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)

Dustin Johnson too tired to play in Houston Open


US PGA TOUR NEWS RELEASE
FedExCup leader Dustin Johnson has withdrawn from the Shell Houston Open, citing fatigue after winning a third consecutive US PGA Tour event.
Johnson beat Jon Rahm by one hole on Sunday to win the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. It was Johnson’s seventh match in five days, including two matches apiece on Saturday and Sunday. 
Johnson has a 150pt lead over Hideki Matsuyama in the FedExCup standings after victories at the Genesis Open, WGC-Mexico Championship and last week’s WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.
Johnson released the following statement:
“After a great deal of thought and consultation with my team, I have decided to withdraw from this week's Shell Houston Open. Having played seven rounds of competitive golf in the last five days, I feel it is best to give my mind and body a much-needed rest heading into Masters week.
"I sincerely apologise to my many friends and fans in Houston, and especially everyone at Shell. The Shell Houston Open is one of the premier events on the US PGA Tour and I look forward to returning in the coming years."
Johnson, the world’s top-ranked player, has played in the Shell Houston Open five times, including a third-place finish last year.


Pieters, Hatton, Fleetwood accept special temporary membership for US PGA Tour 2017 season


Thomas Pieters, Tyrrell Hatton and Tommy Fleetwood have accepted Special Temporary Membership for the remainder of the 2016-17 US PGA Tour Season. All three completed at last week’s World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play in Austin, Texas.
Pieters hails from Belgium while Hatton and Fleetwood are both natives of England.

 

England’s Gregory warms up for The Masters


by winning the Georgia Cup after play-off

England’s Scott Gregory has taken a successful step on his way to The Masters with victory in the annual clash of the British and US amateur champions.

The 22-year-old international won a thriller against Australia’s Curtis Luck, snatching the Georgia Cup on the first play-off hole at the Golf Club of Georgia.

Gregory, from Corhampton Golf Club in Hampshire, had to wait until the 17^th to get his nose in front in the match and was then pulled back to all square on the 18^th.  But when he got his chance on the next he grabbed it.

The match was part of Gregory’s carefully planned warm-up for The Masters, where he’s earned his place alongside the giants of the game by virtue of his Amateur Championship win at Royal Porthcawl last June.

His invitation arrived when he was representing England Golf on a winter tour of Australia and he says: “My girlfriend opened it for me on Facetime! Now I’ve got it up on the wall in a display frame and it looks quality.”

Since he returned from Australia in early February, with a win in the New South Wales Amateur, he’s been preparing for his Augusta adventure. He’s already been in the States for almost two weeks and now he’s at Augusta National for three days of practice before the arrival of his coach, Simon Andrews from the Portsmouth Golf Centre. Then, the plan is for a weekend off before Masters’ week begins.

Andrews will be at his side throughout the championship and Gregory is also importing a solid band of supporters of family and friends. He’ll also be drawing on the advice of a fellow Hampshire man, England Golf Ambassador and Olympic champion Justin Rose.

“He has been very helpful to me recently with little words of encouragement,” said Gregory. They played a practice round at last summer’s Open championship and now Gregory is hoping they’ll be grouped together in the par three competition which precedes the championship.  

He’s also hoping to snatch a few practice holes with Masters’ legend Fred Couples, among others.
 “It will be exciting to see what it’s like,” he said. “It’s something I’ve watched on TV for years and it’s going to be cool to be there.”

Gregory’s first goal is to make the cut and then aim to be low amateur. “I think that’s something I can do and once you make the cut the doors are open,” he said.

He spills over with Masters memories from years of television viewing, picking out his personal highlights as Triger Woods’ chip-in on 16 in 2005; Charl Schwartzel’s four consecutive birdies to win in 2011; Adam Scott’s winning putt in the 2013 play-off; and Jordan Speith’s dominance over the last three years, never finishing worse than second.

Now, he makes his own way down Magnolia Lane – the reward for many years of very hard work.

