Aberdonian's double whammy in final event on circuit

GRAHAM GORDON FINISHES AS TOP SCOT
ON PGA EUROPRO TOUR MONEY TABLE

Graham Gordon, who finished joint fourth today in the final event of the PGA EuroPro Tour season – the 54-hole championship on the Azores, was not only the leading Scot in that event but also the top Scot in the EuroPro Tour’s final money table for 2006.
Graham, now playing out of the club of which he was a member when he won the Scottish amateur championship in 2003 and also gained Walker Cup honours that year, came 19th, an improvement of 11 places on 2005, with earnings of £11,465.
The leading totals were, with number of tournaments played in brackets:

1 Kevin Harper (Eng) £29,258 (15).
2 Damian Mooney (NI) £25,728 (11).
3 Daniel Gaunt (Aus) £25,666 (13).
4 Stuart Cage (Eng) £25,040 (7).
5 Matthew Richardson (Eng) £21,533 (13).
6 John Morgan (Eng) £20,232 (4).
7 Christopher Hanson (Eng) £19,993 (16).
8 Andrew Willey (Eng) £18,920 (17).
9 Neil Walker (Eng) £17,588 (16).
10 Mark Ramsdale (Eng) £16,875 (16).

Scottish totals:
19 Graham Gordon £11,465 (16).
20 Eric Ramsay £11,422 (7).
23 Euan Little £7,775 (7).
35 Paul Doherty £5,158 (15).
46 Jack Doherty £3,973 (13).
48 Graham Rankin £3,887 (5).
53 Graeme Brown £3,646 (7).
70 Craig Smith £2,215 (5).
74 Jamie McLeary £2,123 (5).
88 Stephen Gray £1,660 (4).
103 Colin Mitchell £1.185 (12).
116 Callum Nicoll £720 (5).
120 Ross Cameron £627 (10).
135 Barry Hume £456 (1).
139 Stephen Lamb £387 (7).
147 Lee Vannet £285 (3).

Graham Gordon’s next target is the Asian Tour School. Phases 1 and 2 will be played between December 6 and 18 at Pattaya, Thailand.

Before that, a Graham Gordon fund-raising dinner is being held at The Marcliffe at Pitfodels on Friday, December 1. Tables and individual seats are still available.
++Scroll down for a full report on the PGA EuroPro Tour championship and quotes from Graham Gordon.

Final day of PGA EuroPro Tour Championship

GRAHAM GORDON'S BEST OF THE DAY 68
EARNS HIM SHARE OF FOURTH PLACE

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
(colin@scottishgolfview.com)

Newmachar Golf Club tour professional Graham shot the lowest round of a dramatic last day – a four-under-par 68 – to finish joint fourth in the PGA EuroPro Tour championship at the Verde Golf Complex Baltaha golf course on the Azores islands in the Atlantic.
Aberdonian Graham, pictured right, a Walker Cup player before he turned pro, had rounds of 72, 74 and 68 for two-under-par 214 in a tournament that was almost wrecked by bad weather on Saturday when play had to be suspended for the day at 4pm with only 10 players having returned first-round scores.
There was still a gale blowing for the final round as Gordon showed much of the skill that made him a leading amateur as he improved his overnight position by 19 places from an overnight position of joint 23rd.
His bogey-free final round contained four birdies – at the first, third, seventh and eighth – on the outward half of 32 and then nine straight pars to earn a £4,250 prize whcih boosted his season's total to £11,463.
That gave Grahm a final placing of 19th in the PGA EuroPro Tour Order of Merit, 11 places better than last year.
But for a double bogey 7 at the 14th in the second round, Gordon would have finished on the same 212 mark as Kevin Harper (East Devon), Mark Ramsdale (Formby) and Stuart Cage (Cookridge).
Ex-European Tour pro Stuart Cage won the three-way play-off for the title and the £20,000 jackpot prize.
Graham Gordon said later:
"This is a nice way to end the UK professional circuit. For potential sponsors, this shows I am learning my trade and heading in the right direction. This puts me in a positive frame of mind as I head to the Asian PGA Tour School as a representative of Newmachar Golf Club and the North-east of Scotland.
"I have hit 73% of the greens in regulation this season and my long game is in excellent shape since I started working again my with my long-term coach Jim Farmer at St Andrews.
"To hit 13 greens out of 18 on the last day here in horrendous gale-force conditions was especially pleasing. The tighter the course and tougher the conditions, the better I perform and my game is tailor-made for such EuropeanTour-type conditions."
LEADER SKELTON CRASHES
Former Walker Cup player Michael Skelton (The Wynyard), leader by three strokes overnight after a 68 and a 69, crashed to a 78 (41-37) with a triple bogey at the short second and double bogeys at the par-4 sixth and 16th.
Skelton’s 215 total put him on 214 alongside Matthew Richardson and John Wells.
Eric Ramsay (Carnoustie) and South Wales-based Jack Doherty finished tied ninth on level par 216. Doherty, with a real chance of victory after earlier rounds of 73 and 68, blew it with a closing 75 which included a double bogey 6 at the 10th.
Ramsay birdied the first, third, 11th and 15th in finishing with a 70 after a pair of 73s.
Graeme Brown (Montrose) and Portpatrick’s Euan Little shared 14th place on one-over 217. Brown birdied the fourth, 13th and 17th but double-bogeyed the 16th in returning a 71 after starting with two 73s.
Little had three birdies but four bogeys in his closing 73 after a 70 followed by a 74.
Paul Doherty scored 77, 73 and 75 for 225 and a share of 35th place.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 72
212 K Harper (Eng) 73 70 69, M Ramsdale (Eng) 70 72 70, S Cage Cookridge) 75 65 72 (Cage won three-way play-off for title and £20,000; Harper & Ramsdale £8,500 each).
214 G Gordon (Sco) 72 74 68, Z Scotland (Eng) 74 69 71 (£4,500 each).
215 M Skelton (Eng) 68 69 78, M Richardson (Eng) 71 72 72, J Wells (Eng) 74 67 74 (£2,050 each).
Other scores:
216 E Ramsay (Sco) 73 73 70, J Doherty (Sco) 73 69 75 (jt 9th) (£1,200 each).
217 G Brown (Sco) 73 73 71, E Little (Sco) 74 70 73 (jt 14th) (£850 each).
225 P Doherty (Sco) 77 73 75 (jt 35th) (£340).

