Hazlehead's Greg Kennedy, Jack Pirie, Richard Hyland and Grant Cheyne. Picture by Simon Cruickshank

HAZLEHEAD'S CONFIDENT START TO DEFENCE OF 

MAITLAND SHIELD: 11-hole WIN v PETERCULTER

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Title-holders Hazlehead made a confident start to their defence of the Maitland Shield foursomes title at Deeside Golf Club's Bieldside course.

Their quartet of Greg Kennedy, Jack Pirie, Richard Hyland and Grant Cheyne finished a combined 11 holes up on Peterculter's Andy Smith, Ross Jaffrey, Lee Buck and Paul Forbes.

The lead-off pairing of Kennedy and Pirie put together a solid three-hole victory. Hyland and Cheyne showed no mercy in finishing eight up in the second tie.

Hazlehead's quarter-final opponents this evening (WED) will be Craibstone who scored a good four-hole win over Caledonian. Former Links champion Stewart Finnie and Alan Doig, Caley's first string finished one down to John Borthwick and Craig Wilkinson.

Craibstone's second pairing of Ian Still and Andrew Ashley clinched overall victory by finishing three up on Matty Beattie and Graeme Mead.

Hosts Deeside Golf Club saw their representatives, David Macklin Chris Black, Jamie Hall and Cameron Howe, edged out of the competition in their first tie. They went down by one hole to Banchory's Adam Lindsay, Roy Black, Craig Lindsay and David Brand.

Adam Lindsay and Black finished two up in the first tie but team-mates Craig Lindsay and David Brand finished one down in the second.

Deeside's Howe faced a 6ft putt on the last green. If he holed it, that would have put Deeside two up, cancelling out Banchory's lead in the first tie, and the match would go into extra holes, but his effort shaved the hole and Banchory went through to meet Newmachar in the quarter-finals.
The Maitland Shield tournament is sponsored by Molly's Bistro and Malone's Irish Bar, both in the Douglas Hotel, Market Street, Aberdeen. 

TUESDAY EVENING RESULTS

MAITLAND SHIELD FOURSOMES

@ Deeside Golf Club

FIRST ROUND

Banchory bt Deeside by 1 hole.

A Lindsay, R Black 2, D Macklin, C Black 0.

C Lindsay D Brand 0, J Hall, C Howe 1

Craibstone bt Caledonian by 4 holes

J Borthwick, C Wilkinson 1, S Finnie, A Doig 0.

I Still, A Ashley 3, M Beattie, G Mead 0.

Hazlehead bt Peterculter by 11 holes

G Kennedy, J Pirie 3, A Smith, R Jaffrey 0.

R Hyland, G Cheyne 8, L Buck, P Forbes 0.

WEDNESDAY QUARTER-FINALS

4.47 Murcar Links v Bon Accord

5.01 Nigg Bay v Royal Aberdeen

5.15 Newmachar v Banchory

5.29 Craibstone v Hazlehead

 Banchory's winning line-up. Left to right: Craig Lindsay, David Brand, Roy Black and Adam Lindsay. Pictures by Simon Cruickshank.

  Deeside's quartet. Back: Chris Black and David Macklin. Front: Jamie Hall and Cameron Howe

  PETERCULTER: Andy Smith, Ross Jaffrey, Lee Buck and Paul Forbes

Hannah in no hurry to leave amateur ranks

Hannah McCook's back-to-back wins in the Welsh and Irish women's open amateur stroke play championships will not persuade her to advance the date when she will turn professional.

  The Grantown-on-Spey golfer said today (Tuesday):

"I am delighted with my two recent victories but they have not altered my game plan of carrying on with my amateur career meantime. I will reassess my golfing status towards the end of this year."

Paul Lawrie becomes an ambassador for Loch Lomond Whiskies


NEWS RELEASE
Loch Lomond Whiskies, The Official Spirit of The Open, has agreed an exciting partnership with 1999 Open Champion, Paul Lawrie.

The independent Scotch whisky distiller recently announced a five-year agreement with The RandA to become Official Spirit of The Open and Women’s British Open. Lawrie joins fellow Scottish golfing legend Colin Montgomerie as an ambassador for the brand.

Over a golf career spanning more than 30 years, Lawrie has competed in more than 600 European Tour events and represented Europe in the Ryder Cup in both 1999 and 2012 – arguably the two most dramatic in its history.

However, his most famous victory came at Carnoustie in 1999. Then ranked 241st in the world, Lawrie came through a 36-hole qualifying tournament at Downfield before a remarkable charge on the Sunday saw him force a play-off, despite starting the day ten shots off the lead. Lawrie overcame Justin Leonard and Jean van de Velde to lift the Claret Jug, and remains the last Scot to have done so.

Lawrie has been working with the Master Blender at Loch Lomond Whiskies to create the Paul Lawrie Autograph Edition, which will go on sale before the world’s best golfers return to Carnoustie in July for The 147th Open.

Lawrie said: “I certainly know what it’s like to be the underdog and to overcome the odds. I can see parallels with my story and how Loch Lomond Whiskies have emerged out of the pack over the last couple of years and are now becoming one of the most dynamic, exciting and innovative brands in the world of scotch whisky.

