men’s college circuit. There are only 28 invitation-only competitors and there is no team event.
Normally courses are over 7,000yd long for college tournaments but the El Paso Country Club lay-out is “only” 6,837yd with a par of 71. Not surprisingly, the scoring has been very, very low. Leader Luke List (Vanderbilt), defending the title, set a course-record of nine-under-par 62 in the first round, which was equalled by third-placed Billy Horschel (Florida) in the second round.
List has score 62 and 68 to be making the running on 12-under-par 130, one shot ahead of a fellow Palmer Cup player at Prestwick this year, Chris Kirk (Georgia). The leading 19 players in the field of 28 have sub-par tallies after 36 holes.

LEADERBOARD
Par 71
130 Luke List (Vanderbilt) 62 68.
131 Chris Kirk (Georgia) 65 66.
133 Billy Horschel (Florida) 71 62.
137 Russell Knox (Jacksonville) 71 66, Brendon Todd (Georgia) 69 68, Rhys Davies (East Tennessee State) 68 69.
138 Jamie Amoretti (St Mary’s) 70 68, Pablo Martin (Oklahoma State) 69 69, Martin Ureta (North Carolina) 69 69, Dawie Van Der Walt (Lamar) 69 69, Jarred Texter (UNLV) 68 70.
Other score:
140 Niall Turner (Minnesota) 71 69 (jt 15th).

Late night college news from the United States

RUSSELL KNOX (66) SETS CLUBHOUSE
TARGET IN ALL-AMERICAN CLASSIC

Russell Knox from Inverness, a final year student at Jacksonville University, Florida, set the early clubhouse target of 137 (five under par) after two rounds of the Western Refining College All-American Golf Classic over a par-71, 6,837yd course at El Paso Country Club, Texas.
Russell was down the field after a 71 in the opening round but he got into top gear as an early starter in the second round.
Knox, pictured right, birdied the second, seventh, eighth, ninth, 11th, 14th and 15th, bogeying only the third and 16th for a five-under-par 66.
In the first round, during which a course-record, nine-under-par 62 was logged, Knox had birdies at the third, 14th and 15th but equalising bogeys at the sixth, 13th and 16th.
We'll have the complete report of the second round when you log on to Scottishgolfview.com at breakfast time tomorrow.

Aberdeen student shares victory in Mobile, Alabama

WESTHILL STUDENT IS JOINT
WINNER IN UNITED STATES

Westhill golfer Andrew Hay, pictured right, a sophomore student at Webber International University at Babson Park, Florida, has achieved his best result on the American college golf circuit.
Andrew, the 2000 North-east District youths champion and a former winner of the Aberdeen Hands Across the Sea boys' tournament, tied for victory with Devin Spies (Brevard College) in the Mobile Rams Invitational over 36 holes at Azalea City Golf Club, Mobile in Alabama.
Hay had rounds of 69 and 75 over the par-72, 6,850yd course. Spies scored 70 and 74 to match Andrew’s level-par total.
Webber International (594) finished second to Brevard College (585) in the team event contested by 15 colleges.

The Golf Vine targets golfers who are not club members

NEW ONLINE GOLF CLUB FOR
THE MOBILE PLAYER

A new online golf club has launched and has some fantastic deals for golfers.
The Golf Vine is a new online golf community and is offering three FREE rounds of golf and a whole range of golfing goodies to new members.
These include a welcome pack with a membership card, a special The Golf Vine bag tag and golf towel, special deals on the new Nokia N93 Golf Edition mobile phone, up to £50-worth of free “matched” golf bets, up to £350 off your next golf holiday with Barwell Leisure and discounted golf insurance.
The club is aimed mainly at the four million or so “mobile” golfers – people who aren’t members of golf clubs – and will also offer a whole range of special golf events and even handicaps.
The Golf Vine works because there is something for everyone.
Founder Paul Vines said the launch of the club had been boosted by the deal with Nokia and by the reaction from golfers
He said: “For Nokia to come on board is a big plus for us as they have recognised we are a bit different from other internet-based golf clubs.
“So we are the main source of the special Nokia N93 Golf Edition golf phone.
“We are giving golfers what they have told us they want – free golf, a better choice of golf offers, great golf promotions and products – and membership of a real online club where they feel they are part of a great big golfing family.
“We are looking forward to a year full of events and giving our members the best golf experience they can possibly have.”
Membership costs just £65 per year – and as this includes three free rounds of golf – the year’s subscription is paid back straight away.
The Golf Vine website is a one-stop resource for all the member’s golfing needs and includes news and reviews plus a full leaderboard for events and a special golf tips section.
A golf club directory and forum also feature to enable members to interact with other members and also with golf clubs.
To find out more about The Golf Vine go to http://www.thegolfvine.co.uk/

SOLHEIM CUP SKIPPER HELEN
CADDIES FOR HUSBAND AT
EUROPEAN SENIORS Q SCHOOL

By STEVEN FRANKLIN
European Seniors Tour Press Officer
(sfranklin@europeantour.com)


Sweden's Helen Alfredsson, pictured right, an 11-time winner on the Ladies European Tour and Europe’s Solheim Cup Captain for 2007, tasted life as a caddy when she carried husband Kent Nilsson’s bag in the first round of the European Seniors Tour Qualifying School Finals on the Algarve today.
The 72- hole qualifying school for the over-50 pros got underway at Pestana Golf Resort and while Emilio Rodriguez of Spain was rolling back the years to lead with a four under par 67, Nilsson finished well placed after a round of 70.

“I played okay today and it certainly helped having Helen with me. She has been fantastic – I get the right clubs all the time,” admitted Nilsson.

The Swede, a former professional ice hockey player in the NHL in America, has been learning from Alfredsson in a bid to carve a second career as a professional golfer – and the work seems to be paying dividends.

After crashing out of last year’s European Seniors Tour Qualifying School at the First Stage, Nilsson showed considerable improvement in finishing tied third at Pinheiros Altos on Friday to book his place in this week’s finals over the par 71 Pinta Course at Pestana.

Alfredsson explained: “Kent was such a talented hockey player but with golf he had to learn that it’s not about testosterone. Hockey is so fast that you don’t have time to think, while golf is different. You have to think about many things: how the ball is lying ... what club to use ... the weather conditions.
“When I first met him he thought he was the Jack Nicklaus of his home course. He has improved a lot since then and benefits from the fact that we play together with some great players, such as (US PGA Tour player) Billy Andrade and other good friends.”
STEVE MARTIN TOP SCOT
Steve Martin from Dundee was the only Scot who could look back on his first round with any degree of please. The former Tartan Tour player, who played for a short spell on the European Tour in his 20s, had a one-under-par 70 to be sharing seventh place.
But Bill McColl, Russell Weir and amateur Brian Smith are in joint 60th place on the 77 mark.
David Chillas is last of 75 at the moment after an 82.
Kemnay club pro Ronnie McDonald failed to survive last week's Stage 1 qualifying at Pinheiros Altos where he shot 80 and 78 for 14-over-par 158, finishing joint 31st at that venue.

LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES

Pinta Course, Pestana Golf Resort
Par 71

67 Emilio Rodriguez (Spa).
69 David Merriman (Aus), Donald Stirling (Aut), Bill Malley (US), Stewart Graham (Eng), Terry Dill (US).
70 Tim Rastall (Eng), Kent Nilsson (Swe), Steve Martin (Sco), Luis Gallardo (Esp), Neville Clarke (SAf), Malcolm Edmunds (Wal), John Mashego (SAf), Tim Huyton (Eng), Mark Fernando (am) (US).
71 Jean Pierre Sallat (Fra), Bill Hardwick (Can), John Curtis (Ire), Rigoberto Velasquez (Col), Rick Uhlir (US), Phillippe Dugeny (Fra)
72 Alex Romanoff (US), Martin Foster (Eng), Jan Dorrestein (Net), Mitch Thomas (US).
73 Torsten Giedeon (Ger), John Benda (US), Alan Mew (Tri), Jim Carson (US), Tony Price (Wal), Anders Johnsson (Swe).
74 Mike Inglis (Eng), Peter Barber (Eng), T R Jones (US), Francisco Abreu (Spa), Terry Hanson (Eng), Mariano Aparicio (Esp), Gavin Slabbert (US), Ivan Renjifo (Col), Dermot W Morris (am) (Ire), Jim Lapsley (am) (NZ).
75 Robin Mann (Eng), David Lavallee (Can), Mike Gallacher (Eng), Michael G Wolseley (NI), Mike Williams (Zim), Martin Morbey (Eng), Mike Ferguson (Aus), Chuck Milne (US), Harry Ferguson (Can), Tyrone Carter (am) (Eng).
76 Tony Feminis (US), Ricardo Ronderos (Col), Jimmy Montecinos (US), Adriano Mori (Ita), Danny Garcia (Mex), Keith Robson (Eng), Billy Todd (NI), Armando Saavedra (Arg).
77 Bill McColl (Sco), Russell Weir (Sco), Nigel Willett (Eng), Miguel Angel Arcuci (Arg), Kalle Drotz (Swe), Norman Bennett (Eng), Brian Smith (am) (Sco).
78 Butch Butler (US), Tomas Persson (Swe), Gordon Townhill (Eng), Willie Hickson (US).
80 Victor Garcia (Spa), George Green (US), Sigurour Hafsteinsson (Ice).
81 Neil Wall (Aus).
82 David Chillas (Sco).

BROOMIEKNOWE HONOUR CARL
HALLIDAY, HARRY ANDERSON

At a dance at the Brunton Hall, Musselburgh, attended by over 300 members, the final event of Broomieknowe Golf Club's Centenary celebrations, honorary membership was awarded to Carol Halliday and Harry Anderson (pictured right).
The honour came as a complete surprise to both of them.
Carol has been a member of Broomieknowe for nearly 40 years, and during that time has won the club championship 15 times.
A Midlothian county player, Carol has been a stalwart supporter of the club and was ladies' captain from 1986 to 1988.
Harry has also given great service to the club, and was captain from 1986-88.

DUNBAR NAMED AS QUALIFYING
COURSE FOR SENIOR BRITISH OPEN

The European Seniors Tour and the R&A have today confirmed the final qualifying venue for the 2007 Senior British Open championship, presented by Aberdeen Asset Management, which is to take place at Muirfield for the first time from July 26 to 29.
Dunbar Golf Club joins the previously announced Craigielaw and North Berwick golf clubs as the third qualifying course for the 21st edition of the championship, which is expected to herald the over-50s debut of six-time Major winner Nick Faldo.
Faldo won two of his three Open titles at Muirfield - beating Paul Azinger and Rodger Davis by a stroke in 1987, before holding off John Cook five years later – and the Englishman is eligible to make his debut in the 2007 Senior version of the championship as he turns 50 in the week prior to the event.
While Faldo would be exempt to play at Muirfield, others will be required to qualify at either Dunbar, Craigielaw or North Berwick.
Dunbar, designed by Old Tom Morris around 1850, is a breathtaking links course stretching along the estuary of the Firth of Forth. The 6,404yd lay-out has previously hosted Open qualifying as well as all the major Scottish championships.
David Hill, Director of Championships at The R&A, commented: “The addition of Dunbar Golf Club completes a high quality triumvirate of qualifying courses and is further evidence of the huge appeal of The Senior British Open Championship, presented by Aberdeen Asset Management.
“This year, a record number of 302 took part in qualifying and we expect a similar level of take up next July, when the East Coast of Scotland will become the focus of the golfing world. The Open Championship is being played at Carnoustie the week before the Senior British Open Championship makes its first visit to Muirfield, producing massive enjoyment for golf fans and considerable economic benefits for the surrounding communities.”
Andy Stubbs, Managing Director of the European Seniors Tour, said: “Last July’s event at The Westin Turnberry Resort, won by Loren Roberts, was the first to employ three qualifying venues due to the huge level of interest internationally in The Senior British Open Championship, presented by Aberdeen Asset Management – a trend which is certain to continue with the likes of Nick Faldo, Seve Ballesteros, Mark O’Meara, Nick Price, Wayne Grady and Costantino Rocca, among others, all turning 50 in time to play at Muirfield.”

NGA TOUR WINTER SERIES EVENT 3

BARNARD AND CORMACK MISS
THE CUT AT SOLVITA, FLORIDA

Banchory pair Mark Barnard and Paul Cormack failed to survive the 36-hole cut in last week's NGA Hooters Tour Winter Series' third event at Stonegate at Solvita Golf Club, Florida.
Mark, who is attached to Slaley Hall in the North of England, had scores of 72 and 76 for four-over-par 148. He missed out by one shot.
Paul look on course for last-day action after an opening score 0f 70 but he took 80 in the second round.
One Scot who did make the cut was Elgin exile and twice former Scottish youths champion Joel Hendry who has lived in the States for the best part of a decade. He shot 68, 75 and 74 to finish joint 32nd of the 50 qualifiers on 217.
American Jeff Corr won the $12,000 jackpot with 65, 67 and 67 for 17-under-par 199. He won by six shots from three players James Vargas (68-69-69), Bill Guiney (Germany) (68-66-71) and Brad Klaprott (68-68-69) who each won £4,897. Vargas and Klaprott, who has already won on the Winter Series, are Americans.

Cold, near-gale force conditions for North Alliance

RON TAYLOR WINS AT WINDSWEPT
WICK BY FIVE STROKES
By ROBIN WILSON
Winner of the North Alliance Quaich for aggregate scores in five of the past nine seasons, local +2 handicapper Ron Taylor took home advantage to end his drought this year with an emphatic five shot-winning margin at Wick on Sunday.
The cold and near-gale force conditions had almost half the field of 64 not returning a card but Taylor made the job look easy with his equal halves of 36, his only embarrassment a miss on the final green from under a foot.
Taylor’s gross 72, equal halves of 36, in the howling gale might have been even more embarrassing for the chasing pack had he not finished with three bogeys, the 16th and 17th excusable into the gale, but annoyed himself by missing that tiddler at the last.
Wick club captain Bill Murray and Steve Cowie (Thurso) were the two players who finished five stokes adrift of the scratch winner. Both six handicappers, they played well for inward cards of 37 and nett scores of 71 to lead the handicap returns.
To receive the first prize in Class 1 on the better last six holes, the Thurso member edged out the local captain.
Nett returns of 72 from William Williamson (Reay) and Walter Rutherford (Thurso) took them into the prizes for the fist time with Williamson in first place for his better inward half.

Results:
SCRATCH
72 R W Taylor (Wick).
77 S Cowie (Thurso), W Murray (Wick).
78 J A Harper (Wick), W Taylor (Wick), B Ferries (Tain), M Sangster (Tain).
79 M Ferries (Tain).
HANDICAP
Class 1- S Cowie (Thurso) (6), W Murray (Wick) (6) 71; G Grant (Helmsdale) (6), R Barker (Wick) (7) 73; W Taylor (Wick) (4) 74.
Class 2 – W Williamson (Reay) (20), W Rutherford (Thurso) (13) 72; L Sutherland (Thurso) (12) 73; W J Sutherland (Thurso) (21) 75; C Stewart (Reay) (12) 76.

