Scots joint fourth with round to go in European Nations' men's team tournament




By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Scotland, on the back of good efforts by Robert MacIntyre (pictured below) and Connor Syme, have moved up to joint fourth place behind Wales (655), Ireland (657) and Spain (671) with one round to go in the European Nations Cup men's team championship at Sotogrande.

The Scots are on 674 alongside Germany after improving their aggregate daily team performance from 233 on the first two days to 218 in the third round.
In contrast, England are second from bottom in the 16-team table.
Syme (76-74-73) and MacIntyre (76-74-73) are sharing eighth place on 223 - 12 shots behind the leader by three, Welshman Jack Davidson who has reeled off three rounds of two-under 70.


EUROPEAN MEN'S NATIONS CUP
Sotogrande, Spain.
THIRD-ROUND TEAM TOTALS
655 Wales.
657 Ireland.
671 Spain.
674 Scotland, Germany.
676 Norway.
682 Italy.
685 Czech Rep.
687 Netherlands.
690 Sweden
692 France.
694 Austria, Finland, Denmark
697 England.
726 Belgium.


LEADING MEN'S INDIVIDUAL
Par 216 (3x72)
210 J Davidson (Wal) 70 70 70
213 R Dawson (Ire) 71 69 73.


SELECTED SCORES
223 A Gleeson (Ire) 77 75 71, C Syme (Sco) 76 74 73, R MacIntyre (Sco) 76 74 73 (T8).
225 D Boote (Wal) 70 76 79 (T11)
226 O Edwards (Wal) 78 74 74 (T14)
227 D Brown (Eng) 76 73 78 (T18)
230 L Johnston (Sco) 78 78 74 (T29)
231 J Davies (Wal) 82 75 74 (T32)
233 C Howie (Sco) 82 79 72 (T29
235 K LeBlanc (Ire) 79 81 75, A Plant (Eng) 79 79 77 (T47)
238 J Singh Braar (Eng) 80 79 79 (57th).
240 M Penge (Eng) 85 76 78 (T60)

Seven Scottish titles in a row by Stirling 1 team

          We are the champions ... again!  Stirling University 1 team with the trophy


REPORT BY BEN PHILIP
The University of Stirling men’s 1st team continued their domination of the Scottish Student Golf Championships Team Matchplay competition, winning the Charles McNeill Trophy for the 7th time in a row, by beating the Stirling No 2 team 7-5 - but only after being given a real scare by their second team over the Old Course at Moray Golf Club, Lossiemouth today.
The foursomes went to Stirling 1 by a 3-1 margin but the eight afternoon singles were shared 4-4.

The morning foursomes were a series of dominant performances as only one match went past the 15th green. Jordan Sundborg and Laird Shepherd (over Jamie Parker and Ben Plaxton) and James Wilson and Robert Foley (over Mark Napier and Matt Fitzsimmons) bookended the morning with 5 and 4 victories while Chris Maclean and Andrew Davidson were almost as dominant in their 4 and 3 victory over Valerian Huelin and Ellis Hart.
The one bright spark for the Stirling No 2 team in the foursomes was  Colin Edgar and David Nagies holding off a fierce comeback from Fergus Bannon and Will Walker, securing a 2 and 1 victory on the 17th green.

A 3-1 deficit left the Stirling 2 team with it all to do as the eight afternoon singles teed on in deteriorating conditions. That task looked even harder at the turn as Stirling 1 players  reached the turn leading in five matches, all square in two and only down in the second match.
However, Colin Edgar typified the performance of the second team as he reeled off five winning  holes in a row from the 10th, turning a one hole deficit into a 3 and 2 victory over Chris Maclean.
That was part of a middle-order renaissance for the No 2 team which, after Jordan Sundborg completed an impressive undefeated tournament with a 6 and 5 victory over Jack Forgan, saw the Stirlinig 2 reel off 4 points in a row – Edgar’s victory preceded by 18th hole victories for Ben Plaxton over Robert Foley and David Nagies over Fergus Bannon, followed by Jamie Parker beating Will Walker 2 and 1.
In between those matches James Wilson had beaten Ellis Hart 5 and 4, leaving the match tied overall at five points apiece with two matches left on the course.

Match 6 was Andrew Davidson against Mark Napier and it had been nip and tuck throughout the contest, the players turning for home all square. Andrew Davidson turned up the pressure to take a three hole advantage to the 15th hole but back-to-back wins for Napier left Davidson hanging on one up on the 17th tee.

Meanwhile, in the final match, Laird Shepherd had enjoyed a similar 3 hole advantage over Matt Fitzsimons but, after pulling one hole back on the 14th, a wonderful approach from the second team scholarship player to the par 3 15th saw the lead cut to one with three to play.
When Shepherd could only find the heavy rough to the left of 16, the concern was clear to see on first team faces. However, a fantastic recovery put the pressure back on Fitzsimmons whose missed putt guaranteed a half with two holes to play.

With Davidson and Napier halving the 17th in par, that left the first team with a guaranteed play-off and the chance to secure the victory from either of the final matches.
In the end it was Laird Shepherd (stroke-play title-winner earlier in the week) who won the match for the first team when, having missed his birdie putt, Fitzsimmons conceded the match.
Davidson secured his full point on the 18th green, giving the Stirling first team an 7-5 overall victory and retention of the Charles McNeill Trophy.

 

With the end of the match-play tournament, the sun has set on the 95th Scottish Student Golf Championships after a fantastic week of stroke-play and match-play competition. Thanks go to Moray GC for their incredible hospitality, to our officials and volunteers, and to the players for putting on a great show, highlighting the incredible level of student golf in Scotland.
Bring on 2018 when Laird Shepherd will be aiming to become only the 2nd player in history to retain the title and Gemma Batty will look to make history and complete the 4-peat.

