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