SCOTTISH GOLF TOURISM AWARD

ROYAL DORNOCH'S JIM
CUMMING IS CADDIE
MASTER OF THE YEAR

Jim Cumming, pictured right by Robin Wilson, with the Scottish Golf Tourism award, "Caddie Master of the Year," which he received at the recent awards function at the Marriott Dalmahoy Hotel & Country Club.
The short leet of three were Jim Cumming, Kenny McLeod (Kingsbarns Golf Links) and Martin Roy (Carnoustie Golf Links).

Spaniard sheds "bridesmaid" tag with all-the-way victory

MONTY JUST MAKES TOP 20
IN HONG KONG AS LARA
WINS FOR FIRST TIME

Colin Montgomerie finished joint 19th in the UBS Hong Kong Open which provided a long-awaited maiden title for Spaniard José Manuel Lara who led throughout for a 15-under-par total of 265.
If there was to be a Spanish winner, the expectation was that it would be the Hacienda del Alamo (director of golf Billy Sim) Golf Resort tour pro, Miguel Angel Jimenez but he finished joint sixth on 269.
Four times Lara has finished runner-up on the European Tour but he shed the bridesmaid tag by winning in the most impressive fashion.
Jeev Milkha Singh, the Indian who played in the Doug Sanders world boys championship at Aberdeen a couple of years in succession, came joint third on 268.
That was good enough to seal the Asian Tour UBS Order of Merit for Singh before the season’s finale next month.
Lara becomes the third Spaniard to win the UBS Hong Kong Open title after José Maria Olazábal and Miguel Angel Jiménez and as the winning putt dropped Jiménez stepped forward to be the first to offer his congratulations.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS

265 Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 64 66 66 69.
266 Juvic Pagunsan (PHI) 67 65 66 68.
268 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 66 67 69 66, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 64-69-69-66, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 68 66 67 67.
269 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 69 68 65 67, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 68 67 66 68.
270 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 68 69 67 66, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 71 69 63 67, Jean Van de Velde (Fra) 68 67 67 68.
Other scores:
272 Andrew Buckle (Aus) 67 65 72 68.
272 Andrew Buckle (Aus) 67 65 72 68.
274 Simon Khan (Eng) 66 68 68 72.
275 Colin Montgomerie (Sco) 69 66 70 70.

Late bogeys rob Laird of victory in Second Stage event

SCOT MARTIN QUALIFIES FOR
FINAL US QUALIFYING SCHOOL

Former Scottish youths champion Martin Laird finished joint second in the US PGA Tour Qualifying Second Stage tournament over four rounds at Southern Dunes Golf Club, Maricopa, Arizona.
Martin had rounds of 70, 66, 67 and 69 for a 16-under-par total of 272, one behind the competition winner, American Garth Mulroy who scored 68, 67, 71 and 65 for 271.
Laird, who is familiar with American conditions after spending four years on a golf scholarship at Colorado State University, would have won the tournament but for a couple of late bogeys at the 15th and 18th.
Earlier he had birdied the first, second, fifth, seventh, 11th, 12th and 13th with bogeys at the third and fourth failing to knock him off balance.
Only the top 20 and ties from each of the Stage 2 events all over the States go forward to the six-round Final Q School at La Quinta, California, from November 29 to December 4.
Laird finished joint 11th in clearing the First Stage hurdle which eliminated another ex-Scottish youths champion, Joel Hendry from Elgin. Hendry campaigned unsuccessfully on the Nationwide Tour this year.
ds

Tartan triumph in PGAs of Europe team championship

ALL-THE-WAY WINNERS SCOTLAND BRING
A TEAR TO THE EYE OF PETER LLOYD

From Colin Farquharson, Our Man in Murcia

Scotland’s all-the-way victory in the PGAs of Europe 72-hole international team golf championship at Roda Golf Resort, Murcia in Spain on Saturday brought a tear to the eye of hard-bitten, ex-steel worker Peter Lloyd, the Tartan Tour supremo.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better retirement present,” said Peter who calls it a day at the end of December after more than 20 years with the PGA Scottish Region.
“I became secretary of the region after we last won this title in 1996 and 1997 so I have never had the honour of holding this trophy before. I’m proud of the three lads – Craig Lee, Sam Cairns and Jim McKinnon.
“To lead at the end of each of the four rounds, coming out on top of a field of 25 countries was quite a performance. The team spirit was terrific. So, as I say, I’m proud of them and I’m sure Scotland will be too.”
Lee, Cairns and McKinnon combined for a 29-under-par total of 547 under the best two individual scores per day to count for the team total.
The Scots won the 6,000 Euros first team prize by three strokes from Ireland, their only serious challengers over the last two days.
The Irish trio of Robert Giles, John Dwyer and Leslie Walker got to within two shots of the Scots in the closing holes of the third round and they did it again in Saturday’s last session.
With Craig Lee having a 69 – his fourth sub-par 70 round of the week – and Sam Cairns having his worst round of 74, it was up to McKinnon to hold the strong-finishing Irish at bay.
The Irvine pro had a double bogey 6 at the 16th and that meant the Scots’ overall lead had come down to two.
TENSION
“I’ve never felt so much tension in all my life as golfer playing these last two holes,” said Jim McKinnon. “Ireland’s top man Robert Giles was one of my playing partners. If he finished birdie-birdie and I finished par-bogey then that would have been the three-shot swing the Irish needed for victory.
“I’ve never done so much praying on a golf course, praying I would hit the fairway, praying I would hit the green. It was knee-knocking stuff for me. Fortunately Robert could only par the last two holes. I parred the 17th and then holed a 6ft birdie putt at the last for a round of 70 to clinch the title for Scotland. It was a great feeling – more relief than anything else.”
Craig Lee from Stirling. was the lynchpin of the Scotland team. His score counted every day and he broke the course record twice in the first two rounds. Not surprisingly, he won the individual honours with a 21-under-par total of 267. What a pity there was no cash prize for that.
“I’m delighted with the way I played all week. It couldn’t have happened at a better time of the season. I think Scotland’s victory underlined the strength in depth of very good players on the Tartan Tour,” said Craig, a 29-year-old former Scottish assistants champion who turned pro soon after winning the Scottish boys’ open stroke-play title at Arbroath 12 years ago.
“If the team had been selected from the top three in the Scottish Order of Merit, then Sam and Jim would not have been it. They were outside the top 10 in fact,” said Lee who finished third to Greig Hutcheon and Dean Robertson. They were ruled ineligible for selection because they did not meet the minimum requirement of working 25 hours a week in a pro’s shop of golf business.
“But I couldn’t have asked for a better pair of team-mates on and off the course. They played very well when they had too – and there is a lot of pressure playing for your country.”
Wales and Norway finished joint third on 553 with England fifth on 565.
+Picture shows (left to right): the PGA's chief executive Sandy Jones, Jim McKinnon, Peter Lloyd, Sam Cairns and Craig Lee.

COLLATED SCOREBOARD

FINAL TEAM TOTALS (Best two from three individual scores counted for daily team total).
Par 576 (8 x 72).

547 SCOTLAND 134 136 138 139 (C Lee 267, J McKinnon 281, S Cairns 285) 6,000 Euros to team.
550 IRELAND 139 137 136 138 (R Giles 270, J Dwyer 283 , L Walker 298) 4,800 Euros to team.
553 WALES 136 140 141 136 (S Edwards 277, M Litton 284, A Evans 287); NORWAY 142 135 139 137 (N Diethelm 277, J Elgborn 278, J Uppard 298) 4,050 Euros to each team.
555 ENGLAND 139 142 138 136 (P Simpson 279, P Wesselingh 280, D Muscroft 285) 3,600 Euros to team.
565 AUSTRIA 143 144 138 140 (A Wernig 285, M Krainz 286, S Beretzki 291); ITALY 143 141 142 139 (M Bianco 283, S Betti 293, J Baglioni 297) 2,900 Euros to each team.
567 FINLAND 143 138 147 139 (S Aho 282, R Soravuo 285, M Martikainen 305) 2,500 Euros to team.
568 SOUTH AFRICA 143 139 142 144 (I Palmer 284, I Ficalbi 285, M Truter 297) 2,200 Euros to team.
573 CZECH REPUBLIC 142 139 147 145 (J Nemecek 279, J Juhaniak 297, P Strougal 299); GERMANY 142 145 141 145 (S Brown 281, L Spencer 294, M Stevenson 304) 1,000 Euros to each team.
574 FRANCE 147 146 139 142 (D Montesi 282, J C Clugnac 294, Y Yver 315), SWEDEN 141 142 148 143 (S Sterner 287, J Stenberg 289, R Thornqvist 295).
576 SWITZERLAND 146 142 143 145 (R Swords 289, J Dusson 291, V J Ross 300).
583 BELGIUM 149 148 144 142 (M Willems 293, F Dhondt 293, G D’Hollander 297).
587 POLAND 145 143 154 145 (M Proctor 294, M Bednarczyk 300, D Ekberg 304); UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 147 152 143 145 (S Payne 287, A Mackenzie 304, J Shippey 304).
588 SLOVENIA 148 151 147 142 (D Kraljic 284, U Gregoric 304, A Osmancevic 316).
592 HOLLAND 150 147 145 150 (A Hastie 294, B Valk 301, G Loning 310).
593 BULGARIA 150 143 149 151 (N Turley 283, P Simard 311, S Nikolay 322); PORTUGAL 150 150 148 145 (N Cavalheiro 297, A 314).Sequeira 299, D Moura 303).
597 CROATIA `152 147 148 150 (M Raic 294, N Smoljenovic 307, D Ljubanopvic 313).
601 LUXEMBOURG 150 152 150 149 (J Pailler 300, J Pickford 306, L Cain NR).
606 SPAIN 149 154 152 151 (M Alonso 303, D Romero 310, R Do Miguel 314).
612 RUSSIA 153 158 148 153 (A Nesterov 299, L Akremenko 315, S Staskov 316).

TOP TWENTY INDIVIDUALS
267 C Lee (Scot) 66 64 68 69.
270 R Giles (Ire) 67 67 66 70.
277 S Edwards (Wal) 68 71 69 69, N Diethelm (Nor) 70 65 69 73.
278 J Elgborn (Nor) 72 70 70 77.
279 J Nemecek (Cze) 69 67 72 71, P Simpson (Eng) 72 72 69 66.
280 P Wesselingh (Eng) 70 71 69 70.
281 S Brown (Ger) 69 69 72 71, J McKinnon (Sco) 69 72 70 70.
282 D Montesi (Fra) 71 73 69 69, S Aho (Fin) 73 69 73 67.
283 M Bianco (Ita) 70 71 73 69, N Tgurley (Bul) 71 70 70 72, J Dwyer (Ire) 72 71 70 70.
284 D Kraljic (Slo) 70 73 71 70, M Litton (Wal) 73 69 72 70, I Palmer (SAfr) 71 69 73 71.
285 R Soravuo (Fin) 70 69 74 72, A Wernig (Austria) 73 70 69 73, I Ficalbi (SAf) 73 70 69 73, D Muscroft (Eng) 69 71 70 75, S Cairns (Scot) 68 73 70 74.

Scot well placed to advance from Stage 2 Arizona event

MARTIN LAIRD SET TO QUALIFY

FOR US FINAL Q SCHOOL

 

Former Scottish youths golf champion Martin Laird from Glasgow is heading for the United States PGA Tour Final Qualifying School - if he avoids any last-round disasters in one of six Stage 2 events nationwide.

Laird, a former American college circuit player while on a four-year golf scholarship at Colorado University, has already come through Stage 1, finishing joint 11th in San Juan Oaks GC, Hollister, California in early November.

Having moved on to Southern Dunes Golf Club, Maricopa in Arizona, Laird has shot 70, 66 and 67 to be on 13-under-par 203 and lying second to American Mike Heinen on 200 (67-67-66).

The top 20 and ties from each of the six venues will qualify for the Final Q School over six rounds at La Quinta, California from November 29 to December 4.

Another former Scottish youths champion, Joel Hendry from Elgin, but a resident of America for the past decade, failed to survive a Stage 1 test at Durham, North Carolina.

One Scot who is guaranteed a place on the US PGA Tour next year is Aberdeen-born "Australian," Michael Sim who finished 19th in the US Nationwide Tour - the No 2 pro circuit in the States. The top 20 were automatically exempt from the Tour School process and go straight forward to rub shoulders with Tiger Woods & Co next season.

Sim holds dual British and Australian citizenship. He was born in Aberdeen 22 years ago. The Sim family emigrated from the Granite City to Perth, Western Australia when Michael was only six. In 2004-2005 Sim was ranked the world's No 1 amateur - a position currently held by another Aberdonian, US amateur championship winner Richie Ramsay.

 

 

HONG KONG OPEN SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD

MONTY MAKES THE CUT IN HONG KONG
BUT GOOSEN A HALFWAY CASUALTY
South African Retief Goosen was a big-name casualty at the halfway stage of the UBS Hong Kong Open yesterday. A second-round of 71 in a low-scoring competition was not good enough to see him beat the cut.
Spaniard Jose Manuel Lara led the field into the final two rounds after a four-under-par 66 for a 36-hole total of 14-under-par 130.
Colin Montgomerie made it in joint 14th place on 135.
Leading halfway totals:
130 Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 64 66.
131 Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 65 66.
132 Juvic Pagunsan (Phi) 67 65, Andrew Buckle (Aus) 67 65, Zhang Lian-wei (Chi) 69 63.
133 Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 64 69, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 66 67.
134 Damien McGrane (Ire) 68 66, Thammanoon Srirot (Tha) 68 66, Simon Khan (Eng) 66 68,
Adam Blyth (Aus) 66 68, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 68 66, Anton Haig (SAf) 69 65
135 Colin Montgomerie (Sco) 69 66, Angelo Que (Phi) 69 66, Jean Van De Velde (Fra) 68-67, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 68 67, Peter Lawrie (Ire) 71 64.
136 Robert-Jan Derksen (Net) 68 68.

PGAs of Europe international team championship

SCOTS LEAD BY FOUR FROM
IRISH - BUT IT'S NOT OVER
YET IN SPAIN

SCOTLAND take a four-stroke lead into Saturday's final round of the PGAs of Europe international team golf championship, supported by Glenmuir, at the Roda Beach & Golf Resort in Murcia, Spain.
But, although the Scots – Craig Lee, Sam Cairns and Jim McKinnon – have made all the running so far, this is far from being a one-horse race for the title down the home straight.
Ireland’s Robert Giles, John Dwyer and Leslie Walker narrowed the gap at the top of the leaderboard from a start-of-the-day six shots to a margin of only two with three holes to play but a two-shot swing, under the best two from three scores to count, gave the Scots just that little extra breathing space that may prove crucial in the final analysis.
Worth remembering that if there can be a two-shot turnaround over only three holes, the whole title picture can change over the 18 holes of the final round.
This is not to be pessimistic about Scotland's chances of leading from start to finish. They are definitely favourites but need just one more good team total to clinch what would be their first victory since Scotland won back to back in 1996 and 1997.
Stirling’s Craig Lee was again the Scots’ main man with a four-under-par 68 – his worst round so far. Both his team-mates had two-under-par 70s.
A team score on the day of 138 put Scotland on the 24-under-par 408 mark.
Ireland are on 412 with a third-day total of 136 – their best yet. If Lee is the man in form for Scotland, then Robert Giles is delivering the goods for Ireland. He followed up a pair of 67s with a 66. That was coupled with a 70 from John Dwyer for the Ireland score.
Although there are no prizes for the lowest individual aggregate in what is essentially a team event, one off-the-record side issue on the final day will be the Lee v Giles dual. Lee has the lowest score so are of 18-under-par 198 for the three rounds. Giles, who played for the last Ireland team to win the title in 1998, is on 16-under 200 – four shots ahead of the third best man so far, Niklas Diethelm of Norway.
Norway are lying third in the team event on 416 – four shots adrift of second-placed Ireland and one shto ahead of fourth-placed Wales.
England are occupying fifth spot on 419.
+Picture shows PGA Scottish Region secretary Peter Lloyd, who retires at the end of the year, and the Scotland trio of (left to right) Sam Cairns, Craig Lee and Jim McKinnon.

