Maitland Shield semi-finalists

 

Thursday evening's Maitland Shield semi-finals at Banchory will feature:

5pm Royal Aberdeen v Banchory

5.16 Murcar Links v Bon Accord

 

Wednesday's quarter-finals resulted:

 

Royal Aberdeen bt Craibstone by four holes
Mark Halliday and Nick MacAndrew bt John Borthwick and Craig Wilkinson by two holes.

Calum Muir and Daniel Sim bt John Still and Jon Bodicoat by two holes.

John Still and Jon Bodicoat lost to Calum Muir and Daniel Sim by 2 holes.
 

Banchory bt Nigg Bay by two holes

Roy Black and Adam Lindsay halved with Tyler Ogston and Ryan Forbes. 

Ian Taylor and Blair Milne bt Lee O'Connor and Ian Welsh 2 holes.
 

Murcar Links bt Deeside by 10 holes

Bryan Innes and Terry Mathieson bt Jamie Hall and Jack Loggie 3 holes. 

Anthony Bews and Corin Stewart bt Tom Rennie and David Macklin 7 holes.
 

Bon Accord bt Northern by four holes

Barrie Edmond  and Matthew Dunn bt Graeme Mitchell and Craig Ross 2 holes.
Matthew Smith and Neil Mitchell bt Chris Law and Cameron Johnstone 2 holes. 

Bon Accord team (left to right): Matthew Smith, Neil Mitchell, Matthew Dunn and Barrie Edmond. Picture by Craig Lindsay

TEE TIMES FOR HIGHLAND FUELS LOCH NESS OPEN ON MAY 18
 

Late entries will be accepted on 01463 713334 for the  HIGHLAND FUELS LOCH NESS OPEN to be played on Loch Ness Golf Course on Saturday, May 18.

Competitors will tee off in threes at 7-minute intervals and are from the host club unless otherwise stated.

Abbreviations: E, Eriskay; F, Fortrose ; G, Gairloch; I, Inverness; K, Kings; Kem, Kemnay;  M, Muir of Ord; N, Nairn;

 

8.0 G. Ross(E), J. Keith(I), A. MacBean (E); S. Pickard, D Hardie; E MacIntyre, K Anderson; R. Fraser (K), A. Crichton (I); Z. Sutherland, D. MacDonald (N), D. Gillespie (N)

 

9.0 D. Johnston, A. Simpson, T. Smith; L. Fraser, C. Shewan (F), J. Clark

9.28 M. Sanderson, C. Cuthbert, J. MacKenzie (K);  P. MacPherson, P. Rawlinson (K), K. Stott

10.0 G. Grant (K), M. Elliot(K); K. O`Shaughnessy (K), L. Gardner

10.35 M. Dodds (G), N. MacLeod (G), A. MacLeod

12.49 P. Saint (M), M. Topping, H. Gibson

1.07 S. Godsman (Kem), D Godsman (Kem); S. Archibald (K), D. Brown (K), K. Hughes (K)

 

HOLDERS NAIRN THROUGH TO SENIOR NORTHERN COUNTIES CUP QUARTER-FINALS AT BRORA

The first day of the Seniors Northern Counties Cup was played at Brora in hazy sunshine although there was a fresh north-easterly breeze. I

n the morning Boat of Garten overwhelmed Elgin by 14 holes, both pairs winning by 7 holes.

The first Murcar Links pairing of M Lornie and A Fiddes gave their team an excellent start by defeating their opponents from Nairn Dunbar 2 by eight holes, and the Brora 1 team from the host club had an emphatic, eight-hole win against Eriskay Whisky Galore.

Neil Harper, representing Deeside, had a hole in one at the 6^th hole in their match against Duff House Royal 2. However, it was to no avail as their first pair lost by five holes.

 In Round 2 Moray squeezed through by one hole, and the big winners were Royal Dornoch 1 and Royal Aberdeen by 15 and 12 holes respectively. 

Nairn, the  holders, progressed safely through to the quarter-finals

 RESULTS

FIRST ROUND

Boat of Garten bt Elgin by 14 holes

J A Grant, S Ritchie 7, B Inch, M Kearney 0; G Hay, J Ingram 7, I Hamilton, G Paterson 0.

Brora 1 bt Eriskay Whisky Galore by 8 holes

R Cameron, T Gill 5, P Bannerman, E Morrison 0; N Elliot, C Tulloch 3, W Rusk, G McNeil 0.

Murcar bt Nairn Dunbar 2 by 8 holes

M Lornie, A Fiddes 8, K Campbell, D Lamb 0; D Allan, B Holbrook 0, H Bunker, B Ford 0.

Duff House Royal 2 bt Deeside by 4 holes

A Smith, E Thomson 5, S Ritchie, K Ingram 0, A Cruickshank, G Kelly 0, D Rennie, N Harper 1.

 SECOND ROUND

Cruden Bay bt Strathpeffer by 3 holes

S Hutcheon, M Smith 6, P Gair, D Krzyzanowski 0; W Livingston, J Cooper 0, J Garrow, S Kennedy 3.

Moray bt Brora 2 by on3 hole

M Macintosh, J Murray 0, W Stewart, P Laird 2; R Wilson, R Sim 1, K Harrison 0, K Scott 0.

Brora 1 bt Boat of Garten by 7 holes

J A Grant, S Ritchie 0, R Cameron, T Gill 4; G Hay, J Ingram 0. N Elliot, C Tulloch 3.

Murcar Links bt Duff House Royal 2 by 4 holes

M Lornie, A Fiddes 0, A Smith, E Thomson 0; D Allan, B Holbrook 4, A Cruickshank, G Kelly 0.