Fife & Lothians Winter League results

First results in the Fife and Lothians Golf Associations Winter League:

FIFE 6, MID 4

Gary Sharp (St Andrews) halved with John Gallagher (Swanston New).
Scott Michie (Thornton) bt Keith Young (Glencorse) 1 hole.
Stewart Elder (Kirkcaldy) lost to Ross McDonald (Craigmillar Park) 1 hole.
Alex Main (Thornton) lost to Stewart Thorburn (Newbattle) 2 and 1.
Grant McNab (Leven Thistle) bt David Murray (Newbattle) 4 and 3.
David Imrie (Thornton) bt Robbie Anderson (Duddingston) 3 and 1.
Barry McDermott bt Paul Ferrier (Baberton) 1 hole.
Euan Malcolm (Dunfermline) bt Stewart Tully (Duddingston) 7 and 5.
David Mitchell (Leven Thistle) lost to Grant McCall (Baberton) 1 hole.
Michael Main(Thornton) halved with Andrew Laurence (Baberton).

WEST 4, EAST 6

Steven Armstrong (Turnhouse) bt Keith Nicholson (Haddington) 2 and 1.
Tom Caldwell (Silverknowes) bt Shaun McAllister (Craigielaw) 3 and 2.
Mark Timmins (Pumpherson) lost to Alexander Culverwell (Dunbar) 2 and 1.
Oliver McCrone (Turnhouse) halved with Dean Muir (Dunbar).
Gary Corrigan (Greenburn) halved with Mark Hillson (Craigielaw).
Ed Shannly (Linlithgow) lost to Robert Kelly (Haddington) 3 and 2.
Tom Blennerhasset (Dalmahoy) lost to Neil Henderson (Glen) 3 and 2.
Robert Carson (Dalmahoy) bt Jamie Neilson (Dun bar) 2 and 1.
Jim Gilmour (Harburn) lost to Stephen Neilson (Dunbar) 2 and 1.
Keith Reilly (Silverknowes) lost to John McGuinness (Whitekirk) 2 and 1.

HOW THEY STAND
Fife 2pt, East 2pt, Mid 0pt, West 0pt.

Fixtures for Sunday, November 5:
Mid v West at Duddingston; East v Fife at Royal Musselburgh.

