RENTON UPDATE

from Mitchell Platts

Renton walked six or seven steps with the help of a Zimmer frame this morning (Friday). This is good news; good progress. Even so Renton is still quite low. This is understandable. His every day involves, or so it would seem, a test every minute. The staff at the hospital are brilliant and the care that Renton is receiving is astonishing. He is, however, exhausted and it looks like he will face another CT scan either this afternoon or tomorrow morning. He did stress to Jennifer this morning that he wanted everyone to know how delighted he is with all the support he has been receiving from around the world and he thanks everyone for their love and good wishes. He cannot wait to thank you all in person. That, however, will have to wait. He has still to eat or drink and he most certainly CANNOT receive visitors. Jennifer and I have decided that we will see how the weekend goes and then issue the next bulletin on Monday. So Jennifer thanks everyone for their fantastic support; she says the messages, the cards, the flowers, everything from everyone has been absolutely stunning and she hope that by Monday there will be more good news.

Regards

Mitchell

Sara Fallar beaten in final of SA Amateur

Irish Girl's International Sara Faller fought bravely but eventually went down to South African star Ashleigh Simon in the final of the Sanlam South African Amateur Matchplay Championship at George Golf Club.

The amazing, record-setting 17-year-old golfing dynamo Simon added the matchplay to her strokeplay victory for the third consecutive year breaking yet another record and making history. South Africa's best prospect since LPGA Hall of Fame star Sally Little who won three Majors in the 1980s, has the swing, the power, the dedication and drive to follow in Little's spikemarks.

17 year old Faller from Galway was equally determined to win her first major championship. Having beaten Henriette Frylink 5&4 in the first round; Iliska Verwey 4&3 and Border champion Lizelle Muller 3&2, she dispatched giant-killer Gina Switala in the semi-final. Faller, a girls International since 2005, has been earmarked as one of Ireland's most promising players and is currently attending college in the USA.

Ashleigh who was seven up on the 25th hole kept doing what she does best, one shot at a time until she overcame Faller on the 32nd hole. Simon, who does not intend taking up a college place in the USA, just wants to play golf and will turn to the Ladies European Tour and LPGA qualifying schools in late 2007. She adds this title to the Espirito Santo World Cup win which she captured with teammates Kelli Shean and Stacy Bergman at Stellenbosch in October 2006.

Full details at http://www.womensgolfsa.co.za/sanlam/2007/homepage_news_matchplaysemi2_thur29.asp

2007 Sanlam South African Matchplay Championship - George Golf Club
Final
Ashleigh Simon beat Sara Faller 6&4 (36 holes)

Semi-finals
Ashleigh Simon bt Ashleigh Holmes 5 and 4
Sara Faller bt Gina Switala at 19th

Keir McNicoll doing well in the Azalea Amateur

After two rounds of the Azalea Amateur, a major event on the US Amateur's circuit, Carnoustie's Keir McNicoll lies six shots off the pace and in joint 17th place with scores of 73 and 70.
Arnond Vongvanij leads on 137, one shot better than Luke List, who won the Jones Cup at Kiawah Island last month.

Scores with relation to par from the second round of the Azalea Amateur, played March 30 at the par-71, 6,809-yard Country Club of Charleston (S.C.):

1. Arnond Vongvanij 70-67--137 -5
2. Luke List 72-66--138 -4
3. John Finster 70-69--139 -3
3. Kyle Ellis 72-67--139 -3
3. Webb Simpson 70-69--139 -3
3. Billy Horschel 71-68--139 -3
7. Chris Kirk 73-67--140 -2
7. Pat Tallent 69-71--140 -2
7. Nathan T. Smith 68-72--140 -2
10. Hudson Swafford 72-69--141 -1
10. Brent Wicher 68-73--141 -1
12. Brendon Todd 74-68--142 E
12. Morgan Hoffmann 70-72--142 E
12. Frank Vana 70-72--142 E
12. Ryan Hybl 68-74--142 E
12. Peter Uihlein 68-74--142 E
17. Rickie Fowler 68-75--143 +1
17. Keir McNicoll 73-70--143 +1
19. Tyler Leon 73-71--144 +2
19. William Miller 72-72--144 +2
19. Brian Harman 72-72--144 +2

North East Alliance

News from Ronald Menzies

The final of the foursome match play competitions were completed at Murcar Links yesterday.

Evening Express Shield (Pro-Am)

Graeme McInnes, after his championship win the day before, the tournament professional attached to the host club and now partnered by Dean Yates won the Pro/am foursome after a close match with Ian Smith, formally from Hazlehead, and Billy Main Murcar Links. The winners were 4 down after 7 holes but squared the match by the 14th. After some scrappy halfs, they birdied the 320 yard last, where McInnes drove the green to win by 1 hole.

Final result
G McInnes, Murcar Links and D Yeates, Newmachar beat I Smith, Hazlehead and W Main, Murcar Links by 1 hole

Press and Journal Shield (Handicap Foursomes)

In the handicap competition Brian Ritchie, Inverallochy partnered by Donald Wood from Newburgh managed to win at the first extra hole. The losers were 3 up before the turn but when 1 up and playing the 10th could not find their ball after what appeared to be a great shot.. The remaining hole were either exchanged or halved until Ritchie and had good up and down for par at the 19th.

Final result
B Ritchie, Inverallochy (2) and D Wood, Newburgh (14) beat B Ritchie, Inverallochy (2) and D Wood, Newburgh (14) at the 19th.

LGU SELECT TEAM FOR COMMONWEATH TOURNAMENT

Naomi Edwards, Breanne Loucks and Melissa Reid, three players from the 2006 Curtis Cup, form the nucleus of the Great Britain team to compete in the Commonwealth Tournament from 7-11 May in South Africa. The remaining two places are taken by 2002 Curtis Cup player Kerry Smith and 18-year-old Scot, Krystle Caithness.

Canadian born Loucks, now living in and representing Wales, was the most successful player in the Curtis Cup match against the United States last year at Bandon Dunes, winning all three of her matches. In one of these, the second day foursomes, she partnered Melissa Reid in recording a 7/5 win, the biggest winning margin of the two day contest.

Reid had a highly successful 2006 in which she won the Scottish Stroke Play title, realising the potential she had shown in winning the English Girls’ title in both 2004 and 2005.

Yorkshire’s Naomi Edwards first came to national attention in 2003 with a place in the final of the English Match Play Championship. That was followed, in 2005, with wins in the English Mid-Amateur and the Scottish Stroke Play and last year with a title-winning performance in the Welsh Stroke Play.

At 35 years of age, Kerry Smith is by far the most experienced player in the side and has played international representative golf for England since 1997. A relative latecomer into golf at 15, she played in the 2002 Curtis Cup, was English Champion in 2004 and headed the English Order of Merit that year and also in 2006.

Krystle Caithness, 18, already has an impressive list of golfing achievements with wins in the Scottish Under-16, Under-18 and 21 Championships. Last year, over the Old Course, St Andrews, against a truly international field, Krystle won the St Rule Trophy.

Sue Turner, Captain of the Great Britain side said: “We have selected a relatively young team but one which already has extensive experience of competing at the highest international level.”

“I have no doubt therefore, that with the steadying influence of Kerry Smith, one of the country’s most experienced players, we have a real chance of winning the Commonwealth Tournament.”

TEAM

Krystle Caithness 18 St Regulus
Naomi Edwards 23 Ganton
Breanne Loucks 19 Wrexham
Melissa Reid 19 Chevin
Kerry Smith 35 Waterlooville

RESERVES

1. Sahra Hassan Vale of Glamorgan
2. Florentyna Parker Gut Waldhof
3. Sally Watson Elie & Earlsferry

CAPTAIN

Sue Turner

COACH

Lawrence Farmer

Midland Alliance

News from Lee Sutherland / Graham Suttie

This weeks Midland Golfer’s Alliance was held at blustery Brechin Golf and Squash Club, Angus yesterday. Using his local knowledge to full advantage was local professional Steve Rennie with the best scratch score of the day a 3 under par 69. Leading the way and by winning by 4 shots in the handicap was Derek Adams (Carnoustie) with a net 68.

Leading Scratch Scores

69, S. Rennie (P, Brechin)
70, S. Mann (Carnoustie), A. Webster (P, Edzell)
72, Lockhart (AP, Ladybank), L. Vannet (P, Carnoustie Links)
73, D. Adams (Carnoustie)
75, B. Gallaway (Carnoustie)
76, S. Rettie (AP, R. Troon)

Leading Handicap Scores

68, D. Adams (Carnoustie)
72, S. Whittaker (Panmure), C. Wallace (Caird Park)
73, D. Spaven (Pitlochry), G. Vannet (Carnoustie), R. Taylor (Crieff), B. Gallaway (Carnoustie), M. Watkin (Panmure)
74, G. Aitkenson (Dunfermline), S. Mann (Carnoustie)

Next Weeks Meeting, Monifieth Links, Broughty Golf Club, Tuesday 3rd April, 8,30 – 12.30

North East Alliance

News from Ronald Menzies

The Alliance Championship played over Duff House Royal and Fraserburgh on 14th and 21st March resulted in a tie on 134 between Graeme McInnes, Murcar Links (69,65) and Gary Esson, Portlethen (65,69) This was resolved by a playoff at Murcar yesterday with McInnes winning at the first hole. Both players were on the green in 2 with long putts but Esson three putted.

Final results

Champion Graeme McInnes 69+65=134 Murcar Links
Best Scratch Gary Esson 65+69=134 Portlethen
Handicap 1 John Roberts 66+70=136 Cruden Bay
Handicap 2 Paul Cornfield 71+68=139 Auchmill
Best over 60 Ian Smith 73+71=144 Hazlehead (Retired)

Following the playoff the first rounds of the foursome match play competitions took place.

Evening Express Shield (Pro-Am)
Round 1
S Davidson, Banchory and Mathieson, Murcar Links beat N Reid, Deeside and C Stephen, Meldrum House (2 and 1)
I Smith, Hazlehead and W Main, Murcar Links beat R Macdonald, Kemnay and S Fraser Royal Aberdeen (3 and 2)
G McInnes, Murcar Links and D Yeates, Newmachar beat S Troup, Kings Links and G Esson, Portlethen (4 and 3)
P Cormack, Inchnarlo and R Hyland Hazlehead beat P Lovie, Inchmarlo and G Grimmer, Nigg Bay (at 20th)
Semi-Final
Smith/Main beat Davidson/Mathieson (2 and 1)
McInnes/Yeats beat Cormack/Hyland (2 and 1)

Press and Journal Shield (Handicap Foursomes)
Round 1
J Roberts. Cruden Bay (6) and P Cornfield, Auchmill (11) beat C Alexamder, Murcar Links (3) and M Rogers, Kemnay (14) by 2 and 1
B Ritchie, Inverallochy (2) and D Wood, Newburgh (14) beat S Scott, Auchmill (3) and N Ogston, Turriff (11) by 5 and 4
J Hamilton, Murcar Links (5) and G Travis, Auchmill (15) beat A Grant, Portlethen (7) and W Rae, Kemnay (11) by 6 and 5
C Hood, Alford (9) and B Lumsden, Northern (16) beat D Nelson, Aboyne (6) and G Kennedy, Meldrum House (11) by 6 and 5
Semi-Final
Ritchie/Wood beat Roberts/Cornfield (4 and 2)
Hamilton/Travis beat Hood/Lumsden (at 19th)

Both Finals will take place tomorrow (Friday) at Murcar

Edinburgh and East of Scotland Alliance

News from Duncan Ireland

Alex Culverwell wins the Uni Royal Trophy

There was some great scoring at Dalmahoy in Tuesday's Edinburgh and East of Scotland Alliance event, but none better than Alexander Culverwell, whose scratch 36 hole total of 133 was 3 shots clear of his nearest rival, Craig Lee.

Tom Flaherty takes the Gavin Clark Trophy

Tom Flaherty proved how good his golf has been this year by winning the Gavin Clark trophy for the best nett scores of the day, with a nett 36 hole total of 139, 2 clear of 4 players all tied for 2nd on 141. Tom managed this in spite of getting his handicap down from 10 to 8 this winter.

Andrew Dunsmore wins the Order of Merit

Congratulations to Andrew Dunsmore on winning the Scratch Order of Merit for the first time. He beat Scott Grieve by only 10.5 points so it was quite a close run thing. Spare a thought for long time leader, Neil Colquhoun as not only did he get knocked off top spot but also narrowly missed out on 3rd spot, and some money, by an 1/2 of a one point.

EESGA Winner 2006/7 Uni Royal Trophy (Scratch)
A Culverwell

EESGA Winner Gavin Clark Trophy (Handicap)
T Flaherty

Scratch for Uni Royal Trophy
1st £300 A Culverwell 133
2nd £250 C Lee 136
3rd £200 S Lamb 137
4th £150 D Patrick 138
5th= £33 A MacKenzie 139
5th= £33 A Marshall 139
5th= £33 S Grieve 139

Handicap for Gavin Clark Trophy
1st £150 T Flaherty 139
2nd= £87.50 A Rothney 141
2nd= £87.50 G Davidson 141
2nd= £87.50 A Wight 141
2nd= £87.50 W Laing 141

Order of Merit
1 Andrew Dunsmore 705.50
2 Scott Grieve 695.00
3 Stevie Lamb 666.00
4 Neil Colquhoun 665.50
5 Mike Thomson 664.50
6 Craig Imlah 646.50
7 Andrew Marshall 587.50
8 Tom Buchanan 539.50
9 Ally MacKenzie 514.50
10 Steven Doyle 510.50

SGU CELEBRATES DOUBLE DINNER SPONSOR

The seventh annual Scottish Golf Dinner takes place tomorrow night (Friday 30 March) to celebrate Scottish golf’s amateur success and the event was given a boost with the capture of two new sponsors.

Leading independent financial advisers MDH Hughes and specialist golf surfaces company Golfcrete will sponsor this year’s Dinner, which is a complete sell-out as clubs, golfers and Scottish Golf’s partners gather to toast one of the most successful seasons in the domestic amateur game.

With Richie Ramsay’s victory in the US Amateur Championship, Scottish teams’ quadruple success in the Girls, Boys, Mens and Seniors Home Internationals and numerous other team and individual performances, the Dinner will be glittering with silverware.

Michael Hughes, Managing Director of MDH Hughes, is delighted to be involved in the 2007 Scottish Golf Dinner:

‘Our association with the Scottish Golf Union stretches back many years as the organisation’s employee benefits advisers and we hope that through the sponsorship we can widen our offering throughout the golf industry.’

‘Last season was a fantastic one for amateur golf in Scotland and the Dinner will provide a great showcase to celebrate the achievements of everyone involved,’ he added.

Ian Tittershill, Managing Director of Sportcrete, who provide an environmentally friendly and ecologically sound lining for lakes and bunkers on golf courses, sees sponsorship of the Scottish Golf Dinner as the perfect platform for launching the product in Scotland:

“Golfcrete has already been successful in continental Europe and the States so we hope that our presence at the Scottish Golf Dinner can build our awareness in Scotland.”

“We would like to congratulate the SGU and the SLGA for their efforts on and off the course in 2006 and wish them every success for the year ahead.”

The Scottish Golfer of the Year and SGU Order of Merit winner will be formally announced on the evening, whilst the leading female golfers from 2006 will also receive their awards on the night, as the SGU and SLGA bring both their awards evenings together for the very first time.

Former Scotland rugby star turned BBC radio presenter John Beattie provides the after-dinner entertainment alongside leading guest speaker Brian Voyle-Morgan.

WALLACE BOOTH TAKES HIS FIRST COLLEGIATE TITLE

Career-low, six-under 65 propels Jaguar senior to first collegiate victory
From the website of Augusta State:
AWENDAW, S.C. -- Augusta State’s Wallace Booth fired a final-round, six-under 65 Tuesday to capture The Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate at Bulls Bay Golf Club just outside of Charleston.
The victory is the first collegiate title for Booth, a senior from Perthshire, Scotland. His six-under 65 marks his lowest round as a collegian, besting the five-under 67 he registered in the second round of the Carpet Capital Collegiate Classic at The Farm Golf Club last fall in Rocky Face, Ga. The effort also is the lowest final round by a Jaguar in a victory since former standout Oliver Wilson shot an eight-under 64 in the final round of the 2003 Cleveland Golf/Augusta State Invitational at Forest Hills Golf Club.
The win also marked the third consecutive year a Jaguar has claimed medalist honors at The Hootie. Then-sophomore Jamie Miller won the tourney title on the strength of a second-round, seven-under 64 last year and Scott Jamieson had a final-round 68 to win the 2005 tourney.
Booth’s effort sparked ASU to a fifth-place finish -- its best finish of the season -- and matched Baylor for the low round of the day, a seven-under 277. Senior Major Manning carded a four-under 67 and jumped from 15th into a tie for seventh. Miller tallied a one-over 72 and finished 73rd, while sophomore Tarik Can posted a two-over 73 and tied for 58th. Junior Keith Guest had a three-over 74 and didn’t count toward the Jags’ team total, but posted ASU’s third-best finish – a tie for 36th – that included a first round of three-under 68.
“This is great – it’s a pretty awesome feeling,” said Booth, who tallied his second top-20 finish of the year with the win. “I didn’t have any idea about my chances (to win) until Coach Gregory told me what the situation was on the 17th hole. He pretty much let me do my thing out there on the course today and didn’t say a whole lot, which is what he normally does so things seemed pretty normal. I just wanted to finish strong and see where a good round would put me at the end of the day.”
Booth played the front nine in three-under 33 before reaching the 630-yard, par-five 10th hole. After a drive of 410 yards from an elevated tee, Booth hit a 3-iron to 35 feet and drained the putt for eagle. After a birdie at the par-3 12th moved him to five-under on his round, he suffered his lone miscue of the day on the par-4 16th. He bounced back with a birdie at the 17th, rolling in a 15-footer that turned out to be the difference.
Wake Forest’s Webb Simpson and 36-hole leader Greg Forest of Central Florida finished a shot back of Booth at seven-under 206. Jeremy Frye of Baylor and North Carolina’s Martin Ureta were two shots off the pace, tying for fourth at six-under 207.
The Jaguars, who began the final round in seventh place, also posted their lowest round of the season with their team total of 277. ASU fired an eight-under 280 at the General Jim Hackler Invitational two weekends ago in Murrells Inlet, S.C.
Wake Forest edged Baylor in a playoff for the team title, while Florida State was third. First and second-round leader Central Florida was the only team among the top seven to not shoot under par in the final round. The Golden Knights signed for a four-over 288 and took fourth, nine shots clear of ASU.
The Jaguars now turn their attention to hosting the Administaff Augusta State Invitational, slated for Friday-Sunday, March 30-April 1 at Champions Retreat Golf Club in Evans, Ga.
For full-field results of the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate, log on to www.golfstat.com.
Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate
Bulls Bay Golf Club
Awendaw, S.C.
Par 71 – 7,261 yards
March 25-27, 2007
Leading scores
205 Wallace Booth (Augusta State) 71 69 65
206 Greg Forest (UCF) 66 67 73, Webb Simpson (Wake Forest Univ) 72 68 66
207 Jeremy Frye (Baylor) 68 69 70, Martin Ureta (North Carolina) 72 69 66
208 Dustin Johnson (Coastal Carolina) 70 70 68
Team Results
1. Wake Forest 283-279-278=840 (-12)
Baylor 283-280-277=840 (-12)
3. Florida State 274-289-282=845 (-7)
4. Central Florida 270-288-288=846 (-6)
5. AUGUSTA STATE 286-292-277=855 (+3)
6. Duke 288-291-281=860 (+8)
7. North Carolina 287-293-282=862 (+10)
Coastal Carolina 285-290-287=862 (+10)
9. South Carolina 289-294-283=-866 (+14)
10. LSU 288-288-294=870 (+18)
11. North Carolina State 297-293-281=871 (+19)
12. College of Charleston 291-295-289=875 (+23)
13. Kentucky 301-285-290=876 (+24)
14. Vanderbilt 292-300-293=885 (+33)
15. Arkansas 307-293-294=894 (+42)

ROSS BAIN (SCOTLAND) QUALIFIES FOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

Five Win Open Places in Singapore

The Australian trio of Adam Groom, David Gleeson and Lee Won-Joon, together with Scotsman Ross Bain and Lam Chih-Bing of Singapore, have won their way into The Open Championship through 36 holes of International Final Qualifying-Asia over Sentosa Golf Club's Tanjong course.
Lam emerged as only the second Singaporean to qualify for the Championship, his six-under-par 66 in the second round included two eagles and five birdies and left him one stroke behind top finisher Groom. Lam will follow in the footsteps of compatriot Mardan Mamat who was the first Singaporean to make it to the Open Championship back in 1997.
"This is simply great. I cant wait as it has always been my dream to play in a major. I've never been to Scotland and my last trip to Europe was in 2002 on holiday," said Lam.
"My friends have told me so many things about their first ever experience at The Open and now it's my turn. I heard that the atmosphere there is unbelievable. Danny Chia mentioned that he had goose bumps while walking the course with the crowd all around, it's going to be amazing," added Lam.
After adding a 69 to his opening 66, the 28-year-old Groom was happy with a score that led the qualifying event. "It was going on well until I struck a triple bogey on the ninth hole. But I knuckled down on the back nine and struck four birdies without a single bogey, so that was a good way to end the day. This is fantastic being able to make it for my first ever major," he commented.
Thanks to solid iron play, Lee, who turned pro late last year, ended his day with a 70 and was forced into a play-off when compatriot Park Jun-Won scored 68 for a 137 total in a tie for fifth place. Lee took the final spot at the par-four first play off hole when he holed a three-foot birdie putt as Park parred.
"This is fantastic. I was fully focused on my last shot at the play-off and when it went in I was really happy. That was one of my most crucial shots as I've now sealed my place in Scotland," said Lee. "This is going to be my first major. I've been to Scotland before when I played at the St Andrews Links Trophy. So I can roughly know what to expect as I did get some feedback from the players about Carnoustie. I'm eager to go," he admitted.
Scotland"s Bain returned a second round 64 to seal his place, while Gleeson scored his second straight 68 and made it through after his ninth attempt at qualifying.
Top Scores & Qualifiers
135 GROOM, Adam (Australia) 66 69
136 LAM, Chih-Bing (Singapore) 70 66, BAIN, Ross (Scotland) 72 64 136 , GLEESON, David (Australia) 68 68
137 PARK, Jun Won (Korea) 69 68 LEE, Won Joon (Australia) 67 70 (Lee won playoff)
138 ISHIGAKI, Sushi (Japan) 67 71
139 LASCUNA, Tony (Philippines) 69 70
All scores can be found here

Scots out of the Australian Amateur Championship.

Scott Henry (Cardross) and Lloyd Saltman (Criagielaw), who came through the strokeplay qualifying rounds in 5th and 3rd place respectively are both out of the Australian Amateur Championship.
Scott was beaten in the first round by Troy Rophia of New Zealand 5 and 4.
Lloyd won his first round against Queensland's Ben Fletcher by 4&2, and then beat the current R&A World No1 ranked amateur, Jamie Moul (England) by 3&2. However he lost in the quarter-finals to Justin Roach (New South Wales).

North Scottish Golfers' Alliance Championship

Brian Fotheringham (Forres) won the Sir Hugh Makenzie Trophy as the Leading Scratch competitor in the North Scottish Golfers' Alliance Championship fixture over the Old Course at Moray. Out late he shot a one under par 70 recording three birdies at the 9th, 15th & 17th to offset bogeys at the 7th & 8th. He won by two shots from Mike Macdonald (Fortrose) & Kevin Thomson (Moray).

Brian Inch from Elgin off 5 won the Bank of Scotland Quaich as leading low handicapper with a net 69 and Dave Spence from Loch Ness off 12 the Jim Thom Quaich as high handicap section winner although a guest, the Moray Club Captain Glenn Roberts had the lowest net with a 72 off 12.

Leading Scratch Scores:
70 B Fotheringham (Forres) Winner of Sir Hugh Mackenzie Trophy.
72 M Macdonald (Fortrose & Rosemarkie), K Thomson (Moray);
73 G Morrison (Pro)(Fortrose & Rosemarkie);
74 J A Grant (Grantown), B A Watson (Nairn Dunbar), B H Inch (Elgin);
75 R McKerron (Forres), M Smith (Nairn Dunbar), S Wilson (Inverness);
76 G Hay (Grantown), J Forbes (Inverness);
77 A Thomson (Pro)(Moray), A Coutts (Inverness), R Aitken(Moray), J Simpson (Forres);
78 M Mann (Moray), D Hector (Elgin), J P Westwood (Moray), D Hexley (Inverness), M C Page (Moray), R G Macpherson (Moray);
79 C Kennedy (Nairn Dunbar), K Gaittens (Fortrose & Rosemarkie);
80 J R Ingram (Boat of Garten), W R Duncan (Moray), J B Thomson (Moray);
81 C Gaittens (Fortrose & Rosemarkie), K Taylor (Elgin), J S D Campbell (Grantown), G Donaldson (Elgin);

Handicap Section One (8 & Under)

69 B H Inch (Elgin)(5) Winner of Bank of Scotland Quaich.
70 R G Macpherson (Moray)(8);
71 M Smith (nairn Dunbar)(4);
72 W R Duncan (Moray)(8), M C Page (Moray)(6), A J Coutts (Inverness)(5);

Handicap Section Two (9 - 14)

72 G Roberts (Moray)(12);
74 D Spence (Loch Ness)(12) Winner of Jim Thom Quaich. , A Briggs (Inverness)(11)
76 A Finlay (Nairn Dunbar)(9);
77 K Smith (Elgin)(9);

Seniors: Scratch Section:
78 M Mann (Moray) Winner of the J A B Little Trophy.

Handicap Section;
74 A Briggs (Inverness)(11) Winner of the J M C Gourlay Trophy.

Gangjee and Groom share Asian qualifying lead on 66

The Open Championship - International Final Qualifying-Asia

Rahil Gangjee of India is tied for the first round lead with Australia's Adam Groom in the race for places in The Open Championship over 36 holes of International Final Qualifying-Asia at the Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore.

Six-under-par rounds of 66 were recorded by both men in their bid for a maiden appearance in The Open. Only the leading five players will qualify for a place at Carnoustie.

Gangjee and Groom took a narrow one stroke lead over India's Digvijay Singh who enjoyed a bogey free 67 alongside Australia's Lee Won-Joon and Sushi Ishigaki, the highest ranked Japanese player, in a tie for third place. Australia’s David Gleeson, in his ninth attempt at the qualifiers, and Toshinori Muto shared sixth spot after matching 68s at the Tanjong course.

Gangjee, who is currently ranked 41st on the Asian Tour Order of Merit, conquered the front nine with five birdies and coupled three more birdies against two dropped shots on the way home. "I'm pleased since this is my third time at the qualifiers. My goal for tomorrow is to not think about anything but focus on my pre-shot routine. If I strike it well of the tee, it will be a putting match and that's the key here," he said.

The leading 28-year-old Australian is equally determined to make it through after chalking up seven birdies against a lone bogey for a fine 66. "I finally produced a steady round today. I was shooting birdies and bogeys in previous tournaments this year but today I was consistent the entire round," said Groom.

"I was putting really well and rolling the ball good and I hope to keep it up tomorrow. I'm really excited as this has definitely boosted my chances to make it to The Open," he added.

Five birdies in a round of 67 has put Digvijay Singhhad in a strong challenging position. "I’m feeling confident now as I've been putting really well today. My putting has eluded me in the past two events and now it's back," he said. "Funnily enough I played a round with Rahil during practice yesterday and he was striking the ball 290-295 yards off the tee so I expect him to chew up this golf course. No expectations for me - I just hope to enjoy myself out on course."

Local favourite Mardan Mamat struck a 71 to tie for 12th place while Shiv Kapur of India was even-par for the day in joint 31st position.

For a complete listing of scores go to: http://scores.opengolf.com/

Top Scores

T1 GROOM, Adam Australia 66
T1 GANGJEE, Rahil India 66
T3 SINGH, Digvijay India 67
T3 LEE, Won Joon Australia 67
T3 ISHIGAKI, Sushi Japan 67
T6 GLEESON, David Australia 68
T6 MUTO, Toshinori Japan 68
T8 PARK, Jun Won Korea 69
T8 LASCUNA, Tony Philippines 69
T8 SONG, Chan Korea 69
T8 ICHIHARA, Tatsuhiko Japan 69
T12 LAM, Chih-Bing Singapore 70
T12 BLYTH, Adam Australia 70
T12 BASIC, Neven Australia 70
T12 QUE, Angelo Philippines 70
T12 KIYOTA, Taichiro Japan 70
T12 GHEI, Gaurav India 70
T12 LEE, Sungman Korea 70
T12 NAM, Young Korea 70
T12 MAMAT, Mardan Singapore 70
T12 MURAKAMI, Artemio Philippines 70
T22 SMITH, Craig Wales 71
T22 KENNEDY, Brad Australia 71
T22 ILES, Bradley New Zealand 71
T22 PARK, Unho Australia 71
T22 PHADUNGSIL, Chinarat Thailand 71
T22 FLINT, Gavin Australia 71
T22 TOMIDA, Masaya Japan 71
T22 SINGH, Arjun India 71
T22 TATEYAMA, Mitsuhiro Japan 71

RENTON TUESDAY UPDATE

This has been the best morning for Renton since the operation eight days ago. He is getting impatient which is a good sign! He wants out of the Critical Care Unit. In fact the nurses might try and push him in a wheelchair to the conservatory tomorrow, but at this time he cannot leave the CCU. He is still extremely weak and not able to eat or drink. The nausea is subsiding but very slowly. Nevertheless he is now very aware of where he is and Jennifer is quite upbeat today. She once again thanks everyone for their support and for their kindness in obeying the instruction not to send flowers, fruit etc at this time to the hospital. This will change when Renton is moved into a ward but that might not be until the weekend. Therefore the NO VISITORS sign remains posted.

Regards

Mitchell

NEW GOLF EVENT FROM MAGNERS IRISH CIDER

Magners Irish Cider is to introduce a new Scottish Golf Championship for the 2007 Season.

The Magners Scottish Golf Championship will be open to every male club golfer in Scotland. Each club in Scotland will be able to register one qualifying tournament at their club between 1st April and 31st July, where the two best golfers will progress to one of four Regional Finals. The Regional Finals will be held at Kings Acre, Kilmacolm, King James VI and Inchmarlo Golf Clubs.

The two golfers representing their club at the regional finals will play as a pair (two ball better ball, one score to count at each hole), and the top 6 pairs from each regional final will qualify for the Magners Grand Final at the Macdonald Cardrona Resort, which will be played at the end of September. The winning pair at the Grand Final will be crowned the Magners Scottish Golf Champions 2007, and win a fabulous golfing break in Ireland.

Jules Macken, Magners GB Brand Manager, said: ‘Magners has been a supporter of amateur golf in Scotland since the brand was first introduced here in 2003. There is also a long association with golf in Ireland. Magners and golf are a perfect fit. The brand has a strong presence in Golf Clubs where the iconic pint bottle and ice are enjoyed by golfers after completing their round.

‘Of the clubs in Scotland, we hope that more than 300 will participate, which would mean that around 24,000 club golfers could potentially enter the championship. We believe that this would make our event one of Scotland’s biggest nationally recognised participation golf events.’

Magners Scottish Club Golfers Championship – 2007 Schedule

Local Club Qualifying Events:
April – July

Regional Finals:
Inchmarlo Tuesday 21st August
Kilmalcolm Wednesday 22nd August
King’s Acre Tuesday 28th August
King James VI Wednesday 29th August

National Final:
Macdonald Cardrona Golf & Country Club Friday 26th September

Alliance Golf

By Robin Wilson

Tarbat Golf Club Green keeper, Mike Keay (pictured to the right in the photograph) a first season member of the North Golf Alliance emerged with the Mackintosh Salver the reward for consistent scoring over the winter season when the fixtures drew to a close at Tain Golf Club last weekend.

Wick’s scratch player member Ron Taylor (pictured left in the photograph) came to Tain to set his seal on another Alliance Quaich success but although he triumphed for a third successive season he had to give way to local five handicapper Steve Holmes for Sunday’s individual return giving Holmes his first Alliance scratch win.

Holmes shot a 72 to Taylor’s 73 in bright sunny conditions against a field of 55 where the scoring was not all that low due to tricky putting surfaces. But Holmes found no problems holing putts. Three single putts on the 2nd, 6th and 7th greens took his card to three under par after seven holes before dropping pack to a one under par 34 for the first nine with bogies on the final two outward holes. His momentum was maintained with a birdie three at the Alps only to let it slip away with a bogey six at the long 13th.where he took three from the front of the green and then another six arrived from an out of bounds wayward drive from the 15th tee. But it is great what a two does on a card and when Holmes chipped in for his fifth birdie of the round at the next hole he salvaged an inward 38 for 72 and first scratch success.

Keay had also done enough before Sunday’s final fixture and his late challenger for the handicap silverware was not his closest rival, Richard MacDonald (Reay) with whom he went into the fixture tied on aggregate scores of 276 but from the eventual scratch winner.

Neither Keay nor MacDonald made any improvement on their scores for the Salver so they remained tied and the separation came on comparison of away scores. Keay won this by ten shots from his two net returns of 68 in Caithness while MacDonald mustered only a 71 and a 75 at venues out with his home county. After his handicap was applied Steve Holmes’s gross 72 became a net 67 to climb into third place, just a stroke back on 277.

Taylor has just past his 53rd birthday but he has maintained a consistency that twenty years ago raised the standard of play at Wick and made him a regular selection in North District teams. Not long from the tee by today’s standards his strength is in his accuracy rarely missing a fairway. From a simple flawless swing his iron play is sound and he still holds onto a plus rating handicap.

Doug Thorburn (Thurso) resigned himself to second place in the Quaich competition by not playing at Tain and it would have been unlikely he would have closed the gap after Taylor carded another consistent round from halves of 36 and 37 to finish with 281 and Thorburn the runner up with 286.

Only visitors Ron Barker (Wick) and Francis Keith (Durness) broke the local stranglehold in the Class 1 Handicap section that was headed by Phil Blyth a net 68, off 8, and Bruce Fraser a net 70, off 5. Barker came third with net 73 and then the Salver winner, Mike Keay the best of two others with a similar score of 74.

The Class 2 winner Gerald Klein with a net 69 raised Durness to the Team trophy (Durness team pictured right) with a net total of 293, 13 ahead of second placed Reay. Completing the Durness total were Francis Keith, Martin Mackay and Lachie Ross. Hosts Tain, despite all their low scores in Class 1, were disadvantaged by having no players in the higher handicap section from where two scores had to be submitted in the team competition.

Results. Scratch – 72 S. Holmes (Tain). 73 R. W. Taylor (Wick). 75 B. Fraser (Tain). 76 P. Blyth (Tain). 77 M. Sangster (Tain). 79 B. Ferries (Tain). 80 L. Parnell (Reay), R. Barker (Wick). 81 M. Ferries (Tain), C. Ilett (Tain), M. Keay (Tain) W.R. Taylor (Wick).
Handicap Class 1 – P. Blyth (Tain) (8) 68. B. Fraser (Tain) (5) 70. R. Barker (Wick) (7) 73. M. Keay (Tain) 97), M. Sangster (Tain) (3), F. Keith (Durness) (10) 74. Class 2 – G. Klein (Durness) (20) 69. D. MacKenzie (Thurso) (12), L. Ross (Durness (11) 72. A. MacKay (Reay) (19), J. MacKenzie (Durness) (17) 75.

Club News. Results from Tain’s six-club stableford competition last Saturday were;
1st C Bottomley (6) 37 pts B.I.H. 2nd R Phillips (9) 37 pts and 3rd M Ferries (scr) 36 pts. leaving the Tain scratch player wondering how he can score a gross 70 with six clubs and twenty four hours later with all fourteen not get round in under 80!
Pairs - R Phillips & C Watson (11) 72 pts

HUGH HUNTER HONOURED BY SCOTTISH SCHOOLS GOLF ASSOCIATION

Former Scottish Golf Union president Hugh Hunter, who lives in Auchterarder, has been honoured by the Scottish Schools Golf Association of which he has been president twice.
“For all Hugh has done for junior golf in general and schools golf in particular over the last 40 years and more, we felt it was only right that he should become the first life member of the Scottish Schools Golf Association,” said secretary Dorothy Scott.
“Since he retired from teaching, he has been able to devote even more of his time to supporting junior golf. Hugh pops up everywhere there’s a tournament on.”
Robin Fyfe, Nairn Golf Club professional for many years, was one of the young lads encouraged to develop his golf when Hugh Hunter was a teacher at Alloa Academy in the late 1960s.
Hugh then moved to Callander and joined the teaching staff at McLaren High School.
The Scottish Schools Golf Association, which stages an annual championship for boys and girls and also organises an annual match against England, was formed in 1972.
Hugh became its president for the first time in 1983-84 and, 10 years later, he served a second term of office.
“He is the only person to have been president of the SSGA twice,” said Mrs Scott.
“I’m thrilled to become the first life member of the Scottish Schools Golf Association,” said Hugh who was president of the Scottish Golf Union in 2006. �

RENTON MONDAY UPDATE

(From Mitchell Platts)
Renton is very tired, very weak, and still not able to eat or drink, so progress is very slow but nevertheless going in the right direction. The cardiologist and surgeon are pleased with his progress. They did manage to get Renton to sit in a chair this morning and he glanced at a newspaper.

Four Open Places on Offer in Asian Qualifying

Frankie Minoza will be hoping to relive one of his most memorable moments when he competes in International Final Qualifying - Asia tomorrow and Wednesday at the Sentosa Golf Club, Singapore, with memories of the 1998 Open still fresh in the mind of the 47-year-old Filipino as he bids for one of the top four spots that will give him automatic qualification for Carnoustie.

Minoza heads the field of 73 players that include some of Asia’s leading players, including India’s Shiv Kapur, who was voted Asian Tour Rookie of the Year in 2005, local talent Mardan Mamat, and Japanese top players such as Tomohiro Kondo, Tatsuhiko Ichihara and Tadahiro Takayama.

Minoza, who has won numerous titles in the region since the 1980s, enjoyed his first ever outing at The Open where he finished in joint 50th position in 1998. Backed by his solid form this year that includes a win at his home Open on the Asian Tour last month, Minoza is on a mission this week determined to walk the course at Carnoustie in July.

“I will never forget my first experience playing at Royal Birkdale. The people gathered there really appreciated the game. As I was walking down the 18th hole in the final round, the fans all around were giving us a standing ovation and clapping, and I felt like I was walking on air, it was great,” admitted Minoza.

“It is a different game this week with two days qualifying. This is one of the toughest qualifiers I’ve played in with over 70 players fighting for four spots. Everybody has a good chance of making the top four. I will give it 100 percent and hope to come out good and make my second appearance in The Open,” said Minoza.

India’s Shiv Kapur, who enjoyed his maiden Open appearance last year, will not hold back on his game this week as he hopes to make it two appearances in a row. “It is always great playing in your first major, especially with The Open, with all the history that’s attached to it. Although I did not make the cut last year at Hoylake, I still had a wonderful experience and I hope to qualify this week,” said Kapur.

“The course this week is nice but it will mainly depend on who reads the greens the best. Top four qualify from over 70 players is a tough ask but it’s the same for everyone. But since it’s only two rounds, I will take on a more aggressive approach than the usual four rounds,” admitted Kapur.

Singapore-based Unho Park, who also enjoyed his first taste of The Open last year, has adjusted well to the playing conditions at the Tanjong Course and will be banking on his putting to see him through the top four this week. “I’m eager to make my second appearance. I’m hitting it fine and striking the ball solid, I think it’s down to my putting. Putting is the key as the course is wide open with hardly any rough. This is my fourth straight qualifier and it is the toughest field so far,” said Park.

For the draw go to http://scores.opengolf.com/rqfq/default.sps?file=RQ/IFQDraw_Asia.sps

Saltman just misses playoff- Dodt wins Australian Stroke Play Championship

By Alistair Hogg
Australian Golf Union Website writer

Andrew Dodt has won the 2007 Australian Stroke Play Championship after a thrilling playoff finale at New South Wales Golf Club.

The Queenslander went head to head with Scott Arnold after the pair was deadlocked at four-under par through 72-holes, finally triumphing on the fourth extra hole when his opponent found a bunker off the tee. Dodt made a clutch two-putt to claim the sudden death playoff and the title as 2007 Australian Amateur Stroke Play Champion.

The win also means Dodt has qualified for the 2007 MFS Australian Open at The Australian Golf Club, December 11-16. The 21-year old played at last year's tournament at Royal Sydney and emerged as Australia's best amateur, shooting a superb one-under to finish equal 11th along with professionals Paul Gow and Nick O'Hern.

He now goes into tomorrow's match play riding a wave of confidence after today's tense win.

The men will play the first round of their match play on Tuesday from 7:00am. This will be followed by the second round of the women's match play at approximately 9:30am and the men will play their second round later in the afternoon to make up for Sunday's lost time.

Dodt's first assignment is against Victorian Leigh Deagan, who won a four-way playoff to snatch one of the two remaining spots in the 32-man field. The match will begin at 9:00am.

Scots Lloyd Saltman (Craigielaw) and Scott Henry (Cardross) are third and sixth seeds respectively in the match play.

