McKechnie (68) leads the Tartan Army at Q School Stage 1 at Kelso

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Paul McKechnie (Braid Hills) and Danny Young from  Perth fared best of the many Scots who lined up at the European Tour Qualifying School Stage 1 competition at the Roxburghe Hotel course, Kelso, having paid an entry fee of well over £1,000 each.

McKechnie, pictured, shot  a four-under-par 68, which included an eagle 3 at the 14th and birdies at the fifth, eighth and 11th, to be joint third behind Denmark's Rasmus Hjelm who set the pace with a six-under 66.
Young had a 69 for joint sixth place.
Banchory's Chris Robb (Meldrum House), a former Scottish amateur champion, amateur Liam Johnston (Dumfries and Co) and Peterhead's Ross Cameron are sharing 11th place on 70. Robb and Johnston both had double bogeys on the inward half..
Lawrence Allan (Alva) and Baberton's Paul Fierrier are joint 20th on the 71 mark.
Lloyd Saltman, a one-time star amateur who was tipped to reach the top in the pro game, is as far away as ever from making it to the European Tour. He shot a six-over-par 78 and is T87.

FIRST-ROUND LEADERBOARD
par 72
66 R Hjelm (Den)
67 J Colegate (Eng).
68 P McKechnie (Sco), L Clarke (Eng), J Munro (Australia)

OTHER SCOTS
69 D Young (T6)
70 L Johnston, C Robb, R Cameron (T11)
71 L Allan, P Ferrier (T20)
72 E Ferguson, J Gallagher (T30)
74 E Saltman, P McLean, T Higson, J Byrne, E Bradley (T56)
76 S Kiloh (T73)
77 J Ross (T82)
78 L Saltman (T87)
79 C Maclean (T94).
80 A Culverwell (T98)

GOOD START BY CRAIG ROSS IN GERMANY

Kirkhill amateur Craig Ross, the only Scot in the European Tour Qualifying School Stage 1 event at Fleesensee Golf Club, Germany, made a sound start with a three-under-par 69, four behind the German amateur leader, Jonas Koelbing.

Ross in joint eighth overnight.

:








TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES

CLICK HERE

Thomas (17) equals world record nine birdies in a row at Dubai Creek Open

 

 By VIREN VARMA

DUBAI: Darren Clarke described young Rayhan Thomas “a huge talent” after the MENA Tour prodigy from Indiafired a magical 10-under 61, highlighted by world record-equalling nine birdies in a row, in a stunning display of golf in the second round of the Dubai Creek Open today.

That incredible run of birdies, starting from the second, ignited his challenge of winning back-to-back titles as the 17-year-old amateur, pictured above, ended the penultimate day at 12-under, just two shots behind M G Keyser, who followed his record-breaking 61 with a 68 to keep his nose in front.

England’s Robert Harrhy occupied solo third on nine under, three shots clear of Peter Stojanovski of Australia and Todd Clements of England as 2016 European Ryder Cup captain Clarke moved into a four-way tie for sixth on five-under after a second-round 69.

Supremely accurate off the tee and clinical with the putter, Thomas hardly put a foot a wrong on his home course as he strung together a dream round to match the world record for most consecutive birdies in an Official World Golf Ranking event, made by American Mark Calcavecchia at the 2009 RBC Canadian Open.

Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger also fired nine consecutive birdies in the second round of the 2017 Maybank Championship in Malaysia, but it was not recognized as preferred lies were in force at Saujana Golf and Country.

Thomas’s flawless round, which also equalled the Dubai Creek course record set 24 hours earlier by Keyser, had a special ring to it as it was achieved in the company of 2011 Open champion Clarke, who is also the MENA Tour patron.

“Rayhan is a huge talent, obviously. He played beautifully, hit the ball very close and putted nicely. The way he was playing, this is the worse he could have shot,” said Clarke. “He was very calm and composed and read the greens very well, which I couldn’t!