RESULT OF FINAL

STIRLING (1) 7, STIRLING (2) 5

Foursomes: 3-1

J Wilson, R Foley bt M Napier, M Fitzsimons 5 and 4.

F Bannon, W Walker lost to C Edgar, D Nagies 2 and 1.

C Maclean, A Davidson bt V Huelin, E Hart 4 and 3.

J Sundborg, L Shepherd bt J Parker, B Plaxton 5 and 4.

Singles: 4-4

Sundborg bt J Forgan 6 and 5.

Foley lost to Plaxton 2 holes.

Bannon lost to Nagies 1 hole.

Maclean lost to Edgar 3 and 2.

Walker lost to Parker 2 and 1.

Davidson bt Napier 1 hole.

Wilson bt Hart 5 and 4.

Shepherd bt Fitzsimmons 2 and 1.

 

Michele Thomson leads Scots in France

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Michele Thomson (Meldrum House) from Ellon did best of the three Scots in the first round of the LET Access Series event, the Terre Blanche Ladies Open, near Nice in France today (Friday).

Michele shot a two-over-par 74 to be T29, six behind the co-leaders, Elia Folch (Spain) and Valentine Derrey (France) on four-under 68.

Thomson, pictured,  birdied the 11th, 15th and 18th after having a double bogey 5 at the short eighth in 40 to the turn.

Jane Turner from the Lothians also had a double bogey 6, at the second, on her way to a 77 and a share of 61st place.

Laura Murray (Kippie Lodge) had a nightmare round of 10-over 82 after she had back-to-back double bogeys at the short third and long fifth in taking 42 shots to the turn.

She is T109 overnight and is unlikely to survive the cut.

TERRE BLANCHE LADIES OPEN

Terre Blanche, near Nice, France

LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES

Par 72

68 E Folch (Spn), V Derrey (Fra).

SELECTED SCORES

70 G Cowley (Eng) (T4)

73 I Mehmet (Eng) (T16)

74 M MacLaren (Eng), M Thomson (Sco) (T29)

77 C Frankish (Eng), J Turner (Sco) (T61)

82 L Murray (Sco) (T109)

TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES

CLICK HERE

http://www.access.letscoring.com/leaderboard/2970/

GERRY TOP SENIOR AT WINDY PRESTWICK St CUTHBERT
Gerry Smith top senior with 39pt at windy


Prestwick St Cuthbert


Gerry Smith (Royal Troon) produced an excellent Stableford points total of 39 in blustery conditions at Prestwick St Cuthbert for the final Scottish Senior Golfing Society's final winter competition.
Smith was closely followed by Ian Kerr (Kilmacolm) with 38 points. Kevin McArthur (Balbirnie Park) finished third on 37 points.  The overall winner of the winter series is George Barrie (Callander).
PRESTWICK St. CUTHBERT SCOREBOARD
Stableford points
39 pts Gerry Smith (Royal Troon) (4)
38 Ian Kerr  (Kilmacolm) (6).
37 Kevin McArthur (Balbirnie Park) (5)
35 Philip Hendry (Alloa) (2), Drew Wilson (St Andrews New) (6).
34 Neil McKinven (Strathaven) (6), Wilson Butler (Carluke) (3), Brian Halbert (Callander) (6), Jim Kinloch (Cardross) (4).
33 Billy Wallace (Prestwick St Cuthbert) (5), Colin Mavor (Elgin) (9), David Smith (Stirling) (5).
32 Alan Harrington (Western Gailes) (5), Peter Kinloch (Cardross) (7), Colin Halcrow (Windyhill) (4), Neil McGarva (Kilmacolm) (5), Gordon Rennie (Cathkin Braes) (4).
31 Joe Langford (Carluke) (9), George Barrie (Callander) (2), Ewan Robertson (Stirling) (5).
30 Gary Cochran (Irvine Ravenspark) (3), Alex Hogg (Stirling) (10).
29 David Taylor (St Andrews New) (3), Gordon Doig (Southerness) (4), Jocky Scott (Grange) (5), Roy Farquhar (Carnoustie) (8), Phil Dempsey (Tulliallan) (4).
28 Rab Craw (Glenbervie) (1).
27 David Halkerston (St Andrews New) (7)
26 Denis McQuade (Glenbervie) (6), John Struthers (Hilton Park) (9).

NORTH-EAST TRIO FINISH IN TOP

SIX IN MOROCCO

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

North-east trio Ross Cameron and Philip McLean from Peterhead and Banchory's Chris Robb (Meldrum House) finished in the top six of the Pro Golf Tour's Tazegzout Open at Agadir, Morocco today (Friday).

Cameron (68-73-69) and McLean (71-69-70) tied for third place on six-under 210 and earned £1,384 each.

Cameron, pictured right, had a double bogey 6 at the fourth in his final round but covered his remaining holes in five under par with birdies at the fifth, eighth, ninth, 10th, 16th and 18th. He did bogey the 12th in the middle of that great run.

McLean, pictured below, had birdies at the second, sixth, 10th and 15th, offset by bogeys at the fourth and 13th.

Robb had scores of 71, 72 and 68 for 211 and sixth place which earned him £1,036.

Robb's 68 was the joint lowest third round. He had birdies at the first, ninth, 16th, 17th and 18th in halves of 35-33.

Germany's Nicolai Von Dellingshausen scored his first win as a pro with rounds of 64, 73 and 69 for 10-under 206. He finished two shots ahead of Dylan Boshart (Netherlands) and earned 5,000 euros.