Final qualifiers for Australian Amateur Match Play Championship:

276: A Dodt (QLD) S Arnold (NSW)
277: L Saltman (SCO)
279: J Roach (NSW) R Bezuidenhuot (NSW) S Henry (SCO)
280: D Horsey (ENG)
281: D Nisbet (QLD) J Gill (NZL)
283: M Raseta (NSW) J Sheratt (SA) G Boyd (ENG) R Blizard (NSW)
284: J Moul (ENG) B Parker (ENG) J Roxby (SA) M Jager (WA) K Lee (KOR)
285: L Peterson (NSW) J Younger (VIC) J Arnold (NSW)
286: R Beaufils (QLD) B Rankin (QLD) D Kim (NSW)
287: T Rophia (NZL) T H Choo (SIN) B Fletcher (QLD) R Kulacz (WA) D Lee (NZL) S Lewton (ENG)
288: J Bayron (PHI) L Deagan (VIC) - won on playoff

Renton Laidlaw update

RENTON SUNDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE
(from Mitchell Platts)

Cardiologist pleased with pacemaker but Renton heavily sedated and feeling quite nauseous. A little depressing for Jennifer (Renton's sister) but she is hopeful Renton will feel better tomorrow.

Colin on holiday

Colin is on a well deserved holiday and has left the updating of Scottish Golf View to his skeleton staff (i.e. Me!)
He'll be back ready to report on the final round of the Mens Champion of Champions on Sunday 8th April.
Meanwhile, if you have any golf news you would like published, please email it to me at gill@kirkwoodgolf.co.uk
Cheers
Gill Kirkwood

AUSSIE STROKE-PLAY DELAYED BY WIND

The fourth and final round of the Australian men's open amateur stroke-play championship had to be postponed for 24 hours as gale-force winds made play impossible at the New South Wales Golf Club near Sydney today.

TIGER WOODS GOES FOUR CLEAR WITH
ONE ROUND TO DO AT DORAL

Tiger Woods has created another "Who's gonna be second?" situation by posting a 54-hole tally of 11-under-par 205 in the world championships' arena that seems to bring the best out of him.
In the CA championship at the Doral Resort, Miami, Tiger has scored 71, 66 and 68 and will go into Sunday's final round with a four-stroke lead over fellow-American Brett Wetterich.

THIRD-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 216 (3 x 72)
205 T Woods 71 66 68.
209 B Wetterich 72 70 67.
210 N O'Hern 72 72 66.
211 VJ Sing 74 68 69, Tom Pernice jun 71 70 70, Aaron Baddeley 69 71 71, C Howell III 69 71 71, E Els 70 71 71, T Bjorn 68 72 71.
212 P Casey 76 70 66, N Fasth 72 70 70, S Garcia 71 70 71, G Ogilvy 72 69 71, H Stenson 67 73 72.
Other scores:
216 P Harrington 73 70 73, I Poulter 73 68 75.
217 P Broadhurst 73 71 73.
219 L Donald 74 70 75.
220 D Howell 74 73 73.
221 C Montgomerie 76 72 73.
223 J Bickerton 77 72 74.
228 A Wall 80 73 75.

SATURDAY NIGHT UPDATE ON RENTON LAIDLAW

From Mitchell Platts of the European Tour.

9pm. Pacemaker fitted. Sister Jennifer seeing light at the end of the tunnel. Nevertheless Renton to remain in Critical Care Unit for another week. So please continue to refrain from calling hospital or sending flowers, fruit etc. Cards to Jennifer at Caledonian Club as previously advised. No visitors at this time. But Jennifer says thanks again and sends her love.
Regards
Mitchell

Another great win for Belfast youngster at Sotogrande

McILROY FINISHES BIRDIE,

BIRDIE TO WIN INDIVIDUAL

TITLE AT NATIONS CUP

Denmark won the inaugural European Nations Cup (formerly the Sherry Cup) men’s team championship by one stroke from Ireland and England in an exciting finish at Royal Sotogrande Golf Club, Spain today.

But there was an individual sucess for Belfast teenager Rory McIlroy. He hit a nine iron to 6ft and holed the birdie putt at the 72nd hole to tie with Norway's Marius Thorp - winner of the Open championship amateur silver medal at Hoylake last summer - for the individual championship.

Then the confident McIlroy won the first hole of a sudden-death play-off by hitting his approach shot to 3ft and holing the putt for another birdie and another title.

Last summer, Rory (pictured right) won the European individual amateur championship. No wonder he is ranked No 2 in the R&A world rankings. He might even be No 1 by this time next week!

In the team event, the Danes totalled 863 to Ireland and England’s 864.

Wales were sixth on 871 and Scotland finished joint ninth of 16 with a final total of 883.

Scotland’s scorers on the final day were Glenn Campbell (Blairgowrie) with a two-under-par 70, easily his best of the four days, James Byrne (Banchory) and John Gallagher (Swanston), both with 73s.

James Byrne finished the leading Scot in joint 11th place on 291.

Germany, as expected, ran away with the women’s team championship. Their final total of 644 gave them victory by 13 shots from Spain.

Katharina Schallenberg from Germany, winner of the Spanish women’s open amateur championship a few weeks ago, came from behind over the final round to catch her team-mate Caroline Masson and win the individual women’s title.

Katharina finished with a 69 for 284 – three shots ahead of Caroline who signed off with a 75, her worst score of the four days, for 287.

Kerry Smith (England) was fourth on 292 behind Spain’s third-place Marta Silva Zamora.

EUROPEAN NATIONS CUP SCOREBOARD AT SOTOGRANDE

FINAL TOTALS

MEN'S TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Par 864 (4 x 216)
1 - 863 DENMARK (P F Drost, P Balinsoe, R H Nielsen, N Rasmussen).
2 - 864 IRELAND (R McIlroy, S Ward, S Lowry, N Kearney), ENGLAND (G Wolstenholme, E Richardson, P Waring, M Cryer).
4 - 870 NORWAY (M Thorp, A Kristiansen, A Friestad, F Kollevold).
5 - 871 PORTUGAL (J M Cudell, J Carlota, P Figueiredo, A Rosado), WALES (C Cousins, N Edwards, C Evans, L Matthews).
7 - 872 SWEDEN ( J Carlsson, N Glans, O Bonning, T Rosendahl).
8 - 876 SPAIN (J Legarrea, I Urquizu, C Perez Barberon, G Vicente).
9 - 883 FINLAND (J Granberg, M Salminen, J-P Savolampi, M Veijalainen), GERMANY (J Kilbing, F Schulte, P Westermann, A Knappe), SCOTLAND (G Campbell, J Gallagher, J Byrne, S McEwan).
12 - 891 AUSTRIA (T Kromer, C Pfau, W Rieder, P Sharma).
13 - 896 NETHERLANDS ( F De Vries, R Kino, W De Vries, R Saxton).
14 - 898 ITALY (M Guerisoli, N Lomgardi, A Romano, J Kim).
15 - 901 BELGIUM (P Relecom, X Feyaerts, D Van Doren, G Watremez).
16 - 910 SLOVENIA (M Studen, T Gornik, J Vidmar, N Pogacar).

MEN'S INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Par 288 (4 x 72)
1 - 281 R McIlroy (Ire) 69 70 70 72, M Thorp (Nor) 69 69 70 73 (McIlroy won play-off at first hole with birdie).
3 - 286 G Wolstenholme (Eng) 71 74 72 69.
4 - 287 N Edwards (Wal) 73 71 72 71.
5 - 288 X Feyaerts (Bel) 69 72 72 75.
6 - 289 I Urquizu (Spa) 73 76 70 70, P Waring (Eng) 74 73 71 71, A Knappe (Ger) 73 74 71 71, O Bonning (Swe) 73 72 70 74.
10 - 290 M Veijalainen (Fin) 72 71 74 73.
11 - 291 P Drost (Den) 75 76 73 67, J Byrne (Sco) 75 68 75 73.
13 - 292 J Carlota (Por) 79 66 71 76.
14 - 293 N Rasmussen (Den) 73 77 73 70, S Lowry (Ire) 76 72 75 70, L Matthews (Wal) 71 73 77 72, S Ward (Ire) 71 73 76 73, R Nielsen (Den) 73 71 75 74, M Cryer (Eng) 72 74 72 75, P Baunsoe (Den) 68 80 68 77.
21 - 294 W Rieder (Aut) 75 74 74 71, A Kristiansen (Nor) 72 76 74 72, A Kristiansen (Nor) 72 76 74 72, T Rosendahl (Swe) 72 71 78 73.
24 - 295 G Campbell (Sco) 76 74 75 70, C Evans (Wal) 73 72 77 73.
Other placings and totals:
29 - 297 C Cousins (Wal) 75 76 77 69, J Gallagher (Sco) 76 75 73 73.
33 - 298 E Richardson (Eng) 81 74 71 72.
39 - 300 N Kearney (Ire) 74 77 75 74.
58 - 309 S McEwan (Sco) 79 76 79 75.

WOMEN'S TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Par 648
+Two from three individual scores per team counted in the first, second and third rounds. In the fourth round, all three individual scores counted.
1 - 644 GERMANY (K Schallenberg, C Masson, S Doering).
2 - 657 SPAIN ( M Silva Zamora, S Cologan Ruiz, A Urchegui Garcia).
3 - 668 WALES (B Loucks, S Hassan, T Davies).
4 - 669 DENMARK (M Jorgensen, T Koelbaek, S M Eriksen).
5 - 672 ENGLAND (N Edwards, M Reid, K Smith).
6 - 680 BELGIUM (L Gonzalez, L Herman, V Gevers).
7 - 684 NETHERLANDS (M Van der Graaff, J Kraats, K Van Leeuwen).
8 - 692 FINLAND (S Harju, S Mantyniemi, R Suahn).
9 -698 ITALY ( F Angioletti, A Roscio, V Valgassori).
10 - 701 AUSTRIA ( M Hochwimmer, J Zering, C Wolf).

WOMEN'S INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Par 288 (4 x 72)
1 - 284 K Schallenberg (Ger) 69 71 75 69.
2 - 287 C Masson (Ger) 73 71 68 75.
3 - 291 M Silva Zamora (Spa) 71 74 71 75.
4 - 292 K Smith (Eng) 70 75 73 74.
5 - 295 A Urchegui Garcia (Spa) 77 73 77 68, M Jorgensen (Den) 73 74 71 77.
7 - 296 B Loucks (Wal) 74 75 74 73.
8 - 297 S Hassan (Wal) 74 72 78 73.
Other placings:
13 - 303 N Edwards (Eng) 77 75 73 78.
19 - 307 M Reid (Eng) 76 76 77 78.
25 - 310 T Davies (Wal) 75 82 76 77.

CATRIONA HOLDS ON TO SECOND PLACE
AT SUPERSTITION MOUNTAIN

Catriona Matthew held on to second place but saw the gap between her and the leader, Mexico's wonder girl Lorena Ochoa widen to three shots when the second ound of the Safeway International LPGA Tour event was completed at Superstition Mountain Golf Club, Arizona today.
In all 66 players had to come back early to finish their second rounds.
Ochoa had a brilliant second round of eight-under-par 64 to advance to 11-under 133.
Catriona repeated her first-round 68 for 136.
HOW THEY STAND AFTER TWO ROUNDS
133 Lorena Ochoa 69 64.
136 Catriona Matthew 68 68.
137 Suzann Pettersen 69 68.
138 Gloria Park 71 67, Jeong Jang 68 70.
140 Hee-Won Han 70 70, Shi Hyun Ahn 72 68.
141 Laura Diaz 70 71, Mi Hyun Kim 69 72, Sophie Gustafsson 75 66, Annika Sorenstam 73 68.
142 Rachel Hetherington 71 71, Young Jo 68 74, Irene Cho 74 68, Julieta Granada 73 69, Sarah Lee 72 70, Paula Creamer 74 68.

EUAN LITTLE JOINT FOURTH WITH ONE
ROUND TO GO IN MADEIRA OPEN

Argentinian Daniel Vancsik, not one of the better-known names on the European Tour, is not only the surprise leader but also by a runaway margin of four strokes with one round to plan in the Madeira Island Open.
Vancsik has shot three very good rounds of 68, 66 and 68 for a 14-under-par, 54-hole tally of 202.
His closest rival is Denmark's Mads Vibe-Hastrup (who played in one of the Doug Sanders European and world boys' championships in Aberdeen in the 1990s). Mads has shot 68,70 and 68 for 206, one clear of Frenchman Christian Cevaer, another player with a link to Aberdeen. Christian won the British youths championship - before the R&A deleted the tournament from the golfing calendar - at Royal Aberdeen.
Given that most of the "big names" are in the United States for the build-up to the US Masters, it is a golden chance for those who are normally overshadowed to get into the limelight.
Like Scot Euan Little for instance. He didn't set the South African Sunshine Tour ablaze a month or two back but here is in a European Tour event sharing fourth place on eight-under-par 208.
Steven O'Hara from Motherwell had a disappointing third round of 76 and he dropped back to one-over-par 217.
David Drysdale, the third Scot among the halfway qualifiers, is on 219 after a 74. David has yet to break the par of 72 in his three rounds.
THIRD-ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 216 (3 x 72). Players from GB&I unless stated.
202 Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 68 66 68
206 Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 68 70 68
207 Christian Cevaer (Fra) 70 65 72
208 Santiago Luna (Spa) 69 67 72, Euan Little 73 66 69
209 Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 74 67 68, David Frost (SAf) 72 65 72
210 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 68 72 70, Alexander Noren (Swe) 72 66 72, Simon Nash (Aus) 70 69 71, Jamie Donaldson 71 69 70, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 70 69 71
211 Gary Murphy 74 67 70, Peter Baker 67 72 72, David Park 71 68 72
212 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 75 70 67, Andrew Tampion (Aus) 74 68 70, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 74 68 70, Stuart Little 71 69 72
213 Steve Alker (NZ) 72 71 70, Johan Axgren (Swe) 75 70 68, Jamie Spence 74 65 74, Notah Begay III (US) 67 71 75, Andrew Marshall 73 71 69, Sam Little 70 69 74, Gregory Havret (Fra) 71 69 73, Ian Garbutt 71 69 73
214 Iain Pyman 77 67 70, Garry Houston 75 69 70, Sven Struver (Ger) 70 71 73, Oliver Wilson 70 69 75, Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra) 71 74 69, Peter Gustafsson (Swe) 74 70 70, Simon Wakefield 74 67 73
215 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 78 67 70, Miguel Rodriguez (Arg) 77 68 70, David Griffiths 74 69 72, Birgir Hafthorsson (Is) 74 70 71, David Lynn 71 70 74, Tom Whitehouse 74 71 70, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 76 67 72, Antonio Sobrinho (Por) 74 70 71, Bradley Dredge 73 72 70
216 Benn Barham 74 69 73, Jean Van de Velde (Fra) 75 67 74, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 74 70 72, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 68 73 75
217 Luis Claverie (Spa) 71 70 76, Steven O'Hara 71 70 76, Tiago Cruz (Por) 73 71 73, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 77 67 73, Ivo Giner (Spa) 74 71 72, Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 73 71 73, Ricardo Santos (Por) 66 74 77, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 71 72 74
218 Nicolas Vanhootegem (Bel) 75 70 73, Denny Lucas 72 73 73, David Higgins 74 70 74, Manuel Quiros (Spa) 73 70 75
219 David Drysdale 73 72 74, Pedro Linhart (Spa) 73 71 75
221 Phillip Talbot 73 71 77
222 Alvaro Salto (Spa) 74 71 77, Kenneth Ferrie 74 70 78
223 Adrien Mork (Fra) 73 72 78, David Bransdon (Aus) 72 73 78
224 Phillip Archer 71 74 79.

CANADIAN LEADS ASIAN TOUR
EVENT AT SINGAPORE
Canadian veteran Rick Gibson produced a storming finish with two birdies to snatch the third-round lead at the inaugural Motorola International Bintan at Singapore today.
Gibson, 45, battled to a three-under-par 69 on a sun-kissed Ria Bintan Golf Club to top the leaderboard on 10-under-par 206, one shot clear of Korea's Mo Joong-kyung (66) and overnight leader Adam Blyth (72) of Australia in the US$350,000 Asian Tour event.
Chinese Taipei's Lu Wen-teh rewrote the course record with a blistering 64 to charge into a share of fourth place with former Australian Open winner Peter Fowler, compatriot Unho Park, American duo Jason Knutzon and Clay Devers and Korea's Park Jun-won.
Gibson, a multiple winner in Canada and Asia, surged ahead of a crowded leaderboard with a glorious finish with birdies on the 17th and 18th holes.
He conceded being lucky on the penultimate hole after landing in a divot on the fairway. "There's not a whole lot of bail-out on that hole as there's the ocean on the left and back of the green. I actually pulled my eight-iron to end up four feet of the pin, I'll be honest about that!" said Gibson, chasing his first win since the 2002 Philippine Open.
The Manila-based Gibson signed off in style, nailing an exquisite seven-iron to three feet at the par-3 ee hole at the last with its green nestled on the rocky beachfront. The Canadian took last week off to rectify flaws in his game with a swing coach and hopes it will lead him to glory. But Gibson warned that the 18th will be make-or-break on Sunday.

THIRD-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 216 (3 x 72)

206 Rick Gibson (Can) 68-69-69
207 Mo Joong-kyung (KOR) 70-71-66, Adam Blyth (AUS) 70-65-72
208 Jason Knutzon (US) 69-71-68, Park Jun-won (Kor) 68-71-69, Unho Park (Aus) 71-68-69, Clay Devers (US) 68-70-70, Mark Brown (NZ) 66-71-71, Lu Wen-Teh (Tpe) 71-73-64, Peter Fowler (AUS) 68-69-71
209 Airil Rizman Zahari (Mas) 69-69-71, Scott Strange (AUS) 69-67-73
210 Lin Keng-Chi (Tpe) 68-72-70, Scott Barr (AUS) 71-69-70, Yasin Ali (Eng) 69-71-70, Panuwat Muenlek (Tha) 69-69-72, Brad Kennedy (AUS) 70-68-72, Thaworn Wiratchant (THA) 70-67-73, Mike Cunning (US) 66-69-75
211 Masaya Tomida (Jap) 70-72-69, Steven Jeffress (AUS) 71-72-68, Artemio Murakami (Phi) 72-68-71, Adam Groom (Aus) 70-70-71, Tatsuhiko Takahashi (Jap) 70-69-72, Angelo Que (Phi) 69-69-73, Gareth Paddison (NZ) 70-68-73, Lin Wen-tang (Tpe) 70-68-73, Ted Oh (Kor) 67-69-75
212 Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 69-72-71, Taichiro Kiyota (Jap) 70-71-71, Corey Harris (US) 72-67-73, David Gleeson (Aus) 71-68-73, Lucas Parsons (Aus) 71-67-74

SALTMAN AND HENRY IN

LEADING SEVEN WITH

ONE ROUND TO GO IN

AUSSIE STROKE-PLAY

BY ALISTAIR HOGG

Australian Golf Union website writer
Andrew Dodt has shot a 68 to take a share of the lead going into the final round of the Australian amateur stroke-play championship. He is joined by New South Welshman, Scott Arnold as the pair tamed the New South Wales Golf Club course at La Perouse on the Pacific coastline of Botany Bay.
Queenslander Dodt came home with a flurry as he carded a bogey-free back nine. In fact, Dodt's round of two-under 68 was almost blemish free other than a bogey on the par-4 seventh.
Arnold shot a 66 to join Dodt at the top of the leaderboard. The New South Welshman started the day at two-under-par but piled a hat-trick of birdies on the front nine to finish six-under the card and lead the race to the title.
Overnight leader Ben Parker struggled today, shooting a 77 to fall back to one-under, five shy of the leaders. The 19-year-old Englishman led the field by four at the start of play but two bogeys inside the opening four holes compounded by a double at the seventh saw him drop back to equal sixth.
Countryman David Horsey meanwhile catapulted himself into contention with a four-under 66. The Englishman opened with a birdie-bogey combination but was a picture of consistency after that. Horsey did not drop a stroke after the second hole and picked up and an eagle at 14.
Walker Cup Scot Lloyd Saltman (pictured above) is tied with Horsey two strokes behind the leaders. After an erratic front nine, Saltman settled to record four birdies on his way to a 68.

Scott Henry, the 2006 Scottish open amateur stroke-play champion from Cardross, gives Scotland a second player in the leading seventh. Henry is joint sixth on 209.
The winner of the event will earn himself an exemption into the 2007 MFS Australian Open at The Australia Golf Club in December while the top 32 qualify for next week's Australian match-play championship at the same NSW venue.

Leaderboard after the third round of the Australian Stroke Play Championship at New South
THIRD ROUND LEADERBOARD

Par 210 (3 x 70)

204 Scott Arnold (NSW), Andrew Dodt (Queensland).

206 David Horsey (England), Lloyd Saltman (Scotland).

207 Justin Roach (NSW).

209 Ben Parker (England), Scott Henry (Scotland).

210 James Gill (NZ), Jordan Sherratt (South Australia).

SATURDAY MORNING UPDATE ON RENTON LAIDLAW

From Mitchell Platts of European Tour

10.30am. Jennifer (Renton's sister) had a long talk with the surgeon this morning. She reported that Renton is lucky to be alive. But the pain has subsided this morning and he is going to the heart hospital to have the pacemaker fitted. A long, long way to go but Renton continues to make progress.
Regards
Mitchell

CATRIONA LYING SECOND WITH ONE HOLE
TO COMPLETE IN SUSPENDED ROUND 2

Catriona Matthew was one of 66 players who had not completed their second rounds when play was halted for the day at 6.11pm local time due to bad weather and failing light in the Safeway International LPGA tournament at Superstition Mountain Golf Club, Arizona.
On the overall scoreboard, Catriona is lying second at eight-under-par for the tournament after 17 holes. She started at the 10th and birdied the 10th and 11th, bogeyed the 12th and 16th before bogeying the 18th.
She then climbed back up the leaderboard with birdies at the third, fifth and seventh.
She is lying second to Lorena Ochoa who was nine under par for the tournament with four holes still to play in her second round.

OVERALL SCOREBOARD
-9 after 14 holes Lorena Ochoa 69 - .
-8 after 17 holes Catriona Matthew 68.
-7 after 18 holes Suzann Pettersen 69 68.
-6 after 18 holes Jeong Jang 68 70.
-6 after 15 holes Gloria Park 71 - .
-5 after 10 holes Young Jo 68 -.
-4 after 18 holes Hee-Won Han 70 70.
-3 after 18 holes Laura Diaz 70 71.
-3 after 18 holes Annika Sorenstam 73 68.
-3 after 18 holes Sophie Gustafson 75 66.
-3 after 17 holes Myun Kim 69.

TIGER WOODS IS BACK ON TOP OF THE
WORLD AS PUTTER GETS HOT

You can't keep a good man down. Tiger Woods, who finished with a catastrophic last round in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, is, only two rounds later, on top of the world at the Doral Golf Resort in Miami.
Woods got his putter going to shoot a second-round 66 for a halfway total of 137 in the CA world championship event and a two-shot lead from Rod Pampling, the man who once led in "our" Open.#
There are a heap of guys sharing third place on 140 including Thomas Bjorn, Ernie Els, Henrik Stenson and Trevor Immelman.

HALFWAY LEADERBOARD
137 T Woods 71 66.
139 R Pampling 70 69.
140 T Bjorn 68 72, Z Johnson 72 68, C Howell III 69 71, E Els 70 70, H Stenson 67 73, T Immelman 72 68, A Baddeley 69 71.
Other scores:
141 S Garcia 71 70, I Pulter 73 68.
142 VJ Singh 74 68.
143 P Harrington 73 70.
144 L Donald 74 70, P Broadhurst 73 71.
146 P Casey 76 70.
147 D Howell 74 73.
148 C Montgomery 76 72.
149 J Bickerton 77 72.
149 J M Olazabal 69 80.
153 A Wall 80 73.

IRELAND LEAD BY THREE IN MEN'S EUROPEAN
NATIONS CUP; GERMAN WOMEN WELL CLEAR

Ireland (649) lead by three strokes from England, Portugal and Denmark with one round to go in the men's team championship of the European Nations Cup at Sotogrande, Spain.
Scotland dropped to 10th place on 667 - 18 strokes behind Ireland - with third-round counting scores of 73 from John Gallagher (Swanston) and 75s each from James Byrne (Banchory) and Glenn Campbell (Blairgowrie). For the third day in a row Steven McEwan (Barassie) had a non-counting score.
In the women's championship, it is all over bar the shouting - Germany (423) are 16 strokes clear of the field. England are in fourth place on 442 with Wales fifth on 445.

THIRD-ROUND SCOREBOARD

MEN'S TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
649 IRELAND (R McIlroy 70, S Lowry 75, N Kearney 75).
652 PORTUGAL.
652 DENMARK, ENGLAND (E Richardson 71, P Waring 71, G Wolstenholme 72).
656 NORWAY.
659 WALES (N Edwards 72, C Evans 77, L Matthews 77).
661 SWEDEN.
662 FINLAND.
664 GERMANY.
667 SCOTLAND (J Gallagher 73, G Campbell 75, J Byrne 75).
668 SPAIN.
673 AUSTRIA, NETHERLANDS.
674 BELGIUM.
681 SLOVENIA.
683 ITALY.

MEN'S INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIP
208 M Thorp (Nor) 69 69 70.
209 R McIlroy (Ire) 69 70 70.
213 X Feyaerts 69 72 72.
215 O Bonning 73 72 70.
216 P Baunsoe 68 80 68, J Carlota 79 66 71, N Edwards (Wal) 73 72 71.
Other scores:
217 G Wolstenholme (Eng) 71 74 72 (jt 8th).
218 P Waring (Eng) 74 73 71, M Cryer (Eng) 72 74 72, J Byrne (Sco) 75 68 75 (jt 10th).
224 J Gallagher (Sco) 76 75 73 (jt 31st).
225 G Campbell (Sco) 76 74 75 (jt 34th).
234 S McEwan (Sco) 79 76 79 (jt 56th).

WOMEN'S TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP

423 GERMANY.
439 SPAIN.
440 DENMARK.
442 ENGLAND (N Edwards 73, K Smith 73).
445 WALES (B Loucks 75, T Davies 76).
449 NETHERLANDS.
456 BELGIUM.
464 AUSTRIA.
465 FINLAND.
466 ITALY.

WOMEN'S INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIP
212 C Masson (Ger) 73 71 68.
215 K Schallenberg (Ger) 69 71 75.
216 M Silva Zamora (Spa) 71 74 71.
218 K Smith (Eng) 70 75 73, M Jorgensen 73 74 71.
223 B Loucks (Wal) 74 75 74, S Doering (Ger) 73 79 71, T Koelbaek 77 72 74.
Other scores:
224 S Hassan (Wal) 74 72 78 (jt 9th).
225 N Edwards (Eng) 77 75 73 (jt 11th).
229 M Reid (Eng) 76 76 77 (jt 18th).
233 T Davies (Wal) 75 82 76 (jt 25th).

Madeira Islands Open at Santo da Serra

THREE INWARD-HALF BOGEYS BY
PAUL LAWRIE PUT HIM ON SIDELINES

Paul Lawrie failed to get the birdies he needed over the last five holes to qualify for the final two rounds of the Madeira Islands Open over the Santo de Serra course.
Instead, the 1999 Open champion from Aberdeen bogeyed the short 17th to slip to four over par the tournament.
The cut mark eventally came down to one-over-par 145.
Paul finished with a 75 and 73 for 148.
Steven O'Hara was certain of making the cut after posting a 70 for 141 and compatriot David Drysdale finished right on the limit mark after adding a 72 to his first-day 73.
But former Scottish amateur champion and rookie tour pro George Murray was doomed for the sidelines with 79 and 70 for 149.
Another former Scottish amateur title-winner Andrew McArthur bowed out on 151 with 75 and 76. West Linton-based Welshman Gareth Wright exited on 156 (81-75).
Argentinian Daniel Vancsik and Spaniard Santiago Luna are the halfway leaders on 10-under-par 134. They are three strokes clear of South African David Frost.

SECOND-ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 144 (2 x 72).
Players from GB&I unless stated; (x) denotes amateur.

134 Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 68 66 136 Santiago Luna (Spa) 69 67.
137 David Frost (SAf) 72 65
138 Notah Begay (US) 67 71, Alexander Noren (Swe) 72 66, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 68 70
139 Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 70 69, Peter Baker 67 72, Sam Little 70 69, Simon Nash (Aus) 70 69, David Park 71 68, Jamie Spence 74 65, Oliver Wilson 70 69
140 Robert-Jan Derksen (Ned) 68 72, Ian Garbutt 71 69, Gregory Havret (Fra) 71 69, Stuart Little 71 69
141 Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 74 67, David Lynn 71 70, Gary Murphy 74 67, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 68 73, Steven O'Hara 71 70, Sven Struver (Ger) 70 71, Simon Wakefield 74 67
142 Andrew Tampion (Aus) 74 68, Jean Van de Velde 75 67
143 Steve Alker (NZ) 72 71, Benn Barham 74 69, David Griffiths 74 69, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 71 72, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 76 67
144 Tiago Cruz (Por) 73 71, Kenneth Ferrie 74 70, Peter Gustafsson (Swe) 74 70, Birgir Hafthorsson (Ice) 74 70, David Higgins 74 70, Garry Houston 75 69, Pedro Linhart (Spa) 73 71, Iain Pyman 77 67, Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 73 71, Philip Talbot 73 71
145 Phillip Archer 71 74, David Bransdon (Aus) 72 73, Bradley Dredge 73 72, David Drysdale 73 72, Denny Lucas 72 73, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 75 70, Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra) 71 74, Alvaro Salto (Spa) 74 71, Nicolas Vanhootegem (Bel) 75 70
MISSED CUT
146 Jose Manuel Carriles (Spa) 75 71, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 80 66, Oliver Fisher 72 74, Gary Lockerbie 73 73, Martin Maritz (SAf) 75 71, Andrew Raitt 75 71, Alexandre Rocha (Bra) 75 71, Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 74 72, Carl Suneson (Spa) 74 72, Sam Walker 73 73
147 Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 74 73, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 72 75, Mattias Eliasson (Swe) 77 70, Richard Finch 72 75, Marcus Higley 72 75, Lee James 74 73, Steven Jeppesen (Swe) 73 74, Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 79 68, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 74 73, Steve Webster 73 74, Fredrik Widmark (Swe) 78 69
148 Joakim Backstrom (Swe) 76 72, Sion Bebb 76 72, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 72 76, Paul Lawrie 75 73, Tim Milford 75 73, Thomas Nielsen (Den) 73 75, Matthew Richardson 74 74, Graeme Storm 74 74, Leif Westerberg (Swe) 76 72
149 Oskar Bergman (Swe) 77 72, Diego Borrego (Spa) 74 75, Francisco Cea (Spa) 77 72, James Heath 78 71, Peter Lawrie 75 74, George Murray 79 70, Gustavo Rojas (Arg) 75 74
150 Jesus Maria Arruti (Spa) 76 74, Francois Calmels (Fra) 77 73, Julien Foret (Fra) 73 77, Anders S Hansen (Den) 78 72, Juan Parron (Spa) 76 74, Edward Rush 74 76, Shaun Webster 78 72, Matthew Zions (Aus) 78 72
151 Andrew McArthur 75 76, Richard McEvoy 80 71, Hugo Santos (Por) 80 71, Kyron Sullivan 77 74
152 Chris Gane 78 74, Toni Karjalainen (Fin) 79 73, Anthony Snobeck (Fra) 77 75, Paolo Terreni (Ita) 77 75
153 Jonathan Lomas 75 78
154 Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 80 74, Nuno Campino (Por) 80 74
155 John Wade (Aus) 80 75
156 Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 76 80, (x) Joao Pedro Sousa (Por) 78 78, Gareth Wright 81 75,
158 Antti Ahokas (Fin) 82 76
166 Duarte Freitas (Por) 83 83

NEW MUM CATRIONA SHARES LEAD
IN SAFEWAY INTERNATIONAL
AT SUPERSTITION MOUNTAIN

Motherhood obviously brings the best out of Catriona Matthew the golfer.
The North Berwick player looked in very good nick indeed considering she was making a comeback after taking a seven-month break from the LPGA Tour to give birth to her first child.
On a blustery day that must have reminded her of her native Scotland, Catriona shot a 4-under 68 for a share of the lead with Young Jo in the suspended first round of the Safeway International over the Superstition Mountain Golf Club's Prospector Course.
"You don't know what to expect coming out here, since I haven't played for a while," Matthew said.
Lorena Ochoa and Mi Hyun Kim were a stroke back and Beth Bader and Gloria Park were two strokes off the lead.
Seventy-two players were still on the course when play was suspended because of darkness at 6:06 p.m. Rain and lightning delayed play for about two hours.
Mrs Matthew is playing in her first tournament since last August, when she withdrew after one round from the Wendy's Championship for Children in Dublin, Ohio.
She was pregnant with her first child at the time. After giving birth to daughter Katie three months ago, she went back to work on her game at North Berwick. Her off-season training paid off immediately.
"After such a long lay-off, I've been practising well," said Catriona, who has two LPGA Tour victories, the last coming in 2004.
She birdied the par-4 first hole, hitting a 7-iron from 164 yards to 10 feet and making the putt.
That was the first of the Scot's six birdies. She also had two bogeys, one with a three-putt on the par-5 13th hole.
"I went out there and got off to a good start, which was very important, considering I hadn't had a tour round for seven months," said Catriona.

BARRY HUME RUNS UP AN

EMBARRASSING 85 IN

ASIAN TOUR EVENT - MISSES

CUT BY 17 STROKES

If Barry Hume thought things couldn't get much worse after his error-strewn 76 in the first round of the Motorola International Bintan tournament, the Scot was in for a shock in the second round in Indonesia today.

The former Scottish amateur champion, pictured right, played to a double-figure handicap in amateur terms with a 13-over-par 85 to miss the halfway cut in this Asian Tour event by SEVENTEEN strokes.

Hume's embarrassing second-round card included a triple bogey 7 at the ninth, a triple bogey 7 at the 12th, a triple bogey 7 at the 13th, a double bogey 7 at the 15th and a double bogey 6 at the 17th.

The Glasgow man required 47 shots for the inward half. By the way, he did birdie the seventh and 14th and dropped a single shot at the 10th.

Meanwhile, some people could play the course, such as Australian Adam Blyth who fired a new course record of seven-under-par 65 to charge into the joint halfway lead with American Mike Cunning.
The 25-year-old Blyth, chasing his maiden title on the Asian Tour, was flawless at the spectacular Gary Player-designed Ria Bintan Golf Club as he sank five birdies and an eagle to better the day-old record set by Cunning and New Zealand's Mark Brown.
India's Vivek Bhandari also carded a spectacular 65, an 11 shot improvement from his opening round 76 and was delighted to cancel his holiday plans after safely moving into the weekend rounds.
Cunning, who turns 49 this year, lived up to the old saying "beware the sick golfer" as he laboured to a 69 to retain his overnight lead in the US$350,000 event. The American, winner of Asia's Order of Merit in 1997 and struggling with the flu this week, sank an eagle at the par-5 16 for the second straight day and then tied Blyth with a 20ft birdie at the par-3 18th hole on this holiday isle off the coast of Singapore.
The halfway cut was set at 144 with 72 players qualifying for the weekend rounds.

Compatriots Simon Dunn and Ross Bain joined Hume on the sidelines although they were a good deal closer to the cut-off figure.
SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD

Par 144 (2 x 72)
135 Adam Blyth (Aus) 70 65, Mike Cunning (US) 66 69.
136 Ted Oh (Kor) 67 69, Scott Strange (Aus) 69 67.
137 Peter Fowler (Aus) 68 69, Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha) 70 67, Mark Brown (NZ) 66-71, Scott Hend (Aus) 69 68, Rick Gibson (Can) 68 69.
138 Lin Wen-Tang (Tpe) 70 68, Airil Rizman Zahari (Mas) 69 69, Lucas Parsons (Aus) 71 67, Panuwat Muenlek (Tha) 69 69, Brad Kennedy (Aus) 70 68, Angelo Que (Phi) 69 69, Gareth Paddison (NZ) 70 68, Clay Devers (US) 68 70.
139 - David Gleeson (Aus) 71 68, Park Jun-won (Kor) 68 71, Unho Park (Aus) 71 68, Tatsuhiko Takahashi (Jap) 70 69, Corey Harris (US) 72 67.
140 - Adam Bland (Aus) 72 68, Roy Moon (US) 71 69, Adam Groom (Aus) 70 70, Jason Knutzon (US) 69 71, Yasin Ali (Eng) 69 71, Lin Keng-chi (Tpe) 68 72, Scott Barr (Aus) 71 69, Artemio Murakami (Phi) 72 68.
141 - Vivek Bhandari (Ind) 76 65, Scott Taylor (US) 71 70, Leigh McKechnie (Aus) 72 69, Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 69 72, P. Gunasegaran (Mas) 68 73, Taichiro Kiyota (Jap) 70 71, Mo Joong-kyung (Kor) 70 71.

NON-QUALIFIERS INCLUDED (144 was cut-off figure)

146 Simon Griffiths (Eng) 70 76.

147 Simon Dunn (Sco) 74 73.

149 Ben St John (Eng) 75 74.

150 Ross Bain (Sco) 76 74.

151 Eddie Barr (Ire) 73 78.

161 Barry Hume (Sco) 76 85.

FROM THE AUSTRALIAN GOLF UNION WEBSITE

SALTMAN (65) IN JOINT FOURTH

PLACE AT HALFWAY STAGE

OF AUSSIE STROKE-PLAY

BY ALISTAIR HOGG (at New South Wales Golf Club, nr Sydney)

England's Ben Parker has stamped his authority on the Australian amateur stroke-play championship, streaking to eight-under-par 132 at the half-way mark of the tournament. Parker shot a 65, an improvement of two strokes on his first round and Ben is four ahead of Australians Andrew Dodt and Jordan Sherratt.
The Englishman showed a mixture of poise and power to top the leader board at New South Wales Golf Club on what was a tough day for most, played in blustery conditions.
Ben's superb round included five birdies and two eagles as he made the most of the more forgiving morning conditions.
After a birdie on the first, Parker was steady before cutting loose on the fifth, holing three consecutive birdies before topping it off with an eagle at the par-5 eighth to be out in just 31. His back nine was less consistent but good enough to propel him to a four stroke lead over the Aussie duo on four-under.
Dodt, who was joint leader on 66 after the opening round, carded a 70 and is well placed going into the second half of the tournament. The Aussie national squad member is joined by Sherratt who also carded an even par 70 in Friday's second round.
Josh Younger shot a 73 for 139 to slightly fall away after a strong opening round, as did Englishman David Horsey who shot a 74 for 140
BIG MOVER IN SECOND ROUND
The big mover was Rudi Bezuidenhout who atoned for an opening round of seven-over 77 with a seven-under 63 today. The spectacular form reversal was made even more impressive by the fact he achieved it in the tough, windy afternoon conditions at La Perouse.
The cut was made at eight over par 152. The winner, who will be be decided on Sunday, will win an exemption into the 2007 MFS Australian Open in December. However the main goal for most players will be to finish in the top-32 which will gain them entry into next week's Australian amateur match-play championship.
Colin Farquharson writes:
You wouldn't know it from the Australian website writer's report, but Walker Cup Scot Lloyd Saltman (Craigielaw), pictured above, and Scottish open amateur stroke-play champion Scott Henry (Cardross) are doing well.
Saltman is in joint fourth place on 138 after an excellent second round of five-under-par 65 while young Henry is among a group in joint 10th place on 140. Scott has scored 71 and 69 so far.
Paul O'Hara (Colville Park) easily made the top 70 and ties who go on to the final 36 holes. Paul has scored 74 and 69 for 143.

Scottish amateur match-play champion Kevin McAlpine (Alyth) was a casualty, however. His scores of 72 and 77 for 149 added up to just one shot too many to beat the cut.

HALFWAY LEADER BOARD
Par 140 (2 x 70)
132 B Parker (England) 67 65.
136 J Sheratt (South Australia) 66 70, A Dodt (Queensland) 66 70.
138 L Saltman (Scotland) 73 65, M Foster (West Australia) 69 69, S Arnold (New South Wales) 70 68, J Gill (New Zealand) 70 68.
139 J Roach (New South Wales) 70 69, J Younger (Victoria) 66 73.
140 D Nisbet (Queensland) 70 70, T Ropiha (New Zealand) 67 73, J Roxby (South Australia) 68 72, S Smith (Queensland) 69 71, R Bezuidenhout (New South Wales) 77 63, S Henry (Scotland) 71 69, R Blizard (New South Wales) 70 70, D Horsey (Eng) 66 74.
141 D Lee (New Zealand) 72 69.

142 L Peterson (New South Wales) 70 72, N Ratanakul (Thailand) 67 65, B haines (West Australia) 66 76, M Jager (West Australia) 66 76.

143 P O'Hara (Scotland) 74 69, G Boyd (England) 71 72, J Scrivener (West Australia) 69 74, Adam Stephens (New South Wales) 68 75, Do Kim (New South Wales) 73 70, Kevin Lee (Korea) 66 77.