“Rayhan’s game is trending in the right direction and I think he has a great future. I wish him the very best,” said the Northern Irishman.

Thomas, 17, attributed his brilliant effort to what he called smart golf. “I don’t think it was my best round ever, probably one of the best. I just wanted to avoid silly mistakes and make as many birdies as I could.

“My target was to shoot six or seven under, but when I started holing putts, I knew it’s going to be my day. Score-wise, it was. I am really happy with 10-under. I think I played very smart golf out there,” said Thomas, who will be featuring in the Presidents Cup later this month.

“It’s good to get a good round under my belt and get my rhythm going. It shows I have what it takes to go low. Hopefully, it’s going to be a good memory to fall back on,” said Thomas who had his chances to break 60, but narrowly missed mid-range birdies putts on the last two holes.

Meanwhile, South African Keyser, who is based in Dubai, mixed four birdies with a lone bogey on the 17th to stay in stay in prime position for a breakthrough win on the MENA Tour.

Elsewhere, England’s Zane Scotland, a two-time winner of the Dubai Creek Open, was forced to withdraw to due to a bad back as the 36-hole cut was made at three-over-par 145 with 44 professionals and 11 amateurs making it to the final round.

 SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD
par 142 (2x71)
129 M G Keyser (SAf) 61 68.
131 R Thomas (India) (am) 70 61.
133 R Harrhy (Eng) 67 66
136 P Stojnovski (Australia) 66 7, T Clements (Eng) (am) 67 69.

SCOTS' SCORES
138 D Kay 67 71

MISSED THE CUT
149 D Docherty 74 75

TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES

CLICK HERE

 

Updated NE Alliance draw at Kemnay GC tomorrow

Updated draw for tomorrow's North-east Alliance meeting at Kemnay is on display below

All players will start from the first tee.

07:54  Jordan Calder, Andrew Campbell

08:00  Charlie Cassie, Grant Leslie, Denny Thomson

08:08  Ritchie Davidson, Stewart Allison  (Bon Accord),

 Stewart Finnie

08:16  Raymond Reid, Doug Booth, Richard Blackmore
08:24  David Templeton, Peter Robertson, Graham Burnett
08:32  Willie Beattie, Lenny Duncan, Alan Gall
08:40  Sandy Davidson, Graeme Moir, Raymond Brown
08:48  Manson Merchant, John Duff,  Brian Ritchie
08:56  Mike Smith, Peter Walker, Hamish McNaughton

09:04  Gary Homer, Graham McLaggan, David Leslie 
09:12  Mike MacKay, Colin Nelson, Kevin Thain

09:20  Simon Hanson, Craig Dempster, Gavin Chalmers

09:28  D Robertson, Steve Scott, Colin Duffus

09:36  Scott Mackie, Justin Barclay, David Brown 

09:44  Ross McConnachie, Ross McNeill, Jim Scott 

09:52  Ben Lumsden, Jackie Forrest, David Nelson

10:00 Jack Chalmers, Kris Nicol, Lee Vannet

10:08 Derek Craigie, Donny Adam, Graeme Riley

10:16 Jim Stewart, Jim Crawford, Richard Denning

10:24 Gary Leslie, Alistair  Graham, Steve Christie

10:32 Keil Beveridge, Steve Lawrie 
10:40 Ian Birnie, Kevin Bedborough, Stewart Kidd

10:48 Jim Emslie, David Fleming, Les Fowler
10:56 Peter Cheyne, Richard Wright, Phil Craig

11:04 Fergus Bisset , Derek Townsley, Nigel Parker
11:12 Sam Locke, Billy Fyfe, Andrew Locke

11:20 Richard Ruddiman, David Lane, David Wilson

11:28 Willie Skene,  Robbie Duncan, Martin Forster

11:36  Kamran Zeynalov,  Patrick McKenna, Ferghus Milne

11:44  Kevin Duncan, Chris Gilbert 

11:52  

12:00 Mark Lawrie, Tommy Collie 
12:08 Drew Buchan, Barry Elsby, Jake Scott
12:16 John Hosie, John Nicolson, Graham Allan

12:24  Peter Low, John Borthwick, Ian Still

12:32  Ross Sinclair, Iain Taylor 

•   

Death of President of North District Association

 Jimmy Fraser, funeral service on Thursday a.m.