R&A WORLD MEN'S AMATEUR RANKINGS

Richie Ramsay is World No 1
for ninth week in a row

WEEK 41: TOURNAMENT WINNERS
& LEADING AMATEURS

Federico Damus* (NSU Fall Classic), Sam Korbe (Oklahoma Intercollegiate), Zack Miller (The Prestige at PGA WEST), Sebastian Saavedra (TLA Tour School A) & Peter Uihlein (St Augustine Amateur).
* New WAGRanked Player.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS
Richie Ramsay (Scotland), pictured right, retains the R&A WMAGR No 1 spot for a 9th week.
There are no movers into the Top 20.
There are no movers into the WAGR Top 50.
The only mover into the Top 100 is Gary Woodland (US), up 42 to No 62.
The only mover into the Top 150 is Rob Grube (USA), up 49 to WAGRanking No 141.
Chiragh Kumar (India) led the two amateurs who made the halfway cut in the Hero Honda Indian Open on the Asian Tour.

HOW THEY STAND AFTER WEEK 41

1 Richie Ramsay SCO 1181.08
2 Jamie Moul ENG 1162.79
3 Ross McGowan ENG 1151.92
4 Pablo Martin ESP 1139.58
5 Oliver Fisher ENG 1120.37
6 Rory McIlroy IRE 1120.00
7 Won Joon Lee AUS 1112.22
8 Nigel Edwards WAL 1044.74
9 Rhys Davies WAL 1033.33
10 Gary Wolstenholme ENG 1023.21
11 Mitchell Brown AUS 1014.49
12 Jonathan Moore USA 1005.88
14 Stephen Dartnall AUS 1001.61
15 Webb Simpson USA 998.04
16 Chris Kirk USA 995.92
17 Julien Guerrier FRA 992.86
17 Bronson LaCassie AUS 981.82
18 Scott Jamieson SCO 968.75
19 Billy Horschel USA 965.31
20 Charl Coetzee RSA 956.92
21 Andrew Tampion AUS 955.56
22 Josh Geary NZL 950.00
23 JBE Kruger RSA 948.98
24 Dawie van der Walt RSA 948.94
25 Seve Benson ENG 941.18
26 Robert Riesen USA 940.63
27 Dustin Johnson USA 938.18
28 Ben Parker ENG 934.21
29 Johan Carlsson SWE 930.30
30 James Gill NZL 923.53
31 Niklas Lemke SWE 921.88
32 Richard Scott CAN 920.93
33 George Murray SCO 917.24
34 Oscar Floren SWE 913.51
35 Jason Palmer ENG 913.51
36 Alex Prugh USA 912.82
37 Tim Stewart AUS 912.70
38 James Love CAN 911.76
39 David Hewan RSA 910.77
40 George Coetzee RSA 909.62
41 Cameron Tringale USA 905.71
42 Adrien Bernadet FRA 897.22
43 Christiaan Basson RSA 893.44
44 Mark Purser NZL 892.00
45 Joost Luiten NET 891.67
46 Matteo Del Podio ITA 888.24
47 Dandre Neumeyer RSA 888.24
48 Sebastian Saavedra ARG 882.50
49 Stephen Lewton ENG 881.82
50 Ryan Yip CAN 875.00
Other Scots in the top 150:
54 Lloyd Saltman.
61 Paul O'Hara.
78 Callum Macaulay.
91 John Gallagher.
94 Duncan Stewart.
111 Jonathan King.
114 Scott Henry
120 Keir McNicoll.
121 Bryan Fotheringham.
124 Elliot Saltman.
129 Glenn Campbell.
130 Wallace Booth.
137 Mark Kerr.
147 Craig Watson.

NORTH GOLF ALLIANCE

SANGSTER PIPS TAIN CLUBMATE
FERRIES OVER HOME COURSE

By ROBIN WILSON
Mike Sangster, who has made a significant impact in the Tain Golf Club’s junior section through his volunteer coaching involvement in conjunction with clubgolf Scotland, Showed he can also play a bit himself with a double winning return in the North Golf Alliance fixture at Tain.
One of the few coaches in Scotland to have achieved the PGA clubgolf level two qualification, Mike is also a favourite with the Mums, many of them following their sons and daughters onto the links and boosting the Tain membership.
After a scratch tie on 72 with fellow Tain member Billy Ferries, Mike made up three shots on the inward half with a level par 35, one birdie and one bogey, to beat the 38 from Ferries on the card comparison.
Sangster also had the distinction of leading the net returns in the field of 78 with a 69 off three.
Now seeking out Sangster for a bunker play lesson after finding four sand traps in his round is former Tain club champion Munro Ferries who four times found sand in his disappointing round of 74.
In the prizes for the second time this season was Thurso’s Dougie Thorburn with a 73 and from Reay Brian Suttar won the Class 2 handicap section for a second time.
Still to make an impact this season is last season’s dominant scratch scorer, Ron Taylor (Wick) after a 75.
Local member Steve Holmes, back in 37, led home a group of four with net returns of 71 after the inward half comparison. Mike Keay, the Tarbat green keeper, claimed third in Section 1 followed by Richard MacDonald (Reay) and Alliance secretary Robin Wilson (Brora) who failed to make use of his decent outward 36 with five bogeys over the next nine holes.

