JIM MCKINNON WINS AT CARDRONA AFTER TRIPLE BOGEY AT 17th

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Colin@scottishgolfview.com

Irvine's Jim McKinnon won the Cardrona Hotel 36-hole Challenge at the Peebles venue today by one stroke from overnight joint leader James Byrne after the Ayrshire man's cruise to the winning line was almost sunk by a triple bogey 7 at the penultimate hole.

McKinnon (pictured by Andy Forman), 40 years old and a pro since 1992, looked to have the £1,750 first prize all but signed, sealed and delivered when he improved his overnight six-under-par position to 12 under par with birdies at the first, second, fourth, fifth, sixth, 12th and 16th - offset by a single bogey at the short 13th.

Banchory's Byrne, level on six under at the start of the round, could not keep up with McKinnon's blistering, out-in-31 pace even though he himself had an eagle at the 12th (which took him to eight under) and birdies at the second, sixth and eighth.

Trouble was James also kept dropping shots at regular intervals - the third, fifth, seventh and 14th.

When McKinnon birdied the 16th to move to 12 under par, he was five shots clear of Byrne, his only rival in the scoring stakes. Then came a dramatic four-stroke swing between the leaders at the par-4 17th. Byrne birdied it to get to eight under while McKinnon ran up a 7 to slump to nine under par.

High tension for the last hole. But McKinnon drew on his 21 years' experience as a pro to grind out a par down the 18th for a 69 and a total of 135.
That was one shot ahead of Byrne who had to settle for a closing two-under 70 after he  could not get the birdie that would have seen the 24-year-old Northern Open champion force a play-off over the course where he won the Scottish boys' stroke-play title in 2007.

Still, Byrne earned £1,250 as a consolation prize.

A hole in one at the fifth helped Graham Fox (Clydeway Golf) to tie for third place on 138, two behind runner-up Byrne, with Chris Kelly (Cawder), the long-time leader in the clubhouse after posting a second-round, best of the day 67, and Jason McCreadie (Buchanan Castle). They each earned £800.
Fox bogeyed the 17th and 18th when a par-par finish would have made him joint runner-up with Byrne.
Wright, who had an eagle 3 at the sixth, bogeyed the 16th and 18th 
or he might have been third on his own. And McCreadie, one shot off the pace overnight, had an eagle 3 at the 12th and birdies at the 13th and 14th in a superb four-under-par run. But, unfortunately for Jason, he had had a double bogey 6 at the seventh. 
Bogeys at the 16th and 17th cost him, like Fox, a share of second place.
Kelly's round included an eagle 3 at he 12th, and birdies at the long first, long sixth, eighth and 11th. He dropped just one shot, at the short ninth. 

Kelly's girl friend, Heather MacRae (Gleneagles) also had a very good tournament to follow up her maiden LETAS victory in Sweden last week.

She had rounds of 72 and a five-birdie 71 to finish joint 15th on 143 and earned £170.
Heather had birdies at the long first, long sixth, short ninth, short 11th and long 14th - what no birdies at par-4 holes? Shots were dropped by the former British women's open amateur stroke-play champion - at Nairn - at the fourth, seventh, 10th and 18th.
Ailsa Bain, the former Scottish U18 girls champion who is an assistant pro at Cardrona, did not too badly either. She had rounds of 72-78 for 150 and a share of 44th place with a lot of male pros behind her.
Ailsa had a little bit of everything in her second round - an eagle 2 at the second, birdies at the first, sixth and 12th (all long holes, so it would seem she can hit the par-5s in two) but also double bogeys at the third and 18th, and bogeys at the fourth, fifth, seventh, ninth, 10th, 15th and 17th in halves of 38-40.
Now if Ailsa could eliminate the negatives, i.e. shots dropped, she would be shooting some really low scores. 

Stephen Gray (Hayston), winner of the first of the PGA in Scotland's 36-hole Challenge Series at Spey Valley, had a most uncharacteristic round of 81 for a total of 154. It included a triple bogey and two double bogeys.
There's no question that these 36-hole events, which open the doors to non-Tartan Tour pros, add a lot of spice to the schedule. Last year's excitement is being repeated in these keenly contested events. I take my hat off the to the person who came up with the original idea.

CARDRONA HOTEL 36-HOLE CHALLENGE

Macdonald Cardrona Hotel Golf and Country Club

Peebles.