OBITUARY BY ROBIN WILON 

The funeral service for Jimmy Fraser, a long standing official and administrator in golfing circles throughout Ross-shire and the North, will take place at 10.30am on Thursday (September 14) at  Rosemarkie Parish Church  

James (Jimmy) Fraser, pictured, was always referred to in his home Fortrose and Rosemarkie Golf Club as the “Sheriff" - during his working life he sat on the bench of many north courthouses and in  golf clubhouses of the North he himself was often summoned to give rulings on the game.

He became an authority on the Rules of Golf, so much so that he led a team of Fortrose and Rosemarkie club members to victory in  a Scottish club quiz on golf rules win and progressed to an international final in 1992, in which they were runners-up. For the next two years he served as captain of Fortrose and Rosemarkie Golf Club

Jimmy represented Fortrose and Rosemarkie Golf Club on the North District Association executive committee where his work as junior convenor brought success and fruition to many teenage golfers. His advice during the lead-up years to amalgamation of the Scottish Golf Union with the Scottish Ladies Golf Association was invaluable.

He was elected President of the North District in 2011 and was the current honorary president, elected to that office in November 2014 on the death of Bill Templeton.

As a golfer he played with a double figure handicap for most of his life, his best claim to fame Handicap Club Champion at Fortrose in 1987. A bit tempestuous at times on the course , Jimmy was a character who will be missed

Forsyth, O'Hara and Fenwick share lead on 

par 71 at Carnegie Invitational

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Alastair Forsyth (Mearns Castle Golf Academy), Paul O'Hara (North Lanarkshire Leisure) and Dunbar's Neil Fenwick figure in a three-way share of the lead on par 71 at the halfway stage of the Tartan Tour's Carnegie Invitational at the Skibo Castle course north of Inverness.
Forsyth posted the clubhouse target with halves of 35-36, birdieing the par-5 third,  and the par-4 10th but he cancelled these out by dropping shots at the second and 11th.
O'Hara, the player of the season North of the Border, was the first to match the pacemaker with halves of 34 and 71. Paul got off to a fast start with birdies at the second and short fourth but he ran into  sticky patch in the middle of his round with bogeys at the eighth, 10th and 12th. But he did have one more gain up his sleeve, at the par-5 14th and he parred in from there.
Late in the day, Fenwick joined the leading pair  with halves of 37-34, making the most birdies of the trio, at three par-5 holes (third, fifth and 18th) and two par-3 holes (ninth and 13th). He also had more bogeys: at the sixth, seventh, 10th and 16th.
There's a £500 bonus for each of the pros who lead their amateur teams into first, second or third place. Gavin Hay (Grantown on Spey) and the "Crazy Canucks" lead the way on 21-under-par 121, a shot ahead of O'Hara and "Team Liberty", with Fenwick and "The Maestroes" currently third on 124, four shots ahead of the fourth place Craig Ronald and his "Barking Mad" team.

FIRST ROUND PRO SCORES
Par 71
71 A Forsyth (Mearns Castle), P O'Hara (North Lanarkshire Leisure), Neil Fenwick (Dunbar) .
72 G Fox (Clydeway Golf), A Tait (Deer Park)
73 G Hay (Grantown on Spey)
74 S McAllister (S McAllister Golf), S Gray (Lanark).
75 C Ronald (Carluke), K Hutton (Downfield), J McCreadie (Largs), S Henderson (Kings Links)
76 D Thomson (Carnegie Club), F Cromarty (Nairn)
77 G Law (Uphall)
79 D Reasoner (unatt)

TO CHECK ALL THE SCORECARDS

CLICK HERE