Other qualifiers included:

144 J Moul (England) 68 76, S Lewton (England) 74 70.
146 S Benson (England) 75 71.

Non-qualifiers included (148 was cut-off score):

149 K McAlpine (Scotland) 72 77.

153 J Palmer (England) 81 72.

Winner of British title at Balgownie named for April contest

ENGLAND NAME SQUAD FOR BOYS' MATCH v SWEDEN
British boys' champion Matthew Nixon, pictured left, has been named in a six-strong England boys team to face Sweden in a boys' international match at The Buckinghamshire Golf Club on April 10.
Nixon, 17, from Lancashire, joined an impressive list of former champions such as Jose Maria Olazabal, David Howell and Ken Ferrie when he took the title at Royal Aberdeen last August. The other members of the team to face the Swedes are Oscar Sharpe (Minchinhampton), Tom Berry and Gary King from Surrey, Jack Hiluta from Essex and Northamptonshire’s Adam Myers.
Hiluta, King and Nixon are members of England’s under-18 squad while Berry, Myers and Sharpe are in the under-16 squad.Hiluta, 17, made an impressive debut for England in last year’s boys' home internationals at Lossiemouth where he won five of his six matches. This year he has played in the triangular match against Canada and South Africa near Pretoria and beat full cap David Horsey on his way to the last 16 of the Spanish men's open amateur championship.
King, who made his debut in the annual under 16 international with Scotland at Hartlepool last autumn, is among a crop of talented youngsters to emerge from Surrey. A former Surrey under- 14 champion, earlier this year he finished runner-up to county colleague Seve Benson in the Qatar Open Amateur in Doha.
Prior to his British boys' championship triumph at Balgownie, Nixon finished second in the North of England under-16 championship in 2005 and last year was runner-up in the Lancashire men's and boys' championships.Berry, 16, the Surrey under-14 champion in 2005, finished runner-up in the Reid Trophy (England Under-14 championship) that year and played against the Swedes 12 months ago at Meon Valley. He helped England win the Nations Cup in last year’s McGregor Trophy at Worthing and represented Surrey in the boys' county finals at Pannal.
Myers, England under-16 champion in 2005, has been capped at that level for the past two years and was also a member of a winning Nations Cup team at Worthing.
Fourteen-year-old Sharpe from Gloucestershire made history last year when he won the under-14, 15 and 16 titles following his victories at Worthing and Gosforth. He also won the Douglas Johns Trophy and the North of England boys' championship and represented England at under-16 level against Spain and Scotland.The match with Sweden will consist of three morning foursomes followed by six singles.

The full England boys' team is:
Tom Berry (Wentworth), Jack Hiluta (Chelmsford), Gary King (Tyrrells Wood), Adam Myers (Northants County), Matthew Nixon (Ashton-under-Lyne), Oscar Sharpe (Minchinhampton).

LATEST BULLETINS ON RENTON
LAIDLAW'S CONDITION
(scroll down for 5.30pm update)

From Mitchell Platts of the European Tour.

Friday am
Renton remains upbeat, as do the specialists, but whenever the heart is strained or backfiring there is concern, so he might be transferred to the heart hospital this weekend to have a proper pacemaker fitted which the cardiologist wants done soon rather than later.
Otherwise Jennifer - his sister - reported good progress and once again thanks everyone for their thoughts and for so kindly not putting the hospital switchboard under pressure.
If you do wish to send a card, the address is:
Renton Laidlaw, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, The Critical Care Unit, Fulham Road, London SW3 6JJ.

Later message from Mitchell Platts:

I have just spoken to Jennifer again. Please direct all mail to her - Jennifer Laidlaw, The Caledonian Club, 9 Halkin Street, London SW1X 7DR.
No flowers, no fruit at this time to the hospital - they simply could not cope. We should wait until Renton is settled into a proper ward.

Friday pm update
Not such a great day for Renton. He has been in a lot of pain and they will be doing a scan to try and locate the problem.
Regards
Mitchell Platts
Thanks
Mitchell

JAMES BYRNE BOOSTS SCOTS

WITH A 68 IN EUROPEAN

NATIONS CUP IN SPAIN

A fine four-under-par round of 68 - the best of the day - by James Byrne, pictured right, from Banchory lifted Scotland up the standings at the halfway stage of the European Nations Cup, which used to be called the Sherry Cup, at Royal Sotogrande Golf Club on Spain's Costa del Sol.
Coupled with a 74 from Glenn Campbell (Blairgowrie) and a 75 from John Gallagher (Swanston) that put the Scots in joint eighth place on 444 - 15 shots behind leaders Ireland for whom European individual champion Rory McIlroy from Belfast had a 70.
Byrne is now in joint fourth place in the individual standings on 143 - five behind Norway's Marius Thorp (138).
Germany are dominating the women's section with a seven-stroke lead from Spain in the team event and a four-shot advantage for Katharina Schallenberg in the individual standings.

HALFWAY SCOREBOARD
Par 144 (2 x 72)
MEN'S TEAM EVENT
429 IRELAND ( R McIlroy 70, S Lowry 72, S Ward 73).
432 PORTUGAL.
433 WALES (N Edwards 71, C Evans 72, L Matthews 73).
438 ENGLAND (P Waring 73, G Wolstenholme 74, E Richardson 74), DENMARK.
439 NORWAY, SWEDEN.
444 SCOTLAND (J Byrne 68, G Campbell 74, J Gallagher 75), GERMANY, FINLAND.
447 SPAIN.
451 SLOVENIA, AUSTRIA.
452 BELGIUM, NETHERLANDS.
454 ITALY

MEN'S INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS
138 M Thorp (Nor) 69 69.
139 R McIlroy (Ire) 69 70.
141 Xavier Feyaerts 69 72.
143 James Byrne (Sco) 75 68, T Rosendahl 73 71, M Veijalainen 72 71.
144 N Edwards (Wal) 73 71, R Nielsen 73 71, S Ward (Ire) 71 73, L Matthews (Wal) 71 73.
Other scores:
145 C Evans (Wal) 73 71, G Wolstenholme (Eng) 74 74 (jt 11th).
146 M Cryer (Eng) 72 74 (jt 17th).
147 P Waring (Eng) 74 73 (jt 19th).
148 S Lowry (Ire) 76 72 (jt 23rd).
150 G Campbell (Sco) 76 74 (jt 30th).
151 J Gallagher (Sco) 76 75, C Cousins (Wal) 75 76, N Kearney (Ire) 74 77 (jt 35th).
155 E Richardson (Eng) 81 74, S McEwan (Sco) 79 76 (jt 50th).

WOMEN'S TEAM EVENT
284 GERMANY.
291 SPAIN.
295 WALES (S Hassan 72, B Loucks 75), DENMARK.
296 ENGLAND ( N Edwards 75, K Smith 75).
297 NETHERLANDS.
303 BELGIUM.
308 FINLAND.
309 AUSTRIA.
310 ITALY.

WOMEN'S INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS
140 K Schallenberg (Ger) 69 71.
144 C Masson (Ger) 73 71.
145 M Silva Zamora (Spa) 71 74, K Smith (Eng) 70 75.
146 S Hassan (Wal) 74 72.
Other scores:
149 B Loucks (Wal) 74 75 (jt 9th).
152 M Reid (Eng) 76 76, N Edwards (Eng) 77 75 (jt 16th).
157 T Davies (Wal) 75 82 (jt 26th).

STENSON AND ALLENBY SHARE

DORAL LEAD ON 67

Sweden's Henrik Stenson , pictured right, and Australian Robert Allenby led the field on five-under-par 67 at the end of the first round of the World Golf Championships- CA championship at Doral Golf Resort & Spa, Miami in Florida.

Tiger Woods bounced back from his catastrophic last round in the Arnold Palmer Invitational with a one-under-par 71.

But Ryder Cup team-mates Colin Montgomery and Paul Casey were well down the field on the 76 mark.

LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES

67 H Stenson, R Allenby.

68 T Bjorn.

69 A Baddeley, J M Olazabal, C Howell III.

70 E Els, R Pampling, J Furyk.

71 S Garcia, K J Choi, B Bryant, T Woods, R Sabbatini, T Pernice, jun.

Other scores included:

73 I Poulter, P Harrington, P Broadhurst.

74 Luke Donald, V Singh.
76 P Casey, C Montgomerie.

77 J Bickerton.

80 A Wall.

IRISH EYES SMILING ON

HAWAII AS DANIELLE

SCORES FIRST US WIN

Danielle McVeigh, the 2005 Irish girls’ champion from Kilkeel, Northern Ireland, has scored her first win on the United States’ women’s college golf circuit.
The occasion was the Donnis Thompson Invitational at Kaneohe Klipper Golf Club, Honolulu on Hawaii this week.
Danielle, a 6ft freshman (first-year) student at Texas A&M University – the Aggies – birdied two of her last three holes in the 54-hole tournament to tie with Gerina Mendoza (Texas El Paso) at the top of the leaderboard on one-over-par 217 for the 5,829yd, par-72 course.
Then Danielle, pictured above, rammed in yet another birdie putt, this one of some 15ft, for a winning birdie at the first sudden-death play-off hole.
Texas A&M women’s golf coach Joanne Sutherland said: “Danielle has been striking the ball well throughout the season. She’s been working hard on her putting and it’s been getting better and better. It’s great for her to see all the hard work pay off.”
The coach really had reasons to be cheerful because Danielle’s individual victory and terrific last round of three-under-par 69, enabled Texas A&M to come from behind to pip Arizona, the favourites, for the team title.
Miss McVeigh’s scores were 74, 74 and 69. Gerina Mendoza, who was five shots ahead of her Irish rival after 36 holes, scored 73, 70 and 74.
Danielle will be 20 on September 14.
Scotland international player Gemma Webster (Ohio State) finished joint 18th in a field of 73 with scores of 79, 75 and 78 for 232.
LEADING INDIVIDUAL TOTALS
Par 216 (3 x 72)
217 Danielle McVeigh (Texas A&M) 74 74 69, Gerina Mendoza (Texas El Paso) 73 70 74. McVeigh won play-off at first extra hole.
221 Laura Fourdraine (Rollins) 75 73 73.
222 Alison Walshe (Arizona) 74 74 74.
223 Amanda Wilson (Arizona) 75 72 76.
Other score:
232 Gemma Webster (Ohio State) 79 75 78.
LEADING TEAM TOTALS
897 Texas A&M. 899 Arizona. 917 Brigham Youong. 9231 Rollins College. 924 Colorado State. 932 Ohio State. 12 teams took part.

NOW MICHELLE WIE WILL MISS

LPGA'S FIRST MAJOR OF

SEASON WITH WRIST INJURY

Michelle Wie is to miss the first major tournament of the LPGA season - the Kraft Nabisco Championship.
A wrist injury ruled her out of this week's Safeway Invitational. Now it has delayed the 17-year-old's comeback on the competitive season even longer.
"Michelle wants to make sure she gives fans everything she can the next time she steps on the course. She's not there yet," said a statement from her management team.
Wie tied for third in last year's Kraft Nabisco event at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage. She finished one shot out of a play-off, won in dramatic fashion by Karrie Webb.

YOUNG SPANISH ACE PABLO READY TO

TURN PROFESSIONAL IN JUNE

Pablo Martin, the young Spaniard who could be the next Sergio Garcia, has flown from the United States - where he is a student at Oklahoma State University, to Portugal for two European Tour events.

Pablo, pictured right, winner of the British boys open amateur championship at Ganton in 2001 as a 15-year-old and then beaten by Rhys Davies in the final of 2003 at Hoylake, will return to the States play for Oklahoma State in the season-ending NCAA championships - then he will say goodbye to the university instead of returning for a fourth and final year.

Oklahoma State coach Mike McGraw said that the Spaniard will probably turn professional after the NCAA event in June.

"Pablo's told me he's not coming back for the 2007-2008 college season," McGraw said. "Now, if he decides tomorrow he wants to come back (for his senior year), I'd welcome him with open arms. But I don't think that's going to happen."
Martin, 20, is a two-time All-American who captured both the Jack Nicklaus and Fred Haskins awards last season as the college nation's outstanding player. Martin, who has not been at his best over the 2006-2007 college season, tied for 63rd at the PGA Tour's Mayakoba Classic in Mexico in late February. He is ranked 22nd in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index this season.

He has won four tournaments at Oklahoma State and ranks first in stroke average for the Cowboys this season (71.08).
"You know I had heard a lot of people felt he would only be with us for one year and then turn pro," said McGraw. "We've had him for three years and they have been three very good years. He's a wonderful and talented young man and it's been great having him around. All of us here wish him all the best."

+Pablo Martin is off the boil at the moment. He had a three-over-par 75 in the Madeira Islands Open today.

LAWRIE (75) FACES UPHILL BATTLE
TO BEAT MADEIRA OPEN CUT

Paul Lawrie faced another uphill battle to beat the halfway cut after a first-round 75 (40-35) in the Madeira Islands Open at Sant da Serra Golf Club.
The Aberdonian should have felt at home because it was a day of wind, rain and cold.
Paul bogeyed the third, fifth, eighth, ninth and 13th and was five over par before he birdied the 16th and 17th to keep his hopes alive.
Steven O'Hara had a 71 (36-35), Euan Little a 73 (35-38). David Drysdale came in later with a 73 (37-36).
Andrew McArthur had a 75 (39-36) and West Linton-based Welshman Gareth Wright a sad 81.
Play was halted at 7.12 pm local time because it was too dark for a handful of players to complete their first rounds, the most notable of which is Italy's rising star, Edoardo Molinari. He is three under par with two holes to play.
Not so notable is former Scottish amateur champion George Murray who is seven over par with three holes to finish on Friday morning.

FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
66 Ricardo Santos (Por).
67 Peter Baker (Eng), Notah Begay III (US).
68 Robert-Ian Derksen (Net), Daniel Vancsik (Arg), Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den), Martin Kaymer (Ger).
69 Santiago Luna.
Other scores:
70 Sam Little (Eng), Oliver Wilson (Eng).
72 Oliver Fisher (Eng).

Scottish scores:
71 Steven O'Hara (36-35).
73 Euan Little (35-38), David Drysdale (37-36).
75 Paul Lawrie (40-35), Andrew McArthur (39-36).

GOOSEN TO MAKE DEBUT AT

CELTIC MANOR WALES

OPEN IN MAY

Twice US Open champion Retief Goosen will tee up as the biggest international name ever to appear in the Celtic Manor Wales Open when he makes his debut in the £1.5m event this May.
Goosen, pictured right, the world No 3 a year ago, has been one of the leading forces in world golf since winning his first major championship at the 2001 US Open in Tulsa.
He cemented his place among golf’s ‘Big Five’ alongside Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh and Ernie Els when he won his second US Open with a supreme display of nerveless putting at Shinnecock Hills in 2004.
A truly global golfer with four other US Tour victories to his name, Goosen is second on this year’s Order of Merit after capturing his 14th title on the European Tour International Schedule at the Commercialbank Qatar Masters in January.
The easy-going South African will join a galaxy of stars at the Celtic Manor Wales Open from May 31 to June 3.

Now in its eighth year at the host venue for the 2010 Ryder Cup, and carrying a prize fund of £1.5m, the Celtic Manor Wales Open is one of the top ten events on the European Tour and continues to enjoy a prime early summer date the week after the tour’s flagship BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

MOUL STILL NO 1 AS DAVIES
MOVES UP TO NO 4
FOR FIRST TIME

England's Jamie Moul stays at the No 1 position in this week's R&A World Amateur Golf Rankings. It's his sixth week in that lofty position and there's no change in the Nos 2 and 3 spots currently held by Rory McIlroy from Belfast and former No 1 Richie Ramsay (Royal Aberdeen).
Edinburgh-born Welshman Rhys Davies (East Tennessee State University), on the strength of yet another win on the US college circuit - his 10th in all, moves up to fourth place, his highest yet, and American Billy Horschel also rises to No 5.

TOP 50 PLACINGS THIS WEEK.
1 Jamie Moul (Eng) 1171.05.
2 Rory McIlroy (Ire) 1154.00.
3 Richie Ramsay (Sco) 1119.44.
4 Rhys Davies (Wal) 1072.41.
5 Billy Horschel (US) 1064.15.
6 Pablo Martin (Spa) 1041.51.
7 Jamie Lovemark (US) 1029.73.
8 Gary Wolstenholme (Eng) 1021.82
9 Chris Kirk (US) 1011.11.
10 Kyle Stanley (US) 1000.00

11 Jonathan Moore (US) 996.61.
12 Webb Simpson (US) 991.53.
13 Bronson La Cassie (Aus0 983.87.
14 John Parry (Eng) 965.71.
15 Niklas Lemke (Swe) 957.58.
16 Dustin Johnson (US) 948.44.
17 Seve Benson (Eng) 946.34.
18 Tim Stewart (Aus) 945.88.
19 Julien Guerrier (Fra) 944.19.
20 Johan Carlsson (Swe) 930.30.

21 Gary Woodland (US) 926.67.
22 Rob Grube (US) 907.14.
23 Louis de Jager (SAf) 904.26.
24 David Horsey (Eng) 901.96.
25 Nigel Edwards (Wal) 897.56.
26 Bjorn Akesson (Swe) 893.94.
27 Ryan Yip (Can) 891.89.
28 Brian Harman (US) 890.00.
29 Cameron Tringale (US) 888.00.
30 Stephen Lewton (Eng) 881.82

31 Kevin Chappell (US) 881.82.
32 Dawie Van Der Walt (SAfr) 880.82.
33 Marius Thorp (Nor) 875.00.
34 Ruan Botha (SAfr) 872.00.
35 Lloyd Saltman (Sco) 869.81.
36 Oscar Floren (Swe) 868.42.
37 Alex Prugh (US) 866.00.
38 Daniel Summerhays (US) 858.00.
39 Colt Knost (US) 854.90.
40 Andrew Dodt (Aus) 854.41.

41 Rick Kulacz (Aus) 853.75.
42 Alan Wagner (Arg) 852.94.
43 Luke List (US) 851.92.
44 Paul O'Hara (Sco) 847.92.
45 Hudson Swafford (USP 847.06.
46 Trip Kuehne (US) 846.88.
47 James Gill (NZ) 842.86.
48 Gary Boyd (Eng) 837.50.
49 Branden Grace (SAf) 830.14.
50 Robert Riesen (US) 823.26.

Other Scots in the top 100:
62 Duncan Stewart 802.78.
78 John Gallagher 787.04.
84 Callum Macaulay 782.35.
93 Scott Henry 768.29.
99 Jonathan King 756.25.

Asian Tour moves on to Bintan, Indonesia

THREE HOLES WILL KEEP BARRY

HUME AWAKE TONIGHT AFTER

76 IN INDONESIA

Former Scottish amateur champion Barry Hume had the kind of round that the description "nightmare" does not do justice to in the first round of the Motoralo International Bintan tournament, Indonesia today.
While American veteran Mike Cunning and New Zealand's Mark Brown were jointly establish a new course record mark of six-under par 66, Barry, pictured right, was running up a four-over-par 76.

On the credit side, he had birdies at the first, eighth, 10th and 11 in halves of 37 and 39.

He did not have any single bogeys .... but he had a triple bogey 8 at the seventh, a double-bogey 6 at the 14th and a double-bogey 7 at the 16th.

Other Scots in the field for this latest Asian Tour event, Simon Dunn and Ross Bain, scored 74 and 76 respectively.

The inaugural US$350,000 Asian Tour event enjoyed a spectacular launch at the picturesque Ria Bintan Golf Club as Malaysia's P. Gunasegaran and England's Yasin Ali produced hole-in-ones en route to a 68 and 69 respectively.
Thailand's newcomer Kwanchai Tannin also delivered the fireworks with eight birdies for a 67 to share third place with Korean duo Ted Oh and Han Lee. Another Korean, Park Jun-won, American Clay Devers, Australian Peter Fowler, Canadian Rick Gibson and Chinese Taipei's Lin Keng-chi, Asia's No. 1 in 1995, are tied sixth on 68.
A 70min suspension of play due to lightning in the afternoon meant that 27 players failed to complete their opening rounds. They will resume play at 6.35am on Friday.
Ten years after winning Asia's Order of Merit, Cunning is preparing for a career on the Seniors Tour as he will turn 49 in July. But he showed glimpses of his best form with a glorious start in the Motorola International Bintan
"I've re-dedicated myself to the game. Last year wasn't much fun (when he missed 11 cuts from 15 tournaments). I wasn't concentrating and wasn't enjoying the golf that I was playing. If you're not enjoying what you're doing, it's always going to be a struggle," said Cunning, who has one victory and 27 top-10s on the Asian Tour.
The Motorola International Bintan, promoted by Global Premier Sports and is a full field Asian Tour event, also features 10 invited players each from the Japan Golf Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia.

LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES
Par 72
66 Mark Brown (NZ), Mike Cunning (US).
67 Kwanchai Tannin (Tha), Han Lee (Kor), Ted Oh (Kor).
68 Rick Gibson (Can), Lin Keng-chi (Tpe), Park Jun-won (Kor), P Gunasegaran (Mas), Clay Devers (US), Peter Fowler (Aus).
69 Cameron Percy (Aus), Scott Hend (Aus), Yasin Ali (Eng), Jason Knutzon (US), Angelo Que (Phi), Chapchai Nirat (Tha), David Diaz (Aus), Scott Strange (Aus), Airil Rizman Zahari (Mas)
70 Brad Kennedy (Aus), Tatsuhiko Takahashi (Jap), Adam Groom (Aus), Simon Griffiths (Eng), Gareth Paddison (NZ), Taichiro Kiyota (Jap), Chris Campbell (Aus), Masaya Tomida (Jap), Adam Blyth (Aus), Mo Joong-kyung (Kor), Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha), Mardan Mamat (Sin), Soushi Tajima (Jap), Lin Wen-tang (Tpe).

Other scores:

74 Simon Dunn (Sco).

76 Barry Hume (Sco), Ross Bain (Sco).
++ 27 players to complete round one on Friday morning.

SHAUN McALLISTER RETIRES

WITH CHEST PAINS AFTER

ONLY NINE HOLES IN AUSTRALIA

Scottish boys’ amateur stroke-play golf champion Shaun McAllister (pictured right) was taken for a medical check-up after suffering chest pains and withdrawing from the Australian open amateur championship after only nine holes at the New South Wales Golf Club.
His father Neil said:
“Shaun was taken to a doctor to check his heart rhythms, etc. He seems to have had a niggling injury as he told me he had noticed it a couple of times in New Zealand (where he has been spending the winter).
“He went for a big shot reach a par-5 hole and after that couldn’t swing a club and ran up a 9 at the next hole before having to retire. It looks like he has torn a muscle or something.
“He has gutted as he has been working hard on his golf and said he was playing well and was one under par before running up the 9. He has to go back to the doctor again tomorrow and then we will see about when he wants to come home to Scotland.”

Gullane-based Shaun, a Craigielaw Golf Club member, will not be 19 until December 28. After spending last winter in New Zealand working on his golf game, he came out of the blue to win the Scottish boys' open amateur stroke play championship at Alloa, beating the favourite and clubmate Zack Saltman by one stroke after starting the four-round tournament with a brilliant round of 64.
Later Shaun was a member of the Scotland team who won the boys' home international title at Lossiemouth.

HENRY TOP SCOT WITH A 73
Scott Henry, the Scottish open amateur stroke-play champion from Cardross, was the leading Scot at the end of the first round. He had a one-over-par round of 73 on a day when five Australians and England's David Horsey set the pace at four-under-par 68.
Conditions were ideal for the morning starters but those who teed off after lunchtime had to contend with a freshening wind which made sub-par scores very difficult to achieve.
Scottish match-play champion Kevin McAlpine from Alyth had a 74, Walker Cup man Lloyd Saltman (Craigielaw) a 75 and Paul O'Hara (Colville Park) a 76.
The top 70 and ties will survive the halfway cut. The top 32 at the end of the four rounds will go forward to the Australian amateur match-play championship at the same venue next week.

LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES
Par 72
Players from Australia unless stated
68 Josh Younger, Brenton Haines, Kevin Lee, Jordan Sherratt, Andrew Dodt, David Horsey (Eng), Matthew Jager.
69 Ben Parker (Eng), Troy Ropiha (NZ), Ray Beaufils, Ratanakul Nakarinta (Thai).
Other scores:
70 Jamie Moul (Eng).
73 Gary Boyd (Eng), Scott Henry (Sco).
74 Kevin McAlpine (Sco).
75 Lloyd Saltman (Sco).
76 Paul O'Hara (Sco), Stephen Lewton (Eng).
77 Seve Benson (Eng).
Withdrew: Shaun McAllister (Sco).

SCOTTISHGOLFVIEW.COM SAYS

"SORRY" TO RONNIE MacASKILL

AND SCOTTISH GOLF UNION

Last Thursday, Scottishgolfview.com carried a story under the heading

“ADMIN MIX-UP COSTS RICHIE RAMSAY A PLACE IN ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL.”
In the article, Ronnie MacAskill, Director of Golf at Royal Aberdeen Golf Club, was quoted as saying:
“The ball would appear to be in the Scottish Golf Union’s court because they are responsible for looking after Richie’s administration. It is all part of a learning curve for him as an individual. I’m sure he will be double-checking registrations in future.”
The quote was first published in an Aberdeen newspaper and Scottishgolfview.com, in good faith, repeated it.
The Editor of Scottishgolfview.com now accepts that Mr MacAskill, pictured above, did not make that statement with its implied criticism of the Scottish Golf Union and is happy to apologise to both for any embarrassment caused.

LATEST HOSPITAL BULLETIN ON RENTON LAIDLAW

From Mitchell Platts:

8am Thursday. Huge improvement. The oxygen mask has been removed and Renton's temperature is coming down. The surgeon and the consultants are very happy. There is a long way to go and he will remain in the Critical Care Unit for several days and maybe a week. Jennifer again thanks everyone for their thoughts and love.
She also continues to be grateful to everyone for not trying to call as the hospital switchboard simply could not cope.
The NO VISITORS sign remains posted at this time but I can assure everyone that Jennifer was in a totally different frame of mind having spoken to Renton this morning and been told "You're in early!"
Regards
Mitchell

SCOTS MEN TRAIL AFTER FIRST ROUND
OF EUROPEAN NATIONS CUP IN SPAIN

Scotland have made a slow start in the men's section of the Grey Goose European Nations Cup (formerly the Sherry Cup) at Real Golf Club Sotogrande on Spain's Costa del Sol.
James Byrne from Banchory top-scored for the Scots with a three-over-par 75.
Glenn Campbell (Blairgowrie) and John Gallagher (Swanston) both had 76s.
Steven McEwan (Barassie) had a non-counting 79.
Scotland's total of 227 put them in 14th position at the end of the first of four rounds. They are already 13 shots behind the joint leaders, Denmark and Ireland.

FIRST ROUND TEAM TOTALS

214 DENMARK (P Baunsoe 68, R Nielsen 73, N Rasmussen 73), IRELAND (R McIlroy 69, S Ward 71, N Kearney 74).
216 NORWAY (M Thorp 69, A Kristiansen 72, A Friestad 75).
217 WALES (L Matthews 71, N Edwards 73, C Evans 73), ENGLAND (G Wolstenholm 71, M Cyer 72, P Waring 74).
219 SPAIN, PORTUGAL.
220 BELGIUM.
221 SWEDEN.
223 GERMANY.
224 FINLAND, AUSTRIA, SLOVENIA.
227 SCOTLAND (J Byrne 75, G Campbell 76, J Gallagher 76. Non-counter: S McEwan 79).
228 ITALY, NETHERLANDS.

GERMANY LEAD IN WOMEN'S EVENT

In the women's section of the Grey Goose European Nations Cup, the in-form German team lead both the team and individual standings. Scores:

142 GERMANY.
144 SPAIN.
146 ENGLAND (Kerry Smith 70, Melissa Reid 76. Non-counter: Naomi Edwards 77).
148 WALES (Breanne Loucks 74, Sahra Hassan 74. Non-counter; Tara Davies 75), BELGIUM.
150 DENMARK.
151 NETHERLANDS.
155 AUSTRIA.
157 FINLAND, ITALY.
Leading individuals:
69 Katharina Schallenberg (Ger).
70 Kerry Smith (Eng).
71 Marta Silva Zamora (Spa)

EAST OF SCOTLAND OPEN AMATEUR

STROKE PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP

ANNOUNCES NEW SPONSOR.
Lundin Golf Club has announced the signing of a new sponsorship deal with Bobby Jones Golf Europe who will become the new major sponsor of the East of Scotland Open Amateur Championship held at Lundin at the end of June each year.
The agreement, launched as the Scottish amateur golf season is looming, is worth a five-figure sum over three years. This will provide a boost to “The East” finances and enable the organisers to maintain the high standard expected of this event.
David Moir, President of the Scottish Golf Union and convenor of the East of Scotland Open Championship Committee since its inception in 1973, said:
“The securing of a sponsor of the calibre of Bobby Jones Golf Europe is a massive boost. It is vital that we continue to grow our revenues from sponsorship to keep The East at the level to which the most important people, the players, have grown accustomed over the last 35 years.”
Bobby Jones Golf Europe MD, Mark Richardson, added:
“We are delighted to be working with Lundin and are proud to sponsor an event as prestigious as the East of Scotland Amateur Stroke Play Championship. Bobby Jones was probably the finest amateur golfer of all time and Bobby Jones Golf Europe is pleased to sponsor a key amateur championship.
"The East is a thoroughly professionally run championship and we are looking forward to working towards a long term partnership.”
+++Bobby Jones Golf products befit the standards that the legendary R T Jones demanded for himself. The designs conceived by the world renowned designer Jesse Ortiz have been crafted with style but, at the same time, are exacting in choice and quality of materials. The range of clubs has been crafted with the amateur golfer in mind; easy to use and inspire confidence. The style, sound and feel is also appreciated by tour and club professionals alike.

LEHMAN AND WOOSNAM IN FIELD FOR
TELECOM ITALIAN OPEN MAY 3 to 6

Tom Lehman and Ian Woosnam, respective captains of the United States and Europe in the 2006 Ryder Cup, will be reunited for the first time on European soil since the contest at The K Club when they compete in the 2007 Telecom Italia Open which will feature a record prize fund of 1,700,000 Euros.
The tournament, at the picturesque Castello di Tolcinasco Golf and Country Club on the outskirts of Milan, will take place from May 3 to 6 and will be the 64th overall staging of an event which has been a fixture on The European Tour International Schedule since 1972.
This year’s record prize fund represents an increase of €300,000 on the 2006 figure and will feature a first prize of €283,330, €50,000 more than the cheque pocketed by Francesco Molinari after his memorable triumph in his home country last May.
Lehman, who has five US PGA Tour victories to his name, is a frequent visitor to Europe and indeed won the 1996 Open championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes and the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond on The European Tour a year later.
But the visit to Milan will represent the 47 year old American’s first appearance in the Telecom Italia Open.
“I am very much looking forward to my trip to Italy and my debut in the Telecom Italia Open,” said Lehman. “Milan is such a beautiful city and I have been told that Castello di Tolcinasco is a wonderful venue – I look forward to the test it will present.”

RENTON LAIDLAW IN HOSPITAL: LATEST BULLETIN

Later news on Renton Laidlaw's condition in hospital (scroll down for the earlier news):

FROM MITCHELL PLATTS of The European Tour:

4.00pm Bulletin: The pacemaker has been fitted! They came to Renton!! The surgeon decided it had to be done so that it is there to rectify any problems with the heart. It is a temporary job, fitted in his neck. All is well with that.
The one concern is his temperature. Clearly, they are monitoring the situation and if it remains high then they will do a scan in 36-hours to check for any potential causes such as an abcess. Jennifer again asked if I would thank everyone for their thoughts and especially for not bothering the hospital switchboard or herself at this time.
The NO VISITORS sign is posted at this time for all the right reasons. Renton is well aware of all the messages and love being sent to him from everyone around the world.
Thanks and regards,
Mitchell

ESSON AND McINNES TO PLAY

OFF FOR NORTH-EAST

ALLIANCE TITLE

From COLIN FARQUHARSON

Portlethen +3 amateur Gary Esson and Murcar Links staff professional Graeme McInnes, pictured right, will meet over the latter’s home course next Thursday (8.30 am) in a play-off to decide who is the North-east Golfers’ Alliance champion.
They tied on four-under-par 134 after the second round of the 36-hole championship at Fraserburgh Golf Club today.
Esson overtook halfway leader Terry Mathieson (Murcar Links), who shot a 64 at Duff House Royal in the first round last week, to take the clear clubhouse lead for several hours with a one-under-par 69 to add to his first-round 65.
Gary overcame a bogey-bogey start to birdie the seventh, 10th, 12th, 14th and 17th
Terry, who has a +2 rating, could not get a birdie putt to drop over the last 11 holes and parred every one for a 71 (36-35) and 135.
Then, playing in the last threesome in a field of 85, McInnes, sank birdie putts of 15ft at the 17th and 10ft at the last for a superb score of five-under-par 65 and an aggregate of 134.

ESSON LOST PLAY-OFF LAST YEAR
Esson was involved in a play-off for the championship last year – and lost to Ryan Fitzpatrick. McInnes won this title as an amateur in 1996 and a professional in 2001.
Billy Main (Murcar Links) made it an all-amateur 1-2-3 with a fine round of 67 for 139. Like Gary Esson, Billy started with back-to-back bogeys but birdied three in a row from the fourth and actually covered the last 15 holes in five under par because he birdied the 10th and 15th in halves of 34 and 33.
Retired professional Ian Smith, who had been given a handicap of six this past winter season to compensate for his age, rolled back the years in both rounds of the championship to finish up the winner of Class 1 of the Handicap Section.
Ian had a net 67 at Banff and then a net 65 at Fraserburgh to finish four strokes clear of the Class 1 field with a net total of 132.
"I could have been a lot better today, you know, but I did get up and down quite a few times when I missed the green. I'll suppose I'll be back to scratch for the start of the next North-east Alliance season," said Ian.
You can say that again, Mr Smith!
Paul Cornfield, an 11-handicapper at Auchmill, was No 1 in the Class 2 Handicap Section with net rounds of 71 at Duff House Royal and 68 at Fraserburgh for 139 - two shots ahead of clubmate Graeme Travis, who plays off 15.

ESSON-McINNES MEET AGAIN IN PRO-AM FOURSOMES
In the computer-drawn foursomes ties for Murcar Links next Thursday, Graeme McInnes and Gary Esson will meet again, immediately after their play-off is completed, in the first round of the Evening Express Shield pro-am tournament.
Graeme has young Dean Yeats as his partner while Gary will be partnered by Kings Links Golf Centre staff professional Steven Troup.

FINAL TOTALS
First round: Duff House Royal, Par 68.
Second round: Fraserburgh, Par 70
134 G Esson (Portlethen) 65 69, G McInnes (Murcar Links) 69 65.
135 T Mathieson (Murcar Links) 64 71.
139 W Main (Murcar Links) 72 67.
141 P Cormack (Inchmarlo) 67 74, P Lovie (Inchmarlo) 69 72.
142 G Grimmer (Nigg Bay) 69 73, C Stephen (Meldrum House) 69 73, D Yeats (Newmachar) 68 74.
143 C Nelson (MacKenzie Club) 71 72.
144 R Stewart (Cruden Bay) 69 75, R Hyland (Hazelehead) 73 71, I D Smith (Hazlehead) 73 71.
145 S Pert (Huntly) 70 75, S Fraser (Royal Aberdeen) 73 72.
146 S Finnie (Caledonian) 70 76.
147 A Campbell (Deeside) 69 78, B Ritchie (Inverallochy) 74 73, N Reid (Deeside) 77 70, S Troup (Kings Links) 70 77, C Alexander (Murcar Links) 71 76.
148 S Scott (Auchmill) 75 73, J Roberts (Cruden Bay) 72 76, L Barbour (Cruden Bay) 75 73, I Welsh (Nigg Bay) 79 69, R McDonald (Kemnay) 72 76.
149 J Nicholson (Auchmill) 72 77.
150 A K Pirie (Hazlehead) 74 76.
151 S Davidson (Banchory) 78 73.
152 J M Hamilton (Murcar Links) 74 78, A Innes (Murcar Links) 74 78.
153 S Chalmers (Banchory) 76 77.
154 D Nelson (Aboyne) 78 76, D Corkey (East Aberdeenshire) 74 80.
155 C Hood (Alford) 77 78, R L Nicoll (Murcar Links) 76 79, N Williamson (Banchory) 75 80.
159 B Harper (Newburgh) 76 83, J Kinsella (Braemar) 77 82, D Leighton (Murcar Links) 79 80.

LEADING HANDICAP TOTALS
CLASS 1
132 I D Smith (Hazlehead) (6) 67 65. 136 J Roberts (Cruden Bay) (6) 66 70. 137 C Hood C(Alford) (9) 68 69. 138 G Grimmer (Nigg Bay) (2) 67 71. 139 W Main (Murcar Links) (+2) 72 67, T Mathieson (Murcar Links) (+2) 66 73, S Pert (Huntly) (3) 67 72. 140 G Esson (Portlethen) (+3) 68 72. 141 C Alexander (Murcar Links) (43) 68 73, J Nicolson (Auchmill) (4) 68 73. 142 S Scott (Auchmill) (3) 72 70, J M Hamilton (Murcar Links) (5) 69 73, A Grant (Portlethen) (7) 71 71,D Nelson (Aboyne) (6) 72 70. 143 J Kinsella (Braemar) (8) 69 74, B Ritchie (Inverallochy) (2) 72 71, N Williamson (Banchory) (6) 69 74, S Fraser (Royal Aberdeen) (1) 72 71. 144 A Buchan (Northern) (9) 65 79. 145 R L Nicoll (Murcar Links) 95) 71 74, R Hyland (Hazlehead) (+1) 71 74.

CLASS 2
139 P Cornfield (Auchmill) (11) 71 68. 141 G Travis (Auchmill) (15) 68 73. 142 I Strachan (Royal Aberdeen) (11) 70 72. 144 B Lumsden (Northern) (16) 71 73, W McBain (Turriff) (13) 68 76. 146 W D Rae (Kemnay) (11) 73 73, D Wood (Newburgh) (14) 74 72, G Kennedy (Meldrum House) (11) 75 71, M F R Rogers (Kemnay) (14) 71 75, D Moir (Murcar Links) (12) 70 76. 147 N A Ogston (Turriff) (11) 70 77, J Wilson (Deeside) (10) 72 75. 150 J Short (Murcar Links) (14) 75 75. 151 R Alison (Deeide) (13) 76 75, R Addison (Newburgh) (18) 74 77, J Jessiman (Oldmeldrum) (14) 74 77. 152 W Forbes (Murcar Links) (15) 73 79.

FRASERBURGH PAR SCORECARD 70
OUT: 4-4-4-4-3-5-3-4-4-35. IN: 4-4-4-4-3-5-4-3-4-35

GRAEME McINNES 65
OUT: 4-4-3-4-3-5-3-4-4-34. IN: 3-4-3-4-3-5-4-2-3-31

BILLY MAIN 67
OUT: 5-5-4-3-2-4-3-4-4-34. IN: 3-4-4-4-3-4-4-3-4-33

GARY ESSON 69
OUT: 5-5-4-4-3-5-2-5-4-37. IN: 3-4-3-4-2-5-5-2-4-32

IAN WELSH 69
OUT: 4-5-3-3-3--5-4-4-4-35. IN: 3-4-4-5-3-4-4-3-4-34

NICK REID 70
OUT: 5-4-4-6-3-4-3-4-4-37. IN: 3-4-4-4-3-4-4-3-4-33

TERRY MATHIESON 71
OUT: 4-5-3-4-3-5-4-4-4-36. IN: 4-4-4-4-3-5-4-3-4-35

Draws for next Thursday and Friday's pro-am and am-am match-play foursomes competitions at Murcar Links:

EVENING EXPRESS SHIELD
First round

9.0 N Reid (Deeside) & C Stephen (Meldrum House) v S Davidson (Banchory) & T Mathieson (Murcar Links).

9.10 R McDonald (Kemnay) & S Fraser (Royal Aberdeen) v I D Smith (Hazlehead) & W Main (Murcar Links.

9.20 S Troup (King's Links) & G Esson (Portlethen) v G McInnes (Murcar Links) & D Yeats (Newmachar).

9.30 P Cormack (Inchmarlo) & R Hyland (Hazlehead) v P Lovie (Inchmarlo) & G Grimmer (Nigg Bay).

PRESS & JOURNAL SHIELD
First round

9.40 J Roberts (Cruden Bay) (6) & P Cornfield (Aucmhill) (11) v C Alexander (Murcar Links) (3) & I Strachan (Royal Aberdeen) (11). Roberts & Cornfield receive two strokes.

9.50 B Ritchie (Inverallochy) (2) & D Wood (Newburgh) (14) v S Scott (Auchmill) (3) & W McBain (Turriff) (13). Level match.

10.00 A Grant (Portlethen) (7) & W D Rae (Kemnay) (11) v J M Hamilton (Murcar Liks) (5) & G Travis (Auchmill) (15). Hamilton & Travis receive one stroke.

10.10 C Hood (Alford) (9) & B Lumsden (Northern) (16) v D Nelson (Aboyne) (6) & G Kennedy (Meldrum House) (11). Hood & Lumsden receive four strokes.

RENTON LAIDLAW RECOVERING FROM
PROSTATE OPERATION IN LONDON

Scottish-born golf journalist Renton Laidlaw, Editor of the R&A Golfers' Handbook and president of the Association of Golf Writers, is recovering in hospital in London following complications during an operation to remove his prostate on Monday.
Later news from Mitchell Platts, a long-time colleague, is:

"This morning's update is that Renton will probably be moved to the royal Brompton Heart Hospital to have a pacemaker fitt4ed. It would appear that the cancer surgery has been successful but that his heart is causing concern.
"Renton's heart did stop during the operation which lasted 11 hours instead of three and it was a very close call. He is drowsy this morning and he does not know where he is, which, his sister Jennifer says, is a very, very good bulletin compared with 24 hours ago.
"Jennifer thanks everyone for their calls (which clearly she cannot return) and messages."

Even later bulletin from Mitchell Platts:
"Latest from Jennifer is that Renton will not be moved because he must remain in the Critical Care Unit for four to six days. This is because his temperature is high and there would be a fear of infection if they tried to fit even a temporary pacemaker. Nevertheless Jennifer has been assured this morning that they are quite happy with Renton's progress at this time.
"She has also stressed, and she does apologise for this, that at this time it is best not to phone the hospital as they simply cannot cope with a high volume of calls, and understandably they might get a touch tetchy, and she thanks you all for your understanding. Jennifer will get round to making more calls herself next week."