Gregory first hit a golf ball when he was about five and his father took him to the driving range. He was scratch by 16, but says he didn’t become ‘good’ until he was 18. By then he had teamed up with his coach, Andrews, made a lot of swing changes and started going to the gym to put on muscle. The aim was a place in an England squad and his results – including reaching the final of the 2014 English amateur – soon played him in.

The England Golf support has played its part in many ways, helping him with preparation, more structured practice and access to top coaches. “Graham Walker (the England Golf men’s squad coach) has been incredible for helping me with my short game. It’s come on a ridiculous amount since I’ve been in an England squad,” said Gregory.

After The Masters Gregory will focus on the US Open, taking up his third Major invitation as a result of his Amateur Championship win. His preparation for that will include a place in Nicklaus’s Memorial Tournament.

Then, there’s the matter of a sought-after place in the 2017 Walker Cup team. “That’s one of my goals for the year, but I’m not going to worry about it yet. If I go out and play good golf it should take care of everything else.”

Picture Caption: Scott Gregory with the Amateur Championship trophy at Royal Porthcawl (image copyright The R and A.)

‎ Lyndsey Hewison
‎ Press Officer
‎ England Golf
‎ pr@englandgolf.org
‎ 07590 878349

Scottish Schools Golf Association announce new sponsors - the TEACHERS!

 By COLIN FARQUHARSON

The Scottish Schools Golf Association has announced a new sponsorship from an unexpected course - the teachers union, NASUWT! This new sponsorship means that the association will be able to run the Scottish schoolboys and schoolgirls championships on Monday, June 12 at Murrayshall House Hotel and Golf courses, near Perth and the annual fixture with English Schools at Kilmarnock Barassie on Monday, September 11.

The NASUWT already sponsor the English and Welsh schools associations and this new partnership was an obvious extension of their sponsorships.

 

Scottish schools golf organisers acknowledge the tremendous help they have received from the Paul Lawrie Foundation over the last nine years. They are also grateful to the new management at Murrayshall for continuing the  support of the championships at their courses.

The championships this year return to the one-day format where all competitors will play one round over the Murrayshall course and one round of the Lynedoch course.

 

The Scotland Schools team of 12 boys and six girls for the international against England will be selected in the middle of August.

SAM KILOH'S SEVEN BIRDIES RUINED

BY A TEN IN MOROCCO

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Portlethen's Sam Kiloh had more birdies (seven) than Peterhead's Ross Cameron but they ended the first day of the Pro Golf Tour's Tazegzout Open near Agadir in Morocco at opposite ends of the scoreboard.

Cameron's six birdies had him in joint fourth place with a four-under 68 - four behind the leader by three, Nicolai Von Dellingshausen.

But Kiloh, pictured right, is only joint 98th in a field of 121 after running up a 10 at the par-5 13th on his way to a five-over 72.

Sam also had a double bogey 6 at the seventh in halves of 35 and 42.

Chris Robb (Meldrum House) and Philip McLean (Peterhead) at within the leading 20, sharing 17th place.

Kevin Duncan (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre) struggled to a 79 for joint 110th place.

TAZEGOUT OPEN

Agadir, Morocco

FIRST ROUND LEADERBOARD

par 72

64 Nicolai Von Dellingshausen (Ger).

SCOTS' SCORES

71 Chris Robb, Philip McLean (T17)

73 Alexander Culverwell (T41).

77 Sam Kiloh (T98)

79 Kevin Duncan (T110).

Field of 121 players

LAWRIES, SCOTT, DUFF ALL IN

CONTENTION AT Q SCHOOL VENUES

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Paul Lawrie Golf Centre pair Craig Lawrie (72), Sean Lawrie (74) and Moray amateur Jake Scott (75) are all in contention to claim one of the 13 qualifying spots available at the conclusion of the second round in the EuroPro Tour Qualifying School Stage 1 at The Carrick on Loch Lomond today (Thursday).

The Lawrie cousins had rounds of 72 and 74 to be joint fifth and eighth respectively.

Scott is tied ninth after a 75.

Newmachar's John Duff chose Caversham Heath, another of the six qualifying venues, and he shot a two-over 75 to be sharing 24th place. At this course, the leading 38 after 36 holes will go forward to Final Stage at Frilford Heath GC, Oxfordshire from April 5 to 7.