TAZEGZOUT OPEN

Agadir, Morocco

LEADING FINAL TOTALS

par 216 (3x72)

206 N Von Dellingshausen (Ger) 64 73 69.

208 D Boshart (Ned) 68 71 69.

210 R Cameron (Sco) 68 73 69, P McLean (Sco) 71 69 70.

OTHER SCOT'S TOTAL

211 C Robb 71 72 68 (6th).

CHLOE GOADBY LOSES NATIONS CUP LEAD AT SOTOGRANDE

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Chloe Goadby, pictured below, from St Andrews lost the lead with a third-round, seven-over-par 79 for 225 and will start the final round of the European Nations Cup women's section in joint second place, three behind new individual leader Chloe Salort (France) who shot a 72 for 222 at Sotogrande, Spain today (Friday).
Chloe birdied the 12th but bogeyed the 13th and 18th with a dooble bogey 5 sandwiched between that at the 15th.

Aboyne's Shannon McWilliam had a 79 for 241 and is joint 20th. Shannon had two double bogeys in halves of 39-40.

Hannah McCook (Grantown on Spey) is sharing 26th place after a 78 for 243.
Hannah's only birdie came at the short eighth in halves of 38-40

In the women's team event, Scotland are in joint sixth place on 463, 13 behind the Netherlands (who lead by three from Denmark and France.

England, represented by Annabell Fuller, Louisa Brunt and Sophie Lamb, have improved to fifth place on 461, thanks mainly to the efforts of Annabell who moved up to a tie for fourth place individually with a third-round 73.

EUROPEAN WOMEN'S NATIONS CUP

Sotogrande, Spain.

THIRD-ROUND TEAM TOTALS

450 Netherlands.

453 Denmark, France.

460 Spain.

461 England.

463 SCOTLAND, Austria, Norway.

472 Switzerland

478 Czech Rep

479 Germany

LEADING INDIVIDUAL SCORES

par 216 (3x72)

222 C Salort (Fra) 75 75 72

225 P L Thomsen (Den) 78 72 75, C Goadby (Sco) 72 74 79.

228 A Fuller (Eng) 76 79 73 (T4)

SELECTED SCORES

237 L Brunt (Eng) 78 78 81 (T15)

241 S McWilliam (Sco) 83 79 79 (T20)

242 S Lamb (Eng) 81 84 77 (T23)

243 H McCook (Sco) 81 84 78 (T26)

Rickie Fowler opens with 64 to lead Houston Open by one stroke

Rickie Fowler shot an 8-under 64 for a one-shot lead over Sung Kang after the first round of the Houston Open on Thursday.
Fowler had his best round in six appearances at the tournament, topping a previous low score of 68. Fowler overcame damp conditions and a chilly, breezy morning to jump to a hot start.
Fowler won last month at the Honda Classic and is trying to keep momentum going into the Masters next week. The Honda Classic win snapped a 13-month, 25-start drought for Fowler.
Fowler held a three-shot lead over Vaughn Taylor and Keegan Bradley when he finished his round in the afternoon, then Kang closed the gap with his 65. The 29-year-old South Korean missed a putt from less than 5 feet to bogey on 18. Still, compared to last year's final round at the Houston Open when he shot a 6-over 78, he said he was satisfied with the improvement

Kang is among the 115 players who need a victory to qualify for Augusta National, as Jim Herman did by winning in Houston last year. Among the 144 players in the Houston Open field, 29 already have invitations to play. It would have been 30, expect Dustin Johnson decided to take the week off after winning the Dell Technologies Match Play for his third straight victory.
Behind Fowler and Kang, Stewart Cink, Jhonattan Vegas and Kyle Stanley all shot 6-under 66. Jordan Spieth struggled at times and shot 3-under 69. Herman shot 2-over 74, while 2015 Houston Open winner J.B. Holmes shot 1-over 73.
Kang said he doesn't want to get too ahead of himself by eyeing a last-minute ticket to Augusta after the first round.
"I don't know anything about the future, and whatever happens, happens," Kang said. "I'll just keep doing what I can do the next few days, and I'll accept the results."
Heavy rains canceled the pro-am event at the Golf Club of Houston on Wednesday.
The sun dried out the course later in the day, and the greens began to play faster. Several players commented on the balancing act of avoiding the water hazards but also not overplaying the speedy greens, which are designed to mimic Augusta.
Fowler said he was fortunate to not have been too thrown off by the muddy conditions.

I felt like I got some good breaks with having mud on the same side as where the trouble was and that I could kind of keep it fairly conservative," Fowler said. "If the mud was kind of kicking in, it ended up being a good shot."
On Thursday night, Fowler traveled 20 miles south to downtown Houston to throw out the first pitch at the Astros' exhibition game against the Cubs. Fowler said he spent a lot of time with the Cardinals during spring training and said he's a friend of Astros owner Jim Crane, who he has played golf with at the Floridian National Golf Club.
"It's probably more nervous when you get out there on the mound than we really ever get or maybe close to Ryder Cup nerves," Fowler said. "You're just hoping not to screw up."


LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES
par 72
64 Rickie Fowler
65 Sung Fang
66 Stewart Cink, Jhonathan Vegas, Kyle Stanley.