Renton, who spent his early journalistic years with the Edinburgh Evening News and Grampian Television, originally moved south to work for the London Evening Standard.
He has homes at Drumoig and Sunningdale in Berkshire

INVERNESS, INSCH PRO-AMS ADDED TO
TARTAN TOUR FOR 2007
Two more pro-ams have been added to the Tartan Tour list of events which was issued a month or two ago.
There will be a SSPCA pro-am at Inverness Golf Club on September 10 and a young professionals' pro-am at Insch Golf Club on September 14.
This means that around £600,000 of prizemoney will be on offer on the PGA Scottish Region circuit this season.

CALLUM FINISHES JT 38th AFTER A
COUPLE OF TRIPLE BOGEYS

Tulliallan's Callum Macaulay (Mississippi University) had two triple bogey 7s over the three rounds of the Pinehurst Intercollegiate tournament at the Pinehurst No 8 course, North Carolina.
The Scot, pictured right, had rounds of 74, 77 and 77 for a 12-over-par total of 228 for the 7,035yd course. Callum had a triple bogey 7 at the 14th hole of his final round which included birdies at the second, 16th and 17th. He had a triple bogey 7 at the second hole in his second round. He finished joint 38th.
Irishman Ciaran McAleavey (Toledo) had scores of 77, 78 and 78 for a total of 233 to fill joint 64th place in a field of 96.
Individual title winner was Spanish student Jorge Campillo (Indiana) with 73, 67 and 73 for three-under-par 213. He won by two shots from Colt Knost (Southern Methodist) and Bill Rankin (Michigan).
Indiana (880) also won the title event by five shots from Michigan (885) with Penn State (889) third, Wisconsin (890) fourth and Mississippi sharing fifth place in a field of 18 teams with Southern Methodist on 895

TWO SCOTS FOR MEXICO CITY

Ross Kellett (Colville Park) and Bryan Fotheringham (Forres) will represent Scotland in the Mexican open amateur championship and international pairs tournament, to be staged at Mexico City from March 29 to April 1.

Rhys shaping to be the next Luke Donald or Paul Casey

EDINBURGH-BORN PLAYER

IS RANKED AMERICA’S

NO 1 COLLEGE GOLFER

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Edinburgh-born Welshman Rhys Davies, a senior-year golf scholarship student at East Tennessee State University, has been named the No 1 male player on the United States college golf circuit for the first time in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin rankings this week.
Davies, pictured right, who will be 22 on May 28, was born in Edinburgh when his father worked there. He was later brought up in Bridgend, South Wales. Rhys has won his last two American college tournaments and 10 in all in his four years in America.
He won the British boys’ championship at Hoylake in 2003 and was a member of the GB&I Walker Cup team in Chicago in 2005. He is a racing certainty to play in this year's Walker Cup match at Royal County Down, Northern Ireland in September and looks like being the next Luke Donald or Paul Casey who both starred on the American college golf scene before turning professional and rapidly climbing to Ryder Cup status.

DUNCAN STEWART LEADING SCOT
The leading Scots in the updated rankings are Jacksonville University, Florida pair, Duncan Stewart from Grantown on Spey and Russell Knox from Inverness in 34th and 82nd positions respectively.
Callum Macaulay (Mississippi University) from Tulliallan is ranked No 128 and Wallace Booth (Augusta State) from Comrie is 158th.
The full list - if we have missed out anyone, please contact us - of British and Irish players in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin male US college rankings is coming up, but first, let us have a look at the top 10 from every nation (US unless stated).
1 Rhys Davies (East Tennessee State) from Wales.
2 Jamie Lovermark (South Carolina).
4 Billy Horschell (Florida).
4 Brian Harman (Georgia).
5 Chris Kirk (Georgia).
6 Niklas Lemke (Arizona State) from Sweden.
7 Charlie Beijan (New Mexico).
8 Daniel Summerhays (Brigham Young).
9 Kyle Stanley (Clemson).
10 Dawie Van DerWalt (Lamar) from South Africa.
Now to pinpoint the GB&I players:
30 Niall Turner (Minnesota) from Cork.
34 Duncan Stewart (East Tennessee State) from Grantown-on-Spey.
46 Peter Richardson (Purdue) from Carlisle.
60 Charles Ford (Tennessee) from Leicester.
61 Gareth Shaw (East Tennessee State) from Lisburn, N Ireland.
79 Johnny Caldwell (South Alabama) from Belfast.
82 Russell Knox (Jacksonville) from Inverness.
118 Daniel Willett (Jacksonville State) from Sheffield.
128 Callum Macaulay (Mississippi) from Tulliallan.
142 Chris Paisley (Tennessee) from Newcastle.
158 Wallace Booth (Augusta State) from Comrie.
191 Tom Sherreard (Georgia State) from Maidstone.
199 Farren Keenan (Texas) from Middlesex.
264 Aaron O'Callaghan (SE Louisiana) from Cork.
277 Ben Taylor (Georgia State) from Hexham.
308 James Taverner (SE Louisiana) from London.
344 Lewis Kirton (Louisville) from Oldmeldrum.
400 Alan Glynn (Xavier) from Middlesex.
403 Fergal Rafferty (Sam Houston) from Omagh, N Ireland.
440 Alex Hogben (Missouri-Kansas City) from Manchester.
518 Ciaran McLeavey (Toledo) from Banbridge, Ireland.
555 Jordan Findlay (East Tennessee State) from Fraserburgh).
562 Cian McNamara (East Tennessee State) from Limerick.
725 Chris Carson (Sam Houston) from Dunoon.
732 Tom Oliver (Purdue) from Nottingham.
1220 Jamie Kennedy (Jacksonville) from Edinburgh.
1709 Stuart Burns (Evansville) from Auchterarder.

+There are other GB&I players at US colleges but some, like Peter McLachlan and Stephen Clark at Missouri-Kansas City have not played in the minium number of tournaments required. Students at junior (two-year) colleges do not qualify for the rankings.

ANY COMMENTS? E-mail them to colin@scottishgolfview.com

club-out™ – NEVER LOSE A GOLF CLUB AGAIN

Running back to the previous hole to pick up a mislaid club can be a thing of the past, thanks to a new accessory from club-out™ – the latest product to sign up to next month’s London Golf Show.
A unique, simple-to-instal design alerts golfers when they have taken more than one club from the bag – ensuring all clubs are collected on each hole.
club-out™ comprises a patented tube which displays a small alert flag every time a club is removed. If golfers attempt to move on while a flag is showing they know a club is missing.
It’s a simple, yet stunningly practical idea, which will always be there to save golfers both time and money. And the flags are customisable meaning the product is an ideal marketing tool for businesses as well as an invaluable aid for the golfer.
SIMPLE DEVICE BUT IT WORKS
Steve Harper, managing director of Pinnacle Stream, an authorised club-out™ reseller for UK and Europe, explained: “A number of golfers we have spoken to since we launched the product have confirmed what we initially thought – that this simple device will prevent clubs being lost or mislaid and stop the need to go searching for a club left on a previous hole.
“They have also been amazed by the simplicity and effectiveness of club-out™. It’s particularly useful where you are using a buggy or trolley – and have to take several clubs with you when you look for your ball.
“But it is a huge benefit to any golfer simply because it prevents the loss of clubs. It’s just like having your own personal caddy.”
club-out™ makes a perfect gift for a golf-mad loved one or an ideal logo-ed corporate present at a golf day.
club-out™ is available in packs of three and costs only £29.99 each plus P&P. Visit www.club-out.co.uk for more details or to purchase.
■ The London Golf Show is at ExCeL, from April 26-29.

THIS IS HOUSTON CALLING

SCOTLAND - IT'S 80 DEGREES

OVER HERE

Two well-known North-east golfers who are glad to be thousands of miles away from home at this moment in particular are John Gray and Ronnie Brechin, pictured right.

Both played for the North-east District team in their day but now live and work in the Houston area of Texas.

John is employed by Kellogg, Brown & Root while Ronnie works for Wachovia Bank.

"I hear that you've got snow in Aberdeen and the North-east," said John in an E-mail to the Editor. "Sorry to rub it in but it was 80 degrees here in Houston yesterday. The picture shows us after enjoying a game at a local course, which we do often, right through the winter."

ANY COMMENTS? E-mail them to colin@scottishgolfview.com

SHAUN FLIES OVER FROM
NZ TO JOIN SCOTS
IN AUSSIE STROKE-PLAY

Five Scots are in the field for the Australian men's amateur stroke-play championship which begins on Thursday near Sydney at the New South Wales Golf Club's Dr Alister-MacKenzie-designed links course on the Botany Bay shoreline of the Pacific Ocean.
They are the Scottish Golf Union squad of Kevin McAlpine (Alyth), Scott Henry (Cardross), Paul O'Hara (Colville Park) and Lloyd Saltman (Craigielaw) plus Scottish boys' open stroke-play champion Shaun McAllister (Craigielaw), pictured right, who has flown over from New Zealand where he has been spending the winter for the second year in a row.
England have six in the championship - Seve Benson, Gary Boyd, David Horsey, Stephen Lewton, Jamie Moul and Ben Parker.
There will be a cut to the leading 70 players and ties after Friday's second round. The top 32 at the end of the 72-hole championship will qualify for the Australian amateur match-play championship at the same venue from Monday to Thursday next week.
Eric Ramsay (Carnoustie) won the Aussie match-play title in 2005.

NORTH-EAST ALLIANCE CHAMPIONSHIP STILL ON

There is no snow on the Fraserburgh Golf Club course which is open for play today so the second round of the North-east Alliance championship should go ahead as planned tomorrow.
Terry Mathieson (Murcar Links) leads the the field with a four-under-par 64 from the first round at Duff House Royal last week.

DURNESS ALLIANCE
FIXTURE LOST
BECAUSE OF BAD
WEATHER

By ROBIN WILSON
(pictured playing the testing short
18th at Durness - and hitting
the green!)
Unpleasant weather over Durness last weekend caused a second cancellation of the North Golf Alliance fixture at this North-west Sutherland venue. This fixture is now lost as the final Alliance meeting of the season takes place at Tain this weekend followed by the presentation of trophies.
While Tain’s lefty, Munro Ferries, was quite pleased with the first Durness cancellation, the second cancellation meant he lost his last chance to improve on his North venue scores and it leaves the way open for Wick’s Ronnie Taylor to play at Tain on Sunday and make a successful defence of the scratch trophy.
LOCAL PAIR IN THE HUNT

In the hunt for the Handicap Salver are local pair Mike Keay and Steve Holmes. They will be hoping Reay’s Richard MacDonald has an off day when he plays Tain on Sunday for the Caithness player needs only to better net 75 at Tain to win unless the two locals improve greatly on net 71’s they scored at a previous Tain fixture.
Keay and MacDonald share the lead with four-score counts of 276, Holmes is on 281. A danger to all three could yet be Helmsdale’s Graham Grant (278) who is left with a last chance to better a Brora net score of 76 included in his aggregate.
Up for grabs also on Sunday is the Team Trophy with Thurso the holders.

TAIN SIX-CLUB COMPETITION
Tain Golf Club’s official start to the season is scheduled for the weekend of March 31-April 1 but as a preview to the season and an end to winter fixtures they are staging a member’s six club competition on Saturday.
On the same day Golspie Golf Club were due to begin their open fixtures but due to inclement weather being forecast, they have cancelled their first open walk-on competition. No new date has been set.

NORTHERN COUNTIES INVITE

PROFESSIONAL TRIO

TO '40th PARTY' AT ELGIN

By ROBIN WILSON

More details have been released about the Northern Counties Ladies Golf Association's 40th year party at Elgin Golf Club on Sunday, April 22.

To help make the day even more memorable the rule on amateur status for entry into the competition has been waived thus enabling Northern Counties captain, Mairi Orr (Tain) to send invitations to three very notable past county champions and team players who are now professionals - Gillian Stewart (Inverness), pictured right, Liz McKinnon (Nairn) and Lesley Mackay (Golspie).There is also an invitation to all former NCLGA players and officials who would like to play to contact the county captain.

NO SCOTLAND WOMEN'S TEAM IN SHERRY CUP
(NATIONS CUP) IN SPAIN THIS WEEK

The Sherry Cup - two separate individual 72-hole open amateur stroke-play tournaments in the past - become the European Nations Cup championships this year.
Both the men's and women's sections will be played at Royal Sotogrande Golf Club on Spain's Costa del Sol.
Nigel Edwards (Whitchurch) and Katharina Schallenberg (Germany), winners of last year's individual titles, are in the field for this week's events, starting on Wednesday and finishing on Saturday.
The only notable country missing from the men's line-up is France but in the women's Sherry Cup, not only is France absent but also Scotland, Ireland, Sweden and Portugal.
In the women's tournament, there is an entry listed from the host club, Sotogrande, which does not quite add up with the new title of European NATIONS Cup. What it does mean is that Spain have, in effect, two teams in the women's category.
The teams notified to the Spanish Federation are:

MEN
AUSTRIA - Tano Kroer, Christoph Pfau, Wolfgang Rieder, Philip Sharma.
BELGIUM - Xavier Feyaerts, Dimitri Van Doren, Pierre Relecom, Guillaume Watremez.
DENMARK - Peter Baunsoe, Phillip Drost, Rasmus Nielsen, Nicklaez Rasmussen.
ENGLAND - Matthew Cryer (Coventry), Ed Richardson (Southern Valley), Paul Waring (Bromborough), Gary Wolstenholme (Kilworth Springs).
FINLAND - Joonas Granberg, Mikael Salminen, Jukka-Pekka Savolampi, Miro Veisalainen.
GERMANY - Alexander Knappe, Jonas Kilbing, Frederik Schulte, Philip Westermann.
IRELAND - Niall Kearney (Royal Dublin), Shane Lowry (Esker Hills), Rory McIlroy (Holywood), Simon Ward (Co Louth).
ITALY - Marco Guerisoli, Joon Kim, Nunzio Lombardi, Andrea Romano.
NETHERLANDS - Floris De Vries, Wouter De Vries, Richard Kind, Reinier Saxton.
NORWAY - Are Friestad, Frederik Kollevold, Anders Kristiansen, Marius Thorp.
PORTUGAL - Joao Carlota, Jose Maria Cudell, Pedro Figueiredo, Antonio Rosado.
SCOTLAND - James Byrne (Banchory), Glenn Campbell (Blairgowrie), John Gallagher (Swanston), Steven McEwan (Barassie).
SLOVENIA - Tim Gornik, Nejc Pogacar, Miha Studen, Jaka Vidmar.
SPAIN - Jesus Legarrea, Carlos Perez Barberan, Inigo Urquizu, Gonsalo Vicente.
SWEDEN - Otto Bonning, Johan Carlsson, Nicklas Glans, Tobias Rosendahl.
WALES - Chris Cousins (Aberdare), Nigel Edwards (Whitchurch), Craig Evans (West Monmouthshire), Llewellyn Matthews (Southerndown).

WOMEN
AUSTRIA - Martina Hochwimmer, Julia Zering, Claudia Wolf
BELGIUM - Valentine Gevers, Laura Gonzalez, Laurence Herman.
DENMARK - Sara Eriksen, Malene Jorgensen, Therese Koelbaek.
ENGLAND - Naomi Edwards (Ganton), Melissa Reid (Chevin), Kerry Smith (Waterlooville).
FINLAND - Satu Harju, Suvi Mantyniemi, Rosa Suahn.
GERMANY - Stephanie Doering, Caroline Masson, Katharina Schallenberg.
ITALY - Federica Angioletti, Anna Roscio, Vittoria Valvassori.
NETHERLANDS - Marjet Van der Graaf, Joan Van de Kraats, Kyra Van Leeuwen.
RGC SOTOGRANDE - Catalina Castillejo Oriol, Emy Garzon Lopez, Minna Kaarnalathi, Maria Orueta Pemartin.
SPAIN - Sonji Cologan Ruiz, Marta Silva Zamora, Ane Urchegui Garcia.
WALES - Tara Davies (Holyhead), Sahra Hassan (Vale of Glamorgan), Breanne Loucks (Wrexham).

TOP SCOTTISH WOMEN'S AMATEUR GOLF
EVENTS NEXT YEAR

Next year's dates and venues of leading women's amateur golf tournaments in Scotland:

May 13-17: Scottish women's closed championship (Moray GC, Lossiemouth).
May 30-June 1: Curtis Cup: GB&I v United States (Old Course, St Andrews).
June 11-15: British women's open amateur championship (North Berwick).
July 15-18: Scottish Under-18 girls' championship (Alyth).
July 24-25: Scottish Under-21 girls' open championship (Powfoot).
August 5-7: British girls' home internationals (Panmure Barry, Carnoustie).
August 11-15: British girls' open championship (Monifieth).
September 3-7: Scottish senior women's closed championships (Deeside).

ENGLISH SENIORS OPEN PRO CHAMPIONSHIP
RETURNS TO NICKLAUS COURSE, ST MELLION

Carl Mason will be afforded the opportunity to extend his remarkable love affair with the English Seniors Open professional championship and also the Nicklaus Course at St Mellion International Hotel Golf & Country Club after Crown Golf, Europe's largest golf owner/operator, announced that it will continue to promote the event in 2007.
This year's English Seniors Open will be played over 54 holes at St Mellion International Hotel Golf & Country Club, Saltash, near Plymouth, Cornwall, from August 17-19, with a minimum prize fund of £150,000.
Among the new players eligible to compete in this year's event is 2008 European Ryder Cup Captain Nick Faldo.
Mason won the first two editions of the English Seniors Open in 2003 and 2004 (at Hillside GC and Formby Hall GC respectively) before extending his perfect record with a one stroke triumph over Stewart Ginn at St Mellion last year.
Crown golf is Europe's largest owner and operator of golf clubs. The company has a total of 56 courses at 32 separate clubs in the UK. Its portfolio caters for all abilities, from entry level to championship standard.
The St Mellion International Hotel Golf & Country Club was opened in 1976. Set in 450 acres of rolling countryside, St Mellion has two courses and is undisputedly one of the finest golf resorts in the UK.
The Nicklaus Course officially opened in July 1988, and was the first golf course Jack Nicklaus designed in the United Kingdom.

CLARE FINISHED 17th IN S AFRICAN
MONEY LIST AFTER ONLY 2 EVENTS

Clare Queen finished 17th on the South African Women’s Tour money list.
Now playing out of The Carrick at Loch Lomond, Clare won 15,688 Rand from the two events in which she played.
South African Stacy Bregman, who played in all four competitions on the South African circuit, headed the money table with 84,338 Rand.

LEADING PLACINGS
1 Stacy Bregman (SAf) 84,338 (4).
2 Julie Tvede (Den) 70,688 (4).
3 Rebecca Hudson (Eng) 67,444 (4).
4 Lee-Anne Pace (SAf) 60,904 (4).
5 Tania Elosegui (Spa) 60,375 (2).
6 Eleanor Pilgrim (Wal) 46,112 (4).
7 Kaisa Ruuttila (Fin) 43,500 (2).
8 Laurette Maritz (SAf) 37,812 (4).
9 Nora Angelhrn (Swi) 33,244 (4).
10 Sophie Walker (Eng) 31,924 (4).
11 Morgana Robbertze (SAF) 27,492 (4).
12 Hanna-Oeena Salonen (Fin) 246,169 (4).
13 Marianne Skarpnord (Nor) 22,587 (4).
14 Amanda Moltke-leth (~Den) 22,374 (4).
15 Johanna Westerberg (Swe) 20,680 (4).
16 Lisa Jean (Aus) 17,391 (4).
17 Clare Queen (Sco) 15,688 (2).
18 Carmen Alonso (Spa) 15,360 (2).
19 Antonella Cvitan (Swe) 15,234 (4).
20 Martina Gillen (Ire) 14,738 (4).
Other totals included:
23 Kiran Matharu (Eng) 12,375 (1).
25 Sarah Heath (Eng) 11,326 (4).
27 Jo Clingan (Eng) 10,753 (3).
28 Felicity Johnson (Eng) 10,353 (4).
29 Kirsty Fisher (Eng) 10,062 (4).

UPHALL STUDENT DOWN THE FLORIDA FIELD

Iain Stoddart (Webber International University) from Uphall finished joint 36th in a field of 66 for the Grenelefe Spring Invitational college tournament at Grenelefe Golf Club's East course, Haines City in Florida.
Stoddard, a sophomore student, had rounds of 82 and 83 for 165 over the 6,802yd, par-72 course.
Webber International team-mate Craig Isabel from Stanford-Le-Hope in England, was joint winner with Ryan Cantrell (Faulkner University) on 149. Isabel shot 74 and 75.
A third Webber International student, Alex Evans from the Wirral, finished joint 27th with a pair of 81s for 162.

VIJAY SINGH SCORES HIS SECOND WIN
OF THE YEAR ON US PGA TOUR

Vijay Singh became the first two-time winner on this year's US PGA Tour when he came with a fine last round of 67 for an eight-under-par tally of 272 in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.
Singh won by two shots from Rocco Mediate with Vaughn Taylor third and former Open champion Ben Curtis fifth.
Singh now has 19 victories since turning 40 — the same as Davis Love III, Ben Crenshaw and Tom Kite won in their entire careers.
Luke Donald finished eighth on 278 and Paul Casey shared 14th place on 281 but it was a bitterly disappointing last day for Tiger Woods.
His score of 76, which include a triple bogey, two double bogeys and a nine-hole score of 43, was his worst for four years and his joint 22nd place was probably his lowest finish too for a year or two.
LEADING TOTALS
Par 280 (4 x 70)
272 Vijay Singh (Fij) 70 68 67 67.
274 Rocco Mediate (US) 66 65 76 67.
275 Vaughn Taylor (US) 64 71 67 73.
276 Ben Curtis (US) 68 67 69 72.
Other totals:
275 Sergio Garcia (Spa) 66 69 71 71 (jt 5th).
278 Luke Donald (Eng) 68 71 70 69 (8th).
281 Paul Casey (Eng) 64 70 73 74 (jt 14th).
283 Tiger Woods (US) 64 73 70 76 (jt 22nd).

CALLUM JT 17th WITH 74 AT PINEHURST

Callum Macaulay (Mississippi) from Tulliallan was lying joint 17th in a field of 96 at the end of the first round of the Pinehurst Intercollegiate tournament over the Pinehurst No 8 course today.
Callum had a two-over-par round of 74 over the7,035yd lay-out with birdies at the 10th and 17th but bogeys at the fifth, sixth, 13th and 15th.
Trent Schambach (Marshall University) leads with a 69, one shot ahead of Bill Rankin (Michigan).
Southern Methodist (293) lead the team event from Mississippi (294) with Indiana and North Carolina-Greensboro sharing third place on 297 in a field of 18 teams.

WALLACE BOOTH SLIPS OUT OF TOP
20 IN GEORGIA INVITATIONAL

Former Scottish youths champion Wallace Booth from Comrie, a student at Augusta State University, faded with a third-round 77 to finish joint 38th in a field of 89 for the Schenkel Invitational college golf tournament at Forest Heights Country Club, Georgia today.
Booth's earlier rounds of 73 and 74 had put him in joint 19th place with one round to go. Wallace had no birdies in his final round in which he had a double-bogey 78 at the long ninth and dropped single shots at the third, 10th and 18th.
Chris Kirk (Georgia) won by shots from team-mate Brendon Todd with scores of 70, 68 and 72 for a six-under-par total of 210 for the 6,962yd, par-72 course.
Georgia (854) won the team event by six shots from Alabama with Auburn (868) third. Augusta State (888) finished eighth of the 18 competing teams.

VIKKI EARNS $517 IN FLORIDA

Vikki Laing earned $517 for a joint 43rd place finish in the Greater Tampa Futures Classic at Summerfield Crossings Golf Club, Florida today.
The 26-year-old former Curtis Cup player from Musselburgh, whose professional career has never got off the ground, had rounds of 77, 75 and 73 for a total of nine-over-par 225 over the 6,377yd, par-72 course.
The tournament was won by Liz Janangelo (Connecticutt) who played for the United States in the Curtis Cup match at Formby three years ago. She scored 71, 72 and 72 for a total of 215 and the first prize of $10,500.
Lisa Hall from Stoke on tied for ninth place on 219 with 74, 75 and 70 to earn $1,294.

LGU MATCH AT HOYLAKE ABANDONED

Today's match between the Cheshire men's county team and the LGU GB&I Training Squad at Royal Liverpool Golf Club was abandoned after only a few holes because the weather was so bad.

EDINBURGH & EAST OF SCOTLAND
ALLLIANCE CHAMPIONSHIP DRAW
FOR DALMAHOY, MARCH 28

FROM DUNCAN IRELAND
Secretary, Edinburgh & East of Scotland Alliance.

Please see below for the championship draw for Dalmahoy on March 28. The cost per head will be £25 with an optional £5 sweep. There will be no discount for trainees. The times listed are subject to confirmation by Dalmahoy and as I soon as I get it, I will let you all know.
If for any reason you will be unable to play then please let me know ASAP as I will need to get a reserve to take your place. I have posted a copy of this draw to everyone I think is not on E-mail but please check with any of your friends to ensure that they are aware of their times.
See you at Dalmahoy.

WEST COURSE am & EAST COURSE pm

8.00 & 12.30: George Thomson, Mark Bonas, Paul Terras.
8.10 & 12.40: Andrew McLennan, David Patrick, Stuart Brown.
8.20 & 12.50: Ronald Grant, David Graham, Gary Walker.
8.30 & 1.00: Ian A Fraser, Wilson Morton, Michael Louden.
8.40 & 1.10: James McGhee, Justin White, Graeme Davidson.
8.50 & 1.20: Graham Johnston, Jim Noon, Ross Neill.
9.00 & 1.30: Graeme D Johnston, Richard Johnston, Alexander Culverwell.
9.10 & 1.40: Ross Noon, Adam Strang, Andrew Rothney.
9.20 & 1.50: Kenneth Glen, Callum Smith, Colin Fraser.
9.30 & 2.00: Ally MacKenzie, George Wither, Chris Morris.

EAST COURSE am & WEST COURSE pm

8.00 & 1.00: Ian Fyfe, Brian Smith, David Miller.
8.10 & 1.10: Paul Wardell, Colin McLachlan, Gavin Cook.
8.20 & 1.20: Craig Lee, Harry Cartmill, William Laing.
8.30 & 1.30: Norman Forsyth, Thomas Wilson, Norman Huguet.
8.40 & 1.40: Scott Walker, Owen Leslie, Derek Fish.
8.50 & 1.50: John Kerr, Alistair Anderson, Derek P Miller.
9.00 & 2.00: Tom Buchanan, Ross Harrower, Andrew Wight.
9.10 & 2.10: Andrew Marshall, Steven Doyle, Andrew Oldcorn.
9.20 & 2.20: Steven Lamb, Craig Imlah, Mike Thomson.
9.30 & 2.30: Scott Grieve, Neil Colquhoun, Andrew Dunsmore.

Please ensure that you check in a minimum of 20 minutes before your time
and are ready to play at least 5 minutes before your time.
Check in is on the first floor of the Sports Centre, not in the main hotel.

PRIZE LIST
SCRATCH
1- £300, 2 £250, 3 £200, 4 £150, 5 £100.
HANDICAP
1 - £150, 2 £125, 3 £100, 4 £75, 5 £50.

Additional prizes (awarded only to someone who has not won one of the main prizes):
Best scratch for West Course pm - £25.
Best scratch for East Course pm - £25.
Best net for West course pm - £25.
Best net for East course pm - £25.

THAILAND'S CHAPCHAI CLAIMS
MAIDEN TITLE AT TCL CLASSIC

Chapchai Nirat completed a dominant start-to-finish victory at the TCL Classic today, becoming the third Thai to win a tournament co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour.
The 23-year-old, who led the US$1 million event from the opening day after smashing the course record with a 61, signed off with a one-under-par 71 at Ya Long Bay Golf Club, Sanya on an island off the coast of Southern China. Nirat finished three shots clear of Argentinean Rafael Echenique, who closed with a 68.
Chapchai totalled 22-under-par 266 for the week and later dedicated his breakthrough triumph in Asia to his parents, who have backed his career so diligently since he turned professional at a tender age of 15.
Prayad Marksaeng made it a memorable day for Thailand by finishing third after a 67 .
Englishman James Heath was the leading GB&I player in joint fourth place after a closing round of 69 for 16-under-par 272.
Marc Warren from East Kilbride achieved a top-10 finish with a closing round of 67 for 274 and a share of ninth place.
CLASSY VICTORY
Chapchai's classy victory was the third straight win by an Asian Tour member in a co-sanctioned event following recent triumphs by South Africa's Anton Haig and China's Liang Wen-chong in the Johnnie Walker Classic and Clariden Leu Singapore Masters over the past two weeks.
"There was pressure today. I was nervous but I talked to my caddie (Manop Santhiap) and we stuck to our game plan just as we have done so for the past three days," said Chapchai.
The big-hitting Chapchai led by five strokes going into the final round and was never really threatened by the chasing pack. Echenique, a graduate from the European Challenge Tour, was Chapchai's chief rival, closing to within three strokes after turning in 33.
The Argentinian could have piled on more pressure on the young Thai going down the stretch but missed birdie chances from inside eight feet on the 13th and 14th holes.
Chapchai steered a steady ship all day, holing a two-putt birdie on the par-5 ninth hole before giving the shot back at the next. However, a 20ft birdie coversion at the par-3 240 yard 15th hole proved to be decisive as it gave him a four-shot cushion playing the last three holes which he parred home comfortably.
EUROPEAN TOUR EXEMPTION
The burly Thai will take up membership with the European Tour where he will be exempted until the end of 2009. "Absolutely, I will join the European Tour. This victory means a lot to me. I would like to gain more experience playing on both the Asian Tour and European Tour. And I will certainly head to Europe and play there as well," said Chapchai.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4 x 72)
(Players from GB&I unless stated)
266 Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 61 66 68 71.
269 Rafael Echenique (Arg) 64 69 68 68.
271 Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 71 68 65 67.
272 James Heath 72 63 68 69, Simon Nash (Aus) 67 66 71 68.
273 Taichi Teshima (Jap) 69 65 66 73, Wen-chong Liang (Chi) 69 68 66 70, David Bransdon (Aus) 67 66 74 66
274 Marc Warren 70 67 70 67, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 71 64 69 70, Lee Westwood 66 70 68 70, Peter Fowler (Aus) 69 68 68 69.
275 Nick Dougherty 69 66 69 71, Miles Tunnicliff 70 65 65 75, Oliver Fisher 67 69 67 72, Kane Webber (USA) 67 71 66 71
276 Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 73 62 70 71, Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha) 69 68 68 71, Adam Blyth (Aus) 67 66 70 73.
Ashley Hall (Aus) 67 69 69 71
277 Scott Barr (Aus) 69 68 71 69, Scott Strange (Aus) 69 69 70 69, Brad Kennedy (Aus) 67 67 69 74, Chawalit Plaphol (Tha) 68 69 70 70
278 Richard Lee (NZ) 65 70 70 73, Gary Rusnak (US) 67 70 67 74, Gaurav Ghei (Ind) 70 69 68 71, Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 69 69 69 71, Birgir Hafthorsson (Ice) 68 70 72 68, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 68 70 72 68, Carl Suneson (Spa) 66 68 72 72, Stephen Scahill (Nzl) 71 68 71 68, Iain Steel (Myn) 71 68 67 72.
279 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 67 66 73 73, Wei Chih Lu (Tha) 72 66 71 70, Mark Pilkington 68 70 71 70, James Kingston (Rsa) 66 70 74 69, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 66 71 70 72, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 68 70 71 70, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 69 69 72 69, Paul McGinley 72 67 72 68, Wen Teh Lu (Tpe) 65 69 68 77.
280 Steve Alker (Nzl) 67 71 70 72, Gareth Paddison (NZ) 69 69 72 70, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 67 70 70 73
281 Juvic Pagunsan (Phi) 68 68 69 76, Keith Horne (SAf) 65 72 70 74, Unho Park (Aus) 68 71 74 68, Simon Griffiths 68 70 72 71, Francois Calmels (Fra) 69 68 74 70, Barry Lane 68 71 70 72
282 Alexandre Rocha (Bra) 67 70 73 72, Neven Basic (Aus) 71 67 71 73, Sam Little 68 67 74 73
283 Ter-Chang Wang (Tpe) 73 66 72 72, Julien Foret (Por) 69 70 72 72, Luis Claverie (Spa) 68 70 73 72, Matthew Zions (Aus) 69 68 72 74, Lian-Wei Zhang (Chn) 73 65 72 73, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 68 66 73 76, Adam Groom (Aus) 69 70 72 72.
284 Scott Hend (Aus) 66 73 74 71, Danny Chia (Myn) 68 70 74 72, Simon Hurd 71 67 74 72.
285 Sung-Man Lee (Kor) 71 68 70 76.
287 Matthew Richardson 71 67 74 75

AUSSIES THRASH ENGLAND 11-4
IN GOLFING ASHES DOWN UNDER

Australia gave England an 11-4 thrashing in the two-day “Golfing Ashes” contest at Moonah Links, Victoria.
The Aussies led 6 ½-2 ½ at the end of a very wet and windy first day and then confirmed their overall superiority by taking the second-day singles 4 ½-1 ½.
England’s Jamie Moul, the No 1 player in the R&A world amateur golf rankings, gained only half a point from three sessions of play.
“We were taken to the cleaners,” said Seve Benson, England’s only winner in the second-day singles.
“Australia simply outplayed us, particularly around the greens where their scoring skills were far better than ours,” said English Golf Union director of coaching Peter Mattsson with commendable frankness.
The foursomes were played after the singles on the first day.
Results:
AUSTRALIA 11, ENGLAND 4
First day (Australian names first)
SINGLES (Australia 4 ½-1 ½)
Rohan Blizard halved with Jamie Moul.Andrew Dodt bt Gary Boyd.Richie Gallichan bt David Horsey 2 holes.Ray Beaufils bt Ben Parker 4 and 3.Josh Younger bt Seve Benson 2 and 1.Rudi Bezuidenhout lost to Stephen Lewton 2 and 1.
FOURSOMES (Australia 2-1)
Bezuidenhout & Blizard bt Moul & Benson 1 hole.Younger & Gallichan halved with Parker & Lewton.Dodt & Beaufils halved with Boyd & Horsey.
Second day
SINGLES (Australia 4 ½-1 ½)
Bezuidenhout halved with Boyd.
Younger bt Horsey 3 and 2.
Beaufils bt Moul 5 and 4.
Gallichan bt Lewton 2 and 1.
Dodt bt Parker 2 and 1.
Blisard lost to Benson 2 and 1.

VIKKI BEATS FLORIDA CUT WITH
NOTHING TO SPARE

Musselburgh's Vikki Laing made her first cut of the new United States Futures Tour with rounds of 77 and 75 for 10-over-par 152 on a second day of high winds, without the first-round rain, in the $75,000 Greater Tampa Classic at Summerfield Crossings Golf Club, Riverview in Florida.
Vikki, who was 26 last Wednesday, was among the 73 players who made it through to the final round - but with nothing to spare in joint 67th position on the limit mark.
Lisa Hall from Stoke-on-Trent was the only other British qualifier with scores of 74 and 75 for 149. She is in joint 38th position.
The non-qualifiers included Brenda McLarnon from Belfast with 76 and 77 for 153 and Polly Willett from London with 79 and 76 for 155.
Two former US Curtis Cup players lead the field on one-over-par 143 - 26-year-old Emily Bastel (Ohio) and 23-year-old Liz Janangelo from Connecticut.
Both had scores of 71 and 72.
SECOND-ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 142 (2 x 71)
143 Emily Bastel (Ohio) 71 72, Liz Janangelo (Connecticutt) 71 72.
144 Janell Howland (Idaho) 68 76, Rachel Bailey (Aus) 72 72, Kristen Samp (Missouri) 72 72, Kelly Froelich (Fra) 72 72, Dana Lacey (Aus) 72 72, Audra Burks (Florida) 73 71.
Other qualifiers included:
149 Lisa Hall (Stoke on Trent) (jt 38th).
152 Vikki Laing (Musselburgh) 77 75 (jt 67th).
Non-qualifiers included:
153 Brenda McLarnon (Belfat0 76 77.
155 Polly Willett (London) 76 76.

WALLACE (73-74) CANCELS OUT

BIRDIES WITH BOGEYS

AT FOREST HEIGHTS

Comrie's Wallace Booth (Augusta State University) had rounds of 73 and 74 for a 36-hole tally of 147 in the Schenkel Invitational college tournament at Forest Heights Golf Club, Statesboro in Georgia.
Wallace, pictured right, a former Scottish youths champion, had one birdie and two bogeys in his first round over the par-72, 6,972yd course. He boosted his number of birdies to three but also his tally of bogeys to five on the second circuit.

At the end of the day, Booth was in a creditable joint 19th place in a good class field with one round to go.

Chris Kirk (Georgia) led with 70 and 68 for 138 - three shots ahead of Wallace Booth team-mate Major Manning, Baker Elmore (South Carlina) and Brendon Todd (Georgia).

Georgia (564) lead the team event from South Carolina (578) with Alabama (580) third, Auburn (582) fourth and Augusta State (585) fifth of the 18 teams taking part.

SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 144 (2 x 72)

138 Chris Kirk (Georgia) 70 68.

141 Baker Elmore (South Carolina) 72 69, Major Manning (Augusta State) 74 67, Brendon Todd (Georgia) 73 68.

Other score:

147 Wallace Booth (Augusta State) 73 74.

DAWN-MARIE 20 STROKES IN ARREARS
AT BATON ROUGE
Ireland's Dawn-Marie Conaty (Memphis University) had two mediocre rounds of 77 and 80 for a tally of 157 over a longish women's course of some 6,404yd (par 72) for the Louisiana State University Cleveland Classic at University Golf Club, Baton Rouge.
Dawn-Marie had a triple-bogey 6 at the short 13th in her first round. She is lying joint 62nd in a field of 108 with one round to go.
US Curtis Cup player Amanda Blumenherst is heading for another runaway victory. She has had rounds of 68 and 69 for a seven-under-par total of 137 - three shots ahead of Amanda Mathis (Mississippi State) (71-69).
Duke (586) lead the team event from Auburn (589) and Vanderbilt (592) with Tennessee (597) in fourth place. Memphis (643) are 19th of the 21 competing team.

SWITCH OVER TO www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk FOR MORE NEWS FROM THE AMERICAN COLLEGE CIRCUIT TOURNAMENTS.

TAYLOR LEADS FROM CURTIS WITH ONE
ROUND TO GO IN PALMER INVITATIONAL

Ben Curtis, the little-known American who won the Open at Royal St George's in 2003 and then slipped back into obscurity, has a winning chance going into the fourth and final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Golf Club.
Fellow-American Vaughn Taylor leads at eight-under-par 202 with rounds of 64, 71 and 67.
But Curtis is lying clear second, two strokes behind on 204 with scores of 68, 67 and 69.
Overnight leader Rocco Mediate and Englishman Paul Casey, second at the start of the day, were too busy watching each other and slipped down the field, Mediate with a 76 for 207 and Casey on the same mark after a 73.
Tiger Woods and Retief Goosen (South Africa) are also joint 10th on 207.

LEADERBOARD
Par 210 (3 x 70)
202 Vaughn Taylor (US) 64 71 67.
204 Ben Curtis (US) 68 67 69.
205 Vijay Singh (Fij) 70 68 67, Tom Lehman (US) 67 69 69.
206 Trevor Immelman (SAf) 66 70 70, Jerry Kelley (US) 67 69 70, Shaun Micheel (US) 67 68 71, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 66 69 71, John Rollins (US) 69 65 72.
Other scores:
207 Retief Goosen (SAf) 69 68 70, Tiger Woods (US) 64 73 70, Rocco Mediate (US) 66 65 76, Paul Casey (Eng) 64 70 73 (jt 10th).
209 Luke Donald (Eng) 68 71 70 (jt 21st).
210 Ernie Els (SAf) 69 70 71 (jt 26th).
212 Phil Mickelson (US) 72 68 72 (jt 35th).

AUSSIES LEAD ENGLAND IN GOLFING ASHES

Australia were leading England 6 1/2-2 1/2 at the end of wet and windy first day of the two-day, so-called "Golfing Ashes" encounter at Moonah Links, Victoria.
The home side came out firing as Rohan Blizard set the tone for the rest of his team by squaring the opening singles match against the world's number one ranked amateur, Jaime Moul.
England's only winner in the morning six-singles programme was Stephen Lewton.
The foursomes were played in the afternoon - a break in the traditional order of play for some unknown reason - and the Aussies were able to increase their lead by one point to lead by four points at the halfway stage.
First day results (Australian names first):

AUSTRALIA LEAD ENGLAND 6 1/2- 2 1/2

SINGLES (Australia 4 1/2-1 1/2)
Rohan Blizard halved with Jamie Moul.
Andrew Dodt bt Gary Boyd.
Richie Gallichan bt David Horsey 2 holes.
Ray Beaufils bt Ben Parker 4 and 3.
Josh Younger bt Seve Benson 2 and 1.
Rudi Bezuidenhout lost to Stephen Lewton 2 and 1.
FOURSOMES (2-1)
Bezuidenhout & Blizard bt Moul & Benson 1 hole.
Younger & Gallichan halved with Parker & Lewton.
Dodt & Beaufils halved with Boyd & Horsey.