THIRD ROUND TOTALS
(Par 432: 6 x 72). Teams count best two from three individual scores per round.

408 SCOTLAND 134 136 138 (C Lee 68, S Cairns 70, J McKinnon 70).
412 IRELAND 139 137 136 (R Giles 66, J Dwyer 70, L Walker 81).
416 NORWAY 142 135 139 (N Diethelm 69, J Elgborn 70, J Uppard 79).
417 WALES 136 140 141 (S Edwards 69, M Litton 72, A Evans 77).
419 ENGLAND 139 142 138 (P Simpson 69, P Wesselingh 69, D Muscroft 70).
424 SOUTH AFRICA 143 139 142 (I Ficalbi 69, I Palmer 73, M Truter 75).
425 AUSTRIA 143 144 138 (A Wernig 66, S Beretzki 72, M Krainz 77).
426 ITALY 143 141 142 (J Baglioni 69, M Bianco 73, S Betti 78).
428 GERMANY 142 145 141 (L Spencer 69, S Brown 72, M Stevenson 74), CZECH REPUBLIC 142 139 147 (J Nemecek 72, J Juhaniak 75, P Strougal 77); FINLAND 143 138 147 (S Aho 73, R Soravuo 74, M Martikainen 75).
431 SWITZERLAND 146 142 143 (J-J Dusson 70, R Swords 73, W J Ross 78); SWEDEN 141 142 148 (S Sterner 74, R Thornqvist 74, J Stenberg 75).
432 FRANCE 147 146 139 (D Montesi 69, J C Clugnac 70, Y Yver 83).
441 BELGIUM 149 148 144 (M Willems 71, G D’Hollander 73, F Dhondt 75).
442 BULGARIA 150 143 149 (N Turley 70, S Nickolay 79, P Simard 80); POLAND 145 143 154 (M Proctor 77, D Ekberg 77, M Bednarczyk 78); HOLLAND 150 147 145 (A Hastie 72, B Valk 73, G Loning 76); UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 147 152 143 (J Shippey 71, A Mackenzie 72, S Payne 74).
446 SLOVENIA 148 151 147 (D Kraljic 71, U Gregoric 76, A Osmancevic 77).
447 CROATIA 152 147 148 (M Raic 72, N Smoljenovic 76, D Ljubanopvic 78).
448 PORTUGAL 150 150 148 (A Sequeira 73, N Cavalheiro 75, D Moura 75).
452 LUXEMBOURG 150 152 150 (J Pailler 74, J Pickford 76, L Cain 84).
455 SPAIN 149 154 152 (M Alonso 74, D Romero 78, R do Miguel 80).
459 RUSSIA 153 158 148 (A Nesterov 72, S Staskov 76, L Akremenko 78).

LEADING INDIVIDUAL TOTALS
Par 216 (3 x 72)
198 Craig Lee (Sco) 66 64 68.
200 Robert Giles (Ire) 67 67 66.
204 NIklas Diethelm (Nor) 70 65 69.
208 Jiri Nemececk (Cze) 69 67 72, Simon Edwards (Wal) 68 71 69.
210 Simon Brown (Ger) 69 69 72, Duncan Muscroft (Eng) 69 71 70, Paul Wesselingh (Eng) 70 71 69.
211 Neil Turley (Bul) 71 70 70, Sam Cairns (Sco) 8 73 70, Jim McKinnon (Sco) 69 72 70.

SCOTTISH GOLF TOURISM AWARDS

ROYAL DORNOCH'S JIM CUMMING
IS CADDIE MASTER OF YEAR


Greywalls in Gullane last night picked up the prestigious Country House Hotel of the Year Award for the second year in succession at the Scottish Golf Tourism Awards at the Marriott Dalmahoy Hotel and Country Club.
The annual awards ceremony was hosted by comedian Andy Cameron and brought together an impressive array of representatives from the Scottish Golf Tourism industry culminating in a celebration of all that is positive about Scottish Golf Tourism.
Sue Prime, Manager of Greywalls said,
“It is a great honour to be recognised for this award two years running. We do work hard to ensure our guests have a memorable stay with us, so this is a huge credit to the team that we are achieving our goals – and more.”
The awards, which are awarded to hotels, golf courses, transport providers, caddie masters and tour operators, are voted for by the golf tourism industry themselves.
Golf Course of the Year was won by Kingsbarns Links near St Andrews, with neighbouring Fairmont St Andrews winning the Resort Hotel category.
The Claymore House Hotel in Nairn won Small Hotel of the Year and the refurbished Macdonald Marine Hotel in North Berwick won Large Hotel of The Year.
Other awards on the evening went to North Berwick Golf Club for Secretariat of the Year, Jim Cummings from Dornoch for Caddiemaster of the year, McLaren Travel from Ayrshire scooped Transport provider of the year and Perry Golf received the accolade of Golf Tour Operator of the Year.
The new award for 2006 was for Young Industry Person, awarded to Lora McCluskey of LMcC Golf Consultancy for her endeavours throughout the year.

Golf Tourism Scotland Hotel of the Year Awards 2006

Small Hotel / Guest House Category
Claymore House Hotel, Nairn
The Inn at Lathones, St Andrews
The Inn on North Street, St Andrews
Winner
The Claymore House Hotel, Nairn

Country House Hotel Category
Culloden House Hotel, Inverness
Greywalls Hotel, Gullane
Enterkine House Hotel, Nr Ayr
Winner
Greywalls Hotel, Gullane

Large Hotel Category
Macdonald Marine Hotel, North Berwick
St. Andrews Golf Hotel, St. Andrews
The Marcliffe Hotel and Spa, Aberdeen
Winner
Macdonald Marine Hotel, North Berwick

Resort Hotel Category
The Gleneagles Hotel
Fairmont St Andrews
The Westin Turnberry Resort
Winner
Fairmont St Andrews

Golf Course Secretariat of the Year
North Berwick Golf Club
Royal Dornoch Golf Club
Prestwick Golf Club
Winner
North Berwick Golf Club

Caddie Master of the Year
Jim Cumming, Royal Dornoch Golf Club
Kenny McLeod, Kingsbarns Golf Links
Martin Roy, Carnoustie Golf Links
Winner
Jim Cumming, Royal Dornoch Golf Club

Golf Course of the Year
The Westin Turnberry Resort - Ailsa Course
Kingsbarns Golf Links
King’s Course Gleneagles
Winner
Kingsbarns Golf Links

Transport Operator of the Year
McLaren Travel
St Andrews Executive Travel
Woods Car Rental
Winner
McLaren Travel

Golf Tour Operator of the Year
Wilkinson Golf and Leisure
Perry Golf
Adventures in Golf
Winner
Perry Golf

Young Industry Person
Samantha Adam, Rufflets Country House
Jeff Anderson, Perry Golf
Louise Campbell, Claymore House Hotel
Lora McCluskey, LMcC Golf Consultancy
Sarah Welsh, Crail Golfing Society
Winner
Lora McCluskey

European Tour Final Qualifying School at San Roque

DAVID DRYSDALE LONE SCOT AMONG
TOUR CARD WINNERS FOR NEXT SEASON

David Drysdale from Dunbar was the only Scot to win playing rights on next season’s European Tour at the conclusion of the six round Final Qualifying School at San Roque on the Costa del Sol.
Drysdale was well placed with one round to go and he made no mistakes on the last day with a one-under-par 71 for a 10-under-par final total of 422. He finished third behind joint winners Alexandre Rocha (Brazil) and Carlos Rodiles (Spain) who finished at 15-under-par 417.
Walker Cup teenager Oliver Fisher, who had entered as an amateur, will be playing his next event as a pro having finished fifth on seven-under-par.
Euan Little from Portpatrick, the only other Scot apart from Drysdale with a chance of making it going into the final round, failed to get inside the limit mark of level par 432 for the six rounds.
Euan signed off with a 74 for a one-over-par total – agonisingly close to playing on the European Tour next season.
Former Scottish amateur champion George Murray from Earlsferry Thistle will, presumably, be staying in the unpaid ranks after finished tied 45th with a three-over-par total after a closing score of 72. A starting round of 77 had him trying to play catch-up golf for the remainder of the tournament.
One shot behind George Murray was West Linton-based Welshman Gareth Wright who was well in contention through the first three or four rounds but fell away with closing efforts of 77 and 76.
Former PGA champion Andrew Oldcorn finished tied 64th on nine-over-par after finishing with his worst round of the six – a six-over 78.
Scott Henderson, the 1997 European Tour Rookie of the Year, came joint 73rd with a 76 for a 12 over par total.
EUROPEAN TOUR CARD WINNERS
417 (-15) Alexandre Rocha (Bra) 74 72 65 66 69 71, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 70 64 69 75 70 69.
422 (-10) David Drysdale (Sco) 73 68 69 68 73 71.
424 Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 71 70 70 72 70 71.
425 (am) Oliver Fisher (Eng) 68 70 68 74 74 71.
426 Notah Begay (US) 72 69 71 67 71 76, Patrick Sjoland (Swe) 68 73 70 70 70 75, Sven Struver (Ger) 76 75 68 68 69 70.
428 Warren Bennett (Eng) 69 67 72 71 76 73, Julien Foret (Fra) 74 71 70 71 69 73, Sam Little (Eng) 73 67 71 72 70 75, Carl Suneson (Spa) 71 69 74 72 73 69.
429 Sion E Bebb (Wal) 74 76 67 70 678 74, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 65 71 72 72 74 75, Santiago Luna (Spa) 72 70 70 71 73 73, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 74 72 71 69 69 74.
430 Steve Alker (NZ) 76 73 69 72 67 73, Jesus Maria Arruti (Spa) 71 71 71 72 75 70, Alex Cejka (Ger) 73 71 74 70 70 72, Richard McEvoy (Eng) 73 69 73 67 74 74, Henrik Nystrom (Swe) 70 71 69 71 76 73, Taichi Teshima (Jap) 72 70 75 70 71 72, Matthew Zions (Aus) 75 70 72 68 72 73.
431 Francois Calmels (Fra) 72 74 73 71 71 70l Pelle Edberg (Swe) 76 69 68 74 69 75, Birgir Hafthorsson (Ice) 69 72 75 71 75 69, Andrfew Raitt (Eng) 73 74 70 74 71 69, Matthew Richardson (Eng) 73 71 68 74 69 76, Andrew Tampion (Aus) 71 71 75 69 71 74.
432 (level par) Jose Manuel Carriles (Spa) 74 71 70 72 72 73, Luis Claverie (Spa) 69 69 71 73 74 76, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 73 69 73 73 70 74, Manuel Quiros (Spa) 70 73 68 68 70 73, Edward Rush (Eng) 70 69 71 76 75 71, Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 75 73 70 72 69 73.
NON-QUALIFIERS INCLUDED
433 Antti Ahokas (Fin) 68 72 76 71 71 75, Euan Little (Sco) 74 74 73 67 71 74.
435 (am) George Murray (Sco) 77 71 69 72 74 72.
436 Gareth Wright (Wal) 73 72 70 68 77 76.
441 Andrew Oldcorn (Sco) 75 70 73 73 72 78.
444 Peter Baker (Eng) 74 73 69 75 75 78, Scott Henderson (Sco) 74 70 72 73 79 76.
446 Robert Dinwiddie (Eng) 76 72 73 70 79 76.

PGAs of Europe international team event

CRAIG LEE SHOOTS RECORD 64 TO PUSH
SCOTLAND SIX SHOTS CLEAR IN SPAIN

From Colin Farquharson, Our Man in Murcia

SCOTLAND, with a team tally of 18 under par 270, increased their overnight lead from two to six shots at the halfway stage of the PGAs of Europe international team golf championship, supported by Glenmuir, over the Roda golf course in the Murcia region of Spain today
The Scots, who used to dominate this event in the 1990s, owe their commanding position to another record round – this time an eight-under-par 64 – by 29-year-old Craig Lee from Stirling.
In the first round, his top of the leaderboard score of 66 was recognised as a professional record over a new course that has never held a pro event before!
Norway’s Niklas Diethelm took the record over for a short spell today with a splendid 65. ThenLee reclaimed it with a flawless round which included six birdies and an eagle.
“I don’t know what I’m doing right since I came to Spain but I wish I could bottle it and make a fortune selling it,” cracked the Scot who turned pro after winning the Scottish boys’ open stroke-play championship 12 years ago.
Since then he has added the Scottish assistants pro title to his CV and this season he finished third in the Tartan Tour Order of Merit.
“I’m not hitting the ball any better than I have done all season – but this is the best I have ever putted. Anything from 20ft and under and I’m knocking them in. Long may it continue.
“I faced a 6ft putt on my last hole (the ninth) for a birdie but I missed it. That was one of the few exceptions. I wish I had been able to hole it because I’ve never scored nine under par for a round in my life. But let’s not be greedy. This is a team event and it was a great score for Scotland.”
Indeed it was because captain Craig’s team-mates James McKinnon and Sam Cairns were unable to add sub-par second round scores, as both had on Wednesday.
McKinnon had a 72 which gave Scotland a team score of 136, under the best two from three individual scores to count. That was two shots worse than their opening effort.
Cairns packed a remarkable six birdies into a one-over-par 73 which included a four-putt quadruple bogey eighth at the seventh hole, which was the 16th he played.
To be fair, by that time Cairns was having a go for everything in a bid to get under McKinnon’s 72 and thus have a counting score.
Wales and Ireland are sharing second place on 276 with Robert Giles including two eagles and a double-bogey into his 67 for Ireland while
Mark Litton was Wales’ best scorer with a 69.
Norway have moved into fourth place while England have dropped back to a share of fifth place on seven-under 281 with the Czech Republic and Finland.
WESSELINGH WEAKENS
Duncan Muscroft was England’s best scorer with a 71 but it should have been Paul Wesselingh, the Glenmuir British club champion.
“I played well for most of the round and got it to four under par after 15 holes. Then I suddenly felt very, very tired and ran up a double bogey 6 at the 17th and then a bogey 6 at the last for a 71,” said Paul.
“So disappointing but I with the tiredness coming on, I just lost concentration and everything became such an effort.”
But Wesselingh, give him his due, had a short break after his round – and then went out on the practice range.