Nairn Dunbar 1 bt Duff House Royal 1 by 4 holes

A Kennedy, P Gordon 0, C Duffy, G Robbins 4; M Jenkins, I Angus 0, I Duncan, D Bunker 0.

Royal Dornoch 1 bt Orkney by 15 holes

D Pearson, D MacDougall 7, A Donaldson, S Fotheringhame 0; J Seatter, K Fraser 8, E Donaldson, A McGinn 0.

Royal Aberdeen bt Inverness by 12 holes

J Johnston, S Houston 7, L Chancellor, J MacAulay 0; N Forster, A Laird, 5, E Brown, W Hutcheson 0.                                  

 Nairn bt Royal Dornoch 2 by 9 holes

R Smith, P Saggers 6, K Taylor, I Thomson 0; P Tomisson, W Morris 3. R Murray, A Ramsay 0.

 

 

ends

 

CATRIONA STEPPING AWAY FROM LPGA

 

TOUR AND COMMITTING TO EUROPE

 

SOTOGRANDE, SPAIN: Scotland’s Catriona Matthew, European Solheim Cup Captain, has confirmed that she will be stepping away from the LPGA Tour this year and will be playing more on the Ladies European Tour in the future.

The Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational on July 17-20 will be her last LPGA event on US soil and she will also play in the AIG Women’s British Open and Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open, which are co-sanctioned by the two tours.

“This is my 25^th year on the LPGA and I decided it was time to call it a day,” she said at the new La Reserva de Sotogrande Invitational event, which tees off tomorrow in Spain.

“I just want to be at home a bit more. It’s a lot easier commuting to Europe. I’m going to play in the KPMG Championship and then the DOW with Suzann (Pettersen). Being the Solheim Cup captain, it’s good to be around the other players.

“I’ve had a good career and everything comes to an end. It just hit me and I thought: this is it. I missed the cut in L.A. about a month ago and realised I’d had enough of the grind, being week in, week out and then going back home and having to practise, with the kids. It just got old.

“I’m not quitting: I’ll play in Europe and I’m keen to play in the U.S. Senior Open next year. I’m moving my focus to try and win that. I’m not retiring, I’m just retiring from the LPGA.

“I enjoy playing in Europe. It’s that little bit more relaxed. I still feel I can come out here and win. It’s just the week in, week out grind. I still want to win.”

The former British Open champion will partner her vice captain Pettersen in the The Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational in July, which will be the Norwegian’s first return to competition since giving birth to her first child, Herman Alexander, last August.

As she gears up for her return, she will attend the La Reserva de Sotogrande Invitational at La Reserva Club de Sotogrande this weekend, where “Beany” is playing.

Matthew said: “She’s coming down on Saturday night and going to watch a few people play on Sunday, so it will be good to catch up and see her in person and meet Herman.”

Pettersen said if she finds some “magical game” she might try to qualify for The Solheim Cup at Gleneagles in Scotland in September.

“She’s going to be practising the next couple of months before the Dow and she’ll see how she thinks she does in that as to her plans for the future. She’d be a great addition if she was playing well, though,” Matthew said.

As vice captain to Annika Sorenstam, Matthew stepped in to wear the blue and gold of Team Europe for a ninth time two years ago at Des Moines, taking the place of the injured Pettersen

 

DEFENDING CHAMPION AND TOP SEED

 

TOPPLED IN FIRST-ROUND ENGLISH

 

SENIOR WOMEN'S TIES

 

 

The defending champion and the top seed were toppled in the first match-play round of the English Senior Women’s Amateur Championship at Enville Golf Club, Staffordshire.

But the big names to make it safely through include

Staffordshire’s senior internationals Julie Brown (Trentham) – a past champion – and Sue Spencer (Whittington Heath).

Both won on the 17th, with Brown (pictured) knocking out Sharon Eales (Royal Birkdale) and Spencer defeating former stroke play champion Lulu Housman (Wyke Green).

Cheshire’s Caroline Berry – another past winner of this event – got into her stride on the back nine, producing a couple of birdies as she worked to a 5/3 win.  Hertfordshire’s Jackie Foster, who has twice won the senior stroke play, was another fast worker, defeating her opponent on the 13^th.

Elsewhere, the games were much tighter. Last year’s winner, Aileen Greenfield of Sussex, staged a terrific effort in her title defence. She halved the 17^th in birdie and won the 18^th with another birdie to get back to all square against Yorkshire’s Karen Jobling – but bowed out on the 19th.

Top seed Helen Lowe – the 2015 champion from Leicestershire – lost another close match, going out to Somerset’s Amanda Mayne on the 18^th. They reached the 18^th all square but Lowe was wrong footed when her tee shot found a fairway bunker.

“There was never more than one hole in and neither of us deserved to  lose,” said Mayne.

Cheshire’s Gillian Mellor ignited the championship on the first qualifying day with her superb score of one-under par. But her challenge ended today when she lost to Lancashire’s Susan Caton.

Also out is Cheshire’s Cath Rawthore, who won in 2016 and was last year’s runner-up – but was stopped this year by Derbyshire’s Lindsey Shaw. Meanwhile English senior team captain Debbie Richards knocked out another past champion, Janet Melville (Royal Birkdale).

In the over-60s' Ann Howard Trophy there were fewer upsets. Top seed Jayne Fletcher – another Staffordshire player, from Whittington Heath – held on to win on the 18^th, while defending champion Carol Wild from Nottinghamshire won 7 and 6.

Click here for full scores in the championship flight for the Wendy Taylor Salver

Click here for scores in the Ann Howard Trophy

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