KRYSTLE SALVAGES HALF-POINT
AS LGU GIRLS BEATEN
BY LANCASHIRE MEN
Scottish Under-21 girls’ champion Krystle Caithness (St Regulus) did best of the four Scots playing for the Ladies Golf Union GB&I training squad against the Lancashire men’s county team at West Lancashire Golf Club today.
Krystle, 18, pictured right, bound for the University of Georgia on a four-year golf scholarship in the autumn, halved the No 2 singles game with Michael Hunt (Pleasington).
Youngsters Carly Booth (Comrie) and Sally Watson (Elie & Earlsferry), who both flew back from the David Leadbetter Golf Academy in Florida to play in this the first of two training matches over the weekend, both lost.
All the ties were played to the 18th green and Carly lost by four holes to Jonathan Hurst (Shaw Hill) while Sally lost by two holes to Tommy Fleetwood (Formby Hall).
Kylie Walker (Hilton Park), the fourth Scot in the 13-strong LGU line-up, went down by only one hole to Richard Walker (Frodsham).
The Lancashire men’s county team made the most of their local knowledge to win the match by 8 ½ - 4 ½. In the holes-up count, the men were +15 and the LGU squad +10.
The girls played off the yellow tees (a course of some 6,250yd). The men played off the back white tees.
All things considered, it was a close match overall, considering that it was a very windy day and that the girls barely knew the lay-out of the course. Three of the ties were halved and in six other games, the position was either one up/one down or all square playing the 18th.
The LGU GB&I Training Squad play the Cheshire men's county team in four-ball ties at Royal Liverpool Golf Club's Hoylake links on Sunday.
RESULTS
LGU names first:
Kerry Smith (Waterlooville) lost to Matthew Baldwin (Royal Birkdale) 5 holes.
Krystle Caithness (St Regulus) halved with Michael Hunt (Pleasington).
Mel Reid (Chevin) halved with Sam Stuart (St Annes Old Links).
Carly Booth (Comrie) lost to Jonathan Hurst (Shaw Hill) 4 holes.
Tara Davies (Holyhead) lost to Matthew Cox (Royal Birkdale) 1 hole.
Sally Watson (Elie & Earlsferry) lost to Tommy Fleetwood (Formby Hall) 2 holes.
Liz Bennett (Brokenhurst Manor) lost to Jack Senior (Heysham) 1 hole.
Naomi Edwards (Ganton) bt David Corsby (Fleetwood) 4 holes.
Kylie Walker (Hilton Park) lost to Richard Walker (Frodsham) 1 hole.
Rachel Bell (Ganton) bt Garry Boardman (Castle Hawk) 1 hole.
Sahra Hassan (Vale of Glamorgan) lost to Ken Hudson (Hart Common) 1 hole.
Florentyna Parker (Royal Birkdale) bt Stevn McGlynn (Blackburn) 5 holes.
Breanne Loucks (Wrexham) halved with James Robinson (Southport & Ainsdale).

TITLEIST PUTTERS HAVE POPULARITY
EDGE OVER ODYSSEY ON US TOUR

Titleist still leads the way in putters used on the US PGA Tour - 43 Titleist Scotty Cameron users compared to 27 Odyssey users in the top 125 on the money list up to and including the recent Honda Classic.
But Odyssey had a five-to-three advantage among the top 10 players in earnings and an 18-to-16 edge in the top 60.
Among Odyssey's putting leaders this season in the States are:
Phil Mickelson (fourth) and David Howell (21st), as well as non-staffers Padraig Harrington (fifth), rookie Jeff Quinney (eighth) and Bernhard Langer (23rd), one of the circuit's original broom-handle converts.
+Information supplied by Golf Week.

JACKLIN (62) MAKES COMEBACK AT CARNOUSTIE

Tony Jacklin, who has been in self-imposed retirement from tournaments for a number of years, has entered this year's Open at Carnoustie from July 19 to 22.
Now 62, Jacklin last played in the Open in 2005 at St Andrews where he missed the halfway cut after rounds of 79 and 76.
His victory in the 1969 Open at Royal Lytham - followed up by a triumph in the 1970 US Open at Hazeltine (where Richie Ramsay won the US amateur title last year, entitles him to go straight into the Open without having to pre-qualify for as long as he wants to.
Jacklin played in seven consecutive Ryder Cup matches from 1967 to 1979, and captained the side four times from 1983 to 1989, twice leading Europe to victory.

MARC WARREN 14 SHOTS OFF THE
LEAD IN SOUTH CHINA

Thai talent Chapchai Nirat kept his pace in the third round after a solid four-under-par 68 for a five stroke lead at the TCL Classic today.
The 23-year-old fired seven birdies against three bogeys for an impressive 21-under-par 195 at the Ya Long Bay Golf Club, Sanya in southern China. Chapchai was two strokes off the mark in matching the Asian Tour’s low 54-hole record of 23-under-par 193 held by David Howell and Ernie Els.
Chapchai had previously equalled the two-day record in Asia after a 17-under-par 127 total on Friday.
Marc Warren from East Kilbride, the only Scot to survive the halfway cut, had a third-round 70 for nine-under-par 207. He is 27th equal going into the final day.
Chapchai, who is ranked 25th on the Asian Tour’s UBS Order of Merit, is now riding high with a five-stroke lead over Englishman Mills Tunnicliff who leaped to second place after a 65 in the co-sanctioned Asian Tour and European Tour event.
Also in tied second place was Japan’s Taichi Teshima who scored a bogey-free 66 while Argentina’s Rafael Echenique shot a 68 in fourth spot six strokes adrift in the US$1 million tournament.
Chinese Taipei’s Lu Wen-teh fired a similar score in lone fifth position for a 202 total while China’s Liang Wen-chong, last week’s winner in Singapore, shot his best round of 66 and was tied in sixth place alongside Australians Adam Blyth and Brad Kennedy together with English duo of Oliver Fisher and James Heath on 203.
With an eagle at the 16th hole, Tunnicliff, a two-time winner on the European Tour, will be banking on a breezy day on course heading into the final round.
“I played really solid again today. I haven’t been playing great but the last two days, I’ve found some form and started holing some putts. I’ve given myself a chance,” said Tunnicliff.
“I hope the wind stays up on Sunday, because I play pretty well in the wind, and let’s just see what happens,” he added.
England’s Nick Dougherty was tied 11th after a 69 together with compatriot Lee Westwood who shot a 68 and Thailand’s Prayad Marksaeng who carded a lowly 65 for a 204 total.
THIRD-ROUND LEADERS
(Players GB&I unless stated; par 216, 3 x 72)
195 Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 61 66 68.
200 Miles Tunnicliffe 70 65 65, Taichi Teshima (Jap) 69 65 66.
201 Rafael Echenique (Arg) 64 69 68.
202 Lu Weh Teh (Tpe) 65 69 68.
203 Liang Wen-Chong (Chi) 69 68 66, Oliver Fisher 67 69 67, James Heath 72 63 68, Brad Kennedy (Aus) 67 67 69, Adam Blyth (Aus) 67 66 70.
204 Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 71 68 65, Kane Webber (Aus) 67 71 66, Gary Rusnak (US) 67 70 67, Lee Westwood 66 70 68, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 71 64 69, Nick Dougherty 69 66 69, Simon Nash (Aus) 67 66 71.
205 Peter Fowler (Aus) 69 68 68, Thaworn Wirachant (Tha) 69 68 68, Ashley Hall (Aus) 67 69 69, Juvic Pagunsan (Phi) 68 68 69, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 73 62 70, Richard Lee
(NZ) 65 70 70.
206 Iain Steel (Mas) 71 68 67, Carl Suneson (Spa) 66 68 72, Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 67 66 73.
207 Gaurav Ghei (Ind) 70 69 68, Patrick Sjoland (Swe) 69 69 69, Scott Barr (Aus) 69 68 71, Marc Warren 70 67 70, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 67 70 70, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 66 71 70, Chawalit Paphol (Tha) 68 69 70, Keith Horne (Rsa) 65 72 70, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 68 66 73, David Brandson (Aus) 67 66 74.
208 Steve Alker (NZ 67 71 70, Scott Strange (US) 69 69 70.
209 Lee Sung (Kor) 71 68 70, Barry Lane 68 71 70, Rafal Cabrera Bello (Spa) 68 70 71, Nevan Basic (Aus) 71 67 71, Lu Wei-Chih (Tpe) 72 66 71, Mark Pilkington 68 70 71, Matthew Zions (Aus) 69 68 72, Sam Little 68 67 74.
210 Stephen Scahill (Nzl) 71 68 71, Birgir Hafthorsson (Ice) 68 70 72, Fredrik Andersson-Hed (Swe) 69 69 72, Simon Griffiths 68 70 72, Zhang Lian-Wei (Chi) 73 65 72, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 68 70 72, Gareth Paddison (NZ) 69 69 72, Alexandre Rocha (Bra) 67 70 73, James Kingston (SAf) 66 70 74
211 Adam Groom (Aus) 69 70 72, Paul McGinley 72 67 72, Julien Foret (Fra) 69 70 72, Wang Ter-Chang (Tpe) 73 66 72, Luis Claverie (Spa) 68 70 73, Francois Calmels (Fra) 69 68 74
212 Simon Hurd 71 67 74, Danny Chia (Mas) 68 70 74, Matthew Richardson 71 67 74
213 Unho Park (Aus) 68 71 74, Scott Hend (Aus) 66 73 74

VIKKI LAING 77 ON WET, WINDY BUT
WARM DAY IN FLORIDA


Musselburgh's Vikki Laing returned a first-round score of six-over-par 77 in the weather-disrupted opening day of the Greater Tampa Futures Classic at Summerfield Crossing Golf Club, Florida.
Vikki had halves of 39 and 38 against the scorecoard par of 36-35 for the 6,377yd course.
The temperature stayed up in the 70s but there was rain and there was wind, gusting up to 25mph, and two suspensions of play because of the weather.
Eventually, the organisers ran out of daylight to finish the first round with 27 players still out on the course. They were due to resume at 6.30am Saturday morning.
LEADERBOARD
68 Janell Howland (Idaho) 36-32.
69 Salimah Mussani (Ontario) 35-34, Yoen Joo Lee (South Korea) 36-33.
Other scores:
74 Lisa Hall (Stoke on Trent) 38-36.
76 Brenda McLarnon (Belfast) 40-36.
77 Vikki Laing (Musselburgh) 39-38.
79 Polly Willett (London) 41-38.

PRESS RELEASE FROM NIKE GOLF
ABOUT SUMO DRIVERS AND R&A/
USGA REGULATIONS
Nike Golf has discovered that an unauthorised manufacturing variance occurred such that the Characteristic Time (CT) measurement of a number of drivers fell out of Nike Golf’s approved engineering specifications.
While the result of this variance is an additional distance benefit of only 1 to 2 yards, it lies outside of the parameters as established by the R&A for elite competition only. There is no impact on the safety or durability of the product.
As a result, a number of SUMO drivers manufactured may not conform to USGA regulations.
As a precaution, another conforming SUMO2 driver has already been submitted to the USGA to be approved for placement on the conforming list. Nike Golf anticipates that it will complete the approval process with the USGA by March 19.
It should be noted that in Europe/Middle East/Africa the rules and regulations of golf are governed by the Royal and Ancient Club of St Andrews,
In Europe/Middle East/Africa, the clubs in question can be used until January 2008 in a round of golf for recorded handicap, but can not be used in elite competition (condition of competition). Nike Golf, being a global company, wants to ensure that it addresses any SUMO golfer who may be concerned about this rule for play in Europe/Middle East/Africa.
In addition, Nike Golf is implementing the Nike Golf SUMO Conformance Program -- the primary element of a Nike Golf action plan to ensure marketplace conformity to USGA regulations of the highly popular SUMO driver.
In the absence of a published protocol, Nike Golf is taking the lead for the industry by voluntarily conducting this testing and replacement program that could serve as a model for other manufacturers. Nike Golf also expects other manufacturers’ products to be tested in the future. Nike Golf was notified by the USGA in late February 2007 that there was a potential concern pertaining to the CT of SUMO drivers in the marketplace. CT is a measurement that predicts the potential for a spring-like effect on a driver’s face.
On receipt of this notification, Nike Golf immediately embarked on a full and thorough investigation into what transpired since the original October product submissions for approval to the R&A and USGA, prior to manufacturing. It was subsequently revealed that during early production, an unauthorized manufacturing variance occurred.
“Nike Golf is a company that cares about fair golf competition, and that our customers have complete confidence that the club in their bag conforms to the Rules of the game,” said Nike Golf President Bob Wood. "As such, we are working with golf's governing bodies to implement a process to replace any SUMO driver. It is Nike Golf’s commitment to do the right thing for golfers in an open and straightforward manner.”
Nike Golf EMEA recommends that golfers visit www.nikegolfeurope.com where they will be informed about the details of the SUMO Conformance Program.
Within a matter of weeks Nike Golf will contact golfers with information on how they can have their driver tested and, if necessary, replaced with a new SUMO©— which will feature a defining mark of full compliance. This will be done at Nike Golf's expense.

PRESS RELEASE

SWM GOLF MANAGEMENT LOOKING FOR
SPONSORS FOR THREE PLAYERS

SWM Golf Management ( click on www.swmgolfmanagement.com ) are currently looking for sponsors for the 2007 season for three accomplished players from golf development tour level right through to Challenge Tour and European Tour winner status.
We are looking for the likes of club, hotel or business 'attachments' for individual players to endorse and promote sponsors' products/ services. This can be via attachment, clothing sponsorship, professional golf bag sponsorship/ advertising, car sponsorship, headwear/ advertising sponsorship etc.
Our players participate on the various professional golf tours ie. European, Challenge, Asian, Tour de las Americas, US Tight Lies, PGA EuroProtour etc.
Each event on the EuroProtour circuit (www.europrotour.com) is played over three days on a 54 holes stroke-play competition basis, with the top 50 plus ties going through to the 3rd and final round.
Every tournament carries a minimum prize fund of £40,000, and the season will culminate in the Tour Championship with the top 50 players from the Order of Merit.
Highlights of every PGA EuroPro Tour event are shown around the World, in countries such as America, Canada, Japan and South Africa, as well as on Sky Sports in the UK.
Any party interested in providing sponsorship on an individual or team basis, please contact graham@swmgolfmanagement.com for further details.

PAUL CASEY SHARING

SECOND PLACE

BEHIND MEDIATE

Paul Casey, pictured right, is sharing second place on six-under-par 134 (64-70), three shots behind halfway leader Rocco Mediate (66-65) in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Golf Club.

Tiger Woods is back on 137 with Ernie Els and Luke Donald on 139.

A total of 79 players with 36-hole totals of one-under-par 143 and better qualified for the weekend's final two rounds.

That meant Colin Montgomerie - still smarting at being introduced as "Colin Montgomerie from London, England" by the starter in the first round - just made it with nothing to spare after rounds of 70 and 73.

HALFWAY LEADERS

Par 140 (2 x 70)

131 Rocco Mediate (US) 66 65.

134 Paul Casey (Eng) 64 70, John Rollins (Us) 69 65.

135 Stephen Ames (Can) 68 67, Shaun Micheel (US) 67 68, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 66 69, Ben Curtis (US) 68 67, Vaughn Taylor (US) 64 71.

Other scores:

137 Tiger Woods (US) 64 73.

139 Ernie Els (SAf) 69 70, Luke Donald (Eng) 68 71.

140 Phil Mickleson (US) 72 68.

143 Colin Montgomerie (Sco) 70 73.

SCOTLAND GIRLS' TEAMS FOR CRAIGIELAW

Scotland junior teams named by the Scottish Ladies Golfing Association to take part in the international team contest staged in conjunction with the Scottish Under-16 girls' open amateur stroke-play championship at Craigelaw Golf Club, East Lothian on April 5-6 are:

TEAM 1
Eilidh Briggs (Kilmacolm).
Jordana Graham (Southerness).
Sammy Vass (Tain) (pictured above).
TEAM 2
Cara Easton (Dalmahoy).
Jill Meldrum (Dullatur).
Annabel Niven (Crieff).
Reserves:
1 Gillian Simpson (Murrayfield).
2 Samantha Leslie (Westhill).

MATHARU FAILS TO SHINE IN INDIA
AS TAIPEI PLAYER WINS PLAY-OFF
English amateur champion Kiran Matharu, a tour professional since immediately after last summer's Curtis Cup, had a very disappointing return to the land of her fathers - India - to finish joint 37th of the 51 qualifiers for the final round in the inaugural Women's Indian Open at DLF Golf & Country Club, New Delhi today.
Kiran, who had her 18th birthday last month, had deteriorating scores of 77, 78 and 80 for a 19-over-par total of 235.
The winner was Taipei's Ya Ni Tseng (pictured) who beat Thailand's Russamee Gulyanamitta at the first hole of a sudden-death play-off.
Russamee sent her third shot into a lake, which virtually finished the contest in favour of Ya Ni Teseng.
They had tied on one-under-par 215 for the regular 54 holes.
Fame More, another former Curtis Cup player, from Chesterfield tied for 11th place on 223 with scores of 75, 75 and 73.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 216 (3 x 72)
215 Ya Ni Tseng (Tai) 70 70 75 bt Russamee Gulyanamitta (Thai) 70 71 74 at first hole of sudden-death play-off.
218 Lee Bo-ri (Kor) 71 76 71.
220 Irina Brar (Ind) 70 79 71, Titiya Plucksataporn (Thai) 75 70 75, Meghna Bal (Ind) (am) 68 74 78.
222 Rie Shiraki (Jap) 72 77 73, Jade Schaeffer (Fra) 75 72 75, Lee Eun-Kyoung (Kor) 71 72 79, Yeo Ji-yae (Kor) 75 71 76.
223 Fame Moore (Eng) 75 75 73, Yu Pei Lin (Tpe) 73 77 73 (jt 11th).
Other totals:
226 Libby Smith (US) 76 76 74 (jt 13th).
227 Helena Alterby (Swe) 73 80 75 (jt 15th).
235 Kiran Matharu (Eng) 77 78 80 (jt 37th).

CLASH WITH DATES OF MEN'S HOME INTERNATIONALS

VENUES, DATES CONFIRMED FOR
2007 EURO TOUR QUALIFYING

The venues and dates for the 2007 European Tour Qualifying School have been confirmed.
The First Stage will again be separated into two Sections, with Section A being played from September 11-14, at three venues, namely, Chart Hills Golf Club, The Oxfordshire Golf Club, both in England, and a new addition to the Qualifying School rota, the Scandinavian Course at the Fleesensee Golf and Country Club in Germany.
Fleesensee Golf and Country Club is an excellent 72-hole complex situated in the Mecklenburg Lake District to the north west of Berlin.
Section B will be staged the following week, from September 18-21*, at St Annes Old Links, England, Golf de Moliets in France and the Circolo Golf Bogogno in Italy.
From there, the Qualifying School moves to Spain, where the Second Stage, to be played from November 7-10, will be contested over four courses including another exciting new addition at the tranquil Arcos Gardens near Jerez, as well as the PGA Golf de Catalunya, Golf Costa Ballena and Sherry Golf Jerez.
The six round Final Stage (November 15-20) will be held over the Old and New Courses at the San Roque Club in Cadiz for a fourth successive season, where the top 30 players (plus ties) will be awarded full playing rights for The 2008 European Tour International Schedule.

+The men's home amateur internationals will be played at County Louth Golf Club, Ireland from September 19 to 21 - a head-on clash with Section B of the Qualifying School process.

VOLVO MASTERS STAYS AT VALDERRAMA
FOR ANOTHER THREE YEARS

The Volvo Masters celebrates its 20th anniversary this year with the announcement that the European Tour's season finale will continue at Club de Golf Valderrama for at least a further three years until 2010.
The announcement continues the partnership between the European Tour, Turismo Andaluz, Volvo and Valderrama which dates back to the first Volvo Masters in 1988.
Felipe Ortiz-Patiño, President of Club de Golf Valderrama, said: "It's an honour to follow in my father's footsteps as President of Valderrama, which will be the perfect setting where Europe's No 1 player will be decided. I am sure that, as in the previous years, the union between Volvo and Valderrama will produce one of the great sports events of the year."

CLARE QUEEN FINISHES JOINT 7th
IN SOUTH AFRICAN CLASSIC

Clare Queen continued her good start to her 2007 campaign by finishing joint seventh in the South African Telkom Women's Classic at Benoni Lake Club near Johannesburg.
The Drumpellier player, who will be 24 at the end of next month, had rounds of 71, 67 and 74 for a four-under-par total of 212. She earned 12,000 South African Rand.
A few weeks ago, Clare, pictured right by Tristan Jones, was joint sixth in the ANZ Ladies Masters in Queensland, Australia.
Victory went to the front-running Spaniard Tania Elosegui who went clear of the field with opening rounds of 67 and 65 and then held on down the home straight with a par 72, including a bogey at the last hole, for a 12-under-par total of 204.
She had one shot to spare at the finish from England's Rebecca Hudson, who finished with a great score of 65, and South African rookie Stacy Bregman, 20, who won the South African Ladies Tour Order of Merit title with 84,338 Rand.
Ashleigh Simon, the 17-year-old South African amateur who recently won the South African Women's Open for a second time, finished third on 208.

FINAL TOTALS
Par 216 (3 x 72)
Competitors from South Africa unless stated; (am) denotes amateur.
204 Tania Elosegui (Spa) 67 65 72 (48,000 Rand).
205 Rebecca Hudson (Eng) 69 71 65, Stacy Bregman 65 68 72 (30,400 Rand each).
208 Ashleigh Simon (am) 67 70 71.
209 Nora Angehrn (Swi) 70 66 73 (19,200 Rand).
211 Carmen Alonso (Spa) 72 69 70 (15,360 Rand).
212 Julie Tvede (Den) 71 72 69, Clare Queen (Sco) 71 67 74 (12,000 Rand each).
213 Caryn Louw 69 72 72, Martina Gillen (Ire) 74 66 73 (8,800 Rand each).
214 Sophie Walker (Eng) 71 69 74, Margherita Rigon (Ita) 74 69 71 (6,880 Rand each).
215 Emma Zackrisson (Swe) 70 73 72, Cecilie Lundgreen (Nor) 69 73 73, Karen Margrethe Juul (Den) 75 71 69, Felicity Johnson (Eng) 69 73 73, Jo Clingan (Eng) 71 72 72.
216 Lee-Anne Pace 73 69 74, Laurette Maritz 68 76 72, Maria Boden (Swe) 74 72 70.
217 Marianne Skarpnord (Nor) 68 70 79, Kelli Shean (am) 71 71 75, Eleanor Pilgrim (Wal) 72 72 73, Sarah Heath (Eng) 68 74 75.
218 Johanna Westerberg (Swe) 72 74 72, Ellen Smets (Bel) 76 71 71, Morgana Robbertze 70 75 73, Jehanne Jail (Fra) 72 74 72, Julie Berton (Fra) 74 70 74.
219 Suzette Venter 74 72 73, Frederique Seeholzer (Swi) 72 73 74, Ana Larraneta (Spa) 73 68 78, Mandy Adamson 71 74 74.
220 Hanna-Leena Salonen (Fin) 72 78 70, Sohvi Harkonen (Fin) 72 71 77.
221 Hanna-Sophia Svenningsson (Swe) 74 77 70, Natou Soro (Cdi) 76 72 73, Amanda Moltke-Leth (Den) 73 75 73.
222 Mette Buus (Den) 72 74 76, Elin Brask (Swe) 71 78 73
223 Lena Tornevall (Swe) 73 76 74, Antonella Cvitan (Swe) 72 77 74
224 Michelle Smith (Eng) 75 75 74, Andrea Hirschhorn 73 75 76, Frederique Dorbes (Fra) 73 77 74, Claire Coughlan (Ire) 78 74 72
225 Lill Kristin Saether (Nor) 74 76 75, Leandri Pieterse 72 80 73, Lisa Jean (Aus) 75 71 79, Anna Becker (Swe) 74 73 78.
226 Kirsty Fisher (Eng) 75 73 78.
227 Lisa Holm Sorensen (Den) 74 73 80, Nina Hansson (Swe) 71 77 79, Chloe Garner (am) 75 76 76.
228 Florence Luscher (Swi) 76 74 78, Odette Grotepas (am) 74 77 77.
229 Kim Williams (am) 77 74 78, Anne-Sophie Le Nalio (Fra) 73 77 79.
230 Tandi von Ruben (am) 72 78 80, Vanessa Bell (Eng) 78 71 81.
232 Angie Green (Can) 72 79 81.
233 Josefin Svenningsson (Swe) 77 75 81.

MARC WARREN ONLY SCOT TO BEAT

FIVE-UNDER-PAR CUT IN CHINA

Big-hitting Chapchai Nirat raced into a commanding six-shot halfway lead at the TCL Classic en route to matching the Asian Tour's opening 36-hole record on Friday.

In a tournament of very ow scoring, only those with FIVE-under-par halfway totals of 139 or better qualified for the final two rounds.

The only Scot to beat this sharpest of cuts was Marc Warren from East Kilbride, pictured right, with 70 and 67 for seven-under-par 137.
Nirat, the overnight Thai leader, maintained his sparkling form at Ya Long Bay Golf Club, Sanya in southern China, firing a six-under-par 66 for a 17-under-par 127 total which equalled the two-day record in relation to par held by Briton David Howell and Frankie Minoza of the Philippines.
On Thursday, Chapchai smashed the course record with a sizzling 61 which also equalled the 18-hole record in Asia.
The 23-year-old kept his foot firmly on the pedal in his bid for a maiden Asian Tour triumph, sinking one eagle and five birdies against a lone bogey, and leads comfortably from Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Gonet (66), Rafael Echenique (69) of Argentina and the Australian trio Simon Nash, Adam Blyth and David Bransdon, who all carded error-free 66s.
Chapchai, whose best finish on the Asian Tour was a runner-up outing in the 2005 Taiwan Open, dropped his first bogey of the tournament at the fourth hole but was delighted to double his overnight lead.

"EVERYTHING WAS VERY GOOD"
"The only thing on my mind was to keep hitting fairways and keep making putts. I just wanted to ensure I didn’t make any mistakes. Today my irons were good, my putting was good. Everything was very good.
"I just want to make as few mistakes as possible. I’m quite happy with my golf right now. The previous two weeks was not so good, but I feel comfortable this week. But I still feel a bit of pressure because I know that on a course like this, it’s possible for someone to catch me. So tomorrow I still have to score low," said Chapchai, who is presently 25th on the Asian Tour's UBS Order of Merit.

He is also counting on the support of experienced Thai caddie Manop Santhiap to help him pull of a maiden victory. "He caddied for Chinarat Phadungsil when he won on this course last year [Crowne Plaza Open last August]. He’s got a lot of experience and he’s helped me a lot this week."

The 24-year-old Gonnet, who graduated from the European Challenge Tour last season, enjoyed three closing birdies, including a chip-in on the par four 18th to head the chasing pack. "I hope to begin tomorrow morning like that," he said.
With Yalong Bay yielding birdies and eagles from all corners of the course, the swashbuckling Englishman, Nick Dougherty, is not ruling himself out, despite going into the third round trailing by eight shots.

DOUGHERTY STILL CONFIDENT
"There are a lot of birdies out there and every time you don’t make one you feel you’ve given up a good opportunity," said Nick who finished tied fourth last week in the Clariden Leu Singapore Masters.
"I feel I’ve left a few out there on the back nine. I was nine-under for the tournament after 10 holes, so to finish on that is a little disappointing, especially when the leader is pushing on like he is."
The halfway cut at five-under-par 139 was the joint second lowest in Asian Tour history, with 66 players moving into the final two rounds. Among the big names who missed the cut were Welshman Ian Woosnam, Filipino Frankie Minoza, Spaniard Ignacio Garrido and India's Shiv Kapur.

SECOND-ROUND TOTALS

Par 144 (2 x 72)
(Players from GB&I unless stated)
127 Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 61 66
133 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 67 66, Simon Nash (Aus) 67 66, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 64 69, David Bransdon (Aus) 67 66, Adam Blyth (Aus) 67 66
134 Carl Suneson (Spa) 66 68, Taichi Teshima (Jpn) 69 65, Brad Kennedy (Aus) 67 67, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 68 66, Wen Teh Lu (Tpe) 65 69
135 Richard Lee (NZ) 65 70, James Heath 72 63, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 73 62, Nick Dougherty 69 66, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 71 64, Sam Little 68 67, Miles Tunnicliff 70 65
136 Juvic Pagunsan (Phi) 68 68, James Kingston (Rsa) 66 70, Lee Westwood 66 70, Ashley Hall (Aus) 67 69, Oliver Fisher 67 69
137 Gary Rusnak (US) 67 70, Matthew Zions (Aus) 69 68, Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha) 69 68, Chawalit Plaphol (Tha) 68 69, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 67 70, Alexandre Rocha (Bra) 67 70, Scott Barr (Aus) 69 68, Marc Warren 70 67, Keith Horne (Rsa) 65 72, Wen-chong Liang (Chn) 69 68, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 66 71, Peter Fowler (Aus) 69 68, Francois Calmels (Fra) 69 68
138 Wei Chih Lu (Tha) 72 66, Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 69 69, Matthew Richardson 71 67, Luis Claverie (Spa) 68 70, Neven Basic (Aus) 71 67, Birgir Hafthorsson (Ice) 68 70, Simon Griffiths 68 70, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 68 70, Steve Alker (Nzl) 67 71, Scott Strange (Aus) 69 69, Lian-Wei Zhang (Chn) 73 65, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 69 69, Kane Webber (US) 67 71, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 68 70, Mark Pilkington 68 70, Gareth Paddison (Nzl) 69 69, Danny Chia (Myn) 68 70, Simon Hurd 71 67
139 Ter-Chang Wang (Tpe) 73 66, Gaurav Ghei (Ind) 70 69, Unho Park (Aus) 68 71, Adam Groom (Aus) 69 70, Sung-Man Lee (Kor) 71 68, Scott Hend (Aus) 66 73, Stephen Scahill (Nzl) 71 68, Julien Foret (Por) 69 70, Iain Steel (Myn) 71 68, Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 71 68, Paul McGinley 72 67, Barry Lane 68 71
DID NOT QUALIFY
140 Shu Tao Gu (Chn) 69 71, Mahal Pearce (Nzl) 70 70, Damien McGrane 69 71, Joakim Haeggman (Swe) 70 70, Ross Bain 73 67, Jason Knutzon (US) 70 70, Edward Loar (US) 73 67, Tony Carolan (Aus) 69 71, Young-Woo Nam (Kor) 71 69, Marcus Both (Aus) 69 71, Hendrik Buhrmann (SAf) 70 70, Michael Hoey 70 70
141 Frankie Minoza (Phi) 72 69, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 73 68, Christopher Hanell (Swe) 70 71, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 72 69, Paul Nilbrink (Swe) 70 71, Anthony Kang (US) 71 70, Thammanoon Srirot (Tha) 70 71, Chinarat Phadungsil (Tha) 69 72, Ted Oh (Kor) 71 70, Gavin Flint (Aus) 71 70, Cesar Monasterio (Arg) 68 73
142 David Carter 71 71, Yong-Huan Huang (Tpe) 74 68, Mitchell Brown (Aus) 70 72, Corey Harris (US) 71 71, Ben Leong (Myn) 75 67, Barry Hume 71 71, Martin Rominger (Swi) 73 69, Han Lee (US) 70 72, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 72 70
143 Richard Bland 70 73, Andrew Butterfield 70 73, Benn Barham 71 72, Chris Rodgers 74 69, Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 72 71, Jun-Won Park (Kor) 74 69, Ian Woosnam 72 71, Angelo Que (Phi) 73 70
144 Craig Smith 75 69, Amandeep Johl (Ind) 72 72, Gui Ming Liao (Chn) 75 69, Jong Yul Suk (Kor) 72 72, Steven O'Hara 72 72, Keng-chi Lin (Tai) 74 70
145 Yasin Ali 74 71, Per Barth (Swe) 73 72, Richard McEvoy 71 74, Olle Nordberg (Swe) 74 71, Mike Cunning (US) 70 75, Chang Song (Kor) 73 72, Lei Shang (Tpe) 71 74, Stuart Little 75 70
146 Ming Jie Huang (Chn) 71 75, Craig Kamps (Rsa) 74 72, David Gleeson (Aus) 76 70, Clay Devers (US) 74 72, Tze-chung Chen (Tpe) 72 74, David Higgins 72 74, Chao Li (Chn) 75 71
147 Christian Nilsson (Swe) 72 75, Andrew Raitt 75 72, Anda Liu (Chn) 71 76, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 73 74
148 Troy Kennedy (Aus) 74 74, Ari Savolainen (Fin) 75 73, Adam Le Vesconte (Aus) 71 77
149 Zhi-Jin Xiao (Tpe) 72 77, Edward Michaels (US) 75 74, Yongzong Tan (Chn) 76 73, Tadahiro Takayama (Jpn) 76 73, Guo-Jie Liu (Tpe) 75 74, Yu Chen (Chn) 75 74
150 Lei Gao (Chn) 78 72, Zhi-Feng Qiu (Tpe) 74 76
152 Wei-Huang Wu (Tpe) 74 78, Cui Lin Gu (Chn) 78 74

JAMES BYRNE HEADS EIGHT SEEDS FOR
SCOTTISH BOYS CHAMPIONSHIP

James Byrne, pictured right, from Banchory heads the eight seeds listed in the draw for the Scottish boys' match-play championship at Dunbar Golf Club from April 9 to 14.
Byrne, who will enrol at Arizona State University in the autumn, has the lowest handicap of the 354 boys aged 18 and under on January 1 who entered.
James' handicap at the time of entry was +2.3.
The other seven seeds are:
Scott Fraser (Royal Aberdeen) (handicap at time of entry: 0.6).
Kyle Smith (Barassie) (0.2).
Cameron Gray (West Kilbride) (+0.4).
Tom Spencer (Inchmarlo) (0.7).
Sam McLaren (King James VI) (0.4).
Michael Main (Thornton) (+0.8).
Michael Stewart (Troon Welbeck) (+1.3).

James Byrne was beaten in the semi-finals last year by Michael Main who lost in the 36-hole final to fellow Fifer James White (Lundin).
There is room only for 256 boys in the match-play format. The cut-off point came at those boys with handicaps (at time of entry) of 5.3, a figure which is coming down every year, reflecting how the standard of of Scottish boy golfers in general is improving steadily.
There were 16 boys with handicaps of 5.3 and only eight could get in. Those who were balloted out were:
Declan Christie (Portlethen).
Scott Barbour (Milnathort).
Gavin Hay (Grantown on Spey).
James Hendry (Douglas Park).
Taylor Edwards (Lochmaben).
Rodger Clarke (Moray).
Shaun Clark (St Andrews).
Philip Gordon (Paisley).
The good news for these boys is that they are top of the waiting list to get into the championship should there be any call-offs, which there certainly will be.
There are 23 boys with handicaps of scratch or better in the championship.

If you want to see the full draw for the Scottish boys' championship it is available on the Scottish Golf Union website. Cut and paste the following:

http://www.scottishgolfunion.org/index.cfm?action=eventDraw&eventid=2&instanceid=784&CFID=17871218&CFTOKEN=51350405

JAN RETIRING FROM DUFF HOUSE ROYAL POST

Jan Corbett, who has been administration secretary at Duff House Royal Club, Banff since 1980 is to retire from the post in the autumn.
"When I started 27 years ago, it was a three hours a day job," said Jan who is looking forward to playing a lot more golf than she has been able to because of work ... and perhaps some gardening.

Scot in contention again with one round to go

CLARE QUEEN, SIX UNDER PAR, IS SIX
SHOTS OFF LEAD IN SOUTH AFRICA

Clare Queen will start the final round of the Telkom Women's Classic in joint sixth place, six shots off the lead, at Benoni Lakes Club, Johannesburg on Friday.
The Scot has had rounds of 71 and 67 for a six-under-par tally of 138.
Leading the field is Spain's Tania Elosequi with 67 and 65 for 12-under-par 132, one shot ahead of Springbok Stacy Bregman (65-68).

LEADING SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2 x 72)
132 Tania Elosegui (Spa) 67 75.
133 Stacy Bregman (SAf) 65 68.
136 Nora Angehrn (Swi) 70 66.
137 Ashleigh Simon (SAf) (am) 67 70.
138 Clare Queen (Sco) 71 67, Marianne Skarpnord (Nor) 68 70.
140 Sophie Walker (Eng) 71 69, Rebecca Hudson (Eng) 69 71, Martina Gillen (Ire) 74 66.
Other scores:
142 Felicity Johnson (Eng) 69 73, Sarah Heath (Eng) 68 74 (jt 13th).
143 Jo Clingan (Eng) 71 72 (jt 18th).
144 Eleanor Pilgrim (Wal) 72 72 (jt 23rd).
148 Kirsty Fisher (Eng) 75 73 (jt 39th).
MISSED CUT
153 Shelley McKevitt (Eng) 79 74.
164 Cheryl Smith (Eng) 80 84.

MONTY TEAMS UP WITH ROY CASTLE
LUNG CANCER FOUNDATION

Colin Montgomerie and The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation today announced a joint venture to build a UK centre of excellence dedicated to lung cancer to be named the Elizabeth Montgomerie Centre.
Colin and the Foundation will work together to establish the Centre dedicated to lung cancer patients, carers and health professionals to be based in Glasgow with the ambition to have a profound impact on the future of lung cancer.
The partnership with Colin Montgomerie was announced at a special event held by The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation at the House of Lords. It was very fitting that the event was taking place to recognise the progress that the charity's Women Against Lung Cancer campaign held in the week leading up to Mothers' Day.
The campaign aims to mobilise women to press for more resources to be invested in research and patient care. Dame Gill Oliver, the Head of Campaign, said: "Colin's support could not have arrived at a better time and is a wonderful lead for others whether in the statutory or private sector to follow.”
Colin, whose mother Elizabeth died of lung cancer in 1991, said: “The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation is the only charity in the UK wholly dedicated to the defeat of lung cancer – the biggest cancer killer of women as well as men. I am thrilled to be working with The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation on this exciting project.
The Centre will look to provide the following:
1 Highest quality information, support and training for lung cancer patients and carers.
2 First-class training for lung cancer multi-disciplinary teams particularly specialist nurses and health and other professionals.
3 A UK-wide hotline for patients and carers.
4 Research into all aspects of patient care – including the establishment of a Chair in Lung Cancer Studies.
5 Consultancy in all aspects of The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation work.
6 A home for the Foundation’s patient care team.
Professor Ray Donnelly, the Charity’s founder, said: “We are delighted to have Colin’s support – his profile will be a significant contribution in helping lung cancer patients throughout the UK and his energy and passion for the project will be an inspiration to us all. To get the ball rolling he is personally funding our business plan and we are already in contact with the Scottish Executive and Glasgow City Council.”
Dr David Dunlop, Consultant Medical Oncologist at the Beatson Cancer Centre in Glasgow, commented: “To have such a facility in Glasgow will be hugely complementary to other developments in cancer services. This Centre will facilitate the concept of improving the experience of individuals with lung cancer which is embedded in Delivering for Health (SEHD 2005).
“Through providing facilities and a venue for information and support, this centre will strongly complement contemporary health policy, and Glasgow is the right place. There are so many unique aspects of this proposal; I am not sure why nobody has thought of it before!
“I am sure that the support of Colin Montgomerie will generate huge interest. This is a fantastic opportunity for the Foundation to develop a partnership with an inspirational sportsman which will result in a lasting legacy, to improve lung cancer patient care.”

KIRAN TRAILS IN WOMEN’S INDIAN
OPEN WITH ONE ROUND TO GO

English amateur champion Kiran Matharu, who turned professional after last summer’s Curtis Cup match in the United States, survived the 36-hole cut in the Women’s Indian Open but is a distant 15 shots off the pace with one round to go.
Kiran, pictured right, from Leeds but of Indian extraction, has had rounds of 77 and 78 for a share of 31st place on 11-over-par 155 at the DLF Golf & Country Club, New Delhi.
Another past Curtis Cup player, Fame More from Chesterfield, is in joint 12th place on 150 with a pair of 75s.
Taiwan rookie Ya Ni Tseng, who turned pro only two months ago, leads the field by one shot with two rounds of 70 for 140.
Indian amateur Meghan Bal, the surprise first-round leader with a 68, dropped back to third place with a 74 for 142.

LEADING SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2 x 72)
140 Ya Ni Tseng (Tai) 70 70.
141 Russamee Gulyanamitta (Thai) 70 71.
142 Meghna Bal (Ind) (am) 68 74.
Other scores:
147 Jade Schaeffer (Fra) 75 72 (jt 7th).
150 Fame Moore (Eng) 75 75 (jt 12th).
153 Helena Alterby (Swe) 73 80 (jt 24th).
154 Fany Schaeffer (Fra) 80 74 (jt 28th).
155 Kiran Matharu (Eng) 77 78 (jt 31st).

ADMIN MIX-UP COSTS RICHIE

RAMSAY A PLACE IN ARNOLD

PALMER INVITATIONAL

An administration mix-up cost Richie Ramsay, Scotland's reigning United States amateur champion, a place in the field for the Arnold Palmer Invitational tournament which began at Bay Hill Golf Club today.

Ramsay arrived in Florida to take his place among the the likes of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson only to be told that there was no place for him because he had not been registered as taking part in what is a US PGA Tour event.

Richie had been given an invitation to play after winning the US amateur title.

"I will now use the time to concentrate on my preparations for the Masters and also the Georgia Cup match (against British amateur champion Julien Guerrier from March) at the end of the month," said the Aberdonian who is a student at Stirling University.

"The ball would appear to be in the Scottish Golf Union's court because they are responsible for looking after Richie's administration. It is all part of a learning curve for him as an invidiual. I'm, sure he willo be double checking registrations in future," said Ronnie MacAskill, director of golf and head professional at Royal Aberdeen Golf Club.

"It's a big disappointment for him but he will be putting in extra hours on the range and focusing on the Georgia Cup now.

"It would have been great for our members to watch him teeing the ball up in such grea company at Bay Hil. Instead, we'll just have to watch Coronation Street."

+Royal Aberdeen Golf Club have commissioned an oil painting of Richie Ramsay to be given a place of honour in the Balgownie clubhouse.