SELECTED SCORES
67 Justin Rose (T6)
68 Andy Sullivan (T13)
71 Luke Donald (T66)
73 Andrew Johnston, Chris Wood (T99)
75 Ben Willman (T120)
77 Lee Westwood (T137)


TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES


CLICK HERE

"

Peterhead pair McLean and Cameron in top 10


with a round to go in Morocco


By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Peterhead pair Philip McLean and Ross Cameron are lying joint fourth and joint eighth with one round to go in the Pro Golf Tour's Tazegzout Open near Agadir on Morocco's western Atlantic coastline.
Chris Robb (Meldrum House) from Banchory makes it three North-east players in the leading 15 by sharing 14th place.
On the debit side, the Paul Lawrie Golf Centre pair, Sam Kiloh and Kevin Duncan missed the cut by four and nine shots respectively.
McLean has had rounds of 71 and 69 for four-under 140, having birdied the first, second, fourth, 15th and 18th in his second round.
He is only three shots behind German leader Nicola Von Dellingshausen (73 for 137).
Cameron was out in four-over 40 in his second round but birdied the 10th, 16th and 88 for 33 home and a 73 for 141.
Robb closed with a birdied at the 10th following by eight solid pars for a 72 and 143.
Kiloh missed the cut with 77 and 74 for 151 - five better than Duncan sho scored 79 and 77 for 156.


TAZEGZOUT OPEN
Agadir, Morocco.
LEADING SECOND ROUND SCORES
Par 144 (2x72)
137 N Von Dellingshausen (Ger) 64 73
138 B Reiter (Aut) 67 71
139 D Boshart (Ned) 68 71.


SCOTS' SCORES
140 P McLean 71 69 (T4).
141 R Cameron 68 73 (T8)
143 C Robb 71 72 (T14)


MISSED THE CUT (147 and better qualified)
151 S Kiloh 77 74
156 K Duncan 79 77

Sinead Sexton beats Gemma Batty in women's final at Lossiemouth

Sinead Sexton after her final victory over Gemma Batty with Lossiemouth's 18th hole behind her

Stirling 1 v Stirling 2 for men's title on Friday

By BEN PHILIP
Sports Manager | Scottish Student Sport (SSS)
A day to remember for Stirling University was capped by Irish international Sinead Sexton winning the Scottish student women’s match-play title over the Old Course at Moray Golf Club, Lossiemouth.

Their men secured an all-Stirling final in the men’s team competition.

The women played both their semi-finals and final, taking on the New Course in the morning before the two finalists battled it out over the Old Course during the afternoon.

The morning saw two very close encounters with Jen Saxton (Stirling) pushing number one seed Batty all the way before finally succumbing on the last hole, Batty winning by one hole.

 In the other semi-final, St Andrews first year student Fern Clark got off to a flying start against the second seeded Sexton, at one stage enjoying a three-hole advantage. However, Sinead worked herself back into the match and was able to secure victory on the 17th, by a 3 and 1 margin

The final, therefore, saw the top two finishers from the strokeplay competition go head to head with Sexton determined to take home a trophy after being pipped to the stroke-play title on Tuesday.

 While Batty took an early lead, she was never able to gain a substantial advantage, a two hole lead on the 5th vanishing after two Sexton birdies on the 6th and 7th. The match was to and fro from there on in, with Sexton managing to get her nose ahead and take a one hole lead up the final hole.

After playing an almost identical shot to the one she produced on Tuesday afternoon, Sexton put the pressure firmly on Batty. When Gemma was unable to get up and down, having missed the green to the right on her approach, Sexton was able to roll the ball up to the hole and secure a two-hole victory.
RESULTS:
SEMI-FINALS
Gemma Batty (Stirling) bt Jen Saxton (Stirling) 1 hole.
Sinead Sexton (Stirling) bt Fern Clark (St Andrews) 3 and 1.
FINAL
Sexton bt Batty 2 holes.

In the men’s competition, foursome dominance was enough to secure an all Stirling final after the Stirling 1 team saw off the University of Highlands and Islands, and the Stirling 2 team battled past St Andrews.

Entering the singles with a 3.5-0.5 deficit, UHI knew they would have to produce something even more special than their quarter final comeback against Strathclyde.
 While Alistair McNaughton and Riccardo Cellerino were able to secure victories on the 17th green to go with Keiran McCormick’s one hole victory, crushing defeats in the middle of the order by Andrew Davidson (4 and 3) and Robert Foley (5 and 4), coupled with an early point for Will Walker (5 and 4) secured a victory for Stirling that was made more emphatic by Chris Maclean (3 and 2) and Jordan Sundborg (5 and 3).

In the second semi-final, Stirling 2 had secured a precious 3-1 advantage over the course of the morning and St. Andrews knew they would have to have come out of the blocks quickly if they were to have any chance of overturning that deficit.

 Somewhat controversially, they flipped their singles line-up to try to do just that with Matt Myers returning to the line-up after missing the morning foursomes through sickness, and leading out the team.
 Unfortunately for St Andrews, they ran into an inspired singles performance from the Stirling 2 team, obviously desperate to have the chance to knock off their illustrious first team and claim the overall title.

Victories for Macgregor (4 and 2) and Innes (1 hole) were never likely to be enough to stem the tide and although Rogan and Anderson both managed to halve their matches, victories for David Nagies and Ellis Hart (1 hole), put the Stirling team on the brink and Mark Napier’s 3 and 2 victory secured the match before captain Colin Edgar was able to put some gloss on the final score, defeating Connor Hansen 3 and 2.

 

The Stirling 1 v Stirling 2 final will be played over the Old Course, Lossiemouth with foursomes commencing from 8.30am tomorrow.