FINAL TOTALS

Par 144 (2x72)

135 J McKinnon (Irvine) 66 69 (£1,750).

136 J Byrne (Banchory) 66 70 (£1,250)

138 C Kelly (Cawder) 71 67, G Fox (Clydeway Golf) 68 70, J McCreadie (Buchanan Castle) 67 71 (£800 each)

139 G Wright (West Linton) 70 69, G Hutcheon (Banchory) 69 70, P McKechnie (Braid Hills) 68 71 (£450 each)

140 Shaun McAllister (Craigielaw) 68 72 (£335).

141 S Henderson (Kings Links) 69 72 (£325)

142 D Patrick (Elie SC) 71 71, G Brown (Montrose Links) 71 71, P Robinson (Largs) 70 72, G McBain (Gamola Golf) 69 73 (£262 each)

143 Heather MacRae (Gleneagles) 72 71, P O'Hara (Clydeway Golf) 72 71, S Lamb (Cardrona) 72 71, C Matheson (Falkirk Tryst) 68 75 (£170 each).

144 J Henry (Clydebank and Dist) 74 70, G Law (Uphall) 73 71, R Arnott (Bishopbrigg) 73 71, Christopher Robinson (Portpatrick Dunskey) 72 72, D Orr (Mearns Castle) 69 75 (£125 each).
145 N Scott-Smith (Palacerigg) 77 68, M King (Kingsfield) 74 71, C Ronald (Carluke) 70 75, G Thacker (Kedleston Park) 70 75 (£53 each).
146 Colin  Robinson (Prestonfield) 75 71, M Kerr (Marriott Dalmahoy) 72 74, N Huguet (Musselburgh) 72 74, C Currie (Caldwell) 71 75, S Herald (Mearns Castle) 70 76, M Patterson (Kilmacolm) 68 78.
147 C Lawson (unatt) 76 71, J McGhee (unatt) 75 72, G Rankin (Drumpellier) 74 74, P Walker (Ballumbie Castle) 72 75, R MacLeod (Eastwood) 71 76, P Wardell (Whitekirk) 71 76.
148 S Savage (Dalmuir) 73 75.
149 C Marr (Musselburgh) 78 71, G McFarlane (Clober) 72 77, C Gordon (Edinburgh GC) 72 77.
150 S Morrison (Tain) 75 75, J Gallagher (Douglas Park) 75 75, Stephen McAllister (Renaissance) 73 77, A Reid (West Lothian) 73 77, Ailsa Bain (Cardrona) 72 78, G Paxton (Ralston) 72 78.
151 C Beveridge (West Kilbride) 75 76, J Dick (Duddingston) 75 76.
152 C Russell (RAW Design) 79 73, D Roger (Windyhill) 77 75, D Wood (Hirsel) 72 80.

153 J Lomas (Caprington) 77 76, P Brookes (Pitreavie) 76 77.
154 S Gray (Hayston) 73 81, C Elliott (Haggs Castle) 72 82.
155 J Cliff (Murrayfield) 78 77, T Dingwall (Nairn Dunbar) 81 74, G Smith (Gleneagles) 81 74, A Welsh (Cathkin Braes) 81 74, M Laughtland (Bishopbriggs) 76 79. 
156 A Strang (unatt) 80 76.
157 T Mathieson (Murcar Links) 77 80, P Wilson (Cawder) 79 78, K Campbell (Machrihanish) 78 79, R Rushford (Swanston New) 83 74, D McCallum (Golfsphere) 76 81.
158 J Erskine (Portpatrick Dunskey) 83 75, C Tierney (Affordable Golf) 80 78.
159 G McSporran (Kinross) 78 81, J Brown (Cathcart Castle) 82 77, D Ritchie (unatt) 81 78, M Shaw (Whitecraigs) 81 78.   
160 C McMaster (Panmure) 82 78, R Fyvie (Pumpherston) 85 75, N Colquhoun (Merchants of Edinburgh) 76 84.
164 J Mackay (North Gailes) 77 87.
165 S Reekie (Royal Troon) 84 81.
166 S McLaren (Blairgowrie) 84 82.
168 V Brown (Palacerigg) 78 90, M Mackenzie (Edzell) 85 83.
173 R Holt (unatt) 86 87.
174 Kirstin Scott (Cardrona) 84 90.
DQ P Affleck (unatt).
ENDS