COLLATED SECOND ROUND SCOREBOARD

PGAs OF EUROPE INTERNATIONAL TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Roda Golf Course & Resort, Murcia, Spain.
TWO-ROUND TOTALS
Par 288 (4 x 72). Teams count best two individual scores per round

270 SCOTLAND 134 136 (C Lee 64, J McKinnon 72, S Cairns 73).
276 WALES 136 140 (M Litton 69, S Edwards 71, A Evans 75); IRELAND 139 137 (R Giles 67, L Walker 70, J Dwyer 71).
277 NORWAY 142 135 (N Diethelm 65, J Elgborn 70, J Uppard 73).
281 CZECH REPUBLIC 142 139 (J Nemecek 67, J Juhaniak 72, P Strougal 75); ENGLAND 139 142 (D Muscroft 71, P Wesselingh 71, P Simpson 72); FINLAND 143 138 (R Soravuo 69, S Aho 69, M Martikainen 79).
282 SOUTH AFRICA 143 139 (I Palmer 69, I Ficalbi 70, M Truter 77).
283 SWEDEN 141 142 (S Sterner 70, R Thornqvist 72, J Stenberg 73).
284 ITALY 143 141 (S Betti 70, M Bianco 71, J Baglioni 74).
287 AUSTRIA 143 144 (M Krainz 68, S Beretzki 76, A Wernig 77); GERMANY 142 145 (S Brown 69, L Spencer 76, M Stevenson 80).
288 SWITZERLAND 146 142 (V J Ross 70, R Swords 72, J-J Dusson 74); POLAND 145 143 (M Proctor 71, M Bednarczyk 72, D Ekberg 74).
293 FRANCE 147 146 (D Montesi 73, Y Yver 73, J C Clugnac 75); BULGARIA 150 143 (N Turley 70, P Simard 73, S Nikolay 83).
297 BELGIUM 149 148 (G D’Hollander 74, F Dhondt 74, M Willems 75); HOLLAND 150 147 (A Hastie 71, G Loning 76, B Valk 79).
299 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 147 152 (S Payne 75, J Shippey 77, A Mackenzie 78); SLOVENIA 148 151 (D Kraljic 73, U Gregoric 78, A Osmancevic 86); CROATIA 152 147 (M Raic 71, D Ljubanopvic 76, N Smoljenovic 80).
300 PORTUGAL 150 150 (N Cavalheiro 75, A Sequeira 75, D Moura 78).
302 LUXEMBOURG 150 152 (J Pickford 75, J Pailler 77, L Cain NR).
303 SPAIN 149 154 (D Romero 75, R do Miguel 79, M Alonso 82).
311 RUSSIA 153 158 (A Nesterov 78, S Staskov 80, L Akremenko 80).

This week's North-east Golfers' Alliance leading scores

BRIAN RITCHIE WINS AT TURRIFF
WITH A TWO-UNDER-PAR 66

Inverallochy two-handicapper Brian Ritchie became the third first-time winner on this season’s North-east Golfers’s Alliance when he headed a field of 95 players at Turriff yesterday.
(Editor's note: Apologies for not being able to put the scores up last night. Ron Menzies phoned them through to me here in Spain but could not crack the hotel telephone system, so I was unable to "post" them until I got to the Roda golf course this morning. Normal service resumed next Monday!)
Brian shot a two-under-par 66 to win by one stroke from Cruden Bay professional Robbie Stewart, fellow-pros Gary Forbes (Murcar Links) and amateurs Terry Mathieson (Murcar Links) and Luke Barbour (Cruden Bay).
Leading returns (par 68)
SCRATCH
66 Brian Ritchie (Inverallochy).
67 Robbie Stewart (Cruden Bay), Terry Mathieson (Murcar Links), Nick Reid (Deeside), Luke Barbour (Cruden Bay), Gary Forbes (Murcar Links).
68 Dean Yeats (Newmachar), Stewart Finnie (Caledonian).
69 Andrew Campbell (Deeside).
70 Gary Esson (Portlethen), Billy Main (Murcar Links), Colin Nelson (MacKenzies’ Club), Scott Fraser (Northern), Sandy Pirie (Hazlehead).
71 Colin Carnegie (Kemnay), Iain Buchan (Craibstone), Richard Hyland (Newmachar), Roy Pirie (Caledonian).
HANDICAP
Class 1 – Brian Ritchie (Inverallochy) (2), Keith Smith (Aboyne) (8) 64; Alan Grant (Portlethen) (7) 66, Luke Barbour (Cruden Bay) (1) 66; Brian Harper (Newburegh) (6), Bob Nicoll (Murcar Links) (5), Jim Murray (Banchory) (5), Kenny Minty (Turriff) (8) 67.
Class 2 – Derek Randall (Banchory) (13) 62; Stuart Florence (Oldmeldrum) (11) 65; Alex Buchan (Northern) (10), Derek Moir (Murcar Links) (13) 64; DonaldWood (Newburgh) (14), Michael Rogers (Kemnay) (14) 65.
+A reminder that next Wednesday’s competition has been switched from Spey Bay to Buckpool.

European Tour Final Qualifying School Round Five

DRYSDALE, LITTLE ONLY SCOTS IN
REAL CONTENTION FOR TOUR CARDS

David Drysdale looks certain to regain a European Tour card and Euan Little needs to improve just once place over today's sixth and final round to be one of the leading 30 and ties who will be celebrating their success at the conclusion of the European Tour Final Qualifying School at San Roque on the Costa del Sol.
Drysdale slipped down to a share of fourth place with a 73 for 351 - five shots behind the overnight leader Alexandree Rocha (Brazil) who had a 69 for 14-under-par 346.
Walker Cup teenager Oliver Fisher is going splendidly. He is in joint eighth place on 354 after a 74,
Euan Little had a 71 to be sharing 31st place on 359.
West Linton-based Welshman Gareth Wright had a disastrous 77 which knocked him down to a share of 37th place on 360.
Andrew Oldcorn and amateur George Murray, joint 54th on 363 after fifth-round scores of 72 abd 74 respectively, look to be out of contention.
Same goes foir Aberdonian Scott Henderson whose touch deserted him just when he needed it most. Scott, the 1997 European Tour Rookie of the Year, had a sad 79 for 368 to plummet to a share of 78th place in the field of 80 qualifiers for the final two rounds.
SCOREBOARD AFTER FIVE ROUNDS
346 (-14) Alexandre Rocha (Brqa) 74 72 65 66 69.
348 Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 70 64 69 75 70.
350 Notah Begay (US) 72 69 71 67 71.
351 Patrick Sjoland (Swe) 68 73 70 70 70, David Drysdale (Sco) 73 68 69 68 73,
353 Sam Little (Eng) 73 67 71 72 70, Fredrik Andersson (Swe) 71 70 70 72 70.
354 Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 65 71 72 72 74, (am) Oliver Fisher (Eng) 68 70 68 74 74.
Other scores:
359 Euan Little (Sco) 74 74 73 67 71 (jt 31st)
360 Gareth Wright (Wal)( 73 72 70 68 77 (jt 37th).
363 Andrew Oldcorn (Sco) 75 70 73 73 72; (am) George Murray (Sco) 77 71 69 72 74 (jt 54th).
368 Scott Henderson (Sco) 74 70 72 73 79 (jt 78th).

PGAs of Europe international team championship

CRAIG LEE (66) CLICKETY-CLICKS FOR
LEADERS SCOTLAND IN SPAIN

From Colin Farquharson, Our Man in Murcia

It was Scotland’s day in the first round of the PGAs of Europe international team golf championship, supported by Glenmuir, at the Dave-Thomas designed Roda course in the Murcia region of sunny Spain today.
Craig Lee from Stirling clickety-clicked with a six-under-par 66 – the lowest round in a field of 75 professionals.
Samuel Cairns of Westerwood backed him up with a 68 to put Scotland at the head of 25 countries with a first-round team total (best two from three individual scores to count daily) of 10 under par 134.
THREE SUB-70 SCORES FOR SCOTS
And Scotland were the only team to have all three players shoot under 70. Poor old Jim McKinnon from Irvine had a non-counting, three-under-par 69 – a score that would have counted for every other team in the competition with the exception of Wales.
And it is Wales who are Scotland’s closest rivals at eight-under-par 136 with a pair of 68s from Alun Evans (Newport Links) and Simon Edwards (Clays, Wrexham). Mark Litton (The Bedford) had Wales’ non-counting 73.
To complete an excellent start to the 72-hole competition for the PGAs of Great Britain & Ireland, England and Ireland are sharing third place on 139.
Leeds-born Duncan Muscroft, who has a golf teaching post near Venice, was watched by his dad Hedley as he shot England’s best score of 69. Glenmuir British club champion Paul Wesselingh (Kedleston Park, Derby) had a 70. England’s non-counter was Paul Simpson with a par 72 – which was a very good round indeed when one considers that he was sick all night with a touch of suspected food poisoning and wasn’t feeling all that great on the golf course.
Robert Giles (Greenore) paced Ireland with a 67. John Dwyer (Ashbourne) had a 72 and Leslie Walker (Dundalk) a non-counting 72.
It wasn’t an ooh-la-la day for France. The defending champion start the second day in joint 15th place after a disappointing team total of three-over-par 147.

Collated scoreboard

FIRST ROUND TEAM TOTALS

Par 72 x 2 = 144. Best two scores from three to count each round.
134 SCOTLAND (C Lee 66, S Cairns 68, J McKinnon 69).
136 WALES (A Evans 68, S Edwards 68, M Litton 73).
139 ENGLAND (D Muscroft 69, P Wesselingh 70, P Simpson 72), IRELAND (R Giles 67, J Dwyer 72, L Walker 79).
141 SWEDEN (J Stenberg 70, S Sterner 71, R Thornqvist 72).
142 NORWAY (N Diethelm 70, J Elgborn 72, J Uppard 75), CZECH REPUBLIC ( J Nemecek 679, P Strougal 73, J Juhaniak 74), GERMANY (S Brown 69, L Spencer 73, M Stevenson 76).
143 ITALY (M Bianco 70, J Baglioni 73, S Betti 75), SOUTH AFRICA (I Palmer 71, M Truter 72, I Ficalbi 73), AUSTRIA (M Krainz 71, A Wrnig 72, S Beretzki 72), FINLAND r Soravuo 70, S Aho 73, M Martikainen 78).
145 POLAND (M Proctor 71, D Ekberg 74, M Bednarczyk 80).
146 SWITZERLAND (R Swords 71,J-J Dusson 75, V J Ross 77).
147 FRANCE (D Montesi 71, J C Clugnac 76, Y Yver 77), UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (S Payne 71, J Shippey 76, A Mackenzie 76.
148 SLOVENIA (D Kraljic 70, U Gregoric 78, A Osmancevic 79).
149 BELGIUM (F Dhondt 73, M Willems 76, G D’Hollander 77), SPAIN (M Alonso 74, D Romero 75, R do Miguel 77)..
150 LUXEMBOURG (J Pailler 73, L Cain 77, J Pickford 82), PORTUGAL (D Moura 75, A Sequeira 75, N Cavalheiro 77), BULGARIA (N Turley 71, P Simard 79, S Nikolay 81), HOLLAND (B Valk 75, A Hastie 75, G Loning)..
152 CROATIA (M Raic 74, N Smoljenovic 78, D Ljubanopvic 78).
153 RUSSIA (A Nesterov 75, L Akremenko 78, S Sstaskov 80).

Twelfth week in a row at No 1 for Aberdonian

RAMSAY STILL RIDING HIGH IN
R&A WORLD AMATEUR RANKINGS

Royal Aberdeen’s Richie Ramsay has retained the No 1 spot in the R&A World Amateur Golf Rankings for a 12 week in a row since his capture of the United States amateur championship.
There is not a single American in a top 10 dominated by players from the four home unions with the exception of second-placed Spaniard Pablo Martin who is meantime on a four-year golf scholarship at Oklahoma State University, and Australian Won Joon Lee in seventh place.

The leading placings for Week 44 are:

1 R Ramsay (Sco), 2 P Martin (Spa), 3 J Moul (Eng), 4 R McGowan (Eng), 5 O Fisher (Eng), 6 R McIlroy (Ire), 7 Won Joon Lee (Aus), 8 R Davies (Wal), 8 N Edwards (Wal), 10 G Wolstenholme (Eng).
Other Scots rankings include:
29 G Murray, 54 L Saltman, 59 P O’Hara, 79 C Macaulay, 87 J Gallagher, 93 D Stewart, 109 J King, 113 S Henry, 118 K McNicoll, 119 B Fotheringhyam, 121 E Saltman, 130 G Campbell, 131 W Booth, 143 M Kerr, 145 C Watson.

MIDLAND GOLFERS' ALLIANCE MEETING

CRAIG WINS WITH 63 AT LETHAM GRANGE

This week's Midland Golfers' Alliance meeting sponsored by J M Menzies, was held at Letham Grange.
Scratch winner with a superb five-under-par 63 was Steve Craig, the Edinburgh Leisure professional.under.
Best net score was a 61 by D Seivwright (Drumoig)

LEADING SCRATCH SCORES

63 S Craig (Edinburgh Leisure) p.
64 K Hutton (Downfield) p.
66 H Bjorelind (Larvik) p, B Wallace (Forrester Park) ap, E Malcolm (Dunfermline).
67 H Salmond (Tulliallan), J Irwin (Muckart).

LEADING HANDICAP SCORES

61 D Seivwright (Drumoig).
63 F McKay (Drumoig).
64 K Egan (Downfield).
65 D Black (Dunfermline), G Crighton (St. Andrews), W Millar (Monifieth), N Henderson (Scotscraig), J Muir (Scotscraig), J Brown (Panmure).

Qualifiers for the Midland Alliance Championship at Scotscraig in April

B Wallace (Forrester Park) ap, H Salmond (Tulliallan), J Irwin (Muckart), F McKay (Drumoig).