SEMI-FINAL RESULTS
Stirling (1) bt UHI 8.5-3.5
Foursomes: 3.5-0.5
Will Walker and Fergus Bannon halved with Jack Harling and Niall Phelan.
James Wilson and Robert Foley bt Kiefer Brown and Kieran McCormick 1 hole.
Chris Maclean and Andrew Davidson bt Alistair McNaughton and Riccardo Cellerino 6 and 4.
Laird Shepherd and Jordan Sundberg bt Graham Minton and Michael Schinkel 4 and 2.
Singles: 5-3
Walker bt Giordano Antonucci 5 and 4.
Bannon lost to McCormick 1 hole.
Davidson bt Brown 4 and 3
Foley bt Phelan 5 and 4.
Wilson lost to McNaughton 2 and 1.
Maclean bt Minton 3 and 2.
Sundborg bt Harling 5 and 3.
Shepherd lost to Cellerino 2 and 1

 St Andrews 4, Stirling (2) 8

Foursomes: 1-3

Connor Hansen and Audan Kovenklioglu lost to Colin Edgar and David Nagies 4 and 3.

Finlay Asher and Elliot Innes lost to Mark Napier and Matt Fitzsimmons 3 and 2.

Jack Rogan and Scott Macgregor halved with Valerian Huelin and Ellis Hart.

Lewys Anderson and Peter Kerr halved with Jamie Parker and Ben Plaxton.

Singles: 3-5

Matt Myers lost to Nagies 1 hole.

Kerr lost to Hart 1 hole

Rogan halved with Fitzsimmons

Macgregor bt Huelin  4 and 2.

Anderson halved with Parker

Asher lost to Napier 3 and 2.

Innes bt Jack Forgan 1 hole.

Hansen lost to Edgar 3 and 2.

Stephen McAllister bids to drive new investment for Scottish Golf

 

      Stephen McAllister. Picture by Craig Watson




SCOTTISH GOLF NEWS RELEASE

Stephen McAllister, a two-time European Tour winner and successful businessman, is to join Scottish Golf on a consultancy basis to help open up new markets and explore wider commercial opportunities.

 

The 55-year-old is to assist the governing body on a commercial level through his business contacts around the world and help exploit the value of Scotland’s position as ‘The Home of Golf’, working closely with Scottish Golf CEO Blane Dodds.

 

A key objective for Dodds, who has now been in post for seven months, is increasing income from a wider number of sources to invest it back into the game and support affiliated clubs, performance and participation programmes. McAllister, who won the Atlantic Open and the KLM Dutch Open on the European Tour in 1990, combines playing Senior Tour golf with his business interests.

 

Since the 1990's, the Scot has been managing corporate golf days and events on behalf of clients across a number of sectors. Having been an investor and part of the management team who designed and operated Mearns Castle Golf Academy in 2002, McAllister moved on five years later to rebuild his corporate client base, today continuing to develop his corporate golf business in the UK and overseas.

 

The Paisley-born player will now seek to utilise his extensive business network in the domestic market to grow commercial partnerships for Scottish Golf, while aiming to attract new overseas investment from the likes of North America, the UAE and China, tapping into the affinity for Scotland.

 

McAllister, speaking at today’s announcement at Haggs Castle Golf Club in Glasgow, said: “These are exciting times and I very much look forward to working with Scottish Golf. I’ve known Blane for a number of years and we’ve discussed various opportunities, as he has very ambitious growth plans to reshape Scottish Golf.

 

“I share his ambition and enthusiasm as I feel I can bring various connections to Scottish Golf at a high corporate level and also look at how we can bring international investment through individuals with a passion for The Home of Golf. The foreign attitude towards golf in Scotland is very strong, notably for links courses. Golf has its challenges right now, but when I travel abroad I don’t see negativity.

 

“In America, for example, there is a strong Scottish flavour and there are great opportunities. Equally, there are Scots working in the golf industry overseas, including PGA pros, who we could tap into. We have some really well-connected people to talk to.”

 

Dodds added: “Stephen has enjoyed a great career on and off the course and it’s about bringing his qualities together with ourselves to be of mutual benefit. Stephen has an excellent record and experience of dealing with corporate clients at the highest level and he’s going to be introducing more people to us for events and commercial opportunities.

 

“We need to open our horizons to other income streams and I believe what we have in Scotland is of high value. Growing income will allow us to invest back into the game and provide more support to clubs, attract new audiences to golf and harness the potential of our talented players.”

 

Scots men 7th in field of 16 teams at European


Nations Cup at Sotogrande


By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Table-toppers Wales lead second-placed Ireland by five shots at the halfway stage of the European Nations Cup's men's competition at Sotogrande, southern Spain.
Scotland, 19 strokes behind Wales, are in seventh place on 456, seven ahead of a struggling England line-up who are joint 12th in the field of 16 teams.
Robert MacIntyre (Glencruiten) and Connor Syme (Drumoig) lead the Scots individually, sharing ninth place on 150. Left-hander MacIntyre improved by eight shots with a second-round 71 (37-34), birdieing the sixth, 12th, 14th and 15th.
Syme has had rounds of 76 and 74 for 150. He had a double bogey 7 at the 14th after birdieing the first, second and fifth. He did get one more sub-par figure, at the 12th.
Liam Johnston (Dumfries and Co) is 42nd on 156 with a pair of 78s and Craig Howie (Peebles) has been out of touch with scores of 82 and 79 for 161 and joint 62nd place.


MEN'S TEAM ROUND 2 SCORES
437 WALES
442 IRELAND
450 SPAIN, GERMANY
452 NORWAY
455 ITALY
456 SCOTLAND
457 NETHERLANDS
458 AUSTRIA
460 DENMARK
461 CZECH REP
463 ENGLAND, SWEDEN
464 FRANCE
467 FINLAND
492 BELGIUM


MEN'S INDIVIDUAL
140 R Dawson (Ire) 71 69, J Davidson (Wal) 70 70.
146 D Boote (Wal) 70 76.


