Keir McNicoll clickety-clicks in third
round of Riversdale Cup

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Carnoustie's Keir McNicoll had a blistering round of six-under-par 66 to shoot up to joint eighth place with one round to go in the prestigious Riversdale Cup 72-hole tournament at Riversdale Golf Club, near Melbourne in Australia.
McNicoll's earlier rounds were 73 and 7 so he is on seven under par 209 after a bogey-free, six birdie halves of 33. Keir birdied the sixth, seventh, eighth, 12th, 13th and 15th.
Scott Henry from Cardross also had a very good third round - a 67 which lifted into the top 20, joint 18th to be precise, with earlier scores of 75 and 70 for a 54-hole tally of 212.
Scott bogeyed the fourth but birdied the sixth and seventh to turn in one-under 35. Then Henry had a superb run of four consecutive birdies from the 10th to the 13th. A bogey at the 17th was cancelled out by his seventh birdie of the round at the 18th for 32 home.
Callum Macaulay (Tulliallan) was in joint 21st place on 213 with scores of 70, 73 and 70. In the third round, Callum bogeyed the third and sixth but birdied the fourth and ninth to turn in level par 36. He then birdied the 10th, 11th and 13th with a bogey at the 12th sneaking in there. Like Henry, he bogeyd the 17th but birdied the 18th for 34 home.
Scottish match-play champion John Gallagher (Swanston New) has scored 74, 74 and 70 for 218 and a share of 46th place. John had an "iffy" start with bogeys at the first, second and eighth, intermingled with birdies at the sixth and ninth for 37 out.
Gallagher got his act together coming home with a bogey-free inward half of 33, studded with birdies at the 10th, 15th and 18th.
Wallace Booth matched the par of 72 in the third round but dropped back to a share of 56th place which shows how high the standard of scoring was. Wallace is on 219 with earlier rounds of 71 and 76. The Comrie man birdied the seventh and nine to be out in 34 - so far so good. Then he bogeyed the 15th and 17th for 38 home.
Scottish stroke-play champion Kevin McAlpine (Alyth) had by far his best round on the third day - a 70 after earlier scores of 79 and 74. He was sharing 59th place on 223. Kevin bogeyed the first and eighth but birdied the fourth and seventh to be out in level par 36. He started back with birdies at the 10th and 11th on his way to 34 home.
Must admit I am confused by the tournament website which has Fraser Fotheringham, the Nairn youngster, with the same three-round total of 223 at Kevin McAlpine but places him joint 96th instead of joint 59th. Fraser has scored 75, 73 and 75. It cannot be that Fotheringham missed the cut after 36 holes because his two-round total of 148 was better than McAlpine's 153.
But I cannot see Fotheringham's name in the draw for the fourth round.
Same goes for Tom Spencer (Inchmarlo) who has scored 83, 74 and 72 for 229 and joint 132nd place and also Stuart Burns (Auchterarder) with 78, 79 and 78 for 235 and a share of 151st place.
THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
Par 216 (3 x 72)
Players from Australia unless stated
202 Scott Arnold 65 69 68.
203 Kieran Pratt 70 65 68.
206 Danny Lee (NZ) 69 67 70, Brendan Smith 74 68 64.
207 Rhys McGovern 70 71 66.
208 Rohan Blizard 66 72 70, Peter Hall 71 68 69.
209 Keir McNicoll (Carnoustie) 73 70 66, Jason Scrivener 67 70 70, Ashley Umbers 71 70 68.
Other scores:
212 Scott Henry (Cardross) 75 70 67 (jt 18th).
213 Callum Macaulay (Tulliallan) 70 73 70 (jt 21st).
215 Adam Wainwright (England) 75 70 70 (jt 30th).
216 Jamie Abbott (England) 74 70 72 (jt 36th).
218 John Gallagher (Swanston New) 74 74 70 (jt 46th).
219 Wallace Booth (Comrie) 71 76 72 (jt 56th)).
223 Kevin McAlpine (Alyth) 79 74 70 (jt 59th).
Following scores are listed on the tournament website but the players do not figure in the fourth round draw:
223 Fraser Fotheringham (Nairn) 75 73 75.
229 Tom Spencer (Inchmarlo) 83 74 72.
235 Stuart Burns (Auchterarder) 78 79 78.