Next week's meeting is at Crail (Craighead) on Tuesday, November (8.30 -12.00)

AMERICAN COLLEGES LOOKING FOR GOLF STUDENTS

UNITED STATES GOLF SCHOLARSHIP
OPPORTUNITIES

Two of the leading NCAA (four-year degree) and NJCAA (two-year college course with potential for final two years at NCAA) Colleges/ Universities are currently looking for players for next year.
Anyone interested should contact Graham Gordon at e mail address: graham@swmgolfmanagement.com
Further details of the normal golf scholarship routine is available within website www.swmgolfmanagement.com

European Tour Final Qualifying School

DRYSDALE LEADS SCOTS INTO FINAL
TWO ROUNDS AT SAN ROQUE

Dunbar’s David Drysdale is sharing second place with two rounds to go in the European Tour Final Qualifying School at San Roque on the Costa del Solin Spain.
Drysdale had a fourth-round 68 for a 10-under-par tally of 278, a score bettered only by Brazilian Alexandre Rocha who shot a 66 for 11-under-par 277.
Euan Little from Portpatrick had a 67 to move up to joint 40th position on 288. With only the leading 30 and ties after six rounds gaining playing rights on next year’s European Tour (which actually starts this year!) , Little needs to improve 10 places over the final 36 holes at San Roque.
Scott Henderson and amateur George Murray are a shot behind Little on the 289 mark and obviously they need to improve a shade more than Euan does.
Henderson had a fourth-round 73 while Murray returned a 72.
Andrew Oldcorn (291) beat the 72-hole cut with nothing to spare but
Three Scots were eliminated – Scottish professional champion and former European Tour player Dean Robertson (four-over-par 292), former Scottish amateur champion Andrew McArthur (293) and Eric Ramsay (296).
LEADING QUALIFIERS FOR FINAL TWO ROUNDS
277 Alexandre Rocha (Bra) 74 72 65 66.
278 David Drysdale (Sco) 73 68 69 68, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 70 64 69 75.
279 Notah Begay (US) 72 69 71 67, Warren Bennett (Eng) 69 67 72 71.
280 (am) Oliver Fisher (Eng) 68 70 68 74, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 65 71 72 72.
281 Henrik Nystrom (Swe) 70 71 69 71, Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 68 73 70 70.
282 Luis Claverie (Spa) 69 69 71 73, Richard McEvoy (Eng) 73 69 73 67.
283 Gareth Wright (Wal) 73 72 70 68 , Frederick Andersson Hed (Swe) 71 70 70 72, Matthew King (Eng) 73 67 71 72, Sam Little (Eng) 73 67 71 72, Santiago Luna (Spa) 72 70 70 71(jt 12th).
Other qualifiers for final two rounds included:
288 Euan Little (Sco) 74 74 73 67 (jt 40th).
289 Scott Henderson (Sco) 74 70 72 73, (am) George Murray (Sco) 77 71 69 72 (jt 47th).
291 Andrew Oldcorn (Sco) 75 70 73 73 (jt 69th).
MISSED THE CUT
292 Dean Robertson (Sco) 78 71 71 72, (am) Ross McGowan (Eng) 72 76 71 73 (jt 81st).
293 Andrew McArthur (Sco) 74 73 74 72 (jt 95th).
296 Eric Ramsay (Sco) 73 76 75 72 (jt 107th).

PGAs of Europe international team curtain-raiser

VIVE LA FRANCE! YANN FIRES WARNING
SHOT BY WINNING PRO-AM
France, the country who won last year’s PGAs of Europe international team golf championship on the Costa del Sol, fired a warning shot over the bows of this year’s contenders by providing the winner of the curtain-raising pro-am to this week’s tournament at Roda golf course in the Murcia region of Spain today (Tuesday).
In glorisous sunshine under clear blue skies, Yann Yver from France – not a member of last year’s title-winning trio, led his amateur team of Joseph Grierson (+1), Pedro Diaz Sanchez (8) and Jose Angel Diaz (13) to a clear-cut victory.
Under the best two net scores to count at each hole, Yann’s team amassed the 21-under-par total of 93pt.
Their scoring hero was Senor Diaz, who, despite his double-digit handicapo, scored two gross birdies and six gross pars. The Yann Yver team had 48 points for the outward half and 45 coming home.
Runners-up were English-born Simon Payne (United Arab Emirates) with the team of Manuel Mortime (10), Jose Bernardo Gonzalez Sanchez (11) and Jamie Navarro (24) with 91 points. They scored 46 of them on the way out and 45 after the turn.
The professionals did not return individual scores.
SCOREBOARD
93 Yann Yver (France) & Joseph Grierson (+1), Pedro Diaz Sanchez (8), Jose Angel Diaz (13).
91 Simon Payne (United Arab Emirates) & Manuel Mortimer (10), Jose Bernardo Gonzalez (11), Jamie Navarro (24).
Rest of team scores with their professional:
90 Daniel Kraljis (Slovenia), Nelson Cavalheiro (Portugal)..
88 Craig Lee (Scotland), John Uppard (Norway), Neil Turley (Bulgaria), Artem Nesterov (Russia).
87 Daniel Romero (Spain), Gauthier D’Hollander (Belgium), Rickhard Thornqvist (Sweden), Vivian Ross (Switzerland).
86 Mike O’Brien (Poland), Simon Edwards (Wales).
85 Robert Giles (Ireland), Darko Ljubanopvic (Croatia), M Krainz (Holland), Riku Soravuo (Finland).
83 Jiri Nemecek (Czech Republic).
80 Mark Stevenson (Germany).
79 Jonathan Bagliona (Italy).
77 Ivano Ficalbi (South Africa).
73 Paul Wesselingh (England).
63 G Loning (Austria).

Pressure on Lee, Cairns and McKinnon in team event

SCOTLAND DUE A WIN IN PGAs
OF EUROPE EVENT IN SPAIN

FROM COLIN FARQUHARSON
(Colin@Scottishgolfview.com)

Scotland, the country that dominated the PGAs of Europe international team golf championship in the 1990s, are certainly due a win this Century in the tournament.
The Scots won back-to-back titles in 1996 and 1997 – and since then nothing although they did finish joint third with England last year, only four shots behind champions France with Ireland runners-up, two shots off the pace.
The tournament, supported by Glenmuir, tees off on Wednesday at Roda - a new Dave Thomas-designed course in the Murcia region of Spain.
This year’s Scotland trio – Craig Lee (Stirling), Samuel Cairns (Westerwood) and James Irvine (Irvine) – are not, on paper, as strong as last year’s Tartan Tour line-up of Scott Henderson, Chris Doak and Chris Kelly.
But that’s due to the parameters of the selection system for this tournament which is essentially for club pros rather than full-time tour pros. That’s why the original team announced by the PGA Scottish Region - Greig Hutcheon, Dean Robertson and Craig Lee, whowere the first three in the Tartan Tour Order of Merit this year, had to be revised.
Messrs Hutcheon and Robertson do not meet the stipulation that players in the PGAs of Europe international team tournament must work at least 25 hours a week in a golf professional’s shop or other golf-related business.
Let’s hope that Messrs Cairns and Irvine can rise to the occasion as super-subs.
The England team, spearheaded by Glenmuir British club professional champion Paul Wesselingh, will start favourites to take the title at the conclusion of the four-day 72-hole stroke-play event in which each team counts only its two best from three individual scores daily.
Incidentally, PGA Cup player Wesselingh was so emotional after his national club pro success that he couldn’t remember his telephone number when he wanted to phone home with the victory news!
The PGAs of countries all over the Continent have sent teams of three to compete in Spain and many of the line-ups include British or Irish professionals who have gone abroad to get club posts.
The "home" British and Irish line-ups are:
England – Paul Wesselingh (Kedleston Park), Duncan Muscroft (Venice), Ian Keenan (Royal Liverpool).
Ireland – Robert Giles (Greenore), Leslie Walker (Dundalk), John Dwyer (Ashbourne).
Scotland – Craig Lee (All Swing Golf Centre), Samuel Cairns (Westerwood), James McKinnon (Irvine).
Wales – Alun Evans (Newport Links), Mark Litton (The Bedforfd), Simon Edwards (Clays, Wrexham).

English Golf Union Order Merit 2006 winner

ROSS McGOWAN ROUNDS OFF GREAT SEASON

Ross McGowan, Banstead Downs has rounded off a successful 2006 season in great style by winning the PING/English Golf Union Order of Merit 2006.
Victory in the English Amateur Championship at the beginning of August wrapped up his domination of this year’s series with a final lead of almost 250 points over his England colleagues Jamie Moul and Gary Wolstenholme, who produced a late season rally to take third place.
“I’m thrilled to top the PING/EGU Order of Merit and to be regarded as the best golfer in England,” said McGowan.
“I’ve enjoyed the whole season which has surpassed my expectations.” He continued, “A big part was winning the English Championship and being picked for England for the Home Internationals and the Eisenhower Trophy.”
EGU Director of Coaching, Peter Mattsson, said, “Ross has certainly been the most consistent golfer over the length of the season. His excellent run of second place finishes at the beginning and in the middle of the season were finally eclipsed when he lifted the English Amateur title. He is a well deserved winner.”
PING Europe has supported Order of Merit which acknowledges the cream of England’s amateur golfers for four years. In 2006 the PING/EGU Order of Merit had undergone a complete review adding more qualifying events and flexibility in points rewarded. Mattsson is pleased with the results commenting,
“The purpose of the PING/EGU Order of Merit is to provide a recognised schedule of events in which the top English amateur golfers can compete. The list of players produced has provided an excellent tool for the England Selectors and presented opportunity and inspiration for the best players to compete against each other.”
PING Europe Marketing Manager, Dave Fanning, added, “Ross has certainly proved to be a worthy winner and we wish him continued success as his career progresses. PING is proud to be involved with the Order of Merit and help support and identify those players who will be our future stars of professional golf.”
Final Order of Merit
1) Ross McGowan (Banstead Downs) 1,746.91
2) Jamie Moul (Stoke by Nayland) 1,497.05
3) Gary Wolstenholme (Kilworth Springs) 1,210.90
The complete 2006 PING/EGU Order of Merit table can be found on the England Teams section of the EGU website.

Surprise news about winner on Nationwide Tour

RISING "AUSSIE" STAR MICHAEL
SIM IS AN ABERDONIAN!


By COLIN FARQUHARSON

What would you say if I told you that Richie Ramsay was preceded as the world’s No 1 ranked amateur golfer by another ABERDONIAN in 2004-2005?
It’s true! “Australian” Michael, pictured right, who held that lofty status and won a tournament in his rookie pro season on his 22nd birthday this past October on the US Nationwide Tour … was born in Aberdeen!
With the help of the Australian PGA Tour and Michael Sim’s management team, I have been able to put some substance to the mystery “Australian” who will be rubbing shoulders with Tiger Woods & Co next season.
Michael Sim spent his early years with his parents in the Aberdeen suburbs of Westhill and then Cults before mum and dad decided the family had a better future in Australia. They emigrated Down Under – Perth, Western Australia, to be precise - in 1991 when Michael was six years old.
“I actually started playing golf before I left Aberdeen,” says Michael. “I was only five years old when my dad got me into it. I broke par for a course for the first time when I was 14.”
Michael says that to date the most satisfying moment in golf was being ranked No 1 amateur in the world in 2004-2005 following victories in a string of events in Australia and New Zealand. He was a member of Australia’s three-man team in the 2004 Eisenhower Trophy and last year won the NZ open stroke-play championship with a four-round total that included his lowest ever score of nine-under-par 63.
His ambition is to win the US Masters. Why?
“It’s probably the tournament that I watched the most when I was a kid and, maybe because of that, it means more to me than the other majors,” says Michael.
Young Sim turned professional in November last year and seized his chance to do well in two Nationwide Tour events which were being played in his neck of the woods in February this year.
He finished second in the Jacob’s Creek Open at Royal Adelaide and again was runner-up in the
WINNER ON NATIONWIDE TOUR
New South Wales PGA championship. Then he won the Palmetto Pride Classic at Charleston, South Carolina in late October.
He sank a 6ft birdie putt on his 22nd birthday to win a play-off for the $90,000 first prize after a tie on 12-under-par at the end of the regulation 72 holes.
At the most recent count, Michael had won 220,432 US dollars and finished in 19th position in the Nationwide Tour for the 2006 season.
The top 20 are able to skip the Qualifying School process and go straight on to next year’s lucrative US PGA Tour. So, it’s “Yippee!” from Aberdonian Michael. From outstanding amateur to US PGA Tour player in one season. Eat your heart out Richie Ramsay!
Michael, 5ft 9in in his bare feet and weighing 71kg, has some pretty impressive statistics in his rookie year as a tour pro.
His longest drive on the Nationwide Tour has been 371yd (average 293.9yd).
He is fifth in the putting stats with an average of 1.742 putts per hole. He is 10th in the sand saves table (getting up and down in one or two shots from a bunker).
But the Aussie from Aberdeen rates putting as the strongest part of his game.
Michael has dual citizenship of Great Britain and Australia but is obviously not going to forget his roots. He proudly lists “Aberdeen, Scotland” as his birthplace in the Nationwide Tour players’ profiles.
Master Sim has never been back to Aberdeen since he left in short trousers in 1991.
That could change next summer when the Open championship returns to Carnoustie which, of course, is only 60-odd miles down the coast from the Granite City.
Michael’s management teams, SFX in Australia and Bud Martin in the United States, are not quite sure of their man’s movements next July and much would depend on whether he gained a place in the Carnoustie field through an international qualifying event in the States.
But it does seem a great chance to kill two birdies with one golf ball – play in the Open and visit the city where he was born.

European Tour Final Qualifying School Day Five

DAVID DRYSDALE BEST PLACED
OF SCOTS AT SAN ROQUE

David Drysdale shot a third-round 69 to be joint sixth in the European Tour Final Qualifying School after the San Roque No 1 course came into play for the first time.
It had dried out from the torrential rain last week which rendered it unplayable, leaving the No 2 course to bear the brunt of the 156 players playing their first two rounds.
Gareth Wright, the West Linton-based Welshman, was in joint 23rd place going into the fourth round after a 70 for 215.
Scott Henderson is sharing 33rd place after a 72 for level par 216. There are only 30 cards up for grabs at the completion of six rounds so the Aberdonian needs to make a move up the standings to avoid piling the pressure on himself in the final round.
Former Scottish amateur champion George Murray, playing as an amateur, has done well since saddling himself with an opening round of 77. He has followed that up with 71 and 69 to be sharing 44th place on 217.
Andrew Oldcorn had a 73 for 218 and Dean Robertson a second-successive 71 for 222. Like George Murray, Dean gave himself a lot of ground to make up after a disappointing opening round of 78.
Andrew McArthur, another former Scottish amateur champion, has lost form at the wrong time. He is back in a share of 88th place after a 74 for 221. He has not shot better than 73 in his first three rounds.
SCOREBOARD AFTER THREE ROUNDS
203 (-13) Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 70 64 69.
206 (am) Oliver Fisher (Eng) 68 70 68.
208 Warren Bennett (Eng) 69 67 72, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 65 71 72.
209 Luis Clavere (Spa) 69 69 71.
210 David Drysdale (Sco) 73 659 69, Henrik Nystrom (Swe) 70 71 69, Edward Rush (Eng) 70 69 71.
Other scores:
215 Gareth Wright (Wal) 73 72 70 (jt 23rd).
216 Scott Henderson (Sco) 74 70 72 (jt 33rd).
217 (am) George Murray (Sco) 77 71 69 (jt 44th).
218 Andrew Oldcorn (Sco) 75 70 73 (jt 58th).
220 Dean Robertson (Sco) 78 71 71 (jt 80th).
221 Andrew McArthur (Sco) 74 73 74 (jt 88th).

MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR

Apologies for being unable to get updates on to the website screen during Sunday due to a fault at Blogger HQ.
I am travelling all day to Spain on Monday - so don't look for any news on Scottishgolfview.com until Tuesday. But I will be reporting from the PGAs of Europe team championship from Wednesday to Saturday.
Colin Farquharson

European Tour Final Qualifying School

DRYSDALE, HENDERSON

BENEFIT FROM CALM

SUNDAY CONDITIONS

The second half of the field of 156 enjoyed an unfair advantage over the other half with perfect conditions for their second rounds over the New Course at San Roque this afternoon when the fourth day of the European Tour Final Qualifying School at last got everybody round twice.

It is hoped to bring the waterlogged Old Course at San Roque into play on Monday which means no more days off for one half of the field.

David Drysdale with a 68 for joint 11th place on 141 and Scott Henderson with a 70 for a share of 32^nd place on level par 144 were the Scots who benefited the most from being given the best weather of the four days to play their second rounds.