MARC WARREN (70) LEADING SCOT IN SOUTHERN

CHINA TOURNAMENT

Marc Warren, with a two-under-par 70, was the leading Scot at the end of the first round in the TCL Classic at the magnificent Ya Long Bay Golf Club, Sanya (pictured right) in southern China.
Warren birdied the first, second, fourth, 11th, 16th and 18th in hlaves of 33 and 37. His roller-coaster inward half also inclued a double bogey 6 at the 17th and single shots dropped at the 10th and 13th.
The projected halfway cut is that only players with two-under-par (142) or better will survive so that means Barry Hume (71), Steve O'Hara (72), Ross Bain (73) and Simon Yates (76) will have to avoid mistakes on Friday.
Thai sensation Chapchai Nirat got off to a flying start when he fired a sizzling 11-under-par 61 for the opening round lead.
Thanks to a change in putter, Chapchai, 23, enjoyed a blemish free round as he chalked up an impressive 11 birdies and bettered the previous course record of 62 set by American Edward Loar and China’s Liang Wen-chong last year. The in-form Thai had also equalled the low 18-hole record on the Asian Tour set by Chun Chung Chun-hsing in 2001 and Chanin Puntawong in 2003.
Chapchai, who turned pro at the age of 15, took a three stroke lead over Argentina’s Rafael Echenique who shot a 64 for lone second position in the US$1 million event.
South African Keith Horne blasted a 65 in tied third place together with New Zealander Richard Lee and Chinese Taipei’s Lu Wen-teh who was bogey free for the day.
Australia’s Scott Hend was in joint sixth position after a 66 and was tied alongside compatriot Wade Ormsby, England’s Lee Westwood, South African James Kingston and Spain’s Carl Suneson.

LEADING FIRST-ROUND SCORES
Par 72
61 Chapchai Nirat (Tha).
64 Rafael Echenique (Arg).
65 Richard Lee (NZ), Lu Wen-teh (Tpe), Keith Horne (SAf).
66 Scott Hend (Aus), Lee Westwood (Eng), James Kingston (SAf), Carl Suneson (Spa), Wade Ormsby (Aus).
67 Gary Rusnak (US), David Bransdon (Aus), Adam Blyth (Aus), Ashley Hall (Aus), Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den), Oliver Fisher (Eng), Simon Nash (Aus), Alexandre Rocha (Bra), Brad Kennedy (Aus), Kane Webber (Aus), Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra), Steve Alker (NZ)
68 Unho Park (Aus), Simon Griffiths (Eng), Birgir Hafthorsson (Ice), Luis Claverie (Spa), Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa), Mark Pilkington (Wal), Juvic Pagunsan (Phi), Sam Little (Eng), Mardan Mamat (Sin), Danny Chia (Mas), Barry Lane (Eng), Cesar Monasterio (Arg), Chawalit Plaphol (THA), Carlos Rodiles (Spa).
Other scores included:
70 Marc Warren (Sco).
71 Barry Hume (Sco).
72 Steven O'Hara (Sco).
73 Ross Bain (Sco).
76 Simon Yates (Sco).

SCOTS QUARTET IN ACTION IN LGU
TRAINING MATCHES
AGAINST COUNTY MEN

Four Scots - Krystle Caithness, Kylie Walker, Sally Watson and Carly Booth - will be in action this weekend in the Ladies Golf Union GB&I Training Squad matches against the men's county teams of West Lancashire and Cheshire.
The West Lancs match features 13 singles ties at West Lancashire Golf Club on Saturday.
The Cheshire match will be seven four-ball ties at Royal Liverpool Golf Club's Hoylake links, venue for last summer's Open championship.
Sally and Carly have flown back to play in these training squad matches from Florida where they are pupils at the David Leadbetter Golf Academy. GB&I selectors will be watching.
Great Britain & Ireland play the Continent of Europe in the Vagliano Trophy match at Fairmont St Andrews (formerly St Andrews Bay) on July 27 and 28.
Before that there is the Commonwealth tournament, featuring teams of five players from Great Britain, Australia, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand, in South Africa from May 7 to 11.
GB&I Vagliano Trophy team manager Tegwen Matthews, a Curtis Cup player in the 1970s, will play in the Sunday four-balls to make up an even number of partnerships.

The weekend programme of matches is:

SATURDAY
CHESHIRE MEN v LGU GB&I TRAINING SQUAD
at Royal Liverpool Golf Club
J Howarth & D Marmion v Kerry Smith & Sahra Hassan.
S Capper & C Lewis v Mel Reid & Branne Loucks.
K Kean & A Hardie v Tara Davies & Florentyna Parker.
D Peel & I Davie v Liz Bennett & Kylie Walker.
J Murphy & J Sims v Rachel Bell & Krystle Caithness.
E Parker & P Bolton v Naomi Edwards & Tegwen Matthews.
A Wills & R Fitzgerald v Sally Watson & Carly Booth.
SUNDAY
LANCASHIRE MEN v LGU GB&I TRAINING SQUAD
at West Lancashire Golf Club
Matthew Baldwin (Royal Birkdale) v Kerry Smith.
Michael Hunt (Pleasington) v Krystle Caithness.
Sam Stuart (St Anness Old Links) v Mel Reid.
Jonathan Hurst (Shaw Hill) v Carly Booth.
Matthew Cox (Royal Birkdale) v Tara Davies.
Tommy Fleetwood (Formby Hall) v Sally Watson.
Jack Senior (Heysham) v Liz Bennett.
David Corsby (Fleetwood) v Naomi Edwards.
Richard Walker (Frodsham) v Kylie Walker.
Garry Boardman (Castle Hawk) v Rachel Bell.
Ken Hurdson (Hart Common) v Sahra Hassan.
Steven McGlynn (Blackburn) v Florentyna Parker.
James Robinson (Southport & Ainsdale) v Breanne Loucks.

CLARE QUEEN HAS 71 BEFORE LIGHTNING
HITS SOUTH AFRICAN TOURNAMENT
South African rookie professional Stacy Bregman fired seven birdies just before a lightning storm forced a suspension of play for the rest of the day in the first round of the Telkom Women's Classic tournament at Benoni Lakes Golf Club, Johannesburg.
Bregman's bogey-free round of seven-under-par 65 gave her a two-stroke lead from compatriot Ashleigh Simon, the amateur who won the South African Women's Open last week, and Spain's Tania Elosegui.
England's Sarah Heath is sharing fourth place on 68 and two other English players, Felicity Johnson and Rebecca Hudson, are on 69.
Clare Queen had a satisfactory one-under-par 71.
FIRST ROUND (still to be completed)
65 S Bregman (SAf).
67 A Simon (SAf) (am), T Elosegui (Spa).
68 M Skarpnord (Nor), S Heath (Eng), L Maritz (SAf).
69 F Johnson (Eng), R Hudson (Eng).
Other scores:
71 C Queen (Sco).

JODI'S FOUR-UNDER-PAR TOTAL

EARNS HER ONLY A SHARE

OF FIFTH PLACE

Jodi Ewart, from Middleham, Yorkshire, finished with a very creditable four-under-par aggregate of 212 - but so high was the standard of scoring among the leaders that her total earned her "only" joint fifth place in the UNLV Spring Rebel Invitational college tournament at Boulder Creek Golf Club, Boulder City in Nevada.
Jodi had rounds of 68, 70 and 74. In her last round she birdied the second and 11th but ran up a double bogey 6 at the very last hole. It was her only serious slip of the round and her only double bogey of the 54 holes over which she had 10 birdies and four single bogeys and that doube bogey.
Miss Ewart, a freshman student at New Mexico University and a member at Catterick Golf Club, disputed the lead with Rachel Newren (Brigham Young Univerity) over the first two rounds.
But they were overhauled over the final round by some brilliant scoring in perfectly calm conditions from Jennifer Shipley (Fresno State University, California) and Kelly Nakashima (Idaho University).
Jennifer, pictured above, started the fiinal day in seventh place but shot a career-low, eight-under-par 64 over the 6,199yd, par-72 course after earlier rounds of 71 and 70.
She tied at the top of the leaderboard on 11-under-par 205 with Kelly Nakashima who scored 72, 68 and 65.
Jennifer won the sudden-death play-off at the third extra hole. It was her first ever win on the US college circuit.
Rachel Newren finished third on 209 with scores of 67, 70 and 72.
Jodi Ewart's very good effort did help her college, New Mexico, to finish runners-up behind Brigham Young in the field of 18 teams.
LEADING INDIVIDUAL TOTALS
205 Jennifer Shipley (Fresno State) 71 70 64, Kelly Nakashima (Idaho) 72 68 65 (Shipley won play-off at third extra hole).
209 Rachel Newren (Brigham Young) 67 70 72.
210 Danielle Von Arnim (Brigham Young) 71 68 71.
212 Jodi Ewart (New Mexico) 68 70 74 (jt 4th with four players).
LEADING TEAM TOTALS
847 Brigham Young. 857 New Mexico. 959 Idaho. 864 Indiana. 873 UNLV, San Francisco (18 teams).

WEBSTER, VANNET BEST AT BURNTISLAND

Professionals Alistair Webster (Edzell) and Lee Vannet (Carnoustie Links) tied for the top scratch prize with one-over-par scores of 71 in the Midland Golfers' Alliance's Dave Smith OBE and Eddie Sherry-sponsored pro-am at Burntisland Golf House, Fife.
Webster also lead his team to joint first place with a score of 130.

LEADING SCRATCH SCORES
71 A J Webster (Edzell) p, L Vannet (Carnoustie Links) p.
72 P Brookes (Pitreavie) p, D McKay (Wellsgreen) p.
73 E Walker (Burntisland) ap.

LEADING TEAM SCORES
130 A J Webster (Edzell) p, K Bruce (Edzell), I Milne (Edzell), A Smith (Edzell); P Wytrazek (Burntisland) p, G White (Burntisland), E White (Burntisland), J Edminston (Burntisland).
131 K McGowan (Burntisland) ap, H Haldane (Burntisland), D Adams (Burntisland), D West (Burntisland).

Next week's meeting is on Thursday, March 22 at Crieff Golf Club (tee reserve: 8.30 – 12.30).

MIKKO ILONEN WINS EUROPEAN TOUR
SHOT OF THE MONTH FOR FEBRUARY

Mikko Ilonen’s superb tee shot at the testing 236yd 15th hole, on his way to his maiden European Tour victory in the Enjoy Jakarta Astro Indonesia Open, has been recognised as The European Tour Shot of the Month for February.
Having taken the lead at the previous hole, the Finn was faced with an extremely testing tee shot on the 15th to a tight pin position on a green surrounded by water. Showing tremendous courage the 27 year old fired a rescue club straight at the flag, the ball coming to rest 12 feet from the pin from where two putts for a par 3 gave him the platform to go on to become the first Finnish golfer to win on The European Tour.

Edinburgh & East of Scotland Golfers' Alliance

GRAEME JOHNSTON WINS THORNTON
CUP AT MUSSELBURGH

By DUNCAN IRELAND
Secretary, Edinburgh & East of Scotland Alliance

Another fine day at Musselburgh for our final event of the year. A total of 89 played on an excellent course, which was playing very tricky, as the scores will testify to. Nevertheless a massive thank you to Musselburgh as a long-time supporter of the Alliance.
Congratulations are finally due, after quite a long wait, to Graeme Johnston. His net 69 off four was just enough to beat John Kerr's net 70, also off four, into second place and was only one off the best scratch of the day, a 72, from Kenneth Glen.
Incredibly close at the top as you can see from the prizes. We had six tied for fourth scratch and five tied for fifthhandicap.
Now with the final qualifier completed, we move on to the championship at Dalmahoy. The top 60 from the scratch order of merit have qualified by right to play.
Congratulations to Stevie Doyle of Liberton on winning the Handicap Order of Merit even before the championship begins. He can't be caught but second and third places are still very much up for grabs.
The Scratch Order of Merit is also still very much in the melting pot with six players still being able to win and numerous others able to take the minor places.
I hope you enjoyed your Edinburgh and East of Scotland Golfers’ Alliance season and the courses we played. If you have any suggestions for outings for next season, then please forward them to me or, better still, come along to the AGM & Presentation of Prizes on April 23 and let us know then.

LEADING RETURNS FROM TODAY’S MUSSELBURGH COMPETITION:

OVERALL WINNER (Thornton Cup) – Graeme D Johnston (Glenbervie) (4) 69.

SCRATCH
1st (£100) Kenneth Glen (Royal Musselburgh) t 72.
2nd equal (£70 each) Stevie Lamb (unatt) p, Ross Noon (Longniddry) 74.
4th equal (£13 each) Neil Colquhoun (Merchants of Edinburgh) p, Andrew Dunsmore (Deer Park) p, Scott Grieve (King’s Acre) t, Neil Shillinglaw (Glencorse), Jim Noon (Leven), Paul Wardell (Whitekirk) p 75.
Other leading scratch scores:
76 Derek Fish (Glenbervie), Ian Fyfe (Musselburgh), Norman Huguet (Royal Musselburgh) t, Craig Imlah (Peebles), James McGhee (Turnhouse) t, Callum Smith (Royal Musselburgh) p, Adam Strang (Rothco Mortgages) p, Mike Thomson (Cardrona) p.
77 Alexander Culverwell (Dunbar), Graham Johnston (Baberton) t, William Laing (Prestonfield), Andrew Marshall (Houston GR) p, John McLean (Bathgate) s, George Wither (Lothianburn).
78 Harry Cartmill (Bathgate), Kevin Connachan (Royal Musselburgh), Richard Johnston (Glenbervie), Colin McLachlan (Glenbervie) s, Derek P Miller (Murrayfield), Chris Morris (Kingsknowe) p, Andrew Rothney (Deer Park).
79 Alistar Anderson (Peebles), Steven Doyle (Liberton), Ronald Grant (Baberton), Ewan Hogarth (Peebles) t, Andrew Wight (Glencorse) s.

HANDICAP
(Prizes in vouchers)
1st (£100) Graeme D Johnston (Glenbervie) (4) 69.
2nd (£80) John Kerr (Deer Park) (4) 70.
3rd (£60) George Thomson (Duddingston) (4) 71.
4th (£40) Willie Laing (Prestonfield) (5) 72.
5th equal (£8 each) Harry Cartmill (Bathgate) (5), Tom Flaherty (Gullane) (8) s, Ian Fyfe (Musselburgh) (3), John McLean (Bathgate) (4) s, Peter Sewell (West Linton) (8) 73.
Other leading net scores:
74 Derek Fish (Glenbervie) (2), Ronald Grant (Baberton) (5), Colin McLachlan (Glenbervie) (4) s, James Rankeiller (Edinburgh Western) (11) s, Graham Roberts (Liberton) (9), Neil Shillinglaw (Glencorse) (1).
75 Alistair Bell (Mortonhall) (5), Steven Doyle (Liberton) (4), Graham Grieve (Torphin) (7), David Jeffrey (Whitekirk) (7), Ross Noon (Longniddry) (+1).
76 Alistair Anmderson (Peebles) (3), John T Anderson (Kingsknowe) (7) s, Eric Bird (Pumpherston) (6), James Laurieston (Easter Moffat) (10), Derek P Miller (Murrayfield) (2), Alistair Robertson (Kingsknowe) (10), George Wither (Lothianburn) (1).

p denotes professional; t trainee professional; s senior amateur. All the remainder are amateurs.

MAN IN FORM MATHIESON (64)

LEADS NORTH-EAST

ALLIANCE CHAMPIONSHIP

Murcar Links’ man in form Terry Mathieson followed up last week’s win at Cruden Bay by taking the halfway lead from a field of 110 for the first round of the North-east Golfers’ Alliance championship at Duff House Royal, Banff today.
Mathieson, pictured right, who has a +2 rating, returned a four-under-par 64 and will take a one-stroke lead over another amateur, Gary Esson (Portlthen) into next Wednesday’s second round at Fraserburgh.
“I’ve been having a lesson or two from Frank Coutts (the Deeside Golf Club director of golf) and he has made some changes in my set-up that have made me feel a lot more comfortable over the ball,” said Terry.
In ideal, windless conditions, from forward tees, Mathieson birdied the second, third, fifth, 13th, 15th and 17th in two halves of 32. He three-putted the ninth and 14th, both from about 40ft at the back of both greens.
Esson, a +3 player at Portlethen, birdied the third, fifth, seventh and 12th with only one bogey, at the second in halves of 32 and 33.
Third-placed Paul Cormack (Inchmarlo) bogeyed the 17th on his way to a 67 (33-34) while Dean Yeats (Newmachar) bogeyed the last three holes for a 68 (32-36) and fourth place.
Defending champion Ryan Fitzpatrick (Inchmarlo) told secretary Ron Menzies that he would not be able to play in next week’s second round of the championship at Fraserburgh as he was going on a golfing holiday to Spain.
Fitzpatrick had a three-over-par 71.

Leading returns (par 68).
SCRATCH
64 T Mathieson (Murcar Links).
65 G Esson (Portlethen).
67 P Cormack (Inchmarlo) p.
68 D Yeats (Newmachar).
69 R Stewart (Cruden Bay) p, G Grimmer (Nigg Bay), I Bratton (Newburgh) p, P Lovie (Inchmarlo) p, A Campbell (Deeside), G McInnes (Murcar Links) p.
70 S Troup (Kings Links) ap, S Finnie (Caledonian), R Hyland (Hazlehead), S Pert (Huntly).
71 C Nelson (MacKenzie Club) p, R Fitzpatrick (Inchmarlo) p, A Graham (Portlethen), C Alexander (Murcar Links) s, G Forbes (Murcar Links) p, M Barnard (Inchmarlo) ap.
72 W Main (Murcar Links), J Roberts (Cruden Bay) J Nicolson (Auchmill), R McDonald (Kemnay) p, E Kennedy (Stonehaven).
73 I D Smith (Hazlehead) s, C Stephen (Meldrum House), S Fraser (Northern).
74 P Morrison (Oldmeldrum), J Dalgarno (Hazlehead), A K Pirie (Hazlehead) s, B Ritchie (Inverallochy), J M Hamilton (Murcar Links), A Buchan (Northern), A Links (Murcar Links), D Corkey (East Aberdeenshire).
75 C Cassie (Nigg Bay), L Barbour (Cruden Bay), S Scott (Auchmill), S Lawrie (Portlethen), N Williamson (Banchory).
76 B Harper (Newburgh), R L Nicoll (Murcar Links), N Murray (Cruden Bay) p, A Swift (Auchmill), D McKay (Caledonian).
77 J Kinsella (Braemar), C Hood (Alford), J Harrison (Newmachar), N Reid (Deeside) ap, K Smith (Aboyne).
78 S Elrick (Kemnay), S Davidson (Banchory), A Grant (Portlethen), D Nelson (Aboyne).
79 I Welsh (Nigg Bay), A Grant (Portlethen), D Leighton (Murcar Links), M Ord (Royal Aberdeen) (12) s.

HANDICAP
Class 1 – A Buchan (Northern) (9) 65; J Roberts (Cruden Bay) (6), T Mathieson (Murcar Links) (+2) 66; C Cassie (Nigg Bay) (8), G Grimmer (Nigg Bay) (2), I D Smith (Hazlehead) (6) s, A Graham (Portlethen) (4), S Lawrie (Portlethen) (8), S Pert (Huntly) (3) 67; G Esson (Portlethen) (+3), C Alexander (Murcar Links) (3) s, J Nicolson (Auchmill) (4), D Yeats (Newmachar) (scr), C Hood (Alford) (9) 68; A Campbell (Deeside) (scr), P Morrison (Oldmeldrum) (5), J Dalgarno (Hazlehead) 95), J M Hamilton (5) 69.

Class 2 – M Ord (Royal Aberdeen) (12) s 67; W McBain (Turriff) (13) s, G Travis (Auchmill) (15) 68; N A Ogston (Turriff) (11) s, I Strachan (Royal Aberdeen) (11) s, D Moir (Murcar Links) (12) 70; A Dent (Ellon) (16), P Cornfield (Auchmill) (11), B Lumsden (Northern) (16), H McNaughton (Cruden Bay) (10), M F R Rogers (Kemnay) (14) s, J Penny (Huntly) (12) 71; D Lawrie (Inchmarlo) (12), J Wilson (Deeside) (10) s 72; W D Rae (Kemnay) (11) s, W Forbes (Murcar Links) (15) s 73; T Collie (Kemnay) (10), G Homer (Lumphanan (12), D Wood (Newburgh) (14) s, J Jessiman (Oldmeldrum) (14) s, R Addison (Newburgh) (18) s 74.

SCORECARD FOR DUFF HOUSE ROYAL:
OUT: 4-4-4-4-4-3-4-4-3-34. IN: 4-3-5-3-4-4-3-4-4-34.

TERRY MATHIESON 64
OUT: 4-3-3-4-3-3-4-4-4-32. IN: 4-3-5-2-5-3-3-3-4-32.

GARY ESSON 65
OUT: 4-5-3-4-3-3-3-4-3-32. IN: 4-3-4-3-4-4-3-4-4-33.

PAUL CORMACK 67
OUT: 3-4-4-3-3-3-5-4-4-33. IN: 4-3-4-3-4-4-3-5-4-34

DEAN YEATS 68
OUT: 3-3-5-3-3-3-4-4-4-32. IN: 4-3-5-3-3-4-4—5-5-36

ENGLAND SENDING TOP YOUNG GIRLS
TO SLGA EVENT AT CRAIGIELAW

England team for the Nations Cup event at the Scottish Under-16 girls' open stroke-play championship at Craigielaw Golf Club on April 5 and 6 is:
Kelly Tidy (Manchester) 15.
Holly Clyburn (Woodhall Spa) 16.
Raffi Dyer (Hayling) 15.
Kelly is in ELGA's Futures U-18 Squad and is the current English Under-15 champion. She won the English U-13 championship in 2004 and 2005.
Holly is in the Select Midlands Squad and Raffi is in Select South-East.
The full squad of England players for the Scottish Under-16 open championship is:
Heidi Baek (Felixstowe Ferry) 13, Holly Clyburn (Woodhall Spa) 16, Raffi Dyer (Hayling) 15, Sian Evans (Faversham) 15, Rebecca Gibbs (Burnham & Berrow) 16, Alexandra Peters (Notts Ladies) 13, Helen Searle (West End) 14, Kelly Tidy (Manchester) 15.
The squad will be accompanied by Pat Smillie, ELGA’s national junior coach, and overseer Di Williams.

SALLY FLIES HOME FOR LGU

MATCHES AFTER

FINISHING 12th IN TEXAS

David Leadbetter Academy student Sally Watson from South Queensferry is flying back to Britain from Florida - via Texas - in time to play for the Ladies Golf Union Elite Squad in selection trial matches against Cheshire and Lancashire men's county teams this weekend.
Sally finished joint 12th in a field of 69, including the very best Under-18 girl golfers in the United States in the Kathy Whitworth Invitational 36-hole tournament at Mira Vista Golf Club, Fort Worth in Texas earlier this week.
Miss Watson, who won't by 16 until July, had rounds of 75 and 73 for a six-over-par tally of 148 over the 6,152yd, par-71 course.
The winner of the prestigious Kathy Whitworth event - one of the top girls' tournaments in the United States - was a 14-year-old from Buena Park, California, Kristen Park. She had rounds of 71 and 70 for one-under-141.
Kristen won by one shot from Kimberly Kim, the 15-year-old holder of the US women's amateur championship from Hawaii, Florida-based Isabelle Lendl, one of the former world tennis champion's daughters, and Kristna Wong (Florida).

LEADING SCORES
Par 142 (2 x 71)
141 Kristen Park (California) 71 70.
142 Isabelle Lendl (Florida) 72 70, Kristina Wong (Florida) 72 70, Kimberly Kim (Hawaii) 70 72.
145 Cheyenne Woods (Arizona) 71 74, Elisa Aoki (Florida) 75 70, Megan Grehan (New York) 73 72, Courtney Ellenbogen (Virginia) 72 73.
146 Jane Rah (California) 74 72, Tiffany Lua (California) 71 75.
147 Angela Villela (California) 73 74.
148 Sally Watson (Scotland) 75 73, Glory Yang (California) 76 72, Andrea Watts (Florida) 75 73, Cydney Clanton (North Carolina) 71 77.

THE WEBSITE FOR TAMSEL TOUR SCORES, NEWS

ADAM STOTT WINS TAMSEL TOUR OPENER
AT PRESTATYN WITH 139 TOTAL

Adam Stott from Reddish Vale won the opening event of the 2007 Tamsel Tour at Prestatyn, Wales yesterday.
He had rounds of 69 and 70 for a total of 139, one stroke ahead of Andrew Willey (Ramsdale Park).
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
139 Adam Stott (Reddish Vale) 69 70.
140 Andrew Willey (Ramsdale Park) 67 73.
141 James Harper (Seaton Carew) 72 69, Daniel Wardrop (Didsbury/ISM) 70 71.
142 David Smith (Swinton Park) 68 74.
143 Peter Baker (South Staffs) 75 68, Gareth Wright (ISM) 72 71, Barry Taylor (Houghwood) 70 73.
144 Matt Morris (Forest of Arden) 71 73.
145 Stuart Andrew (Clitheroe) 76 69, Richard Gruney (England) 73 72, Paul McKechnie (Braid Hills DR) 72 73.
146 Paul Gault (Gary Mitchell Golf) 75 71, Simon Robinson (England) 70 76.
147 Ian Keenan (Royal Liverpool) 77 70, Ian Ridgway (High Leigh Park) 76 71, Michael Hempstock (Doncaster) 76 71, Chris Handson (Crosland Heath/go2sports.com) 75 72.
148 Neil Oakley (St Mellons) 75 73, Chris Russell (Dunbar) 74 74, Steve Carter (South Staffs) 72 76, Lee Corcoran (Moreton Hills/Wilson Garages Ltd) 72 76.
149 Lloyd Bond (Seaton Carew) 76 73, Paul Wesselingh (Kedleston Park) 75 74.
150 Ben Hutton (Sudbrook Moor) 77 73, Jon Hems (Little Aston) 76 74, Andrew Bradley (Doncaster) 74 76, David Wilcock (Dean Wood) 74 76, Adrian Carey (Walmley) 72 78.
151 Mike Kanski (Hesketh) 78 72, Peter Wheatcroft (Worksop) 76 75, Adam Scallon (Bancroft Ltd) 75 76, James Whatley (jameswhatley.co.uk) 75 76.
152 Eurig Williams (Garnant Park) 76 76, Simon Eaton (Nelson) 75 77, James Brute (Old Colwyn) 75 77.
153 Anthony Mackrell (Scotland) 80 73, Mark Hancock (Stand/M&J Motors) 79 74, Richard Jones (England) 78 75, Mike Lindfield (Playgolf Manchester) 77 76, David Mansell (Silkstone) 76 77, Jamie Farnsworth (Coxmoor) 76 77, Andy Lambert (Wales) 73 80.
154 David Ames (Prestatyn) 78 76, Craig Simmons (Patshull Park) 77 77.
155 Daniel Bardsley (Moor Hall) 78 77, James Salt (Nefyn) 76 79.
156 Philip Barlow (Helsby) 74 82, Matthew Edwards (Hill Valley) 77 79, Micael Tchobanian
(Blackpool North Shore( 74 82.
157 Kyle Cullum (MAD Solutions) 76 81.
158 Liam Hunt (Mere 78 80.
159 Thomas Burns (England) 80 79.
160 Joseph Feather (Perrott Associates/Leeds GC) 81 79, Kenny Monaghan (Bothwell Castle) 83 77, Neil Jones (Vicars Cross) 87 73, Nathan Stead (Queensbury) 84 76.
162 Simon Locke (CCS Comms Ltd) 79 83.
163 Carl Davis (Carden Park) 80 83, Ian Simpson (Total Signs & Graphics) 81 82.
164 Alan Watson (Bentham) 79 85.
165 Jonathan Craddock (Stagecraft Systems) 81 84, Danny Midgelow (Northenden) 80 85.
168 David Middleton (Sudbrook Moor) 78 90.
169 John Coppack (England) 84 85.
170 Clive Burfoot (Hawarden) 87 83.
176 Tony Canning (Golf Solutions) 91 85.
NR James Whatmore (Wynyard) 77 NR.
Ret Steve Parry (Bolton) 77 Ret.
DQ Harry Proos (Dunscar) 80 DQ.
Ret Ru Barlow (England). Ret.
Ret David MacKinnon (Didsbury) Ret.
Ret James Pye (Preston) Ret.
NR Dean Brady (Classic Car Rentals) NR.
DQ Peter James (Belmouth) DQ.
DQ Paul Nicholson (England) DQ.


NEXT FOUR TAMSEL TOUR TOURNAMENTS:
Monday, March 26 - Fordsham Golf Club (18 holes).
Monday-Tuesday, April 2-3 - Leasowe Golf Club (36 holes).
Tuesday-Wednesday, May 1-2 - Withington Golf Club (36 holes).
Monday-Tuesday, May 14-15 - Helsby Golf Club (36).

For more details, E-mail http://www.tamsel.com

THIS IS YOUR WEBSITE FOR TAMSEL TOUR SCORES AND NEWS.


ANY COMMENTS? E-mail them to colin@scottishgolfview.com

JODI AND RACHEL NECK AND NECK
AT BOULDER CREEK, NEVADA

Former Daily Telegraph national girls champion Jodi Ewart from Middletham, Yorkshire is on the six-under-par mark after two rounds of the UNLV Spring Rebel Invitational – only one shot behind the pacemaking Rachel Newren (Brigham Young University).
Jodi, pictured right, a member of Catterick Golf Club and a freshman (first year) student at New Mexico University, has shot rounds of 68 and 70, compared with Rachel’s 67 and 70 over the par-72, 6,199yd course AT Boulder Creek Golf Club, Boulder City in Nevada.
Rachel had two eagle 2s in her opening round and that has made all the difference so far at the top of the leaderboard.
Miss Ewart has had nine birdies over her two rounds. She birdied the fourth, fifth, 11th and 16th on her second circuit on which her two bogies came at the eighth and 18th.
Brigham Young (563) are leading the team event from Indiana (570) with Idaho (573) third and New Mexico (574) fourth of the 18 competing colleges.
The 54-hole tournament ends on Wednesday.

LEADING INDIVIDUALS
Par 144 (2 x 72)
137 Rachel Newren (Brigham Young) 67 70.
138 Jodi Ewart (New Mexico) 68 70.
139 Danielle Von Arnim (Brigham Young) 71 68.
LEADING TEAMS
563 Brigham Young.
570 Indiana.
573 Idaho.
574 New Mexico (4th of 18 teams).

GET RID OF PAR AND YARDAGE, SAYS FORMER
OPEN WINNER TODD HAMILTON


Now here's a thought-provoking suggestion from Todd Hamilton - yes, the same Todd Hamilton who won the 2004 Open at Royal Troon.
The American says he would like to see only one number on the signs at every tee on any course, and that would be to identify what hole you're playing.
"Get rid of the par. Get rid of the yardage,'' he said. "Go play the course.''
Hamilton made his comment after Arnold Palmer announced that he was converting two par-5s into par-4s to make his Bay Hill course a more testing par-70 than a "easy" par 72.

ANY COMMENTS? E-mail them to colin@scottishgolfview.com

MICHELE PULLS OUT NINE DAYS AHEAD OF EVENT

A wrist injury has forced Michele Wie to withdraw from the LPGA Safeway International, NINE days ahead of the start of the event at Superstition Mount Golf & Country Club's Prospector Course.
Michele, who is at Stanford College, California, obviously did not think the lingering injury was going to clear up before a week on Thursday.

ANY COMMENTS? E-mail them to colin@scottishgolfview.com

SALLY WATSON STARTS

WITH A 75 IN KATHY
WHITWORTH TOURNEY

British girls championship runner-up Sally Watson from South Queensferry had a three-over-par 75 in the first round of the prestigious Kathy Whitworth Invitational girls’ tournament at Mira Vista Golf Club, Fort Worth in Texas.
Scotland women’s international team player Miss Watson, a 15-year-old student at the IMG David Leadbetter Golf Academy at Bradenton, Florida, was lying 16th , five shots behind the leader, Hawaiian youngster Kimberly Kim who, at the age of 14, was the youngest ever winner of the United States women’s championship last year.
Sally, pictured left, flies back to Britain immediately the Texas tournament is over so that she can take part in the Ladies Golf Union Elite squad matches against the Cheshire and Lancashire men’s county squads this weekend.

Match-play form in these weekend matches will play a big part in the later selection of the Great Britain & Ireland team for the Vagliano Trophy match against the Continent of Europe at Fairmont St Andrews (formerly St Andrews Bay) on July 27 and 28.
Kathy Whitworth scored 88 career wins, six of them majors, during her years as an LPGA player.

THREE SCOTS IN TOP 50 OF
R&A WORLD RANKINGS
This week's top 50 R&A world men's amateur golf rankings include three Scots - Richie Ramsay (Royal Aberdeen), the former No 1 and now No 3, Lloyd Saltman (Craigielaw) in No 31 position and Paul O'Hara (Colville Park) in the 42nd position.

One of the most significant changes in the make-up of the upper echelon of the rankings is that more and more American college players are making their presence felt. There are now four in the top 10, whereas a few months ago there were none.

The list then was top-weighted with British and Irish players but the balance of power is swinging the Americans' way, which is possibly a more accurate reflection of where the world's leading male amateur players are based.

Top 50 are:

1 Jamie Moul ENG 1171.05.
2 Rory McIlroy IRE 1154.00.
3 Richie Ramsay SCO 1119.44.
4 Jamie Lovemark US 1050.00.
5 Rhys Davies WAL 1049.18.
6 Billy Horschel US 1047.17.
7 Pablo Martin SPA 1041.07.
8 Gary Wolstenholme ENG 1021.82.
9 Jonathan Moore US 1009.68.
10 Kyle Stanley US 1000.00.
11 Webb Simpson US 991.53.
12 Bronson LaCassie AUS 990.32.
13 Chris Kirk US 970.37.
14 John Parry ENG 965.71.
15 Niklas Lemke SWE 957.58.
16 Seve Benson ENG 946.34.
17 Julien Guerrier FRA 944.19.
18 Dustin Johnson US 940.62.
19 Tim Stewart AUS 932.10.
20 Johan Carlsson SWE 930.30.
21 Gary Woodland US 926.67.
22 Stephen Lewton ENG 908.00.
23 Rob Grube US 907.14.
24 Louis de Jager SAf 904.26.
25 David Horsey ENG 901.96.
26 Nigel Edwards WAL 897.56.
27 Bjorn Akesson SWE 893.94.
28 Ryan Yip CAN 891.89.
29 Cameron Tringale US 888.00.
30 Kevin Chappell US 881.82.
Other GB&I players in top 50:
31 Lloyd Saltman SCO 879.59.
42 Paul O'Hara SCO 854.55.
48 Gary Boyd ENG 837.50

PRESS RELEASE

TETRA
TECHNOLOGIES
RE-SIGN

PAUL LAWRIE

TETRA Technologies, Inc. announced today that they have extended their relationship with 1999 Open Champion, Paul Lawrie.
Paul will wear the TETRA branding on the side of his headwear in the year of his much anticipated return to Carnoustie, the scene of his Open triumph. Paul said, “I am very grateful to TETRA for their support over the years and delighted that we will be working together for the foreseeable future.”
Duane Sutherland, Vice President Europe and Africa, of Tetra added, “We are delighted to continue our relationship with Paul. He has been a great ambassador for us, both locally in Aberdeen and on the global stage. He has also been a great asset to us in our business to business marketing and the golf days he hosts are eagerly anticipated by all.”

***TETRA Technologies, Inc is a geographically diversified oil and gas services company that provides niche products and services focused on well completion and on late-life production enhancement and decommissioning. In addition, it is the world's largest, vertically integrated producer, marketer, and distributor of calcium chloride, which it supplies as feedstocks-along with its brominated products-for its completion fluids business as well as for applications in a variety of other markets.
Headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, TETRA is a global company with employees and operations on five continents.

JODI EWART HAS 68 AT BOULDER CREEK

Yorkshire player Jodi Ewart (New Mexico University) from Catterick was lying joint second, only one shot off the lead, with a four-under-par 68 after the first round of the UNLV Spring Rebel Invitational women's college tournament at Boulder Creek Golf Club, Boulder City in Nevada.
Jodi started at the 10th and put herself in the mood for a low score with a birdie at the 11th before a string of pars saw her complete her first nine holes of the 6,199yd par-72 course in one-under 35.
Then she birdied the third, fourth, sixth and ninth with her only shot dropped at the eighth.
Rachel Newren (Brigham Young) leads on 67 and Jodi shares second place with Lehua Wise (New Mexico State) in a field of 98 players.
Brigham Young (280) lead the team event from New Mexico (284) with Indian (285) third and New Mexico State (291) fourth of the 18 colleges competing.

RHYS DAVIES CHALKS UP 10th WIN
ON AMERICAN COLLEGE CIRCUIT

Scots Wallace Booth (Augusta State University) from Comrie and Fraserburgh’s Jordan Findlay (East Tennessee State University) finished joint 34th and 64th respectively in a field of 98 as Edinburgh-born Welsh Walker Cup player Rhys Davies chalked up his 10th win on the American college circuit.
The tournament was the General Jim Hackler College Championship over 54 holes from the back tees – a course measuring 6,950yd with a par of 72 – at TPC of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Davies, pictured above, shot 70, 65 and 71 for a 10-under-par total of 70, 65 71. Rather in Nick Faldo style, Rhys shot 17 pars and one birdie in his final round to win by one shot from South African Dawie Van Der Walt (Lamar University).
Another Lamar player from South Africa, Oliver Bekker) was third on 208.
Wallace Booth had rounds of 76, 73 and 71 for a total of 220, improving his position by some 21 places with a sub-par final round that include a double-bogey 7 at the second but eagle 3s at the sixth and 14th as well as birdies at the third and 10th in halves of 37 and 34.
Jordan Findlay also saved his best to last in scores of 78, 75 and 74 for a total of 227. He took climbed the best part of 20 places, with a steadier round of two birdies and four bogeys in halves of 36 and 38.
Ulsterman Gareth Shaw (East Tennessee State) tied for 13th place on 214 with scores of 75, 69 and 70.

Team-mate Seamus Power, a freshman from Waterford, shared 51st place with 75, 75 and 74 for 224.
Englishman Peter Richardson (Purdue University) from Carlisle came joint 30th with 76, 68 and 75 for 219.
Cian McNamara (East Tennessee State) from Limerick finished 81st with scores of 76, 77 and 77 for 230.
Another Purdue student from England, Tom Oliver of Nottingham, finished 86th with rounds of 77, 80 and 75 for 232.
Lamar University (838) won the team event from Coastal Carolina (848) with Southern California (851) third, Duke (868) and East Tennessee State (869) fifth in a field of 18 college teams. Augusta State (875) came eighth.
LEADING INDIVIDUALS
Par 216 (3 x 72)
206 Rhys Davies (East Tennessee State) 0 65 71.
207 Dawie Van Der Walt (Lamar) 66 70 71.
208 Olvier Bekker (Lamar) 69 72 67.
Other totals:
214 Gareth Shaw (East Tennessee State) 75 69 70 (jt 13th).
219 Peter Richardson Purdue) 76 68 75 (jt 30th).
220 Wallace Booth (Augusta State) 76 73 71 (jt 34th).
224 Seamus Power (East Tennessee State) 75 75 74 (jt 51st).

227 Jordan Findlay (East Tennessee State) 78 75 74 (jt 64th).
230 Cian McNamara (East Tennessee State) 76 77 77.
232 Tom Oliver (Purdue) 77 80 75.
LEADING TEAM TOTALS
838 Lamar. 848 Coastal Carolina. 851 Southern California. 868 Duke. 869 East Tennessee State. Also: 875 Augusta State (eighth of 18 teams).

CARNOUSTIE CALEDONIA CLINCH TITLE IN
ANGUS WOMEN’S GOLF WINTER LEAGUE

Carnoustie Caledonia are this year’s winners of a women’s winter league golf competition contested by seven clubs in the Angus area over the past six months. It’s the Carnoustie team’s first success in the tournament since 1999-200.
Brechin, Montrose, Panmure Barry and Monifieth all hosted earlier rounds of the William Low Ladies Coastal Winter League and the competition ended at Carnoustie’s Burnside course on Sunday.
Winners on the day – and thus clinching the overall championship - were Carnoustie Caledonia, whose three representatives took the first three places in the individual competition.
Chris Healey was first with 37 Stableford points, Susan Sneddon second with 33, and Ros Fletcher third with 31 points, on the better inward half from Kate Lowden (Monifieth).
With the two best scores out of three counting towards the team competition, the team placings on the day were:
1 Carnoustie Caledonia 70pt, 2 Monifieth 59, 3 (equal) Brechin, Grange, Panmure Barry B 57, 6 Royal Montrose 56, 7 Panmure Barry A 54, 8 Ballumbie Castle 43.
In the overall league championship, the final positions were:
1 Carnoustie Caledonia 325pt, 2 Panmure Barry A 304, 3 Panmure Barry B 303, 4 Grange 296; 5 Monifieth 290; 6 Royal Montrose 284; 7 Brechin 279; 8 Ballumbie Castle 278.
Recent previous winners of the title:
2005-2006 Royal Montrose.
2004-2005 Royal Montrose.
2003-2004 Panmure Barry B.
2002-2003 Royal Montrose.
2001-2002 Letham Grange.
2000-2001 Abertay.
1999-2000 Carnoustie Caledonia.

ROOKIE MEAGAN BEATS ANNIKA

IN MEXICO CITY PLAY-OFF

LPGA Tour rookie Meaghan Francella, pictured right, beat the formidable figure of Annika Sorenstam at the fourth hole of a play-off to bring to an end of the fourth day of stop-start-play in the weather-extended MasterCard Classic at Bosque Real Country Club near Mexico City.