WINNER ZEYNALOV MAKES N-EAST

ALLIANCE HISTORY AT ELLON

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Kamran Zeynalov today became the first Azeri - born in Azerbaijan - to score an outright victory on the North-east Golfers' Alliance circuit when he headed a field of 60 competitors at McDonald Ellon Golf Club with a fine round of six-under-par 64.

Portlethen GC tour pro Zeynalov, pictured left, whose mother comes from Scotland, earned £130. Last October, he gave notice that he was becoming a force on the winter campaign when he figured in a three-way tie for first place in the fixture at Peterculter.

"I reckon that 64 was the best golf of my career so far. It is certainly my lowest ever score, thanks to an inward half of 28," said the 24-year-old Zeynalov.

"Like all good rounds, it could have been even better. I did not expect to land in a pot hole on the 17th green. That cost me three putts and that was my only bogey."

He had an eagle and five birdies in total, the eagle 2 (at the 17th) and four birdies coming in the space of seven holes from the 10th to the 16th. His inward half of 28 read:

3-3-2-3-3-3-2-5-4.

There were no golf courses in oil-rich Azerbaijan - there is one now - when Kamran left with his mother as a youngster to make a new home in the North-east. So he has learned the game of golf in Scotland.

Royal Aberdeen Golf Club's senior assistant pro Joel Hopwood, pictured left, marked his last competition as North-east Alliance organiser by taking second place with a two-under 68 - four birdies, two bogeys in halves of 34.

Hopwood plays right handed but putts left handed and he holed a 40-footer for the first of his birdies at the third hole.

NORTH-EAST ALLIANCE
McDonald Golf Club, Ellon
SCRATCH SCORES
Par 70
64 K Zeynalov (Portlethen).
68 J Hopwood (Royal Aberdeen).
70 C Nelson (Mackenzie Shop)
71 K Beveridge (Kippie Lodge)
73 G Esson (Portlethen), J Calder (Newmachar), C Dempster (Paul Lawrie GC), G Riley (Craibstone).
74 P McKenna (Paul Lawrie GC), C Duffus (Royal Aberdeen), B Nicolson (Hazlehead).
75 A Smith (Turriff), S Hanson (Paul Lawrie GC), D Buchan (Peterhead).
76 R Reid (Tarland), D Leslie (Bon Accord).
77 J Barclay (Hazlehead), D Lane (Deeside).
78 H Roulston (Stonehaven), I Esslemont (Cruden Bay).
79 E Riley (Craibstone), L Fowler (Royal Aberdeen), W Skene (Deeside)
80 G McLaggan (Bon Accord), J Stewart (Banchory), A B Clark (Newmachar)
81 M Allan (Hazlehead), D Fleming (Portlethen).
82 B Harper (Newburgh), P Cheyne (Northern), R Ruddiman (Royal Aberdeen).
83 J Forrest (Northern), B Lumsden (Northern).
84 C Cassie (Nigg Bay), J Sunley (Northern), G Homer (Aboyne), N Chisholm (Kemnay).
85 G Leslie (Newburgh), D Booth (Tarland), J Hamilton (Murcar Links), N Stewart (Northern)
86 S Davidson (Northern).
87 G Allan (Newmachar), R Denning (Inverurie).
88 R Brown (Kemnay), D Robertson (Hazlehead).
89 D Cassie (Nigg Bay), Jim Scott (Peterculter), D Townsley (Peterculter), J Crawford (Craibstone).
90 P Low (Craibstone).
91 T Boyle (Portlethen).
93 D Wright (Northern).
95 H McNaughton (Cruden Bay).
96 M Brown (Kemnay).
HANDICAP PRIZEWINNERS
Class 1 - G Riley (5) bih, C Duffus (6) 68; D Lane (8) 69; J Barclay (7) 70; A Smith (4) 71.
Class 2 - E Riley (11) 68; A Clark (11) 69; D Robertso (17) bih, R Ruddiman (11) bih, B Lumsden  (12) 71.
LOW AMATEUR (outwith main prizelist) - G Esson 73 bih.