Andrew McArthur didn’t profit. He had a 73 for 147 and is sharing 70^th place. Euan Little also slipped down to a share of 78^th place with a 74 for 148.

George Murray made up a bit of ground with a 71, also hitting the 148 mark.

Eric Ramsay, pictured above right, blew his opportunity to score well in calm weather. The Carnoustie man took 76 blows to be sharing 93^rd place with Dean Robertson on 149. Dean was not playing today.

Spaniard Carlos Rodiles is the new leader at 10-under-par 134 after a second-round 64. Starting at the 10^th tee he covered that half in eight-under-par 28. He birdied every hole of the nine except one and now leads by two shots from Englishman Warren Bennett and the demoted leader, Eirik Tage Johansen from Norway.

SCOREBOARD
Par 144 (2 x 72)

134 (-10) C Rodiles (Spa) 70 64.

136 W Bennett (Eng) 69 67, E T Johansen (Nor) 65 71.

138 L Calverie (Spa) 69 69, (am) O Fisher (Eng) 68 70.

139 E Rush (Eng) 70 69.

140 A Ahokas (Fin) 68 72, M King (Eng) 73 67, S Little (Eng) 73 67, C Suneson (Eng) 71 69.

Other scores:

141 D Drysdale (Sco) 73 69 (jt 11^th).

144 S Henderson (Sco) 74 70 (jt 32^nd).

145 G Wright (Wal) 73 72, A Oldcorn (Sco) 75 70 (jt 42^nd).

147 A McArthur (Sco) 74 73 (jt 70^th).

148 E Little (Sco) 74 74, (am) G Murray (Sco) 77 71 (jt 78^th).

149 E Ramsay (Sco) 73 76, D Robertson (Sco) 78 71 (jt 93^rd).

Korean holds off Woods to win HSBC Champions event

MARC WARREN BREAKS PAR
EVERY ROUND FOR
5TH PLACE IN CHINA

Korean Yang Young-eun upstaged the biggest names in world golf to win the HSBC Champions tournament in China on Sunday, standing firm on a thrilling final day against the combined challenges from Major champions Tiger Woods, Retief Goosen and Michael Campbell.
A final round of three-under-par 69 gave Yang a winning 14-under-par total of 274, two ahead of Woods, who battled bravely with a 67 in his attempt to win a seventh successive stroke-play event but simply had too much ground to make up. Campbell, in stark contrast to his third-round 77, equalled the course record of 64 at Sheshan International Golf Club with some stunning golf to share third place with overnight leader Goosen but, like Woods, the 2005 US Open Champion had left himself with too much to do.
European Tour Rookie of the Year Marc Warren, pictured above, from East Kilbride broke par in every round in finishing fifth on 278. Marc had a final round of 71 - had he been able to match the closing round of compatriot Colin Montgomerie, who shot 67 for joint 14th place on 282, Warren would have forced a play-off with the winner!
Woods got his challenge going with a burst of three birdies before the turn but his momentum faltered with a bogey on the 11th. Although he birdied three more coming home, it was not enough.
“I had my chances,” said Woods, who was also runner-up in the HSBC Champions last year. “Yesterday was the day, if I could have hung in there, I could have been a challenge for the tournament today but I was too far back and Yang just went on and played some great holes. He just went off and it was basically out of reach, and I was just trying to get as many birdies as I can and maybe get second.”
Yang's stunning triumph marked an extended run of form for Asian players on the international stage following Indian Jeev Milkha Singh's recent victory at the Volvo Masters in Spain and Choi Kyung-ju's triumph on the US PGA Tour.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4 x 72)
274 - Yang Yong-eun (Kor) 66-72-67-69
276 - Tiger Woods (US) 72-64-73-67
277 - Retief Goosen (SAf) 68-67-69-73, Michael Campbell (NZ) 66-70-77-64
278 - Marc Warren (Sco) 66-71-70-71
280 - Paul Casey (Eng) 73-68-68-71, Padraig Harrington (Ire) 67-70-73-70, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 73-68-69-70.
281 - Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 65-69-72-75, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 72-68-69-72, K J Choi (Kor) 68-72-71-70, Johan Edfors (Swe) 68-74-69-70, Jim Furyk (US) 73-66-74-68
282 - John Bickerton (Eng) 68-71-71-72, Luke Donald (Eng) 70-69-71-72, Colin Montgomerie (Sco) 69-70-76-67
283 - Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 70-69-71-73
284 - Henrik Stenson (Swe) 76-64-70-74, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 71-67-74-72
285 - Bradley Dredge (Wal) 71-70-70-74, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 72-69-71-73, Charl Schwartzel (SAf) 72-72-71-70
286 - Anton Haig (SAf) 71-71-72-72, Kevin Stadler (US) 74-70-71-71, Camilo Villegas (Col) 71-71-75-69
287 - Gaurav Ghei (Ind) 72-70-71-74, Chris Dimarco (US) 70-74-73-70

Full a fuller report and more totals, log on to http://www.asiantour.com/

No sweat for Scots as they book La Cala places

JENNA AND HEATHER MAKE
IT THROUGH TO L E T
FINAL QUALIFYING SCHOOL

Jenna Wilson (jt 13th) and Heather MacRae (jt 35th) were among the 50 players with 72-hole totals of 10-over-par 298 or better who qualified from the Ladies European Tour preliminary qualifying eliminator at Le Fonti Golf Club, Italy today.
They go forward to join the players who were exempt from Stage 1- Lynn Kenny, for example - to make up a field of approximately 90 for the LET Final Q School at La Cala Golf Resort, Mijas on Spain’s Costa del Sol from November 22 to to 25 where there will be a cut after three rounds to the leading 50 and ties.
Jenna had rounds of 70, 72, 74 and 72 for a level par total of 288. Playing as an amateur, the Strathaven player birdied the fourth, seventh, eighth and 11th in her final round to coast through this event.
On the same mark of 288 was Irish Curtis Cup player Martina Gillen with 71, 72, 76 and 69. Martina also entered as an amateur.
Another Irish Curtis Cup player, Claire Coughlan, also playing as an amateur, qualified with a two-under-par total of 286. She scored 70, 71, 76 and 69.
Heather, pictured above right, scored 76, 74, 71 and 75 for eight over par 296. Birdies at the first, seventh and 14th were almost cancelled out by a double bogey 6 at the eighth in her final round.
France's Jade Schaeffer was the tournament winner with a 14-under-par total of 274. She had three shots to spare from Yorkshire amateur, Rachel Bell, whose 11-under-par 277 total must be the best she has ever produced in an extended stroke-play event.
There were no surprises among the non-qualifiers. The teenage English champion, Kiran Matharu, who turned professional after this summer’s Curtis Cup, made it with nothing to spare on 10-over 298. Her rounds were 72, 77, 78 and 71.
LEADING TOTALS
Par 72
274 (-14) Jade Schaeffer (Fra) 68 71 68 67.
277 (-11) Rachel Bell (am) (Eng) 73 69 69 67.
281 (-7) Louise Stahle (Swe) 70 71 69 71, Anna Rossi (am) (Ita) 69 73 69 70.
Other qualifiers included:
285 Sophie Walker (Eng) 66 75 71 73 (jt 9th).
286 Claire Coughlan (am) (Ire) 70 71 76 69 (11th).
288 Jenna Wilson (am) (Sco) 70 72 74 72, Martina Gillen (am) (Ire) 71 72 76 69 (jt 13th).
291 Felicity Johnson (Eng) 70 71 76 74 (jt 23rd).
293 Stephanie Evans (am) (Wal) 72 77 72 72 (jt 30th).
296 Heather MacRae (am) (Sco) 76 74 71 75 (jt 35th).
298 Kiran Matharu (Eng) 72 77 78 71.
+A total of 50 players with totals of 298 (+10) qualified.

European Tour Final Qualifying School Day 3

OLDCORN AND ROBERTSON BOTH
IMPROVE IN SECOND ROUND

Norwegian Eirik Tage Johansen continued to lead the day on-day off European Tour Final Qualifying School six-round tournament over the San Roque New Course on the southern end of Spain's Costa del Sol today.
As has been the format since Thursday - only half the field of 156 were in action. The other half, including Scott Henderson, Eric Ramsay, Euan Little, David Drysdale and George Murray, will complete their second rounds on Sunday.
The waterlogged Old Course should have dried out sufficiently for it to come into play for the first time on Monday when the whole field will play over the two courses at the same time.
Johansen followed up his 65 with a 71 to be on eight-under-par 136. Bearing in mind the lopsided state of the leaderboard, the Norwegian, at the moment, leads by four shots from Spaniard Carl Suneson (71-69).
The only Scots in action were two former European Tour players, Andrew Oldcorn, pictured above, and Dean Robertson. Oldcorn lost his Big League card only this past season. He shot a 70 today for 145 while Robertson, who won the Scottish professional title during a successful campaign on the Tartan Tour in 2006, improved by seven shots with a 71 for 149.

SCOREBOARD
136 (-8) Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 65 71.
140 Carl Suneson (Spa) 71 69.
141 Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 71 70, Notah Begay (US) 72 69, Marc Cayeux (Zim) 70 71, Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 68 73, Johan Skold (Swe) 71 70.
Scots scores:
145 Andrew Oldcorn 75 70.
149 Dean Robertson 78 71.

East Aberdeenshire Golf Centre First Winter Open

CAPTAIN MALCOLM ALLAN WINS ON
CARD COUNTBACK AFTER TIE ON 76

Malcolm Allan, captain of the host club, won the East Aberdeenshire Golf Centre’s first Winter Open today – on a countback.
He and M Lynch of Hazlehead tied with 76s. Victory went to Malcolm by virtue of the better inward half.
A Elmslie (McDonald Ellon) was third with a 79, also thanks to a better inward half.

Collated scoreboard

EAST ABERDEENSHRIE GOLF CENTRE
Winter Open
Leading scores:
SCRATCH
76 M Allan (East Aberdeenshire) (bih), M Lynch (Hazlehead).
79 A Elmslie (McDonald Ellon) 79 (bih).
HANDICAP
Class 1 (0 to 18)
69 J Allan (East Aberdeenshire) (12).
71 T Duff (East Aberdeenshire) (16).
72 G Thomson (East Aberdeenshire) (11).
Class 2 (19 to 28)
81 C Mew (East Aberdeenshire) (22).
84 A Stewart (East Aberdeenshire) (26).
88 A Lawrie (Oldmeldrum) (24).

Martin Gray finishes joint 11th after disappointing 75

YORKSHIREMAN BRAND WINS
FINAL SENIORS TITLE
AFTER BAHRAIN PLAY-OFF

By Steven Franklin
Press Officer, European Seniors Tour
sfranklin@europeantour.com

Former Ryder Cup player Gordon J Brand came through the field to win the Arcapita Seniors Tour Championship at Riffa Views in Bahrain today, eventually defeating Argentine Adan Sowa on the third hole of a sudden-death play-off.
The Yorkshireman fired a final round of six-under-par 66 - by two shots the lowest score of the final round - to tie with Sowa, the joint overnight leader, who closed with a 71, at five-under-par 211.
Two return trips to the 18th were halved in par before Brand secured the €63,393 (£42,365) first prize and the final title of the 2006 European Seniors Tour season with a birdie 4 at the last, after Sowa had hooked his drive into the water and failed to make the green with his third shot.
It was an impressive performance from Brand, who came from five shots back to capture his second title of the year despite losing his regular caddie, wife and former Ladies European Tour professional Lyn, to injury after two holes of the final round.
MARTIN GRAY FINISHES JOINT 11th
“To be honest I wasn’t really thinking about winning today as there were so many good players in front of me. However, when they are 50 or older, good players don’t always do what they did when they were 25, and that’s the way it turned out for some of them today,” commented Brand.
Among those who failed to make the expected charge was defending champion Des Smyth, who closed with a 73 for seventh place on 214.
One stroke off the lead playing the ninth, the Irishman had 104 yards to the pin but duffed his lob wedge into the rocks at the edge of a lake 40 yards ahead.
After a drop, Smyth made a double bogey 6 and with it went his chances of victory.
“I just stone cold duffed it. It was lying perfect and I had the exact same yardage as the previous two days. To be honest, though, I played rubbish all day,” said Smyth.
Sowa’s second placed finish, his best result to date on the European Seniors Tour, earned him a full card for 2007, as he leapt from 45th spot on the Order of Merit to 22nd thanks to a €42,262 (£28,243) cheque.
Ladybank's Martin Gray, in with a definite chance of his maiden over-50s victory after a pair of 71s, went backwards with a final round of 75 to finish joint 11th on 217.
Riffa Views, Bahrain (par 72)

Final scores and collated totals

211 Gordon J Brand (Eng ) (pictured left) 73 72 66, Adan Sowa (Arg) 69 71 71 (Brand won play-off at third hole).
212 Luis Carbonetti (Arg) 72 71 69.
213 John Bland (SAf) 71 69 73, Simon Owen (NZ) 72 72 69, Stewart Ginn (Aus)74 71 68
214 Des Smyth (Ire) 69 72 73.
215 Horacio Carbonetti (Arg) 74 70 71, Jim Rhodes (Eng) 73 70 72.
216 Jimmy Heggarty (NI) 71 75 70.
217 Denis O'Sullivan (Ire) 74 74 69, Gavan Levenson (RSA) 72 74 71, Martin Gray (Sco) 71 71 75, Gery Watine (Fra) 73 73 71, Bob Cameron (Eng) 76 72 69
218 Pete Oakley (US) 72 76 70, Bobby Lincoln (SAf) 79 71 68, Terry Gale (Aus) 74 74 70, José Rivero (Spa) 78 72 68, Mike Miller (Sco) 73 74 71
219 Bertus Smit (SAf) 73 75 71, Tony Johnstone (Zim ) 72 72 75, Guillermo Encina (Chi ) 74 70 75
220 David Good (Aus) 74 71 75, Nick Job (Eng) 75 71 74.
221 Bruce Heuchan (Can) 77 74 70, Bob Larratt (Eng) 76 70 75, Doug Johnson (US) 76 72 73
222 Angel Fernandez (Chi ) 72 76 74, Manuel Piñero (Esp ) 74 77 71, John Chillas (Sco ) 74 73 75
224 Bill Longmuir (Sco) 82 72 70, Glenn Ralph (Eng) 78 75 71
225 Juan Quiros (Spa) 78 75 72, Martin Poxon (Eng) 80 73 72
226 Giuseppe Cali (Ita) 78 75 73
227 David J Russell (Eng) 81 71 75, Abdulla Sultan (Am) (Brn) 77 74 76
230 John Mills (am) (Eng) 77 78 75
231 Kevin Spurgeon (Eng) 74 74 83, Jerry Bruner (USA) 83 73 75
239 Victor Garcia (Esp) 82 76 81
240 Daij Ahmed (Am) (Brn ) 81 78 81
243 Ali Sager Al Noaimi (Am) (Brn) 82 84 77
252 Khalid Salem (am) (Brn) 85 84 83
259 Mike Massie (am) (Sco) 84 91 84
Retired during first round: Carl Mason (Eng), Sam Torrance (Sco)

Another Scottish girl prospect heading for United States

REBECCA WATSON SIGNS
UP FOR UNIVERSITY
OF TENNESSEE

University of Tennessee women’s head golf coach Judi Pavon has announced the signing of Edinburgh teenager Rebecca Watson to a Letter of Intent, which means she has committed herself to enrolling at the university next autumn.
"I'm very excited about Rebecca becoming a Lady Vol," Pavon said. "She is a very solid player with a good golf swing. She will be a great addition to our programme. Rebecca is also a very good student and well spoken young lady. We are looking forward to her presence and attitude next season."
Rebecca, pictured right, who will be 18 on March 3, is the older sister of Sally Watson, 15,
recent winner of the Daily Telegraph girls championship final at Dubai Creek and beaten finalist in this year’s British girls’ championship.
Sally is already based in the United States, having started at the David Leadbetter Golf Academy in Bradenton, Florida in August.
Both Rebecca and Sally have played for the same Scotland Under-18 girls team.
Rebecca captained the Mary Erskine School golf team for three years and helped it win the Edinburgh schools' golf tournament in 2005. In the same year, she was tied for third in the Scottish girls’ national rankings.
Rebecca was also a member of last year’s winning Scotland girls team in the annual schools international against England.In addition to her numerous accolades in Britain, Rebecca Watson travelled to Florida on three occasions for competitions and came home with two trophies.
TO MAJOR IN BUSINESS STUDIES
She is a member of the East of Scotland Institute of Sport and played basketball for East of Scotland in 2004. The South Queensferry girl plans to major in business studies at the University of Tennessee of which its main campus is at Knoxville.
Tennessee has one of the top-ranked women’s golf teams on the American college circuit.
Rebecca is the second Scottish girl golf prospect to sign up for a leading American university in the past week or two. Scottish Under-18 champion Roseanne Niven from Crieff will enroll at the University of California Berkeley in the New Year.
Counting youngsters Sally Watson and Carly Booth (Comrie), both pupils at the David Leadbetter Golf Academy, there are 28 Scottish young men and women currently on golf scholarships at American universities or colleges.