SELECTED SCORES


149 D Brown (Eng) 76 73 (T5)
150 R MacIntyre (Sco) 79 71, C Syme (Sco) 76 74, S Grehan (Ire) 78 72 (T9).
152 O Edwards (Wal) 78 74, A Gleeson (Ire) 77 75 (T18).
156 L Johnston (Sco) 78 78 (42nd) .
157 J Davies (Wal) 82 75 (T43)
158 A Plant (Eng) 79 79 (T51).
159 J Singmbrar (Eng) 80 79 (T54)
161 M Penge (Eng) 85 76, C Howie (Sco) 82 69 (T62).

Scroll down to read a resume of play at all six venues

Lawries, Scott and Duff qualify for EuroPro


Tour Q School Final Stage






By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Cousins Craig and Sean Lawrie (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre) and Moray Golf Club amateur Jake Scott figured among the 13 qualifiers at The Carrick on Loch Lomond today, one of six venues being used for EuroPro Tour Qualifying School Stage 1 36-hole eliminators.
The scheduled second round was cancelled due to bad weather.
And more good news for the North-east came from Caversham Heath Golf Club where Newmachar tour pro John Duff qualified in joint 23rd position with a pair of 75s for 150. The leading 38 qualified from this Reading venue.
All the qualifiers and a batch of exempt players go to Frilford Heath Golf Club, Oxfordshire next week for the 54-hole Final Q School from April 5 to 7.
Craig Lawrie earned £125 for a tied fifth finish with a one-over-par 72 at The Carrick on Loch Lomond where he was three shots behind the leading qualifier, Dermot McElroy (Ballymena) who earned £300 with a 6.
Sean Lawrie was out of the money but happy just to advance with a 74, one shot fewer than Jake Scott, one of three amateurs to qualify at the Scottish venue.


EUROPRO TOUR QUALIFYING SCHOOL
The Carrick on Loch Lomond Golf Club.
QUALIFIERS FOR FINAL STAGE
Par 71. Bad weather forced the cancellation of Round 2
69 D McElroy (Ballymena) £300.
70 R Menzies (Turnberry) £250, L  Allan (Alva) (am).
71 D Kay (Renaissance) £200.
72 C Lawrie (Paul Lawrie GC), J Gallacher (Duddingston) £125 each.
73 N Huguet (Musselburgh).
74 S Lawrie (Paul Lawrie GC)
75 J Scott (Moray) (am), J Hendrick (Pollok), P Robinson (Largs).
76 K Waters (am) (Carlisle) (bt J Mullaney in play-off for last place).
NON-QUALIFIERS
included
78 N Henderson (Renaissance), E Bradley (unatt)
83 S Borrowman (Dollar)
87 E Walker (Leven).

Turner Leads the Way as 178 Progress to Frilford

Ashton Turner grabbed the headlines in the final round of HotelPlanner.co PGA EuroPro Tour First Stage Qualifying School after carding a final-round 64 (-8) to win at Stoke by Nayland by a staggering eight shots.

Turner (Kenwick Park Golf Club) birdied the final five holes in a back nine of 29. His closest rival was James Scade (Ingrebourne Links), who shot 70 on day two to secure his place at Frilford Heath Golf Club next week.

South Korean teenage pair Min Kyu Kim (Golfmind Korea) and Hee Min Chang (Golfmind Korea) led the way at The Players Club, finishing on -3 and -2 respectively. Kim finished one shot ahead of his compatriot to finish on-top in Bristol. Liam Hancock (Leek Golf Club) also finished one shot back after shooting 69, the joint-lowest round of the day.

Bad weather meant play was abandoned for the day at The Carrick on Loch Lomond without a single ball being struck in the second round. So, it meant Dermot McElroy (Ballymena Golf Club) remained at the top of the leaderboard, although there was a play-off for the one remaining qualifying place.

Amateur Kieran Waters saw off Jonathan Mullaney after the pair were locked at +5 after round-one.

James Foster (Newbury and Crookham Golf Club) remained at the top of the leaderboard at Caversham Heath, but was joined by Guy Woodman (ProAgenda.com), who managed five birdies in his round of 70. Haydn Reay (Army Golf Club) shot the lowest score of the day, being the only player in the field to shoot in the 60s. His round of 69 was 13 shots fewer than his opening-round and enough for him to seal his place at the Final Stage of qualifying by one shot.

Opening-round leader Daniel Garner (Romford Golf Club) maintained his position at the top of the leaderboard with a second-round score of 70 (-2). Meanwhile, Irishman Brian Casey’s score of 68 was the lowest round of the day at Manning’s Heath and enough to find himself in second place.

Thirty-eight players qualified from Formby Hall, with Daniel Wasteney (Bondhay Golf Club) taking the honours at the top of the leaderboard. Oliver Clarke (Hillside Golf Club) finished one shot behind his fellow Englishman, whilst overnight leader Will Enefer dropped down to third after carding a second-round score of 74, but still managed to book his place in Oxfordshire next week.

With First Stage now complete, the 178 successful players will progress to play Final Stage at Frilford Heath next week, where 240 players will play one round on each the Red and Blue Courses on Wednesday, April 5 and Thursday, April 6 before a cut to the leading 80 players and ties play a concluding 18 holes on the Blue Course on Friday, April 7.

Players are competing to earn the highest possible category on the 2017 HotelPlanner.com PGA EuroPro Tour. All those progressing to Final Stage will earn at least a category 14, with golfers making the Final Stage cut earning a minimum category 10 and the top 30 earning category 3.