No mats needed at Ellon for today's NE Alliance competition

McDonald Ellon Golf Club officials have had a change of heart and mats are now NOT required at today's North-east Alliance. Preferred lies are in operation and white Tees are to be used. 

Scottish champ George Duncan finishes well for a T19 placing at Bearcat Classic


By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Last year's Scottish amateur champion, George Duncan, pictured below,  from Dunbartonshire, a student at Lincoln Memorial University, Harrogate, Tennessee, put in a strong finish for a T19 placing in the Bearcat Classic at Greenwood Country Club, South Carolina.

George's ever-improving rounds were 77, 74 and 71 for six-over 222 - 15 strokes behind the runaway winner (by nine shots) Michal Pospisil (Lander University) who had scores of 70, 67 and 70 for a nine-under aggregate of 207.

Lots of Brits in this tournament.
Sam Broadhurst (Lincoln Memorial), a sophomore from Nuneaton, finished alongside team-mate Duncan in T19 position with rounds of 77, 73 and 72.
Michael Brodie (Lander), a sophomore from Perth, finished T25 on 223 with scores of 77, 73 and 73.
James Bartlett (Lander), a third-year man from Brockenhurst), finished T34 on 224 with scores of 76, 77 and 71.
Craig Stephen (Brevard College), a junior year student from Torphins, Aberdeenshire, shot 77, 72 and 78 for 227 and a T43 finish.
Matt Dalrymple (King University), a freshman from Lochwinnoch,  finished T47 on 228 with rounds of 77, 72 and 79. There was a field of 93 players.
Lander (871) won the team title ahead of Newberry (878) with Georgia College (883) third and Lincoln Memorial (887) fourth.
Brevard College (894) finished seventh in a field of 18 teams.

Euan Walker's third top-10 finish of US college


season for Missouri University

FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI WEBSITE
AWENDAW, South Carolina - Missouri University's (Mizzou) men's golf team turned in an eighth-place performance at The Hootie at Bulls Bay (March 26-28), with senior Euan Walker (pictured left) from Troon, Scotland, leading the Tigers with a T10 finish to add to his strong final Black and Gold campaign. Walker's 3-under-par tournament (72-68-73 -- 213) paced head coach Mark Leroux's squad in the event (287-287-288 -- 862).
South Carolina (844) won the team title ahead of Ole Miss (848) with NC State ((854) third). Missouri (862) were eighth in a field of 15 teams.
Walker's top-10 individual placement was his third of his senior season at Mizzou, also serving as his third time this season leading the Tigers' travel party in fewest strokes. The Hootie stands as Walker's fourth event under-par in 2016-17.
Ole Miss supplied the first two in the individual standings: Ben Wolcott the winner with 67,68 and 69 for 204, one shot ahead of teammate Braden Thornberry (66-69-70).
Following up Walker in Mizzou's individual results was fellow senior Linus Lilliedahl (Sandviken, Sweden), who recorded a 1-under-par event (72-75-68) to tie for 17th as an individual. Lilliedahl's third round 68 matched Walker for the Tigers' low round of the tournament.

Coming into the clubhouse tied for 30th overall (217) in a field of 81 players  were both junior Hayden Buckley (Belden, Miss.) and freshman Rory Franssen (pictured right) (Inverness, Scotland), shooting 1-over-par. Buckley totalled rounds of 71-72-74, while Franssen recorded rounds of 72-72-73.  

Rounding out Mizzou's line-up was sophomore Matt Echelmeier (Columbia, Mo.), who carded rounds of 76-80-78 (234).
The Tigers are back in action at the Mason Rudolph Championship, hosted by Vanderbilt in Franklin, Tennessee, from Friday, March 31-Sunday, April 2. Mizzou's following event, the Tiger Invitational, will take place at the Tigers' home course, The Club at Old Hawthorne, from Monday, April 10-Tuesday, April 11, in Columbia, Missouri.
For all the latest on Mizzou Men's Golf, stay tuned to MUTigers.com or follow the program on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook (@MizzouMensGolf).