Winds in China fail to blow Scot off course

MARC WARREN OUTSCORES
TIGER AGAIN TO BE IN
4th PLACE BEHIND GOOSEN

South African Retief Goosen soared in the winds at the HSBC Champions on Saturday, battling to a three-under-par 69 for a one-stroke third round lead.
The two-time Major champion pulled ahead of Korea's Yang Yong-eun, who carded the day's best of 67 at Sheshan International Golf Club, Shanghai while overnight leader Jyoti Randhawa of India slipped to third after a battling 72.
The roar of the Tiger was stifled by the buffeting winds that hit the Chinese metropolitan as the world No 1 left himself with a mountain to climb after a 73 pt him five shots off the pace in tied fifth place with England's Paul Casey and Italian Francesco Molinari
The smooth-swinging Goosen, who has a three-day total of 12-under-par 204, is bidding for a Chinese hat-trick at the US$5 milllion event, Asia's richest, as he successfully defended his Volkswagen Masters-China title on the Asian Tour last month.
"Whenever you're leading into the final round, it's great. I've got somebody tomorrow that I have to watch out that I don't know. Yang is obviously playing extremely well. Obviously Tiger is still in there. We know what he's capable of. Hopefully it's not as windy and cold as it was today," said Goosen, who carded five birdies against two bogeys.
Goosen, the world's No. 6, recently hired a swing coach, Gregor Jamieson, for the first time in nine years and is reaping immediate rewards. Apart from winning in China last month, he was also fourth in the Tour Championship in the US last week.
"I'm feeling quite comfortable with the course. Today was a tough day to get through. I probably thought one‑under or somewhere around there would be a good round, but to shoot three‑under is a good."
High winds threw the field off course but Marc Warren from East Kilbride, the European Tour Rookie of the Year, outscored Tiger Woods for the second time with a 70 for 207 - two ahead of Tiger. The Scot, pictured above, is in fourth place on his own, only three shots behind leader Goosen.
A day after equalling the course record of 64, Woods failed to warm the hearts of thousands of Chinese fans who braved the winds and chilly conditions. He was especially frustrated to drop two closing bogeys, the last after a wayward drive found water.
"As good as it was yesterday it was as bad as it was today. That goes from the full swing to the shorter swing with the putter. I was just struggling all day," said Woods.
"I was just trying to hang in there, trying not to be too far behind the leaders. The last two holes, I put myself on my back. I will have to shoot a great round tomorrow and hope that it's enough. Goose is a tough man to catch, he's playing solid but I've got to go out there and take care of my own business. We'll see what happens."
Leading third round scores
204 - Retief Goosen (SAf) 68-67-69.
205 - Yang Yong-eun (Kor) 66-72-67
206 - Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 65-69-72
207 - Marc Warren (Sco) 66-71-70
209 - Tiger Woods (US) 72-64-73, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 72-68-69, Paul Casey (Eng) 73-68-68
210 - Padraig Harrington (Ire) 67-70-73, John Bickerton (Eng) 68-71-71, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 70-69-71, Luke Donald (Eng) 70-69-71, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 76-64-70, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 73-68-69.
211 - K J Choi (Kor) 68-72-71, Bradley Dredge (Wal) 71-70-70, Johan Edfors (Swe) 68-74-69.
212 - Shiv Kapur (Ind) 71-67-74, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 72-69-71.
213 - Michael Campbell (NZ) 66-70-77, Jim Furyk (US) 73-66-74, Gaurav Ghei (Ind) 72-70-71, Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha) 75-67-71
214 - Anton Haig (SAf) 71-71-72
215 - Colin Montgomerie (Sco) 69-70-76, Chinarat Phadungsil (Tha) 72-69-74, Charl Schwartzel (SAf) 72-72-71, Kevin Stadler (US) 74-70-71.

++Mor details on http://www.asiantour.com/

Elizabeth Stuart finishes joint 13th in Florida

SCOT'S DAUGHTER MAKES
THE GRADE AT FUTURES
TOUR QUALIFYING

Tampa-born Elizabeth Stuart, whose father emigrated to the United States from Glasgow, finished joint 13th in the United States Futures Tour qualifying tournament at Lakeland, Florida.
Elizabeth, pictured right, had scores of 80, 68, 70 an 64 for four-over-par 292.
Londoner Polly Willett and Natasha Morgan from South Wales finished joint 82nd and 88th respectively.
Their ranking for next year’s Futures Tour will depend on how many of the field, who have qualified for the LPGA Tour Final Q School make the grade.
Polly had scores of 75, 77, 77 and 76 for a total of 305. Natasha, still an amateur golfer and a student at Lynn University, Boca Raton – a team-mate of Katy McNicoll from Carnoustie, had scores of 73, 81, 75 and 77 for 306.
The final two rounds were played over the Cleveland Heights course.
Winner of the event was 18-year-old schoolgirl and amateur player, In-Kyung Kim from Seoul, South Korea. She birdied three of the last four holes to retain the lead from playing partner, Paige MacKenzie, 23, a leading member of this year’s United States Curtis Cup team.
Kim had scores of 71, 72, 70 and 68 for seven-under-par 288.
Paige, who bogeyed two of the alst three holes, finished with 71, 74, 69 and 68 for 282.
Both Kim and Paige will be bidding to win places on the LPGA Tour at its upcoming final qualifying tournament.

Ramsay, Drysdale leading Scots on 73 at end of first round

FRIDAY BLUES FOR GEORGE
MURRAY AS TOUR
SCHOOL STUTTERS ALONG

The second half of the field completed their first rounds over the New Course at San Roque on the southern end of the Costa del Sol today and the worst-placed Scots are former Scottish amateur champion George Murray (Earlsferry Thistle) – who is still an amateur – and Dean Robertson, the former European Tour pro who has had such a fine season on the Tartan Tour this year.
Murray, pictured right, had a five-over-par 77 on another day when a cold wind was whipping in off the Mediterranean. That put him in a share of 119th place in a field of 156.
Robertson had his disappointing 78 on Thursday. Now he knows he is joint 135th.
Of the Scots who played today, David Drysdale and Eric Ramsay could feel happy with 73 a piece, which has them sharing 38th place on the scoreboard.
Scott Henderson and Euan Little both hit the 74 mark and joined former Scottish amateur champion Andrew McArthur, who played on Thursday, in a share of 57th place.
With the waterlogged Old Course at San Roque out of competitive action until Monday, the first half of the field will undertake their second round on the New Course on Saturday, meaning a return to action for leader (with a seven-under-par 65 on Thursday) Eirik Tage Johansen (Norway) and Patrick Sjöland (Sweden), one of three players sharing second place on 68.
OLIVER FISHER'S GOOD START
The others on 68, left-handed Finn Antti Ahokas, who has turned pro since Stage 1 of the qualifying process, and teenager Walker Cup amateur star Oliver Fisher are among those who have Saturday off and will complete their first 36 holes on the New Course on Sunday.
On Monday, the field will be split between the Old and New Courses to complete round three before swapping courses to complete round four on Tuesday.
A cut to the top 70 and ties will then be made with the qualifiers battling it out for the crucial top 30 places over the final two rounds on Wednesday and Thursday.
A stop-start-stop format for the first four days of such an important competition – important in that is deciding the future of so many players – is hardly desirable but there is absolutely nothing the European Tour organisers could have done about it, short of using one of the many courses in the area as a substitute venue for San Roque Old.

COLLATED FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
San Roque New Course. Par 72

65 Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor).
68 Antti Ahokas (Fin), (am) Oliver Fisher (Eng), Patrick Sjoland (Swe).
69 Warren Bennett (Eng), Luise Clavere (Spa), Birgir Hafthorsson (Ice).
Scottish scores and positions:
73 David Drysdale, Eric Ramsay (jt 38th).
74 Scott Henderson, Andrew McArthur, Euan Little (jt 57th).
75 Andrew Oldcorn (jt 77th).
77 (am) George Murray (jt 119th).
78 Dean Robertson (jt 135th).

Ladies European Tour Q School prelim eliminator

JENNA AND HEATHER SET FAIR TO
MAKE IT THROUGH TO LA CALA

Scottish women's amateur Order of Merit winner Jenna Wilson is lying joint 11th and Heather MacRae is sharing 28th place as the Ladies European Tour Qualifying School preliminary eliminator moves into its fourth and final round at Le Fonti Golf Club in Italy.
Friday's cut to the leading 65 and ties fell at 230 (those at that figure and under will contest the last round).
At the end of Saturday’s play, only the top 43 and ties will progress to the Final Q School at La Cala Resort on the Costa Del Sol later this month.
Jenna, who has retained her amateur status so far, has had rounds of 70 72 and 74 for level par 216. She had birdies today at the fourth, eighth and 14th but five bogeys – at the second, third, ninth, 11th and 17th.
Heather, also still an amateur, improved her position significantly and now has a great chance of going on to the Final Q School.
She has scored 76, 74 and 71 for five-over-par 221.Heather had birdies at the seventh, eighth, ninth and 11 with bogeys at the first, fourth and 17th in returning her best round of the week.
Jade Schaeffer (France) has gone three shots clear of the field on nine-under-par 207 with scores of 68, 71 and 68.
Next best come two-time British women’s open amateur champion Louise Stahle (Sweden), who has not had the success on the LPGA Tour this year that many expected and Yorkshire’s Rachel Bell, who is playing as an amateur.
English amateur champion Kiran Matharu, pictured above, who turned pro after the Curtis Cup, is in the danger zone – joint 57th on 227 after scores of 72, 77 and 78.
LEADING SCORES
207 (-9) Jade Schaeffer (Fra) 68 71 68.
210 (-6) Louise Stahle (Swe 70 71 69, Rachel Bell (am) (Eng) 73 68 69.
Other scores:
212 Sophie Walker (Eng) 66 75 71.
216 Jenna Wilson (am) (Sco) 70 72 74 (jt 11th).
217 Claire Coughlan (am) (Ire) 70 71 76; Felicity Johnson (Eng) 70 71 76.
219 Martina Gillen (am) (Ire) 71 72 76 (jt 22nd).
221 Heather MacRae (am) (Sco) 76 74 71 (jt 28th).
227 Kiran Matharu (Eng) 72 77 78 (jt 57th).

The most expensive golf book of the year - but one to treasure forever

GOLF COURSES: Fairways of the World

By the world’s No 1 golf photographer

DAVID CANNON

Published by Rizzoli International Publications Inc, New York
16 x 12 inches/264 pages/Hardcover with jacket: £115.

Photographer David Cannon began his career in sports photography 25 years ago and is considered the premier golf photographer in the world today.
Having played the game at more than 700 golf courses in over 50 different countries, Cannon photographs with a true golfer’s eye, and his remarkable work is showcased in “Golf Courses: Fairways of the World,” offering an extraordinary window on to some of the world’s most celebrated courses.
This beautiful book highlights stunning panoramic views of more than 80 of the most extraordinary golf courses in the world.

Savour a view from the 11th hole of the incomparable and historic St Andrews’ Old Course bathed in golden afternoon light.

Glimpse giraffes and elephants from any green at Leopard Creek, South Africa.

Vicariously experience Pirate’s Plank, the harrowing 15th hole at Cape Kidnappers, New Zealand, set at the end of the cliff top fairway, surrounded by dramatic 500ft drops to the ocean.

Take in the serene sea view from the signature 18th hole of the very private Seminole golf course in Florida.

“Golf Courses: Fairways of the World" stunningly captures the singular genius and beauty of golf courses. It is a comprehensive collection of the world’s best courses by revered designers, including Donald Ross, Pete Dye and Robert Trent Jones, senior, and such new talent as Steve Smyers and Tom Doak, among many others – all of whom skilfully orchestrate the exceptional union of nature and course design on five continents.
This deluxe, limited-edition volume features over 200 sumptuous colour photographs of courses, some of which have never been photographed or published previously, in full spreads and gatefolds- some measure over 5ft in length – and includes a number print signed by the photographer.
“Golf Courses: Fairways of the World” is being strictly limited to 5,000 copies.

MEET THE AUTHOR
David Cannon is a staff photographer for Getty Images, an official photographer for the R&A, and works directly with the PGA of America, the European and Australian PGA Tours and the LPGA.
His work has frequently appeared in such publications as Sports Illustrated, Golf Digest, Time, Newsweek and all the leading golf magazines.
He has photographed all the legendary golfers in the world from Tiger Woods to Nick Faldo and Jack Nicklaus back to Arnold Palmer. He lives in Sussex.