Francella, who played on the US women's college tour with the University of North Carolina and the University of Memphis, turned pro in June 2004 and went straight on to the Futures Tour.

Last year she won an event on the Futures Tour and had a clutch of top-10 finishes which meant she finished last year as fifth on the Futures Tour money list, giving her automatic promotion to the LPGA Tour this season.

This was her fourth LPGA event and she had banked around $5,000. Now Meaghan is $180,000 richer after beating the world's No 1 female professional in head-to-head match-play. Annika's runner-up cheque was for $109,000.
Sorenstam, with 69 wins since she turned pro in 1994, tied with rookie Francella on 11-under-par 205.
Both players started at the 10th in their delayed third and final rounds. Annika birdied the fourth, fifth, sixth and ninth for 32 and a six-under-par 66.
Meaghan, who had led the field after 36 holes, birdied the fourth, fifth and ninth on her second nine in the final round but bogeyed the sixth (a crucial slip) for 34 and a 69.
Laura Davies finished with a 71 for 213, the same score as Becky Morgan who had a 74. They finished joint 15th and gained $16,119 each.
Janice Moodie had a final round of 72 to fill joint 45th place of the 74 qualifiers. Janice finished on 217. Her earlier rounds were 77 and 68. Moodie's pay-out amounted to $4,751.
The early holes of the tournament "killed" the Scot's hopes of a high finish, and almost knocked her out of the tournament. Janice bogeyed the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth, five holes in a row.In the end, for the 54 holes, Janice had 10 birdies and 11 bogeys.

LEADING FINAL PLACINGS

205 Meaghan Francella 68 68 69 bt Annika Sorenstam 69 70 66 at fourth hole of a sudden death play-off.

208 Kyeong Bae 71 70 67, Angela Stanford 74 67 67, Stacy Prammanasudh 67 70 71.

Other totals:

213 Laura Davies (Eng) 68 74 71, Becky Morgan (Wal) 69 70 74 (jt 15th).

217 Janice Moodie (Sco) 77 68 72 (jt 45th).

LEWIS KIRTON HELPS LOUISVILLE

TO TEAM TITLE IN FLORIDA

Freshman student Lewis Kirton (University of Louisville, Kentucky) from Oldmeldrum helped his college to a 14-stroke team-title win in the Mission Inn Collegiate Invite college tournament at El Campeon Golf Club, Howie in the Hills, Florida at the weekend.
Kirton, pictured right, had rounds of 74, 81 and 74 for a 13-over-par total of 229 over the 6,923yd par-72 course. That put him in joint 53rd place in a field of 87 players.
Mike Van Sickle (Marquette University) won the individual honours with scores of 70, 68 and 74 for four-under-par 212.

Two English-born students at Xavier University, Cincinnati, Alan Glynn from Middlesex and Kieran Lovelock from Surrey - both first-year freshman - finished joint 49th and joint 55th respectively.

Alan had rounds of 80, 73 and 75 for 228, while Kieran scored 78, 78 and 74 for 230.
Louisville had three players in the top 10 at the end of the 54 holes but Kirton's 74 was a counting score for the team in the final round.
Lousville (860) won from UNC Greensboro (874) with Marquette and Wichita State joint third on 882 in a field of 16 colleges.

LEADING INDIVIDUAL TOTALS

Par 216 (3 x 72)

212 Mike Van Sickle (Marquette) 70 68 74.

Other scores:

228 Alan Glynn (Xavier) 80 73 75 (jt 49th).

229 Lewis Kirton (Louisville) 74 81 74 (jt 53rd).

230 Kieran Lovelock (Xavier) 78 78 74 (jt 55th).

LEADING TEAM TOTALS

860 Louisville. 874 UNC Greensbro. 882 Marquette, Wichita State. 16 teams in field.

SCOTS STRUGGLE TO KEEP UP

WITH RHYS DAVIES

AT MYRTLE BEACH

Scots Wallace Booth (Augusta State University) from Comrie and Fraserburgh’s Jordan Findlay (East Tennessee State) were lying joint 55th and 80th respectively in a field of 98 for the General Jim Hackler men’s college tournament after 36 holes from the back tees (6,950yd, par-72) at the TPC of Myrtle Beach course in Florida.
Booth scored 76 and 73 for five-over-par 149, Findlay 78 and 75 for 153.

Jordan had a double bogey 6 at the fourth in his first round and one birdie, at the 14th. In his second round, the Buchan loon had birdies at the second, 11th and 15th.
Edinburgh-born Welsh Walker Cup player, Rhys Davies, pictured above, also a student at East Tennessee State and bidding for his 10th win on the American college circuit, shared the lead on nine-under-par 135 with one round to go with Tom Glissmeyer (Southern California).
Davies had scores of 70 and 65, Glissmeyer 67 and 68.
Lamar University (560) lead the team event from Southern California (560) with Coastal Carolina (572) third and Duke (579) fourth. East Tennessee State and Tulsa shared fifth place on 580 with Augusta State next on 581.

LEADING INDIVIDUALS

Par 144 (2 x 72)

135 Rhys Davies (East Tennessee State) 70 65, Tom Glissmeyer (Southern California) 67 68.
136 Dawie Van Der Walt (Lamar) 66 70.

Other scores:

144 Peter Richardson (Purdue) 76 68, Gareth Shaw (East Tennessee State) 75 69 (jt 20th).

149 Wallace Booth (Augusta State) 76 73 (jt 55th).

150 Seamus Power (East Tennessee State) 75 75 (jt 63rd).

153 Jordan Findlay (East Tennessee State) 78 75, Cian McNamara (East Tennessee State) 76 77 (jt 80th).

LEADING TEAMS

553 Lamar. 560 Southern California. 572 Coastal Carolina. 579 Duke. 580 East Tennessee State, Tulsa. 581 Augusta State. 18 teams competing.

JANICE BEATS THE CUT AND PICKS UP
ANOTHER TWO BIRDIES

Janice Moodie did indeed "pull up her socks" - as we suggested - and crammed five birdies and only one bogey into a second-round, four-under-par 68 to beat the 36-hole cut in the weather-disrupted LPGA Tour MasterCard championship in Mexico.
Janice had rounds of 77 and 68 for one-over-par 145. Those with totals of 147 or better made the final day which has been extended to Monday because of continuing electrical storms in the area.
In her final round, Janice started at the 10th and bogeyed the short 11th but picked up a couple of birdies at the 12th and 13th before play was finally suspended for the day on Sunday.
Among those who did not beat the cut were Paula Creamer on 148 (75-73) and Mhairi McKay 149 (77-72).
Meaghan Francella led the field after two rounds of 68 for six-under-par 136. She had a one-stroke advantage over Stacy Prammanasudh (67-70). Annika Sorenstam is not all that far off the pace.

NORTHERN COUNTIES' 40th BIRTHDAY
PARTY AT ELGIN

Northern Counties Ladies Golf Association celebrates its 40th birthday this year and county captain Mairi Orr would like as many members, past team members and past officials to get their entries in for a "day of fun" at Elgin Golf Club on Sunday, April 22.
"The format is teams of four and we are pleased to say that numerous sponsors have donated prizes," says Mairi.
"Entries should be sent to Susan MacKenzie, please. Alongside the competition we are having a Grand County Draw - £5 an entry - for various four-ball tee times throughout the county. We presently have more than 20 courses available. Many thanks."

THREE SCOTS FINISH

IN TOP TWENTY

IN AUSTRALIA’S

RIVERSDALE CUP

The three surviving Scots on the final day – Paul O’Hara (Colville Park), Scott Henry (Cardross) and Lloyd Saltman (Craigielaw)– all finished in the top 20 of the prestigious Australian 72-hole amateur stroke-play event, the Riversdale Cup at Riversdale Golf Club, near Melbourne.
O’Hara had rounds of 69, 71, 75 and 71 to finish joint 13th on two-under-par 286.
Henry and Saltman shared 17th place on 287. Scott scored 73, 71, 73 and 70, Lloyd 72, 70, 72 and 73.
The fourth Scot in the starting field, Scottish amateur match-play champion Kevin McAlpine (Alyth) did not beat the cut at three-over-par after 54 holes, having scored 78-73-73 for eight-over 224.
Australian amateur champion Tim Stewart, pictured above with the trophy, ranked in the top 20 in the R&A world amateur rankings, only just held on to win by one shot after taking a clear lead into the final round.
Stewart, from New South Wales, closed with a three-over-par 75 for nine-under-par 279 after earlier rounds of 70, 66, 68 and 75 had taken him five shots clear of the field.
Runner-up Andrew Dodt from Queensland made up seven strokes with a final-round 68 after earlier scores of 67, 69 and 76 for a total of eight-under 280.
Two other leading Australian players, Matthew Griffin (Victoria) and Rohan Blizard (New South Wales) tied for third place on 282.
Griffin’s rounds were 71, 69, 74 and 68, Blizard had 69, 71, 72 and 70.
England’s Stephen Lewton and Jason Palmer finished on 289 and 293 respectively.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4 x 72)
279 Tim Stewart (NSW) 70 66 68 75.
280 Andrew Dodt (Queensland) 67 69 76 68.
282 Matthew Griffin (Victoria) 71 69 74 68, Rohan Blizard (NSW) 69 71 72 70.
Other totals:
286 Paul O’Hara (Sco) 69 71 75 71 (jt 13th).
287 Scott Henry (Sco) 73 71 73 70, Lloyd Saltman (Sco) 72 70 72 73.
289 Stephen Lewton (Eng) 74 74 71 70,
293 Jason Palmer (Eng) 73 76 71 73.

SANDRA BOOKS PLACE IN EURO

VAGLIANO TROPHY TEAM

FOR ST ANDREWS BAY

Irish Curtis Cup player Tara Delaney from Carlow, a student at Kent State University, Ohio, finished joint 24th in a field of 87 for the Lady Gator Invitational college tournament over the University of Florida golf course (par-70, 5,927yd) at Gainesville.
Tara had scores of 76, 76 and 75.
Claire Starkie, a student at Georgia State University, had three rounds she won’t be writing home to Skipton, West Yorkshire. Claire scored 81, 81 and 85 for a total of 247 and a share of 81st place. Over the three rounds, Claire had three triple bogeys and four double bogeys.
Even less happy with the way she is playing must be Tara Delaney’s sister Karen. What has happened to the talented young player who won the Irish girls’ title in 2002 and 2003?
At Gainesville Karen had scores of 80, 89 and 83 for a total of 252 – 42 shots over par for 54 holes. She had two quadruple bogeys and 10 double bogeys over the three rounds. Not surprisingly, she finished 86th in a field of 87.
Germany’s Sandra Gal, pictured above, a student at the host university, Florida, won the individual title by five shots with scores of 69, 70 and 71 for level par 210. Runner-up was Catherine Matranga (Texas Christian) on 215 (71-70-74) with Sweden’s Caroline Westrup (Florida State) third on 216 (72-77-67).
Look for both Sandra and Caroline being in the Continent of Europe team for the Vagliano Trophy match against Great Britain & Ireland at Fairmont St Andrews Bay on July 27 and 28.
Florida (876) won the team event by 14 shots from Texas Christian (890) with Michigan State (892) third and Tennessee (899) fourth. Kent State (909) finished ninth and George State (945) 14th of the 16 competing colleges.

A FEW DOLLARS MORE FOR LISA

AND POLLY IN FLORIDA OPENER

England's Lisa Hall from Stoke on Trent and Londoner Polly Willett finished down the field in the US Futures Tour opener, the Lakeland Classic at Cleveland Heights, Florida - but at least they made the final day, which meant they took away a cheque, small though it was.

Lisa (Hackney before she was married), pictured right, had a third round 75 (37-38) today for a final total of seven-over par 223. That put her joint 45th . Her earlier scores were 75 and 73. Lisa earned $509.

Polly had scores of 75, 74 and 79 for 228 and joint 73rd position for a pay-out of $453.

Victory and the $11,200 jackpot prize went to Lori Atsedes from New York State with scores of 69 71 and 72 for four-under-par 212.

Kelly Cap from Ohio finished second with three rounds of 71 for 213 to collect the $8,000 runner-up award.

Ha-Na Chae from Seoul, Korea, who had moved into the lead with only a few holes to play, let her chance slip and scores of 72, 70 and 72 put her in third place on 214.

Meredith Ward, who had been the long-time leader, finished joint fifth on 216 with scores of 69, 70 and 77. She earned $2,146

FITZPATRICK BEGINS DEFENCE

OF NE ALLIANCE TITLE

ON WEDNESDAY AT BANFF

The North-east Golfers' Alliance championship starts on Wednesday with the first round at Duff House Royal. The second and final round will be played a week on Wednesday at Fraserburgh.

Ryan Fitzpatrick, staff professional at Inchmarlo Golf Centre is the defending champion. He beat Gary Esson (Portlethen) in a held-over play-off for the title after they had tied at the end of 36 holes last year.

The play-off was played before the pro-am foursomes tournament began the following week.
Looking back through the list of winners of the Uniroyal Quaich is like reading a "Who's Who" of the great and the good golfers in the North-east over the last 70-odd years.

NORTH-EAST ALLIANCE CHAMPIONS

Uniroyal Quaich winners and home club

1935 James Forrester (Cruden Bay).
1936 John Campbell (Balnagask).
1937 Pat Flynn (Elgin).
1938 William Don (Duff House Royal).
1939 William Don (Duff House Royal).
1940-48 No championship.
1949 Tom McNaughton (Banchory).

1950 Ian Macpherson (Elgin).
1951 Jack Pressley (Fraserburgh).
1952 Bill McHardy (Royal Aberdeen).
1953 Jack Booth (Murcar).
1954 Tom McNaughton (Murcar).
1955 Jack Booth (Murcar).
1956 Gordon Durward (Deeside).
1957 Jack Booth (Murcar).
1958 Jack Hall (Royal Aberdeen).
1959 David Shepherd (Turriff).

1960 A Shand (Murcar).
1961 David Shepherd (Turriff).
1962 Joe Little (Murcar).
1963 Dick Cradock (Fraserburgh).
1964 Maurice Moir (Royal Aberdeen).
1965 Jock Brown (Peterhead).
1966 Ian Smith (Hazlehead).
1967 Harry Bannerman (Royal Aberdeen).
1968 Harry Bannerman (Royal Aberdeen).
1969 Robin Bremner (Murcar).

1970 John Grant (Royal Aberdeen).
1971 John Johnston (Aberdeen University).
1972 Harry Bannerman (Banchory).
1973 Harry Bannerman (Banchory).
1974 Bob Strachan (Fraserburgh).
1975 Graham Everett (Deeside).
1976 Hugh Adam (Royal Aberdeen).
1977 Harry Bannerman (Cruden Bay).
1978 Sandy Pirie (Hazlehead).
1979 Harry Bannerman (Cruden Bay).

1980 Bob Strachan (Duff House Royal).
1981 Alex Cruickshank (Caledonian).
1982 Peter Smith (Hazlehead).
1983 Peter Smith (Hazlehead).
1984 Harry Bannerman (Cruden Bay).
1985 Peter Smith (Murcar).
1986 Fraser Bann (Ballater).
1987 Frank Coutts (Murcar).
1988 Lee Vannet (Balleter).
1989 Paul Lawrie (Banchory).

1990 Gary Forbes (Deeside).
1991 Paul Lawrie (King’s Links).
1992 Fraser Mann (Ballater).
1993 Ronnie McDonald (Westhill).
1994 Gary Forbes (Aberdeen Petroleum Club).
1995 Glenn Taylor (Hazlehead).
1996 Graeme McInnes (Murcar).
1997 Colin Nelson (Hazlehead).
1998 Patrick Lovie (Newmachar).
1999 Gary Forbes (Murcar).

2000 Colin Nelson (Hazlehead).
2001 Graeme McInnes (Murcar).
2002 Steven Murray (Kemnay).
2003 Bill Urquhart (Murcar).
2004 Andy Cooper (Auchmill).
2005 Terry Mathieson (Murcar Links).
2006 *Ryan Fitzpatrick (Inchmarlo)
*bt Gary Esson (Portlethen) in play-off

DURNESS ALLIANCE OFF UNTIL NEXT SUNDAY

Saturday's planned North Golf Alliance fixture, due to be played over the nine-hole course at Durness, was called off after the North-west of Sutherland was hit by 24 hours of rain through Friday and Saturday, causing the course to flood.
The fixture has been rescheduled for next Sunday.

UNITED STATES COLLEGE NEWS
For the latest tournament scores from the United States men's and women's college circuits, switch over to our sister website, www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk

LIGHTNING NEVER STRIKES TWICE? TELL
THAT TO THE LPGA DOWN MEXICO WAY

So you think Scotland is the only place that gets bad weather at this time of the year?
In Mexico, there has been so much lightning flying around that the LPGA Tour officials have already decided to extend the MasterCard Classic, due to finish Sunday, into Monday.
Before the start of play today, only 42 players had completed 36 holes in the stop-start-stop pattern to the tournament since it teed off on Friday.
Obviously no cut can be declared until everyone has finished their second round and that will not be until much later on Sunday.
Janice Moodie needs to pull up her socks after a 77 on Friday if she is to make the cut.
The tournament is being held at Bosque Real Country Club in Huixquilucan, Mexico - a place to avoid for your holidays at this time of the year.
Incidentally, the LPGA are slowly but surely pushing up the length of the courses on which they stage their tournaments.
This one in Mexico is over a 6,876yd course with a par of 72.

HUTCH AND RAMSAY TOP SCOTS

AS MOLINARI WINS AGAIN

IN KENYA OPEN

Banchory’s Greig Hutcheon and Eric Ramsay from Carnoustie were joint top Scots – sharing 19th place – in the Kenya Open at Karen Golf Club, Nairobi today.
Hutcheon and Ramsay, pictured right, finished on three-over-par 283, Greig with a final round of 71 (35-36) and Ramsay a 69 which included birdies a the second, sixth, 12th, 14th and 18th in halves of 34-35.
Rising Italian star Edoardo Molinari, winner of the US amateur championship in 2005, won on the European Challenge Tour for the second time this year. He followed up his Colombian Masters success with scores of 68, 69,67 and 70 for a six-under-par 274, despite running up a double bogey 6 at the eight.
The Turin player came home in 32 with birdies at the 11th, 15th and 17th to win by a single shot from South African James Kamte. Molinari’s financial reward was 25,600 Euros.
In contrast, Hutcheon, who has spent the winter on the comparative warmth of Portugal’s Algarve, and Ramsay earned 1,661 Euros apiece.
Fifer Peter Whiteford squandered a flying start with birdies at the first, third and fifth to finish with a 71 for 285 and a share of 35th place. He won 1,056 Euros.
Graeme Brown from Montrose bogeyed the 13th and 16th in a closing 72 for 286 and a share of 42nd place. He won 832 Euros.
Scott Henderson who was in contention after a first-round 68 slid back to a share of 60th place with a final round of 75 for 11-over-par 291. Scott had double bogeys at the sixth and 12th in halves of 36 and 39. He gained 488 Euros.


LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 280 (4 x 70)
274 E Molinari Ita) 68 69 67 70.
275 J Kamte (SAf) 69 73 66 67.
276 M Lundberg (Swe) 70 69 68 69.
Other scores:
281 J Donaldson (Wal) 71 67 72 71.
282 T Milford (Eng) 70 70 72.
283 G Hutcheon (Sco) 72 72 68 71, E Ramsay (Sco) 70 73 71 69.
285 R McGowan (Eng) 72 67 73 73, P Whiteford (Sco) 70 72 72 71.
286 G Brown (Sco) 74 69 71 72.
291 S Henderson (Sco) 68 77 71 75.

LLOYD SALTMAN LEADING SCOT
WITH ONE ROUND TO IN
AUSTRALIAN RIVERSDALE CUP

Walker Cup player Lloyd Saltman (Craigielaw) is the leading Scot going into the fourth and final round of the prestigious Riversdale Cup amateur stroke-play tournament at Riversdale Golf Club near Melbourne in Australia.
Saltman, pictured right, has posted rounds of 72, 70 and 72 over the par-72 lay-out for a 54-hole tally of two-under-par 214.
He is in joint 14th position – 10 shots behind the leader, Australian champion Tim Stewart (New South Wales) who is on the 12-under-par 204 mark, five shots ahead of the field, after superb rounds of 70, 66 and 68.
Paul O’Hara (Colville Park) dropped down to a share of 17th place on 215 after a third-round 75. His earlier scores were 69 and 71.
Scott Henry (Cardross) is one over par on 217 with scores of 73, 71 and 73.
Scottish amateur champion Kevin McAlpine (Alyth) failed to make the three-over-par (219) cut-off point for qualifiers to the final round.
Kevin had scored 78, 73 and 73 for eight-over 224.

LEADING THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
Par 216 (3 x 72)
204 Tim Stewart (New South Wales) 70 66 68.
209 Michael Foster (West Australia) 68 70 71, Boyd Watts (Yeppoon) 72 70 67.
Other scores:
214 Lloyd Saltman (Scotland) 72 70 72.
215 Paul O’Hara (Scotland) 69 71 75.
217 Scott Henry (Scotland) 73 71 73.
219 Stephen Lewton (England) 74 74 71.
Did not qualify for fourth round:
220 Jason Palmer (England) 73 76 71.
224 Kevin McAlpine (Scotland) 78 73 73.

CHINESE ACE BEATS MALAYSIAN SCOT STEEL
IN PLAY-OFF FOR SINGAPORE MASTERS

China’s top golfer Liang Wen-chong lifted his maiden title in Asia when he defeated Malaysia’s Iain Steel, who is of Scottish extraction, in a sudden-death play at the Clariden Leu Singapore Masters on Sunday.
The 29-year-old Liang kept his cool and made a solid par putt on the play-off 18th hole against Steel’s double bogey after the Malaysian’s wayward drive found the water at the Laguna National Golf and Country Club.
It was a timely win for Liang who had come close to contention this season at the Philippine Open before his triumph this week where we walked away with the top prize of US$183,330.
Liang and Steel ended the tournament on 11-under-par 277 after respective closing rounds of 73 and 71, one shot clear of third place Simon Dyson of England who finished with a 71 for a 278 total in the US$1.1 million event.
As a result of his triumph, Liang leaps to second place on the Asian Tour’s UBS Order of Merit with total earnings of US$273,747.
DONATING WINNINGS TO FOUNDATION
“I hope to donate all my winnings this week to a golf foundation in China. I haven’t decided where yet but I will donate all my prize winnings to the development of golf in China. I hope more of the young ones will pick up the sport,” said the champion.
On the par four 18th play off hole, Liang drove it on target and reached the green on two following a solid wedge shot. He missed a 12 foot birdie opportunity but sealed his win with a two feet par putt.
“I wanted to hit first of the tee to feel more relaxed. And when Iain shot it in the water, I knew I had a chance,” said Liang.
Steel, who enjoyed his best finish on the Asian Tour, found the water after a wayward drive in the play off hole and after reaching the green in his fourth shot, the Malaysian then two putted for a double bogey.
“I don’t want to think of any excuses. I just didn’t execute my shot well off the tee. I pictured it going out to the right and drawing back in to the fairway but I just came over the top and pulled it in the water,” said Steel who was born of Scottish parents at Sabah, Malaysia 35 years ago. He spent four years in the United States on a golf scholarship at Auburn University.
BOGEYS AND DOUBLE BOGEYS
It really was an extraordinary final afternoon where bogeys and double bogeys were the order of the day among the leaders instead of the usual birdies and eagles.
Liang and Steel were not immune to the chaos, Liang racking up a double bogey 7 at the 15th before recovering with a birdie 3 at the 16th hole while Steel saw his chance of a regulation holes victory disappear with his own double bogey 6 at the 16th.
Ireland’s Peter Lawrie’s outside hopes of a maiden title disappeared with a double bogey at the 16th. He finished on 74.
Andrew Coltart was the top Scot on 283 with a final round of 73 (36-37). He had no birdies and only one bogey, at the 13th in his final round.
Gary Orr had a 73 for 284 to share 30th place with Englishman Gary Lockerbie who plummeted out of a prominent overnight position with a final round of 80, which included a triple bogey at the short 12th and double bogeys at the second, third, seventh and 10th in halves of 41 and 39.
Barry Hume closed with a 75 for a share of 37th place on 285. Hume's final roller-coaster round had a triple bogey 7 at the second, a double bogey at the short seventh and a triple bogey 6 at the short 11th.
He also had an ALBATROSS and TWO eagle 2s. His albatross 2 came at the 12th, his eagle 2s at6 the fifth and eighth in halves of 38 and 37.
On a final day of comparatively high scoring, the worst tale came from Welshman Philip Price who finished last with an 85 for 295.
Philip had a 9 at the par-3 seventh in an outward 42; a 74 at the par-4 14th and a 6 at the par-4 12th.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4 x 72)
277 Liang Wen-chong (Chi) 64-72-68-73, Iain Steel (Mas) 70-65-71-71.
278 Simon Dyson (Eng) 71-69-67-71
279 Anthony Wall (Eng) 68-72-72-67, Jean Van De Velde (Fra) 68-71-71-69, David Lynn (Eng) 72-68-70-69, Nick Dougherty (Eng) 70-72-66-71
280 Craig Smith (Wal) 72-70-71-67, Scott Barr (Aus) 70-69-71-70, Lin Keng-chi (Tai) 73-68-69-70, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 69-72-67-72, Peter Lawrie (Ire) 66-70-70-74, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 65-68-72-75
281 Peter Senior (Aus) 70-70-73-68, Scott Strange (Aus) 69-73-70-69, Chinarat Phadungsil (Tha) 69-71-71-70, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 69-70-70-72, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 71-70-69-71, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 69-69-69-74
282 Oliver Wilson (Eng) 69-72-70-71, Joakim Backstrom (Swe) 73-69-69-71, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 66-73-71-72, Robert Rock (Eng) 71-70-68-73.
283 Robert-Jan Derksen (Net) 73-69-72-69, Marcus Both (Aus) 72-69-72-70, Matthew Zions (Aus) 68-71-73-71, Hendrik Buhrmann (SAf) 71-69-71-72, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 68-73-70-72, Andrew Coltart (Sco) 69-69-72-73 (36-37).
Other totals:
284 Gary Lockerbie (Eng) 68 67 69 80, Graeme Storm (Eng) 66 74 72 74, Gary Orr (Sco) 71 71 69 73 (35-38) (jt 30th).
285 Barry Hume (Sco) 65 69 76 75 (38-37) (jt 37th).
286 Mark Foster (Eng) 76 65 71 74.
287 Mark Pilkington (Wal) 72 67 73 75, Stephen Dodd (Wal) 69 73 69 76, Steve Webster (Eng) 71 69 73 74, Ross Fisher (Eng) 74 66 73 74.
289 Richard Bland (Eng) 72 67 73 77, Ross Bain (Sco) 69 70 73 77 (39-38).
292 Simon Yates (Sco) 68 73 75 76, David Griffiths (Eng) 74 68 74 76.
293 David Carter (Eng) 74 66 72 81.
294 Shaun Webster (Eng) 69 73 79 73.
295 Philip Price (Wal) 69 71 70 85.

VIKKI FAILS TO BEAT THE

CUT IN US FUTURES

TOUR OPENER

Musselburgh's Vikki Laing failed to make the cut in the first event of the United States Futures Tour, the Lakeland Classic over the Cleveland Heights course in Florida.
The Scot, pictured right, had rounds of 75 and 77 for a total of 152 over the 6,258yd, par-72 course, two shots too many to figure among the 77 qualifiers for the final round.
English competitors Lisa Hall from Stoke on Trent and Londoner Polly Willett both survived with not too much to spare.
Lisa has had 75 and 73 for 148, Polly 75 and 74 for 149.
American Meredith Ward from Illinois leads the field by one shot on five-under-par 139 with a 69 and 70.

Sweden declared winners of boys' quadrangular international

SCOTS BEAT ITALIANS TO FINISH
THIRD AT PARCO DI ROMA

Defending champions Scotland finished third in the boys' quadrangular contest by beating Italy 5 1/2-3 1/2 in their final match at Parco di Roma Golf club today.
The other match, between the two teams with 100 % records after two days, Sweden and France, ended in a 4 1/2-4 1/2 draw.
Sweden were declared the overall winners on the grounds that they had gained 17 1/2pt from their three matches, compared to France's 14 1/2pt.
The Scots won the foursomes 2-1 and the singles 3 1/2-2 1/2 against Italy.
The most successful Scottish boy was Michael Stewart (Troon Welbeck) with four wins out of six for 4pt.
Then came Sam McLaren (King James VI) with three wins for 3pt, followed by Kyle Smith (Barassie) with two wins and a halved match for 2 1/2pt.
Tom Spencer (Inchmarlo) had two wins for 2pt followed by James Byrne (Banchory) and Cameron Gray (West Kilbride) with one win apiece.
Final day results:
SCOTLAND 5 1/2, ITALY 3 1/2
Foursomes: J Byrne & C Gray lost to M Manassero & G Heinrich 8 and 7; S McLaren & T Spencer bt C Terragni & A Chiapuzzo 7 and 5; K Smith & M Stewart bt N Quintarelli & V Dall'Arche 3 and 2 (2-1).
Singles: Byrne lost to Chiapuzzo 2 and 1, Gray bt Manassero 4 and 3, McLaren bt Heinrich 2 and 1, Stewart bt Quintarelli 3 and 1, Smith halved with Dall'Arche, Spencer lost to Terragni 1 hole (3 1/2-2 1/2).

SWEDEN 4 1/2, FRANCE 4 1/2.

FINAL POINTS TOTALS
1 Sweden 2 1/2pt, game points won 17 1/2.
2 France 2 1/2pt, game points won 14 1/2
3 Scotland 1pt.
4 Italy 0pt.

AUCHTERARDER STUDENT STUART GETS AN
OUTING IN TREASURE COAST CLASSIC
Stuart Burns from Auchterarder, a freshman student at Evansville University, Indiana, finished joint 57th in a field of 70 for the Treasure Coast Classic college tournament at Indian Hills Golf Club, Fort Pierce, Florida this week.
Stuart, a former pupil of Dollar Academy and the 2004 Perth & Kinross boys' match-play champion, scored 79, 73 and 71 for 223. Now if it had been a four-round tournament he was on course to break 70!It's tough for Stuart in his first year at Evansville University because they have a massive golf squad roster of 14 players, four of whom are seniors, i.e. in their fourth and final year.
Only five get to play for a team in the university tournaments but the college golf coach can send extra players to events to compete as individuals.
This is what happened to Stuart in the Treasure Classic this week, so obviously the Evansville University coach is nurturing the young Scot for a regular place in the team, perhaps starting in the 2007-2008 college golf season.
Winner of the Treasure Coast Classic, by the way, was Keegan Bradley (St John's University) with some fantastic scoring - 63, 65 and 64 for a 21-under-par total of 192. Not surprisingly, Keegan won by eight shots.
Evansville University (832) finished third of the 11 competing colleges. St John's (812) won the team title from Florida Atlantic (821).

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DISAPPOINTING START BY JANICE
MOODIE (77) IN MEXICO CITY

Janice Moodie had a disappointing score of five-over-par 77 in the first round of the LPGA Tour's MasterCard Classic at Bosque Real Country Club, Mexico City.
Play was suspended in the first round due to inclement weather with half the field left to finish their opening rounds.
LEADING CLUBHOUSE SCORES
Par 72. Players from US unless stated
67 Stacy Prammanasudh
68 Laura Davies (Eng), Marcy Hart
69 Il Mi Chung (Kor), Annika Sorenstam (Swe), Mi-Hyun Kim (Kor), Natalie Gulbis, Becky Morgan (Wal), Moira Dunn, Karin Sjodin (Swe), Hye Jung Choi (Kor)
70 Wendy Doolan (Aus), Sherri Turner, Giulia Sergas (Ita), Sophie Gustafson (Swe), Soo Young Moon (Kor)
71 Teresa Lu (Tai), Maru Martinez (Ve), Kyeong Eun Bae (Kor), In Kyung Kim (Kor), Lorie Kane (Can), Angela Park, Lorena Ochoa (Mex).
72 Jenna Daniels, Jill McGill, Maria Hjorth (Swe), Brittany Lang, Michelle Ellis, Aree Song (Kor), Jimin Kang (Kor), Jeong Jang (Kor).
73 Young Kim (Kor), Beth Bader, Erica Blasberg, Alena Sharp, Cristie Kerr, Eva Dahllof (Swe), Suzann Pettersen (Nor).
74 Clarissa Childs, Irene Cho, Jamie Hullett, Laura Diaz, Ashli Bunch
75 Joanne Morley (Eng), Young Jo (Kor), Young Pak Jin (Sin), Wendy Ward, Kristy McPherson, In-Bee Park (Kor), Paula Creamer, Grace Park (Kor), Gloria Park (Kor), Paige Mackenzie.
76 Heather Young, Sarah Lynn Sargent, Christi Cano, Yu Ping Lin (Tai), Katie Futcher, A.J Eathorne (Can), Sarah Huarte.
77 Kim Williams, Janice Moodie (Sco).

Women's South African Open at Durban Country Club

CLARE FADES IN FINAL ROUND

AS SPRINGBOK AMATEUR (17)

WINS TITLE FOR 2ND TIME

Clare Queen’s hopes of following up her joint sixth in the ANZ Ladies Masters with another top-10 finish in the Women’s South African Open disappeared over the third and final round at Durban Country Club today.
Starting the day in joint seventh place, the 23-year-old Drumpellier player went down rather than up the leaderboard with a closing round of four-over-par 77 for a final total of two-over-par 221.
That gave her a share of 19th place and earned her 3,687 South African Rand.
Victory by five strokes went to the 17-year-old South African wonder girl amateur, Ashleigh Simon (pictured above). Winner of the title as a 14-year-old, Ashleigh did it again in style, posting a closing round of 72 for a brilliant 14-under-par total of 205.
Runner-up and winner of the first pro prize of 37,500 Rand was compatriot Stacy Bregman with a 69 for 210.
South Africans filled the first four places with another amateur, Kelli Shean in fourth place.
Simon, Bregman (who turned pro later) won the world women’s amateur team championship for the Espirito Santo Trophy in South Africa at the end of last year.
“I am going to turn professional some day but not quite yet,” said Ashleigh Simon.
Defending champion Rebecca Hudson from Wheatley, Doncaster faded from an overnight second place to fifth spot on 215 with a findl round of 215. As the third professional in the final standings, Miss Hudson received a cheque for 20,000 Rand.
Another English player, Sophie Walker, earned 13,375 Rand for sharing sixth place on 216 with early leader Morgana Robbertze (South Africa) and Spain's Tania Elosegui.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 219 (3 x 73)
Players from South Africa unless stated.
205 Ashleigh Simon (am) 69 64 72.
210 Stacy Bregman 72 69 69.
211 Laurette Maritz 73 60 68.
213 Kelli Shean (am) 72 71 70.
215 Rebecca Hudson (Eng) 71 69 75.
216 Sophie Walker (Eng) 74 70 72, Morgana Robbertze 68 75 73, Tania Elosegui (Spa) 69 76 71. 217 Antonella Cvitan (Swe) 70 75 72.
218 Johanna Westerberg (Swe) 74 74 70, Marianne Skarpnord (Nor) 76 71 71, Eleanor Pilgrim (Wal) 76 68 74, Nora Angehrn (Swi) 75 70 73.
219 Ana Larraneta (Spa) 74 74 71.
220 Lena Tornevall (Swe) 75 70 75, Margherita Rigon (Ita) 73 71 76, Amanda Moltke-Leth (Den) 72 76 72, Lisa Jean (Aus) 73 71 76.
221 Clare Queen (Sco) 73 71 77, Julie Tvede (Den) 74 75 72, Karen Margrethe Juul (Den) 74 72 75, Anna Becker (Swe) 76 71 74.
222 Sarah Heath (Eng) 74 74 74, Mette Buus (Den) 77 71 74.
223 Vicki Traut (am) 76 74 73, Frederique Seeholzer (Swi) 73 76 74, Lee-Anne Pace 74 73 76, Elin Ohlsson (Swe) 74 71 78, Kirsty Fisher (Eng) 75 72 76.
224 Hanna-Sophia Svenningsson (Swe) 71 76 77, Monique Smit (am) 75 74 75, Lisa Holm Sorensen (Swe) 75 73 76.

225 Felicity Johnson) 75 76 74, Jo Clingan (Eng) 75 73 77, Mandy Adamson 72 77 76.

226 Bertine Strauss (am) 73 75 78, Hanna-Leena Salonen (Fin) 75 78 73, Leandri Pieterse 77 74 75, Julie Berton (Fra) 79 69 78.
227 Maria Boden (Swe) 72 75 80.

Other totals:

230 Claire Coughlan (Ire) 76 76 78.

237 Vanessa Bell (Eng) 78 77 82.

HUTCH'S WINTER IN THE SUN

PAYS OFF IN KENYA OPEN
Banchory's Greig Hutcheon spent the winter on Portugal's Algarve, well away from the chills of his native North-east. The tactic has paid off so far for the 1999 winner of the Gleneagles Scottish professional championship in this week's European Challenge Tour event, the Kenya Open at Karen Golf Club, Nairobi.
Hutcheon took over the mantle of the leading Scot with a third-round 68 for a 54-hole tally of two-over-par 210 over the par-70 lay-out. Greig (pictured right) birdied the first, eighth, 12th, 16th and 18th in halves of 35 and 33 with bogeys at the third, fourth and 13th preventing him from taking closer order on the leader, Edoardo Molinari, the Italian who won the United States amateur championship in 2005.
Molinari has shot 68, 69 and 67 for 204 and a three-stroke lead with one round to go.
"I've got into a routine of taking off for the Algarve every winter now. I find it's cheaper to get by than living at home and I know that I will be able to go out and hit shots every day I am there ... which is more than I could say if I stayed at home near Banchory," said Greig.
Hutcheon is in joint 24th place, two shots ahead of compatriots Graeme Brown from Montrose and Carnoustie's Eric Ramsay on 214. Brown's 71 had biredies at the eighth and 12th but bogeys at the third, fourth and 154th in halves of 36 and 35.
For Ramsay it was "a game of two halves." He bogeyed the third, fifth, sixth and eighth to be out in four over par. But grabbed an eagle 2 at the 12th and a birdie at the 17th in a bogey-free inward half of 31 for a 71.
Scott Henderson from Aberdeen is back in a share of 54th place on 216 after a 71 which had birdies at the 10th, 12th and 16th. He bogeyed the fourth, 14th, 15th and 17th in halves of 36 and 35.

LEADING THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
Par 210 (3 x 70)
204 E Molinari (Ita) 68 68 67.
207 M Lundberg (Swe) 70 69 68, S Fernandez (Arg) 70 71 66.
208 Julien Grillon (Fra) 70 67 71, James Kamte (SAf) 69 73 66, Liam Bond (Wal) 68 67 73.
Other scores:
212 G Hutcheon (Sco) 72 72 68 (jt 24th).
214 G Brown (Sco) 74 69 71, E Ramsay (Sco) 70 73 71, P Whiteford (Sco) 70 72 72 (jt 38th). 216 S Henderson (Sco) 68 77 71.
Scottish non-qualifiers:
147 P Doherty. 149 G Murray, J Doherty. 152 A McArthur. 166 M Urquhart.

Scot lets it slip in third round of Singapore Masters

BARRY HUME DROPS OUT OF THE
HUNT WITH THIRD-ROUND 76

Barry Hume blew his victory chance in the Singapore Masters with a four-over-par third round of 76 at the Laguna National Golf & Country Club today.
The former Scottish amateur champion from Haggs Castle, Glasgow dropped to a share of 12th place (alongside fellow Scot Andrew Coltart) on six-under-par 210 - six shots behind the joint leaders, Gary Lockerbie from England and China's top player Liang Wen-chong with one round to go.
Liang fired a four-under-par 68 which included a birdie on the final 18th hole. Lockerbie had a 69.
Hume had an eagle and three double-bogeys, two of them at short holes, in an up-and-down round of 36-40.
Barry bogeyed the first and third before birdieing both the fourth and fifth to get back to level par for the day. Then came the first catastrophe at the short seventh where he took 5 to hole out.
But he came back quickly with birdies at the eighth and ninth to turn in level par 36. Then Hume bogeyed the 10th, double-bogeyed the short 11th before sandwiching an eagle 3 at the 12th between a third double-bogey at the 13th. He could ill afford another bogey at the 18th.
Coltart, pictured above, had a level par 72 (36-36) with birdies at the first, third, sixth, 11th and 14th. He bogeyed the fifth, eighth, ninth, 15th and 17th.
India’s Jyoti Randhawa, who has won six titles on the Asian Tour, remained in the hunt when he was even-par for the day, a stroke off the pace at the Masters Course.
After a flying start with birdies in the first four holes, Malaysia’s Iain Steel ended his day with a 71 in joint fourth place with Ireland’s Peter Lawrie who fired his second consecutive 70.
After a roller coaster performance in day three, Lockerbie was pleased to be tied for the lead as he shot seven birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey that included a final dropped shot at the 18th hole.
Lockerbie said: “I would definitely have taken being tied for the lead before I went out for the third round. I would have taken 69 today as well so I am just going to forget about what happened at the last. I think the birdie down the 17th was a bit of a bonus anyway so that is what happens.
“As for tomorrow, I will just try to get off to a steady start, not try to do anything fancy because I don’t think it is going to be a really low score which wins tomorrow, if I can knock it round in three or four under tomorrow I’m not going to be far away,” added the 24-year-old Englishman.
Despite blazing past the front nine with five birdies on the front nine, Malaysia’s Steel struggled through the back nine with two birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey for a 71.
“I was really good on the front nine but the back nine was a nightmare. But all in all, if you gave me that score in the beginning of the day considering the weather and the wind, I am happy,” said Steel, who is also aiming for his first ever title on the Asian Tour.