Chloe Goadby three shots clear in Nations Cup women's table


By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Scotland are lying fifth, seven strokes behind joint leaders Denmark and Netherlands, at the halfway stage of the European Nations Cup women's team tournament at Sotogrande in southern Spain.

Chloe Goadby, pictured right with a students' trophy at an earlier tournament, from St Andrews spearheaded the Scottish effort with rounds of 72 and 74 to lead the women's individual table by three strokes with a 36-hole tally of 146.
Shannon McWilliam from Aboyne is T22 on 162 with scores of 83 and 79.
Hannah McCook (Grantown on Spey) is T28 with rounds of 81 and 84 for 165.


WOMEN'S TEAM ROUND 2 SCORES


302 DENMARK, NETHERLANDS
303 FRANCE.
306 SPAIN, SCOTLAND (C Goadby, S McWilliam, H McCook).
311 NORWAY, ENGLAND (L Brunt, S Lamb, A Fuller), SWITZERLAND.
319 CZECH REPUBLIC.
321 GERMANY.


INDIVIDUAL WOMEN


146 C Goadby (Sco) 72 74
149 P Neira Garcia (Spn) 75 74.
150 P K Thomsen (Den) 78 72, C Salort (Fra) 75 75.


SELECTED SCORE
155 A Fuller (Eng) 76 79 (10th)
156 L Brunt (Eng) 78 78 (T11)
162 S McWilliam (Sco) 83 79 (T22)
165 H McCook (Sco) 81 84, S Lamb (Eng) 81 84.

K/Barassie to stage qualifier for


AAM Scottish Open July 8-9


PGA NEWS RELEASE

Kilmarnock (Barassie) Golf Club is to stage this year's qualifier for the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open.

The two-round event, supported by Aberdeen Asset Management and VisitScotland, takes place on July 8 and 9 and will see four players secure spots in the £7 million Rolex Series event at neighbouring Dundonald Links the following week.

A prize fund of £30,000 will also be up for grabs as Kilmarnock (Barassie) becomes the third venue after North Berwick and Moray to stage the exciting shoot-out.

"The two Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open qualifiers so far have been a great success and we are looking forward to building on that when the event is held this year at Kilmarnock (Barassie)," said PGA in Scotland secretary Shona Malcolm.

"We are fortunate to be staging the event once again at one of Scotland’s top links courses, which always provide a true test of golf."

Kent-based Scot Craig Sutherland won the inaugural event at North Berwick in 2015 while Ayrshireman Jack Doherty came out on top in Lossiemouth last year before going on to secure a top-50 finish at Castle Stuart.

"Aberdeen is pleased to offer four up-and-coming Scottish golfers the chance to play in the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open through this qualifying event at the fantastic Kilmarnock (Barassie) Golf Club," said Martin Gilbert, Chief Executive of Aberdeen Asset Management.

"Together with this qualifying, the main event and the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies’ Scottish Open taking place at Dundonald Links at the end of July, it’s going to be a fantastic month of golf on the Ayrshire coast.”

The criteria will be the exactly same as the first two years, with a field of 144 being made up of exempt PGA players plus others PGA members and assistant professionals that enter, assuming they have Scottish nationality under the PGA’s eligibility requirements or are currently employed at a golf club in Scotland.

A number of amateurs will again be nominated by Scottish Golf while some sponsor’s invitations will also be issued.

ENDS

PGA in Scotland Winter Four-ball better ball at Nairn GC

Everett and Savage win PGA better-ball event


at Nairn with a seven-under 64


Craig Everett and Stewart Savage (Dalmuir) made a worthwhile journey up North from Scotland's Central Belt to win the PGA in Scotland's Winter Four-ball tournament at the classic links of Nairn Golf Club.
Everett and Savage won £300 between them with a better ball of seven-under-par 64 but even a score as good gave them only a one-stroke victory at the head of a field of 12 pairs.
Runners-up were the local partnership of Fraser Cromarty and Sean Burgess with a 65 who earned £200.
Sean Fay and Gary Dingwall, who came down from one famous links - Royal Dornoch - to another in Nairn, finished third with a 66. They earned £125 between them.


ALL THE BETTER-BALL SCORES AT NAIRN
par 71. Length: 6,441 yards


64 Craig Everett and Stewart Savage (Dalmuir) (£300).


65 Fraser Cromarty (Nairn) and Sean Burgess (Nairn) (£200).


66 Sean Fay (Royal Dornoch) and Gary Dingwall (Royal 
     Dornoch) (£125)


68 Jamie Treasurer (Loch Ness and Martin Piggot (Loch Ness),
     Murray Urquhart (Nairn) and Greig Hutcheon (Paul Lawrie
     Golf Centre Inchmarlo) (£42.50 each pair).


69 Mel Douglas (Inverness) and Alistair Thomson (Inverness),
     Craig Goodwin (Strathlene) and Sam Griffiths (Dunes Golf
     Centre).


71 James Calam (Duff House Royal) and Gavin Still (Turriff),
     Derek Ramsay (Moray) and Rodger Clarke (Golf Dedication
     Centre).