News from European Seniors Tour in Bahrain

MARTIN GRAY CHASING MAIDEN
VICTORY ON OVER-55s TOUR

By STEVEN FRANKLIN
European Seniors Tour Press Officer

Scotland’s Martin Gray, pictured right, has put himself in with a good chance of his maiden seniors victory at the US$500,000 Arcapita Seniors Tour Championship at Riffa Views in Bahrain.
The professional from Ladybank Golf Club, who is about to complete his fifth season on the European Seniors Tour, fired a second consecutive 71 to move to two under par 142, two strokes behind joint leaders John Bland of South Africa and Adan Sowa of Argentina.
Bland carded a best-of-the-day 69 to move into a share of the lead with Sowa, who was round in 71.
Gray’s day started in disappointing fashion with a bogey at the first but he responded with some fine golf, going on to birdie the ninth, 12th and 18th holes, with his only aberration being a dropped shot at the 10th.
Martin, who has had three second-place finishes on the European Seniors Tour, said: “It was a tough day and the pins were in some awkward spots. I played really nicely on the front nine and probably faced about half a dozen putts under eight feet - and never made any of them. So I was a bit disappointed, but I was playing well and just tried to stay patient.
'GREAT TOURNAMENT TO WIN'
“I am now in a healthy position and this would be a great tournament to win. I have been here long enough and been second enough times to know I will not be fazed tomorrow. I played well enough today to shoot 68 quite comfortably and if I play that way and a few putts go in tomorrow, then who knows?”
In third place, on three under par, is defending champion Des Smyth of Ireland, who bogeyed the closing two holes for a level par 72.
The only other players in red figures after two blustery days in the desert are England’s Jim Rhodes and Argentine Luis Carbonetti on one under.
The other leading Scots are John Chillas and Mike Miller, who are seven shots off the pace on three over par. Sam Torrance, who has already won the Order of Merit, withdrew after nine holes of Thursday’s opening round due to a swollen index finger.

HOW THEY STAND

Second round scores and collated totals
(Par 72)

140 Adan Sowa (Arg) 69 71, John Bland (SAf) 71 69.
141 Des Smyth (Ire) 69 72 .
142 Martin Gray (Sco) 71 71.
143 Luis Carbonetti (Arg) 72 71, Jim Rhodes (Eng) 73 70
144 Simon Owen (NZ) 72 72, Horacio Carbonetti (Arg) 74 70, Guillermo Encina (Chi) 74 70, Tony Johnstone (Zim) 72 72.
145 David Good (Aus) 74 71, Gordon J Brand (Eng) 73 72, Stewart Ginn (Aus) 74 71.
146 Nick Job (Eng) 75 71, Bob Larratt (Eng) 76 70, Jimmy Heggarty (NI) 71 75, Gavan Levenson (SAf) 72 74, Gery Watine (Fra) 73 73.
147 John Chillas (Sco) 74 73, Mike Miller (Sco) 73 74.
148 Angel Fernandez (Chi) 72 76, Doug Johnson (US) 76 72, Pete Oakley (US) 72 76, Denis O'Sullivan (Ire) 74 74, Bertus Smit (SAf) 73 75, Terry Gale (Aus) 74 74, Kevin Spurgeon (Eng) 74 74, Bob Cameron (Eng) 76 72.
150 José Rivero (Esp) 78 72, Bobby Lincoln (SAf) 79 71.
151 Bruce Heuchan (Can) 77 74, Manuel Piñero (Spa) 74 77, Abdulla Sultan (am) (Brn) 77 74.
152 David J Russell (Eng) 81 71.
153 Martin Poxon (Eng) 80 73, Juan Quiros (Spa) 78 75, Giuseppe Cali (Ita) 78 75, Glenn Ralph (Eng) 78 75.
154 Bill Longmuir (Sco) 82 72.
155 John Mills (am) (Eng) 77 78.
156 Jerry Bruner (US) 83 73.
158 Victor Garcia (Spa) 82 76.
159 Daij Ahmed (am) (Brn) 81 78.
166 Ali Sager Al Noaimi (am) (Brn) 82 84.
169 Khalid Salem (am) (Brn) 85 84.
175 Mike Massie (am) (Sco) 84 91.

HSBC CHAMPIONS' TOURNAMENT IN CHINA

Marc Warren digs in as Tiger Woods
shoots a record-equalling 64

European Tour Rookie of the Year Marc Warren from East Kilbride remains the leading Scot at the halfway stage of the HSBC Champions' tournament at Sheshan International Golf Club, Shanghai in China.
Marc is in joint fifth place on 137 with scores of 66 and 71. His first round included a lost ball!
Tiger Woods equalled the course record of 64 today to moved into a share of third place on 136.

LEADING SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
134 - Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 65 69.
135 - Retief Goosen (SAf) 68 67.
136 - Michael Campbell (NZ) 66 70, Tiger Woods (US) 72 64.
137 - Marc Warren (Sco) 66 71, Padraig Harrington (Ire) 67 70, Chawalit Plaphol (Tha) 67 70.
138 - Yang Yong-eun (Kor) 66 72, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 71 67.
139 - John Bickerton (Eng) 68 71, Colin Montgomerie (Sco) 69 70, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 70-69, Luke Donald (Eng) 70 69, Alan Mclean (Sco) 71 68, Tadahiro Takayama (Jap) 72 67, Jim Furyk (US) 73 66.
140 - K J Choi (Kor) 68-72, Darren Fichardt (SAf) 71-69, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 72-68, Anthony Wall (Eng) 73-67, Warren Abery (SAf) 74-66, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 76-64.
141 - Bradley Dredge (Wal) 71-70, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 72-69, Chinarat Phadungsil (Tha) 72-69, Paul Casey (Eng) 73-68, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 73-68, Gregory Bourdy (FRA) 73-68
142 - Johan Edfors (Swe) 68-74, Anton Haig (SAf) 71-71, Camilo Villegas (Col) 71-71, Gaurav Ghei (Ind) 72-70, Cesar Monasterio (Arg) 74-68, Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha) 75-67
143 - Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 68-75, Steven Bowditch (Aus) 72-71
144 - Chris Dimarco (US) 70-74, Charl Schwartzel (SAf) 72-72, Kevin Stadler (USA) 74-70, Mark Pilkington (Wal) 74 70.
145 Stephen Dodd (Wal) 72-73, David Howell (Eng) 73-72, Jean Van De Velde (Fra) 74-71.

Key role in future of Scottish amateur golf

TORQUIL McINROY IS clubgolf's
NEW PROJECT MANAGER
clubgolf, Scotland’s National Junior Golf Strategy, has appointed a project manager to keep the strategy on par for targets set through to 2009.
Torquil McInroy, pictured right, has been appointed in the new role for the organisation to undertake what will be an exciting and diverse developmental remit.
He will be responsible for managing the ongoing delivery of clubgolf including continuing to expand the current network of clubs, schools and volunteer coaches involved across the country. The appointment marks a new era for clubgolf, with partners working ever closer together as part of the ‘One Plan for Golf’, aiding the delivery of a key goal - growing the game.
clubgolf is a partnership between the Scottish Golf Union, Scottish Ladies’ Golfing Association, Professional Golfers’ Association, Golf Foundation and sportscotland. Its main aim is to ensure every child within Scotland has the opportunity to play golf by the age of nine, and remain involved in the sport at whatever level they choose.
Leading a team of 12 personnel currently working to implement the Scottish Executive supported programme, McInroy will utilise his wealth of experience in project management combined with a long standing knowledge of golf.
Commenting on his new role, Torquil said, “I am delighted to have this opportunity to contribute to the sport. Golf has been a lifelong passion for me and I am sure I will find my new role very rewarding.
“I am joining at a very exciting time for Scottish golf when the profile and value of the sport to Scotland has never been in sharper focus. This season has produced a stream of notable successes and I look forward to developing opportunities at grass roots level, which I am confident will lead to more Scots playing the game and competing on the world stage in the future.”
HIGHEST CALIBRE RECRUIT
SGU Chief Executive Hamish Grey said of the appointment, “Torquil will be playing a key role in the future of our sport and I am delighted with his appointment. We received more than 60 applications for the post, which has resulted in us recruiting someone of the highest calibre.
“Torquil’s background provides a combination of strong project and people management skills along with a good understanding of golf which augurs well for him leading the programme in this new role and collectively achieving the targets we have set through to 2009.”
McInroy, who hails from East Lothian is a Business Studies graduate from Napier University, was an IT Project Manager with National Australia Group where he managed a team responsible for developing and supporting retail banking systems for leading high street banks.
He is the immediate past Captain of North Berwick Golf Club, and in that role he led a bid for his club to host the 2012 Curtis Cup, resulting in North Berwick’s current inclusion in a final shortlist of three.

Press Release from Ladies Golf Union

CURTIS CUP CONFIRMED AS THREE-DAY
EVENT FROM 2008 AT ST ANDREWS

The Ladies’ Golf Union has confirmed that the 2008 Curtis Cup will change to a three-day format when Great Britain and Ireland meet the United States over the Old Course, St Andrews from May 30 to June 1.
“I realise that there was a brief statement to this effect in August,” said Pam Chugg, Chairman of the LGU. “However, at that time there were a number of key stakeholders in the match who had still to be contacted to ensure that they could accommodate the extra day. Now that they have come back to us, we are delighted to confirm that the match in St Andrews will be played over three days.”
The Curtis Cup was donated by the sisters Harriet and Margaret Curtis in 1927 and is inscribed: “to stimulate friendly rivalry among the women golfers of many lands.” However largely due to financial reasons, the first official match was not played until 1932 at Wentworth where the US beat GB&I 5½ - 3½. In those days the matches consisted of 3 foursomes and six singles and each was played over 36 holes.
In 1964, the format was changed to 18 hole matches with three foursomes and six singles on each of the two days. That format has now been expanded to be three foursomes and three fourballs on each of the first two days followed by eight singles on the final day. The match will now be decided over 20 points.
SKIPPER ENTHUSIASTIC
Mary McKenna, captain of GB&I for the 2008 match was enthusiastic in support of the changes and said: “I am looking forward to the new format for the Curtis Cup in 2008 as it will set a new challenge for both teams. At this level of ladies’ golf, fourball matches are rarely played and that series plus the expansion of the singles to eight matches, where all players will be given the opportunity to play on the last day, will surely make for a most exciting contest.”
Alan McGregor, general manager of St Andrews Links Trust, said, “We are very much looking forward to staging the Curtis Cup at the Home of Golf for the first time. The new format will make for a thrilling tournament and I am sure the Old Course will provide a suitable challenge. There is a long tradition of women’s golf here at St Andrews Links and staging such a prestigious tournament will reinforce that even further.”
After St Andrews, the next Curtis Cup match will be played at Essex County Club, Manchester-by- the-Sea, Massachusetts from June 11 to 13, 2010.
+Next year's Vagliano Trophy match between GB&I and the Continent of Europe at Fairmont St Andrews Bay on July 27-28 will retain its traditional two-day format.

Florida Pro Tour Winter Series Event 2

PAUL CURRY EARNS $2,176 FOR JT NINTH

Englishman Paul Curry finished joint ninth and earned $2176 at the second event on the NGA Professional Tour Winter Series at LPGA International Champions' Course, Daytona Beach in Florida.
Banchory pair Paul Cormack and Mark Barnard, who are over there to play in the first six events up to mid-December, failed to survive the 36-hole cut.
Curry had scores of 71, 71 and 70 for a four-under-par tally of 212.
First prize of $12,000 went to American Ted Potter with 67, 74 and 64 for 11 under par 205. He won a play-off with compatriot John Kimbell who also shot 205 with scores of 71, 65 and 69. Kimbell collected the $6,000 runner-up prize.
Third-placed John Koskinen picked up $5,000 for a 208 total, made of 69, 67 and 72.
Next week's event (November 14 to 16) is at Stonegate at Solvita, Pionciana in Florida.

Scot fails to survive in Futures Tour Qualifying event

PAMELA FEGGANS MISSES CUT

Ayr-born 24-year-old Pamela Feggans failed to beat the third-round cut in the United States Futures Tour Qualifying Stage 1 eliminator at Lakeland, Florida.
Pamela had scores of 75, 80 and 77 over the Huntington Hills and Schalamar courses for a total of 232 – three strokes over the limit to contest the fourth and final round.
Brenda McLarnon from Belfast also failed with 77, 79 and 75 for 231.
Still in their pitching, but needing a significant improvement over the final 18 holes, are Londoner Polly Willett and Welsh girl Natasha Morgan who is a student at Lynn University, Boca Raton in Floriday.
They are sharing 84th place on 229. Polly has scored 75, 77 and 77; Natasha, entered as a amateur, has shot 73, 81 and 75.
Elizabeth Stuart, whose father emigrated from Scotland to Tampa, Florida, is in 12th place on 218 with scores of 80, 68 and 70.
A South Korean amateur, In-Kyung Kim leads the field on three-under-par 213 with scores of 71, 72 and 70.
Joint second are Noon Huachai (am) from Thailand, Paige MacKenzie (US) and Marceloa Leon (Mexico) on 214.

Ladies European Tour Pre-Qualifying Eliminator

JENNA STAYS IN THE HUNT WITH
MIXED BAG OF FIGURES IN ITALY

Jenna Wilson, pictured right, had a card spattered with an eagle, four birdies, one double bogey and three single bogeys as she stayed in the hunt with a par-matching 72 for a 36-hole tally of two-under-par 142 in the Ladies European Tour Pre-Qualifying School eliminator at Golf Club Le Fonti in Italy today.
The Scottish amateur international from Strathaven – she has not relinquished her amateur status yet – is in joint 10 position behind the three joint leaders on five-under 139: two French girls, Jade Schaeffer and amateur Melody Bourdy and Czech amateur Zuzana Masinova.
Jenna’s eagle came at the seventh after she had birdied the first but run up a double bogey at the third and dropped another shot at the fifth. A birdie at the eight got her to the turn in one-under-par 34.
She moved to two under the card with a birdie at the 14th but finished weakly with bogeys at the 15th and 18th for a 72, two shots more than her opening round.
NEAR BORDER LINE
Curtis Cup reserve Heather MacRae from Dunblane is sharing 47th place on six-over-par 150 after following up a 76 with a 74. Heather birdied the third, 11th and 14th but dropped shots at regular intervals – fourth, sixth, 13th, 16th and 18th for two halves of 37.
The projected cut figure, trimming the field from 95 to 65 after Friday’s third round, is eight under par so Heather has not got much slack to come and go with.
Irish Curtis Cup player Claire Coughlan from Cork, deciding to have a go at last to win a tour pro card, can feel happy so far with her progress. She is one of six players sharing fourth place on 141. Claire, still an amateur, is on the same mark as England’s Sophie Walker, Felicity Johnson and Rachel Bell.
The leading 43 players and ties after four rounds will go forward to join the exempt players in the Final Q School at La Cala Golf Resort, near Marbella on the Costa del Sol from November 22 to 25.
+Cara Gruber from Royal Dornoch is not attending the LET Q School this year. She explained to Scottishgolfview.com:
“I decided against it this year. It wasn’t exactly my best season and I have other things to focus on these days … trying to get through my exams for becoming a financial adviser and moving into my own house in a couple of weeks as well. I might be back at the Tour School next year ….Never say never!”

LEADING SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
139 (-5) Jade Schaeffer (Fra) 68 71, (am) Zuzana Masinova (Czech Rep) 71 68, (am) Melody Bourdy (Fra) 67 72.
141 Sophie Walker (Eng) 66 75, Sara Nicholson (NZ) 74 67 (am) Claire Coughlan (Ire) 70 71, Felicity Johnson(Eng0 70 71, (am) Rachel Bell (Eng) 73 68, Louise Stahle (Swe) 70 71.
142 (am) Jenna Wilson (Sco) 70 72, (am) Anna Rossi (ita) 69 73, Wendy Burger (Aus) 71 71.
Other scores:
143 (am) M Gillen (ire) 71 72 (jt 13th).
149 K Matharu (Eng) 72 77 (jt 42nd).
150 H MacRae (Sco) 76 74 (jt 47th).