“I’m genuinely thrilled to begin working with the experts at The Loch Lomond Group, who share my passion for arguably two of the country’s most loved exports – golf and whisky – and I’m impressed with how they’ve established themselves in the sport in such a brief period.

“In the short term I’m looking forward to developing my Autograph Edition before returning to Carnoustie – a course which is obviously very close to my heart.”

Colin Matthews, CEO of Loch Lomond Group, said: “To be able to bring a player of Paul’s calibre and reputation on board really demonstrates the commitment we have to both growing our brands around the world and growing our presence in golf.

“We’re absolutely delighted to start working with Paul and know that his Autograph Edition will prove a huge hit with golfers and whisky fans alike.”

As part of the agreement, Loch Lomond Whiskies will also participate at the Scottish Par 3 Championship, which takes place at the Paul Lawrie Golf Centre on the South Deeside Road, Aberdeen on June 14 and 15.

A Loch Lomond Whiskies cask full of the highly coveted Loch Lomond Whisky and worth more than £15,000 will be up for grabs should any of the players register an ace on the sponsored hole during the tournament.

Senior Northern Counties Cup starts at Elgin tomorrow with a bleak future, says organiser

The Senior Northern Counties Cup tournament tees off tomorrow (Wednesday) at Elgin Golf Club and finishes on Friday.
Organiser Gary Abel is pessimistic about the future of this event for players aged 55 years and over. He says:
"Sadly, it is the lowest entry that I have experienced which does not bode well for the future.
"I think it is down to the hard times golf clubs are having with reduced membership numbers and the cost of sending a team with the overnight accommodation to be paid for them."

    Last year's winning Murcar Links team at Cruden Bay. Left to right: Mike Lornie, Brian Holbrook, Alistair Fiddes and Derek Allan.

Murcar Links beat Inverness in last year's final and these are the only two seeded teams in the draw which is:

WEDNESDAY

FIRST ROUND

8.30 Nairn Dunbar 1 v Elgin 2

8.45 Royal Dornoch 1 v Duff House Royal 2

9.00 Cruden Bay v Forres.

SECOND ROUND

1.00 Murcar Links v Nairn Dunbar 2.

1.15 Deeside v Brora

1.30 Elgin v Nairn Dunbar 1 or Elgin 2.

1.45 Royal Dornoch 1 or Duff House Royal 2 v Cruden Bay or Forres

2.00 Royal Aberdeen v Boat of Garten.

2.15 Duff House Royal 1 v Eriskay Whisky Galore.

2.30 Royal Dornoch 2 v Nairn.

2.45 Moray v Inverness.

THURSDAY

QUARTER-FINALS

8.30, 8.45, 9.00 and 9.15

SEMI-FINALS

1.15 and 1.30

FRIDAY

FINAL
9.15

 How to enter Drumpellier Cup on June 10

 

The Drumpellier Cup 36-hole men's amateur competition will be held on June 10, 2018. Last year's tournament  was a great success with a full field. The winner was Dominic Dougan of Drumpellier after a four-hole play-off with Graeme Cross of Cawder. 

To book a tee time for The Drumpellier Cup, please access the club website - www.drumpelliergolf.co.uk - a nd then competition entry booking through BRS. Handicap limit is five and the entry fee is £20.

NIGG BAY TOP SCORE WITH 13-hole MAITLAND SHIELD WIN OVER STONEHAVEN

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Nigg Bay were the "big hitters" on the opening night of the City of Aberdeen men's double foursomes for the Maitland Shield at Deeside Golf Club's Bieldside course tonight (MONDAY).

The Balnagask quartet beat Stonehaven by 13 holes.

Kevin Dalgleish and Adam Giles finished seven up on Kevin Riddell and Paul Kelly in her lead-off tie. Ian Welsh and Lee O'Connor almost matched that winning margin with a six-hole victory over Craig Mackay and Graeme McFarlane.

Royal Aberdeen also had a smooth passage through to the second round. They finished nine holes to the good against Portlethen.

Mark Halliday and Donald Macandrew were four up on Clark Brechin and Rpobbie Murdoch at the close while Nick Macandrew and Craig Leith were five up against Gary Esson and Ben Murray.

The all-Links derby match was the closest contest of the night, Bon Accord, beaten finalists last year, beating Northern by only three holes overall. The first tie - Matthew Greig and Chris Somers  (Bon Accord) v George Patterson and Cameron Johnstone (Northern) - finished all square so the overall outcome was decided by Bon Accord's second string of Barrie Edmond and Alan Strath. They finished three up on Phil Benson and Neil Walker.

Newmachar were conceded a walk-over victory by Auchmill who could not field a team.
The Maitland Shield is one of the tournaments sponsored by the Douglas Hotel's Molly's Bistro restaurant and Malone's Irish Bar. Try them out next time you are in Aberdeen's Market Street area.

SCROLL DOWN FOR THE DETAILED RESULTS AND TUESDAY NIGHT'S PROGRAMME AT DEESIDE