LEADING RETURNS
SCRATCH
72 M Sangster (Tain) 37-35, B Ferries (Tain) 34-38.
73 D Thorburn (Thurso).
74 M Ferries (Tain).
75 R W Taylor (Wick).
76 S Holmes (Tain), C Ilett (Tain), R J Wilson (Brora).
78 R MacDonald (Reay).
HANDICAP
Class 1
M Sangster (Tain) (3) 69; S Holmes (Tain) (5), M Keay (Tain), R MacDonald (Reay) (7), R J Wilson (Brora) (5) 71.
Class 2
B Soutar (Reay) (14), U Morrison (Durness) (15) 70.
J Mackenzie (Durness) (17) 78.
I Campbell (Durness) (19), G Bain (Thurso) (12) 79.

SCOTTISH ALLIANCE CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL TOTALS

PAUL McKECHNIE AND BRYAN
FOTHERINGHAM LEADING PRO
AND AMATEUR
AT BUCHANAN CASTLE

Hardly hot off the presses, but we've finally managed to get the leading final totals from the recent Scottish Alliance championship.
New champion Paul McKechnie is pictured on right.


SCOTTISH ALLIANCE CHAMPIONSHIP 2006
Buchanan Castle Golf Club
Reduced to 36 holes because of flooding.

LEADING PROFESSIONAL AGGREGATES
129 P McKechnie (Braid Hills) 63 66 (Winner of Scotsman Trophy).
131 S Gray (Hayston) 69 62, S Lamb (Cardrona) 66 65.
134 J McGhee (Turnhouse).
135 D Orr (East Renfrewshire).
136 A Marshall (Houston GR).
138 L Vannet (Carnoustie Links).
139 K Baxter (Buchanan Castle).
140 J Sharp (unatt), A Lockhart (Ladybank).

LEADING AMATEUR AGGREGATES
SCRATCH
134 B Fotheringham (Forres) 66 68 (Winner of Clydesdale Bank Quaich).
144 G Hay (Grantown on Spey), J Kinloch (Cardross). Winner of Caldwell Trophy for leading over-55 years player.
145 M McPhee (Bishopbriggs).
146 E Malcolm (Dunfermline).
147 R Stewart (Kincardine).
148 G Wither (Lothianburn).
149 P Lamb (Biggar).
150 G Wedgeworth (Cowglen).
151 W Erskine (Kilsyth).
HANDICAP
135 T Flaherty (Gullane).
136 E McGrath (Cardross).
138 M O’Neill (Vale of Leven).
140 A Graham (Crow Wood), A Barton (Allloa).
141 J Craig (Carnoustie), M Pennycott (Whiting Bay).
142 W Laing (Prestonfield).
143 N Brown (Vale of Leven, D Graham (Lochend).

SENIOR AMATEUR (over 55 years)
SCRATCH
154 C Alexander (Murcar Links).
157 J Westwood (Moray).
161 C Wallace (Caird Park).
169 S Lauder (Drumpellier).
175 M McLaren (Fortrose & Rosemarkie).
HANDICAP
145 G McBride (East Kilkbride).
150 J Nugent (Vale of Leven, D Nelson (Aboyne).
155 A Mason (Thornton).

LEADING TEAM AGGREGATES
WEST ALLIANCE 840. Winners of Mountbatten Cup.
S Gray (Hayston) 131
D Orr (East Renfrewshire) 135.
K Baxter (Buchanan Castle) 139.
J L Kinloch (Cardross) 144.
M McPhee (Bishopbriggs) 145.
A Graham (Crow Wood) 146.

SCOTLAND'S OVER-55S - THEY ARE THE CHAMPIONS!

Thanks to Euan Mordaunt of the Scottish Golf Union for passing on some pictures of the jubilant Scotland team after their capture - for the first time - of the Senior Men's Home International title at Dunbar recently. It was the team that had also won the European Seniors' title at Helsinki plus "new boy" John Johnston.
Pictured left to right: Back row: Steve Ellis (Cowal), skipper Ian Hutcheon (Monifieth), Brian Grieve (King James VI) and John Johnston (Royal Aberdeen). Front row: Gordon MacDonald (Callander), Allan Ferguson (Drumpellier), Donald McCart (Castlerock).
+If you click on the picture you can increase the size for viewing.
++And if you log on to our sister website, www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk, you can see the bigger picture - the Scotland senior men's team and their caddies.