72 Gary Lister (Nairn Dunbar) and Stephen Gray (Lanark),
      Fergus Smith (Great Western Golf) and Craig Haugh
      (Fereneze)


75 David Grindell (Inverness) and Ross Black (Inverness)
    

European Nations Cup Day 1 news from Sotogrande

MEN'S TEAMS
FIRST ROUND
218 WALES (D Boote, O Edwards, J Davidson, J Davies)
221 NORWAY
224 GERMANY
225 ITALY
226 IRELAND (S Grehan, A Gleeson, R Dawson, K LeBlanc)
228 NETHERLANDS, SPAIN
229 AUSTRIA
233 SCOTLAND (R MacIntyre, C Syme, C Howie, L Johnston).
234 DENMARK, FRANCE
235 ENGLAND (D Brown, A Plant, M Penge, J Sing Braar).
236 CZECH REPUBLIC
238 FINLAND
239 SWEDEN
250 BELGIUM


WOMEN'S TEAMS
148 NETHERLANDS
150 FRANCE, SWITZERLAND
151 AUSTRIA
153 DENMARK, SCOTLAND (S McWilliam, H McCook, C Goadby).
154 NORWAY, ENGLAND (L Brunt, S Lamb, A Fuller).
155 CZECH REPUBLIC
156 SPAIN
159 GERMANY


LEADING MEN
68 Markus Braadlie (Norway)
70 Jack Davidson (Wales), David Boote (Wales)
71 Robin Dawson (Ireland).


SELECTED SCORE
76 Connor Syme (Scotland)


LEADING WOMEN
72 Chloe Goadby (Scotland), Roos Harman (Netherlands).
73 Tiffany Arafi (Switzerland)


SELECTED SCORES
80 Hannah McCook (Scotland).
83 Shannon McWilliam (Scotland).




LINK TO LIVE SCORING

You can find information (and live scoring) in the Spanish Golf Federation web site.

Information

http://www.rfegolf.es/CompetenciaPaginas/NewsDetails.aspx?NewsId=7956&CompId=11319

Live scoring

https://www.golfsotogrande.com/en/live-scoring#/competition/1052942/leaderboard/1139718

More playoff drama as UHI end Strathclyde Matchplay run at Lossiemouth

 

BEN PHILIP REPORTING

Quarter Final matchplay day of the 95th Scottish Student Golf Championships produced more drama as the men and the women battled it out to make the last four of their respective team and individual tournaments over the New Course at Moray Golf Club.

 

In the men’s team event, the morning foursomes sessions were surprisingly one sided with Stirling I, Strathclyde, St Andrews and Stirling II all taking healthy leads into the afternoon sessions. The closest match was the 4th versus 5th seed contest between the University of the Highlands and  Islands and the University of Strathclyde, where three of the four matches went down the final fairway.

However, Strathclyde showed the matchplay nous that has seen them reach the final of this competition the last 3 years, winning two of those matches on the way to a 3-1 advantage.

 

The afternoon singles saw victory decided in one of two ways – decisively or dramatically. In the case of Stirling I and St. Andrews, it was decisively, as St Andrews swept the singles over Glasgow on route to a crushing 11-1 overall victory while Stirling had to forfeit the first singles due to injury but won the remaining seven to win 10.5-1.5.

 
The Stirling crunch match between Stirling II and III looked as though it was going to go to the wire as Stirling III took an early lead in a number of matches before the second team knuckled down and despite Euan Cleary taking out Jack Forgan 2&1, the final match score was a comfortable 10-2 to the second team, who go on to face St Andrews tomorrow.
 

The Strathclyde-UHI match, meanwhile, was showing all that is great about matchplay competition. An early point for Richard Johnston pushed Strathclyde one point closer to the semi-finals before the comeback started for UHI.

Niall Phelan and Kiefer Brown both secured points and while David Fair stemmed the flow with victory over Michael Schinkel, Jack Harling levelled the tie with a 3 and 1 victory.
After Rory Asher (Strathclyde) and Alistair McNaughton (UHI) split the last two, the match came down to match 5 where Graham Minton was taking on John Grant. Grant (Strathclyde) fought back from 2 down after 15 and take the match down the last but Minton (UHI) won the 18th and ensure a sudden death playoff.
The playoff was decided at the first hole as a birdie from Alistair McNaughton was enough to see off Richard Johnston and secure UHI a semi-final against Stirling. The men’s matches will commence from 0830 on the New Course.


QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS
Stirling (1) 10.5, Edinburgh Napier 1.5
Foursomes: 3.5-0.5. Singles: 7-1


UHI 6, Strathclyde 6
Foursomes: 1-3. Singles: 5-3


St Andrews 11, Glasgow 1
 Foursomes: 3-1. Singles: 8-0


Stirling (2) 10, Stirling (3) 2
 Foursomes: 4-0, Singles 6-2
 

 LAST FOUR IN WOMEN'S MATCH-PLAY

In the women’s competition, Clare Calvert (St Andrews) and Courtney Boyes (Stirling) went out early in a match for the final spot in the quarter finals.

Calvert was victorious to set up a match against Stirling’s stroke-play winner Gemma Batty. Unfortunately for Calvert that proved one match too far as Batty ran out an 8 and 7 victor.
Facing Batty will be her compatriot Jen Saxton who received a walk-over when Nia Greville (Stirling) had to withdraw through injury.
The bottom half of the draw saw a more competitive day with Ireland's Sinead Sexton (Stirling) overcoming a stern challenge from UHI’s Caitlin Boa while Fern Clark (St Andrews) upset Tara Mactaggart (Stirling), with a 2 and 1 victory.

Thursday's semi-finals will tee off at 10am and 10.06. The final will be over the Moray Old Course at 3pm.

RESULTS:

Preliminary round

Clare Calvert (St Andrews) bt Courtney Boyes (Stirling) 5 and 3.

QUARTER-FINALS

Gemma Batty (Stirling) bt Calvert 8 and 7.

Jen Saxton (Stirling) w.o. Nia Greville (Stirling) scr (injured).

Sinead Sexton (Stirling) bt Caitlin Boa (UHI) 4 and 3.

Fern Clark (St Andrews) bt Tara Mactaggart (Stirling) 2 and 1.

Ben Philip
Sports Manager | Scottish Student Sport (SSS)