Hero Honda Indian Open play-off concluded on Monday

RANDHAWA WINS $400,000 FIRST
PRIZE AFTER SLEEPLESS NIGHT

India's Jyoti Randhawa lifted the US$400,000 Hero Honda Indian Open for the second time in his career today when he returned to Delhi Golf Club to defeat compatriot SSP Chowrasia in a sudden-death play-off early on Monday morning.
Randhawa made a birdie 4 on the 18th hole against Chowrasia's par to triumph on what was the second play-off hole. The pair had been unable to complete the play-off on Sunday evening due to darkness.
It was a case of redemption for Randhawa, who missed a 4ft putt on the first extra hole late on Sunday, which would have won him the title. India's Vijay Kumar had also been involved on the first extra hole but dropped out after hitting his tee shot into the trees.
"I am very pleased with the way I came back and won today. It was nerve wracking missing that putt on the 18th last night. I stood over that putt and was thinking that this is the putt to win the Open and that was enough to cause me to miss it. Today I thought of winning a golf tournament and did not think about the putt," said Randhawa.
The 34-year-old Randhawa revealed that he had an almost sleepless night thinking about his miss. He said: "I went back and thought about it and figured out what went wrong. I only slept three of four hours last night."
The victory, worth US$63,400, meant Randhawa maintained his tremendous track record at Delhi Golf Club, where he won the Hero Honda Masters in 1998 and 1999 and the Indian Open in 2000, which was also in a play-off. The win also pushed Randhawa up to 14th position on the Asian Tour’s UBS Order of Merit.
Chowrasia is a 28 year old rookie on the Asian Tour and son of a greenkeeper.
"Chowrasia is a new kid on the block. He has a great attitude and is a great golfer with a very good golf swing. I think he has a great future and has a lot of years left in him. I am happy that I beat him. He definitely will win the Indian Open one day," said Randhawa.
The Indian has now won six times on the Asian Tour. It was his first success since the Volvo Masters of Asia in 2004. He said working on a more relaxed approach to the game is helping him hugely.
"The more mentally involved you are, the more disturbed you are. I am learning to take a second to hit a golf shot and get on with it, enjoy the walk and smell the flowers," he added.
With the win, Randhawa has booked his spot for the HSBC Champions tournament in November in China.
Chowrasia is a multiple winner on Indian PGA Tour but today's cheque of US$33,900 was far and away the biggest pay day of his career.
"I was relaxed out there. I am happy with the way I played. I know that my chance will come. I did not get tense and I slept well. In fact my roommate, Rafiq Ali was saying that he could not sleep, but I slept nicely," said Chowrasia, who shares second place with Kumar.
The performance made amends for his mishap in the Mercuries Taiwan Masters in September, whenhe led by three shots after two rounds but was disqualified for not signing his scorecard. He is sponsored by Royal Calcutta Golf Club, where his father was the green keeper. He grew up living by one of the greens where he honed a magnificent short game that has earned him the nickname "Chipandputtasia".

PGAs of Europe International Team Championship conditions

HUTCHEON AND ROBERTSON
NOT ELIGIBLE FOR
TARTAN TOUR TEAM

The PGA Scottish Region has had to revise its team for the PGAs of Europe international team championship over the Dave Thomas-designed Roda course in the Murcia region of Spain in mid-November.
The line-up had been announced as the top three in the Tartan Tour Order of Merit – Greig Hutcheon (Peterculter), pictured right, Dean Robertson (Czech Design) and Craig Lee (All Swing Golf Centre), a strong-looking line-up that would have put Scotland among the title favourites.
Now the PGA Scottish Region has been forced to delete Hutcheon and Robertson from its line-up on eligibility grounds.
Their places will be taken by James McKinnon (Irvine) and Samuel Cairns (Westerwood).
“Since the announcement of our original team from the Order of Merit, we have been reminded that only professionals who work at least 25 hours a week in a golf business, i.e. a club pro’s shop, driving range or golf centre can be nominated to play in the PGAs of Europe international team tournament,” said Gordon Dewar, secretary-elect of the PGA Scottish Region.
“Greig Hutcheon and Dean Robertson’s circumstances are such that they do not meet these stipulations and, regrettably, they have had to be stood down from the PGA Scottish Region team.”