THIRD-ROUND LEADERS
Par 216 (3 x 72)
204 Gary Lockerbie (Eng) 68-67-69, Liang Wen-chong (Chi) 64-72-68
205 Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 65-68-72
206 Peter Lawrie (Ire) 66-70-70, Iain Steel (Mas) 70-65-71
207 Simon Dyson (Eng) 71-69-67, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 69-69-69
208 Nick Dougherty (Eng) 70-72-66, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 69-72-67
209 Robert Rock (Eng) 71-70-68, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 69-70-70
210 Peter O'Malley (Aus) 71-70-69, Lin Keng-chi (Tai) 73-68-69, Phillip Price (Wal) 69-71-70, David Lynn (Eng) 72-68-70, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 66-73-71, Jean Van De Velde (Fra) 68-71-71, Scott Barr (Aus) 70-69-71, Andrew Coltart (Sco) 69-69-72, Barry Hume (Sco) 65-69-76.
Other scores included:
211 Stephen Dodd (Wal) 69 73 69, Oliver Wilson (Eng) 69 72 70, Gary Orr (Sco) 71 71 69 (35-34).
212 Richard Bland (Eng) 72 67 73, Ross Bain (Sco) 69 70 73 (37-36), Anthony Wall (Eng) 68 72 72, Jeev Milka Singh (Ind) 69 73 70, Graeme Storm (Eng) 66 74 72, Mark Foster (Eng) 76 75 71, Mark Pilkington (Wal) 72 67 73, David Carter (Eng) 74 66 72.
213 Steve Webster (Eng) 71 69 73, Ross Fisher (Eng) 74 66 73, Craig Smith (Wal) 72 70 71.
216 Simon Yates (Sco) 68 73 75 (37-38), Simon Khan (Eng) 69 70 77, David Griffiths (Eng) 74 68 74.
221 Shaun Webster (Eng) 69 73 79.

PAUL O'HARA IN JT FOURTH PLACE IN
AUSTRALIA'S RIVERSDALE CUP

Paul O'Hara was leading the Scottish challenge in joint fourth place at the halfway stage of the prestigious Riversdale Cup at Riversdale Golf Club, Melbourne in Australia.
The Colville Park Golf Club, Motherwell player has had rounds of 69 and 71 to be four shots behind the leaders, Australians Andrew Dodt (Queensland) and Tim Stewart (New South Wales).
Walker Cup Scot Lloyd Saltman (Craigielaw) is on 142 with scores of 72 and 70.
Scott Henry (Cardross) has scored 73 and 71 for 144.
Scottish amateur match-play champion Kevin McAlpine (Alyth) is back on 151 after scores of 78 and 73.

LEADING 36-HOLE TOTALS
Par 144 (2 x 72)
136 Andrew Dodt (Queensland) 67 69, Tim Stewart (New South Wales) 70 66.
138 Michael Foster (West Australia) 68 70.
140 Paul O'Hara (Scotland) 69 71, Rohan Blizard (New South Wales) 69 71, Matthew Griffin(Victoria) 71 69, Aaron Pike (Queensland) 70 70, Troy Ropiha (New Zealand) 69 71, Scott Smith (Pacific) 72 68.
Other scores:
142 Lloyd Saltman (Scotland) 72 70.
144 Scott Henry (Scotland) 73 71.
148 Stephen Lewton (England) 74 74.
149 Jason Palmer (England) 73 76.
151 Kevin McAlpine (Scotland) 78 73.

O'HARA JOINT FOURTH IN AUSTRALIA

GOLF COPY

CREDIT CAL CARSON GOLF AGENCY

Littleways, Baillieswells Road, Bieldside, Aberdeen AB15 9BS

Queries to Colin Farquharson tel and fax 01224 869782

 

 

Paul O'Hara was leading the Scottish challenge in joint fourth place at the halfway stage of the prestigious Riversdale Cup at Riversdale Golf Club, Melbourne in Australia.

The Colville Park Golf Club, Motherwell player has had rounds of 69 and 71 to be four shots behind the leaders, Australians Andrew Dodt (Queensland) and Tim Stewart (New South Wales).

Walker Cup Scot Lloyd Saltman (Craigielaw) is on 142 with scores of 72 and 70.

Scott Henry (Cardross) has scored 73 and 71 for 144.

Scottish amateur match-play champion Kevin McAlpine (Alyth) is back on 151 after scores of 78 and 73.

 

RIVERSDALE CUP - Riversdale Golf Club, Melbourne, Australia.

LEADING 36-HOLE TOTALS

Par 144 (2 x 72)

136 Andrew Dodt (Queensland) 67 69, Tim Stewart (New South Wales) 70 66.

138 Michael Foster (West Australia) 68 70.

140 Paul O'Hara (Scotland) 69 71, Rohan Blizard (New South Wales) 69 71, Matthew Griffin(Victoria) 71 69, Aaron Pike (Queensland) 70 70, Troy Ropiha (New Zealand) 69 71, Scott Smith (Pacific) 72 68.

Other scores:

142 Lloyd Saltman (Scotland) 72 70.

144 Scott Henry (Scotland) 73 71.

148 Stephen Lewton (England) 74 74.

149 Jason Palmer (England) 73 76.

151 Kevin McAlpine (Scotland) 78 73.

 

ends

VIKKI OPENS FUTURES TOUR WITH A 75

Musselburgh's Vikki Laing, Londoner Polly Willett and Lisa Hall from Stoke were all lying joint 53rd in a field of 144 on the three-over-par 75 mark at the end of the first round in the opening event of the United States Futures Tour in Florida.
Vikki had halves of 39 and 36, Polly 37-38 and Lisa 36-39.
Four players shared the lead on three-under-par 69 over the 6,258yd Cleveland Heights course in Florida - Meredith Ward (Illinois), Noon Huachai (Bangkok), Sarah-Jane Kenyon (Queensland) and Lori Atsedes (New York).

SCOTS BOYS' TITLE HOPES DISAPPEAR
WITH A 7-2 DEFEAT BY SWEDEN

Scotland's hopes of repeating last year's success in the boys' quadrangular contest against France, Italy and Sweden were smashed on Day 2 at Parco di Roma Golf Club today.
The Scots, beaten 6-3 by a strong French side on Thursday, were even more comprehensively beaten by Sweden who finished victors by 7-2.
The Scots trailed 2-1 after the foursomes - the morning victory coming from Sam McLaren (King James VI) and Tom Spencer (Inchmarlo) - before they lost five of the six singles.
Scotland's only afternoon winner was Michael Stewart (Troon Welbeck).
France beat Italy in the other Day 2 match, which means that their Saturday encounter against Sweden, who also have a 100 per cent record, will be for the title.
Day 2 results:
SWEDEN 7, SCOTLAND 2
Foursomes: D Jennevret, J Nordstrom bt J Byrne, C Gray 2 and 1; F Fihn, R Askstrand lost to S McLaren, T Spencer 1 hole; P Widegren, N Floren bt K Smith, M Stewart 3 and 2 (2-1).
Singles: Jennevret bt Byrne 2 and 1, Nordstrom bt Gray 5 and 3, Fihn bt Smith 1 hole, Askstrand bt McLaren 3 and 2, Widegren bt Spencer 5 and 4, Floren lost to Stewart 2 and 1 (5-1).
FRANCE 5, ITALY 4
Foursomes: E Dubois, J Brun bt G Heinrich, V Dall'Arche 2 holes; R Wattel, J-P Verselin bt M Manassero, C Terragni 3 and 2, F Le Goff, N P Chou bt A Chiappuzzo, N Quintarelli 2 and 1 (3-0).
Singles: Brun halved with Manassero, Dubois lost to Terragni 2 and 1, Chou halved with Quintarelli, Verselin lost to Dall'Arche 3 and 2, Le Goff lost to Heinrich 1 hole, Wattell bt Chiapuzzo 2 holes (2-4).
How they stand
France & Sweden 4pt, Scotland & Italy 0pt.

McINALLY LEAVING ST ANDREWS
BAY FOR QUINTA DO LAGO POST

Iain McInally, director of golf at Fairmont St Andrews (formerly St Andrews Bay Hotel & Golf Resort), is leaving the post and his native Fife to become general manager of Quinta do Lago Golf Club, 15 miles west of Faro on Portugal’s Algarve coastline.
“It’s a big new challenge for me and I am very much looking forward to it. I shall be leaving St Andrews as of May 15,” said Iain who originally came back north to be director of golf at the Old Course Hotel, St Andrews five or six years ago from a similar post at Hanbury Manor Golf & Country Club in Hertfordshire.
Quinta do Lago, opened in 1974, has two first-class courses and is one of the quality golf centres on the Algarve.

BOOK ABOUT SCOTTISH,

IRISH COURSES WINS

USGA AWARD

James W. Finegan’s “Where Golf is Great: The Finest Courses of Scotland and Ireland” has been named the recipient of the 2006 United States Golf Association’s Herbert Warren Wind Book Award.
“Where Golf is Great” celebrates the rich tradition of golf in Scotland and Ireland. A noted golf writer, Finegan describes more than 150 courses through Scotland and Ireland, detailing their rich history and charm. Well-known courses like St Andrews, Gleneagles and Royal County Down are featured, as are many unheralded courses such as Brora and Ireland’s Carlow.
Accompanied by Laurence Lambrecht’s stunning photographs, “Where Golf is Great” is the ultimate travelogue for the golfer. In addition to course histories and factoids, Finegan adds insight into the best places to stay and dine after a day on the links.
“For forty years, I have believed that Herb Wind was without peer among American golf writers and that his masterpiece, “The Story of American Golf”, is the single-best golf book, from either side of the ocean, ever written,” said Finegan.
WIND ARTICLES PROVIDED INSPIRATION
“My book on the courses of Scotland and Ireland was actually inspired by two of Wind’s most memorable New Yorker pieces, “North to the Links of Dornoch” in 1964 and “The Greens of Ireland” in 1967. It is safe to say I will forever be in his debt.”
Beginning in 1954, Finegan worked as a copywriter at Gray and Rogers, an advertising firm. He retired in 1990 after serving as chairman and CEO since 1973. He began his writing career in 1976 when he started to contribute golf-travel articles to newspapers and magazines.
Since being retired, he has written six previous golf books, drawing on his more than 40 visits to Scotland and Ireland since the mid-1970s. He is the author of “Blasted Heaths and Blessed Greens,” “A Golfer’s Pilgrimage to the Courses of Scotland,” “Emerald Fairways and Foam-Flecked Seas,” “All Courses Great and Small: A Golfer’s Pilgrimage to England and Wales,” “A Centennial Tribute to Golf in Philadelphia,” and “Pine Valley Golf Club: A Unique Haven of the Game.”
For the past 20 years, Finegan has served on the Golf Magazine panel that annually chooses the top 100 greatest golf courses in the world. He currently resides in Villanova, Pa.
Finegan will be presented the award on April 5 in Augusta, Georgia, at the Golf Writers Association of America’s annual awards dinner during the week of the Masters Tournament.
TOP LITERARY PRIZE
Presented by the USGA Museum Committee, the Herbert Warren Wind Book Award is the top literary prize awarded by the Association. Established in 1987 and renamed in Wind’s honour in 2006, the award recognises and honours outstanding contributions to golf literature, while attempting to broaden the public’s interest and knowledge of the game of golf.
Wind, who passed away in May 2005, is the only writer to win the Bob Jones Award, the USGA’s highest honoUr. For nearly 30 years he was a volunteer on two USGA committees, the Bob Jones Award Committee and the Museum and Library Committee.
Wind’s portrait hangs in the UGSA Library, where copies of his 14 books and countless essays and articles also reside. He was a long-time essayist for both The New Yorker and Sports Illustrated.

Among his many contributions to golf, he is credited with naming "Amen Corner" at Augusta National Golf Club, site of The Masters Tournament.

Previous USGA Book Award winners are:

Year Winner Title
1987 Al Barkow "Gettin’ to the Dance Floor"
1989 Phil Pilley "Golfing Art"
1990 Robert Trent Jones Sr. "Golf’s Magnificent Challenge"
1991 Bobby Burnet "The St. Andrews Opens"
1992 Rhonda Glenn "The Illustrated History of Women’s Golf"
1997 Davis Love III "Every Shot I Take"
1998 Lawrence Donegan "Maybe It Should Have Been a Three-Iron"
1999 David Owen "The Making of the Masters"
2000 Stephen Lowe "Sir Walter and Mr. Jones"
2001 Bradley S. Klein "Discovering Donald Ross
2002 Mark Frost "The Greatest Game Ever Played"
2003 Phil Pilley "Heather and Heaven: Walton Heath Golf Club”
2004 James Dodson "Ben Hogan: An American Life"
2005 John Strege "When War Played Through”
Note: No award was presented in 1988 or from 1993-96.

The USGA currently accepts submissions for the 2007 Book Award. For more information, contact Doug Stark, USGA curator of education, at (908) 234-2300 or dstark@usga.org.

CLARE PUSHING FOR ANOTHER

TOP 10 FINISH IN SOUTH

AFRICAN OPEN AT DURBAN

Clare Queen is on the trail of another top-10 finish as her professional golf career begins to take off this year.
The Scot, who will be 24 next month, is lying joint seventh after two rounds of the Women's South African Open at Durban Country Club.
Last month, Clare, pictured right, finished sixth in the ANZ Ladies Masters and she has carried on that form in South Africa with rounds of 73 and 71 for an aggregate of two-under-par 144 over a course lengthened to a par 73 by using some of the men's tees, just for this championship.
With just one round to go, the Drumpellier player is unlikely to be able to make up an 11-shot leeway on South African amateur Ashleigh Simon, 17, who shot a remarkable second-round 64 to go seven strokes clear on 13-under-par 133. Ashleigh also won this title in 2004 when she was only 14!

First-round leader Morgan Robbertze dropped back with a 75 for 143 to be sharing fourth place. REBECCA HUDSON LYING SECOND
But Miss Queen will have second-placed Rebecca Hudson from Wheatley, Doncaster - the defending champion - in her sights. Rebecca is on six-under 140 with rounds of 71 and 69, one ahead of South Africa's Stacy Bregman (72-69).
On the 144 mark alongside Clare in seventh place are England's Sophie Walker and Eleanor Pilgrim from Wales.
Ashleigh Simon was a member of the South African team who won the women's world amateur team championship for the Espirito Santo Trophy in December.

Today she had eight birdies, an eagle and only one bogey.

"The greens are so true. That's what made the difference," she said. "I've been able to roll in the puts. The last two weeks I hit it well but the putts were not dropping. I knew if I got the putting going I would be home and that's what happened."

LEADING SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 146 (2 x 73)
Players from South Africa unless stated.
133 Ashleigh Simon (am) 69 64.
140 Rebecca Hudson (Eng) 71 69.
141 Stacy Bregman 72 69.
143 Kelli Shean (am) 72 71, Morgana Robbertze 68 75, Laurette Maritz 73 70.
144 Sophie Walker (Eng) 74 70, Margherita Rigon (Ita) 73 71, Clare Queen (Sco) 73 71, Eleanor Pilgrim (Wal) 76 68, Lisa Jean (Aus) 73 71.

145 Lena Tornevall (Swe) 75 70, Elin Ohlsson Swe) 74 71, Tania Elosegui (Spa) 69 76, Antonella Cvitan (Swe) 70 75, Nora Angehrn (Swi) 75 70.

146 Karen-Margrethe Juul (Den) 74 72.

147 Hanna-Sophia Svenningsson (Swe) 71 76, Marianne Skarpnord (Nor) 76 71, Lee-Anne Pace 74 73, Kirsty Fisher (Eng) 75 72, Maria Boden (Swe) 72 75, Anna Becker (Swe) 76 71.

148 Sarah Heath (Eng) 74 74, Jo Clingan (Eng) 75 73, Johanna Westerberg (Swe) 74 74, Bertine Strauss (am) 73 75, Amanda Moltke-Leth (Den) 72 76, Jehanne Jail (Fra) 76 72, Lisa Holm Sorensen (Den) 75 73, Michelle de Vries 72 76, Mette Buus (Den) 77 71, Julie Berton (Fra) 79 69.
149 Julie Tvede (Den) 74 75, Monique Smit (am) 75 74, Frederique Seeholzer (Swi) 73 76, Monja Richards 75 74, Mandy Adamson 72 77.

150 Vicki Traut (am) 76 74.

Other qualifiers included:

151 Felicity Johnson (Eng) 75 76.
152 Claire Coughlan (Ire) 76 76.
DID NOT QUALIFY
159 Shelley McKevitt (Eng) 77 82, Martina Gillen (Ire) 78 81.
161 Michelle Smth (Eng) 77 84.
163 Cheryl Smith (Eng) 80 83.

PLATFORM 2 JUNIOR TOURNAMENT SWITCHED
FROM FORFAR TO LETHAM GRANGE

The Platform 2 boys' and girls' stroke-play tournament - formerly the Grampian TV junior tournament - has been switched from Forfar Golf Club to Letham Grange Hotel & Golf Resort. The date, Sunday, September 16, is unchanged.
The first round of the boys' 36-hole event will be played between 8.30 and 10am on the Old Course with the second round over the Glens Course from 2 to 3.30pm.
The 18-hole girls' competition will be played over the Glens Course with tee times from 10 to 11.30am.

RYDER CUP WALES SENIORS OPEN
HEADS BACK TO CONWY, N WALES

After making history last year by becoming the first course in Wales to stage Local Final Qualifying for the Open Championship, Conwy Golf Club will host its second prestigious golf event in 12 months when the Ryder Cup Wales Seniors Open heads to the scenic Caernarvonshire venue from June 15-17.
The £500,000 tournament carries the second largest prize fund on the 2007 European Seniors Tour schedule and should attract one of the strongest fields of the year with José Rivero of Spain the defending champion.
Rivero won by a stroke at The Vale Hotel, Golf & Spa Resort near Cardiff last year and the 2006 Hardys Rookie of the Year can expect to find fellow Ryder Cup players Gordon J Brand, Eamonn Darcy and Sam Torrance among his leading challengers when the Ryder Cup Wales Seniors Open moves back to North Wales this summer.
The cream of European Seniors golf will be tested to the full over a genuine links course which has been toughened up under the guidance of the R&A.
Located along the North Wales coast, in the shadow of Conwy Mountain, the 6,935 yard par 72 lay-out stretches out on a stunning peninsula and its tight fairways are lined by penal rough that can punish any wayward shots.
In recent years the course has benefited from new bunkering while the high standards are matched off the course in the refurbished locker rooms and excellent catering facilities.
“All in all it promises to be the perfect venue for the Ryder Cup Wales Seniors Open, which is always one of the most eagerly anticipated tournaments of the year,” commented Andy Stubbs, Managing Director of the European Seniors Tour.
“Golf enthusiasts from North Wales and beyond were wonderfully supportive when the tournament was staged at Royal St David’s in Harlech between 2001 and 2005, and we look forward to welcoming all of them to Conwy for what promises to be a highlight of the golfing summer in Wales.”

HENDERSON MAKES IT AFTER

LONG SWEAT AT KENYA OPEN

Scott Henderson endured a long sweat in temperatures of up to 28 degrees before getting the good news that he had qualified for the last two rounds of the Kenya Open at Karen Golf Club, near Nairobi today.
The Aberdonian, pictured right, should have had no worries after a first-round 68 but he looked a different player on his second circuit. He toiled to a seven-over-par 77 for a 36-hole tally of five-over-par 145. For several hours, the projected cut figure was 143 but over the last hour of play, as scores from the late finishers soared, so the safety qualifying mark rose to 145 ... and Henderson was still in the tournament which is part of the European Challenge Tour.
Starting at the 10th, Scott had five bogeys and a solitary birdie at the 17th in 39 to the turn. Then he dropped another shot at the third, followed by a calamitous double-bogey at his last hole, the ninth. For a long time, it looked as though that 6 would KO him from the rest of the weekend action.
Two former Scottish amateur champions George Murray and Andrew McArthur missed out by a considerable margin.
George finished on 149 after a 73 (41-32)which included a triple bogey 7 at the sixth and a double-bogey 6 at the eighth but then a birtdie at the 10th and an eagle 2 at the 12th - too little, too late.
Andrew's 78 for 152 had double bogeys at the sixth and 17th.
Murray Urquhart put together two of the worst scores of his professional career in this tournament - a pair of 83s for a 26-over-par tally of 166.
The Inverness man had seven double bogeys over the 36 holes, four of them coming in the second round - at the seventh, 15th, 16th and 17th.
On the credit side, Fifer Peter Whiteford (142), Eric Ramsay (143) from Carnoustie, Montrose's Graeme Brown (143) and Greig Hutcheon (144) from Banchory all made it through alongwith Henderson..
Whiteford did not play as well as he did for a first-round 70 but a 72 was all that was required for the first objective: beat the cut.
Whiteford had birdies at the seconed and 11th but bogeys at the foufrth, fifth, 13th and 15th.
Ramsay had a second-round 73 - and he won't be looking forward to playing the short 16th twice more. The hole has cost him a double-bogey 5 in both rounds so far.
Brown made a five-shot improvement with a 69. But for a triple bogey and a double bogey in his first round, the Montrose man would have been a lot closer to the leader, Welshman Liam Bond on five-under-par 135.
Hutcheon needed a birdie at one of the last two holes to beat the cut. He did it with a 2 at the short 17th and a par at the last for a 72 and 144.

Earlier Greig had saddled himself with a double-bogey 6 at sixth and bogeys at the 11th, 15th and 16th. Birdies at the second and 14th kept his hopes alive until he got a third one at the penultimate hole.

LEADING HALFWAY TOTALS
Par 140 (2 x 70)
135 L Bond (Wal) 68 67.
137 E Molinari (Ita) 68 69, J Grillon (Fra) 70 67.

138 J Donaldson (Wal) 71 67.
139 R McGowan (Eng) 72 67, J-N Billot (Fra) 70 69.
142 P Whiteford (Sco) 70 72.
143 E Ramsay (Sco) 70 83, G Brown (Sco) 74 69.
144 G Hutcheon (Sco) 72 72.
145 S Henderson (Sco) 68 77.
Non-qualifiers included:
147 P Doherty (Sco) 73 74.
148 R Dinwiddie (Eng) 70 78.
149 G Murray (Sco) 76 73.
149 J Doherty (Sco) 73 76l
152 A McArthur (Sco) 74 78.
166 M Urquhart (Sco) 83 83.

Paul Lawrie misses cut with a bogey at the 18th

BARRY HUME ONE SHOT OFF THE
PACE IN SINGAPORE MASTERS

Indian stalwart Jyoti Randhawa is in prime position after he grabbed the halfway lead after a strong four-under-par 68 in the Clariden Leu Singapore Masters on Friday.
Randhawa romped home with seven birdies against three dropped shots on a windy day at the Laguna National Golf and Country Club.
Randhawa is at the top of the pile of 11-under-par 133, one shot ahead of Glasgow's Barry Hume, a former Scottish amateur champion, pictured right.

Malaysia’s Iain Steel, 35, who has Scottish blood in his veins, moved up the leaderboard with a 65 to be joint third alongside England's Gary Lockerbie.

The humble Hume was happy to be among the frontrunners in lone second position after five birdies and despite a double bogey on the 17th hole, the 25-year-old Scot is optimistic of his chances at the top.
“Although it is always disappointing to double bogey the 17th, my golf overall has been good so I am not too worried about that. There are a lot of players here who are going to miss out so I am happy that I made the cut, but I have probably done better so far than I thought I would,” said Hume, who retained his card this season when South African Anton Haig pulled out of the Volvo Masters of Asia, the season-ending event on the Asian Tour last year.
“It is one of those breaks that people get in their career and I hope that is the one that changes my career and sends it the way I want it to go,” said Hume.

Apart from Barry, the only Scots to survive the halfway cut at two-under-par 142, were Andrew Coltart (joint eighth on 138 after a 70) and Far East-based Ross Bain and Simon Yates.

There were a cluster of big names among the non-qualifiers - Lee Westwood, Ian Woosnam, Paul Lawrie, David Howell and Darren Clarke to name but five.

Paul Lawrie had halves of 34 and 38 in a 72 for one-under-par 143. Paul birdied the first, second and 13th but bogeyed the fifth, 10th, 11th and 18th. That bogey at the last made all the difference in the final analysis.

Other Scots who failed to beat the cut were Stephen Gallachger on 143, Andrew Oldcorn on 144, Marc Warren 146, David Drysdale 149, Steven O'Hara on 151 and Scott Drummond on 153.

LEADING HALFWAY SCORES

Par 144 (2 x 72)
133 Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 65-68.
134 Barry Hume (Sco) 65-69.
135 Iain Steel (Mas) 70-65, Gary Lockerbie (Eng) 68-67.
136 Peter Lawrie (Ire) 66-70, Liang Wen-chong (Chi) 64-72
137 Marcus Fraser (Aus) 64-73
138 Gaurav Ghei (Ind) 68-70, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 69-69, Andrew Coltart (Sco) 69-69
139 Simon Khan (Eng) 69-70, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 69-70, Jean Van De Velde (Fra) 68-71, Scott Barr (Aus) 70-69, Mark Pilkington (Wal) 72-67, Angelo Que (Phi) 66-73, Ross Bain (Sco) 69-70, Matthew Zions (Aus) 68-71, Richard Bland (Eng) 72-67, Mark Bro (NZ) 66-73, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 66-73, Lin Wen-tang (Tpe) 69-70, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 69-70
140 David Lynn (Eng) 72-68, Simon Dyson (Eng) 71-69, Steve Webster (Eng) 71-69, Rahil Gangjee (Ind) 72-68, Hendrik Buhrmann (SAf) 71-69, Peter Senior (AUS) 70-70, David Carter (Eng) 74-66, Ross Fisher (Eng) 74-66, Adam Blyth (Aus) 67-73, Graeme Storm (Eng) 66-74, Chinarat Phadungsil (Tha) 69-71, Anthony Wall (Eng) 68-72, Frankie Minoza (Phi) 69-71, Phillip Price (Wal) 69-71.
Other scores included:

141 Simon Yates (Sco) 68 73 (36-37).

NON-QUALIFIERS (143 and over) included:

143 Lee Westwood (Eng) 70 73, Paul Lawrie (Sco) 71 72 (34-38), Stephen Gallacher (Sco) 72 71 (34-37).

144 Andrew Oldcorn (Sco) 70 74 (36-38).

146 Marc Warren (Sco) 73 73 (36-37).

149 David Drysdale (Sco) 78 71 (35-36).

151 Steven O'Hara (Sco) 77 74 (38-36).

153 Scott Drummond (Sco) 73 80 (40-40).

Paul tees off with a 69 in Australian tournament

O'HARA JOINT THIRD AFTER
FIRST ROUND IN
RIVERSDALE CUP, N S W

Paul O'Hara from Colville Park, Motherwell, one of four Scots competing in the tournament, was lying in joint third place at the end of the first round of the presitigous Riversdale Cup at Riversdale Country Club, New South Wales today (Friday).
O'Hara, pictured right, shot a three-under-par 69 to be two shots behind the leader, Andrew Dodt from Queensland.
Walker Cup player Lloyd Saltman (Craigielaw) matched the par of 72 while Scott Henry (Cardross) and Scottish match-play champion Kevin McAlpine (Alyth) returned scores of 73 and 78 respectively.


LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES
Par 72
67 Andrew Dodt (Queensland).
68 Michael Foster (West Australia).
69 Paul O'Hara (Sco), Troy Ropiha (NZ), Do Kim (New South Wales), Rohan Blizard (New South Wales), Leigh Deagan (Victoria), Lachlan Wall (Surfers' Paradise).
Other scores included:
72 Lloyd Saltman (Sco).
73 Scott Henry (Sco), Jason Palmer (Eng).
74 Stephen Lewton (Eng).
78 Kevin McAlpine (Sco).

JOEL BEATEN IN TARHEEL TOUR MATCH-PLAY

Elgin exile Joel Hendry was beaten in the second round of the Tarheel Tour match-play golf championship at Old South Golf Links, Bluffton, South Carolina this week.
Hendry, twice winner of the Scottish youths championship and a resident of the United States for the past decade, lost by one hole to American Andy Morse after a two-hole victory over another US mini-tour player, Jon Kennedy in the first round.
Former Scottish amateur champion Barry Hume won the match-play championship last year.

ELLON’S CARNIE GETS TRIP

TO CALIFORNIA FOR DEBUT

ON US COLLEGE CIRCUIT

So maybe he didn't play as well as he hoped but for Grant Carnie from Ellon, Aberdeenshire there was the considerable consolation of going all the way to California to make his debut on the American college circuit.

Grant, who enrolled at Brevard College, North Carolina, early in January, finished joint 57th in a field of 90 players in the Point Loma Invitational college golf tournament at Steele Canyon Golf Club, Jamul in California.
Carnie had rounds of 80, 84 and 74 for 238. His third round must have given Grant grounds for optimism that once he settles down to different putting surfaces, different playing conditions he could do quite well over in the States.
Team-mate Myles Johnston, a sophomore student from Bo’ness, finished in joint 52nd place with 78, 71 and 86 for 236.
Individual winner was Eric Justesen (CSU Stanislau) with 69 70 and 74 for a level par total of 231.
Brevard College finished 13th of the 17 colleges participating in the team event.

ENGLISH STUDENTS HELP TENNESSEE
FINISH THIRD IN QUALITY FIELD
Two students from England helped the University of Tennessee to finish a highly creditable third among 15 highly-ranked college golf teams in the USC Collegiate Invitational at North Ranch Country Club, Westlake in California.
Charles Ford, a junior student from Leicester, shared 28th place on 219 with scores of 73, 71 and 75 while Chris Paisley, a sophomore from Newcastle, had rounds of 74, 77 and 74 to earn a share of 47th place in a field of 84 on 225.
Rory Hie (Southern California) won the individual title with 69, 68 and 71 for five-under-par 208 over the 6,742yd par-71 course.
Stanford (848) won the team title from Southern California (853) with Tennessee third on 868. UCLA (870) and Brigham Young (873) were fourth and fifth.

WOMEN'S SOUTH AFRICAN OPEN AT DURBAN

CLARE LETS IT SLIP A BIT - BUT
SHE'S STILL JOINT 14th

Drumpellier's Clare Queen was only two shots off the lead with nine holes to play in the first round of the Women's South African Open - but the Scot slipped from three under par to a 73 and a share of 14th place at the Durban Country Club today.
At the turn Miss Queen was on the tail of leader Morgana Robbertze from South Africa who had finished with a five-under-par 68 for a course lengthened to a par 73 for this event.
But Clare could not maintain her three-under-par status after the turn and three bogeys brought her back to level par. A disappointing start in one way but, on the other hand, to be in the top 14 or so after one round is further evidence that the former British girls and women's stroke-play amateur champion is a much improved player this year.
Defending champion Rebecca Hudson from Doncaster is sharing fifth place on 71.


LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES
Par 73
Players from South Africa unless stated
68 Morgana Robbertze.
69 Tania Elosegui (Spa), Ashleigh Simon (am).
70 Antonella Cvitan (Swe).
71 Rebecca Hudson (Eng), Hanna-Sophia Svenningson (Swe).
72 Mandy Adamson, Maria Boden (Swe), Stacy Brefman, Michelle De Vries, Cecilie Lundgreen (Nor), Amanda Moltke-Leth (Den), Kalii Shean (am).
73 Lisa Jean (Aus), Laurette Maritz, Clare Queen (Sco), Margherita Rigon (Ita), Frederique Seeholzer (Swi), Bertina Strauss (am), Tandi Von Ruben (am).
Other scores:
74 Sarah Heath (Eng), Sophie Walker (Eng).
75 Jo Clingan (Eng), Kristy Fisher (Eng), Felicity Johnson (Eng).
76 Claire Coughlan (Ire), Eleanor Pilgrim (Wal).
77 Shelley McKevitt (Eng), Michelle Smith (Eng).
78 Vanessa Bell (Eng), Martina Gillen (Ire).
79 Sarah Faller (Ire).

80 Cheryl Smith (Eng).

82 Helen Batt (Eng) (am).

Edinburgh and East of Scotland Order of Merit standings

ANDREW DUNSMORE TAKES UP RUNNING
AS SCRATCH RACE HEATS UP

BY DUNCAN IRELAND
Secretary, Edinburgh & East of Scotland Alliance

With only one 'normal' event and then the championship to go, the Scratch Order of Merit is really hotting up whereas the Handicap Order of Merit is all but over.
We've a new leader on the Scratch side of things in Andrew Dunsmore. After the Mortonhall scores, he overtook long time leader and next year's president by 15 points. Careful Andrew, you don't want to get banned by the vice-president do you?
Realistically, only six people can win the Scratch Order of Merit this year. The above mentioned pair plus Scott Grieve, Mike Thomson, Craig Imlah and Andy Oldcorn. With double points up for grabs in the championship, it looks like going right down to the wire.
Over on the Handicap side of things, Stevie Doyle from Liberton has all but won. He would need to score no points at all from the last event and the championship and the only person that could then catch him would be Tom Flaherty but only if he won both events. A tall order but who knows?

After 12 events, the leading Order of Merit points totals are:

SCRATCH
548.50 Andrew Dunsmore p.
533.50 Neil Colquhoun p.
533.00 Scott Grieve t.
520.00 Mike Thomson p.
513.00 Craig Imnlah.
493.00 Stevie Lamb p.
444.00 Andrew Oldcorn p.
442.50 Steven Doyle a.
440.00 Andrew Marshall p.
433.00 Ross Harrower p.
417.00 Tom Buchanan t.
404.50 Ally MacKenzie t.
394.50 Colin Fraser a.
390.50 Andrew Wight s.
376.00 Chris Morris p.
369.00 George Wither a.
332.00 Callum Smith p.
328 Andrew Rothney a.
315 Kenneth Glen t.
312 Scott Walker a. .

HANDICAP
175.25 Steven Doyle a.
102.50 Thomas Flaherty s.
98.00 Andrew Wight s.
95.15 Harry Cartmill a.
94.80 William Laing a.
93.50 Scott Walker a.
90.75 Douglas Ferguson s.
88.50 Peter Sewell a.
87.65 Robert Clapperton s.
84.30 John Kerr a.
78.30 Graeme D Johnston.
75.45 Colin Fraser a.
73.00 William Marr s.
71.80 Alistair Anderson a.
70.30 George Wither a.
69.85 Douglas Hume a.
68.50 Alexander Culverwell a, James Laurieston a.
67.50 Walter Forsyth a.

YET ANOTHER MIDLAND ALLIANCE
WIN BY LEE VANNETT (65)

Carnoustie Links tour professional Lee Vannett continued his dominance of the Midland Golfers' Alliance with a fine round of three-under-par 65 to win this week's competition at Kirkcaldy Golf Club.
Les Irvine (Blairgowrie), playing off seven, led the way in the handicap returns with a net 66.

LEADING RETURNS

SCRATCH
65 L Vannet (Carnoustie Links) p.
67 E Walker (Burntisland) ap.
69 M Pirie (Pitlochry) p, K Rattray (Ladybank).
70 S Rettie (Royal Troon) ap.
71 K McGowan (Burntisland) ap.
72 M Niven (Alloa).
73 L Irvine (Blairgowrie), G Finlay (Ballumbie Castle).

HANDICAP
66 L Irvine (Blairgowrie) (7).
67 K Rattray (Ladybank) (2).
68 J Leddy (Bathgate) (11), I Henderson (Blairgowrie) (7).
69 M Niven (Alloa) (7).
70 D Mason (Thornton) (6), D Mitchell (Panmure) (4), A Douglas (Caird Park) (12).
71 A Mason (Thornton) (7), M Scobie (Thornton) (6), N Henderson (Scotscraig) (11).

Qualifiers for championship at Scotscraig in April

K Rattray (Ladybank) (2).
M Niven (Alloa) (7).
L Irvine (Blairgowrie, 7)

Next meeting is the Burntisland pro-am on Wednesday, March 15 (tee reserved: 8.30 to 1.30pm).

HENDERSON'S DREAM START BUT

IT'S AN URQUHART NIGHTMARE

Scott Henderson and Murray Urquhart had contrasting fortunes in the first round of the Kenya Open at Karen Golf Club, Nairobi today (Thursday).
Henderson, pictured right, ended the opening day of the European Challenge Tour event sitting pretty in joint fourth place with a two-under-par 68.
Meanwhile Urquhart must have wondered why he bothered making the long haul from Inverness to deepest Africa. Murray shot a 13-over-par 83 and has little or no chance of making the projected halfway cut of two-over par 142.
Henderson gave his confidence a massive boost with an eagle 3 at the 580yd third hole. He parred his way out in two-under-par 33, dropped his first and only shot to par at the 13th but cancelled that out with a birdie at the 17 to be three shots behind leader Carlos del Moral from Spain.
Carnoustie's Eric Ramsay is sharing 15th place on level par 70 after a five-birdie round that had the shine taken off it with a double bogey 5 at the short sixth in halves of 36 and 34.
Fifer Peter Whiteford is also on the 70 mark (33-37) after birdieing the long second and short fifth on the way out but dropping shots at the 12th and 17th on the way in.
Greig Hutcheon from Banchory is sharing 55th place on two-over 72 with a round that had three birdies - at the 12th, 17th and 18th - but five bogeys between the 10th and 16th.
Back to Murray Urquhart for whom it must have been one of the worst if not the absolute pits of a round since he turned pro.
The Highlander had a double bogey 7 at the long second and a double bogey 6 at the eighth with single bogeys at the third and ninth for six-over 41 to the turn.
It did not get any better on the inward route. He bogeyed the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th, then double-bogey the 15th and dropped one more final shot at the 17th for 42 home.

Apart from Urquhart, other Scots on the wrong side of the +2 projected cut figure after 36 holes are the Doherty brothers from South Wales, Paul and Jack, on three-over 73, Graeme Brown from Montrose and former Scottish amateur champion Andrew McArthur (Windyhill) on four-over 74.

LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES

Par 70
65 Carlos del Moral (Spa).
67 Oliver Whitely (Eng), Klas Eriksson (Swe).
68 Scott Henderson (Sco), Edoardo Molinari (Ita), Wilhelm Schauman (Swe), Liam Bond (Wal), Alec McGuinness (Ken).
Other scores:
70 Eric Ramsay (Sco), Robert Dinwiddie (Eng), Iain Pyman (Eng), Jamie Donaldson (Wal), Tim Milford (Eng), Peter Whiteford (Sco), Gary Clark (Eng).
71 Stuart Manley (Wal), Stuart Cage (Eng), Zane Scotland (Eng).
72 Ross McGowan (Eng), Greig Hutcheon (Sco).
73 Paul Doherty (Sco), Jack Doherty (Sco).
74 Graeme Brown (Sco), Andrew McArthur (Sco).
83 Murray Urquhart (Sco).

Defeat by France in first tie of Under-18 quadrangular

SCOTS BOYS MAKE LOSING
START IN ROME AFTER
FOURSOMES WHITEWASH

Scotland’s bid to win the boys’ quadrangular boys international match for the second year in a row got off to a shaky start at Parco di Roma Golf Club today.
The Scots lost 6-3 to France who came into the tournament on a high, having thrashed Spain another Under-18 boys’ international only a couple of weeks ago.
In the other match, Sweden beat Italy 6-3.
It was the foursomes that proved the young Scots’ undoing – they lost all three morning ties …. and the six afternoon singles were shared 3-3.
James Byrne (Banchory), pictured right, and Cameron Gray (West Kilbride) lost by 4 and 3 in the top foursomes tie to Edouard Dubois and Julien Brun.
Then Sam McLaren (King James VI) and Inchmarlo’s Tom Spencer went down by 3 and 2 to Francois Le Goff and Nocolas Peyri Chou.
And the final morning tie went the same way, the Ayrshire pairing of Kyle Smith (Barassie) and Michael Stewart (Troon Welbeck) losing by 4 and 2 to Jean-Pier Verselin.
The Scots clawed back two of the points by winning the first two of the afternoon singles. Byrne beat Dubois by 2 and 1 followed by Stewart scoring a 2 and 1 win over Julien Brun.
France turned the tide with a last-green win by Chou over Gray.
Smith scored Scotland’s third point in the singles with a good 4 and 3 win over Verselin but the French’s tail wagged to maintain their overall supremacy.
McLaren lost by two holes to Le Goff and Spencer was beaten 4 and 2 by Wattel.
Scotland team manager and captain Barrie Douglas has kept faith with his point-less foursomes pairings, making no changes, either in the partnerships of the order of play, for Friday morning’s ties against Sweden.
Day 1 results:
SCOTLAND 3, FRANCE 6
Foursomes: J Byrne & C Gray lost to E Dubois & J Brun 4 and 3; S McLaren & T Spencer lost to F Le Goff & N P Chou 3 and 2; K Smith & M Stewart lost to R Wattel & J-P Verselin 4 and 2 (0-3).
Singles: Byrne bt Dubois 2 and 1, Stewart bt Brun 2 and 1, Gray lost to Chou 12 hole, Smith bt Verselin 4 and 3, McLaren lost to Le Goff 2 holes, Spencer lost to Wattel 4 and 2 (3-3).
ITALY 3, SWEDEN 6
Foursomes: G Heinrich & V Dall’Arche lost to D Jennevret & J Nordstrom 2 holes; M Manassero & C Terragni bt F Fihn & R Askstrand 4 and 3; A Chiappuzzo & N Quaintarelli lost to P Widegren & N Floren 3 and 2 (1-2).
Singles: Manassero bt Jenne vret 1 hole, Heinrich lost to Nordstrom 4 and 3, Terragni lost to Fihn 3 and 2, Quintarelli bt Askstrand 3 and 2, Chiappuzzo lost to Widegren 2 and 1, Dall’Arche lost to Floren 7 and 5 (2-4).

RISING STAR OF US PGA TOUR CAME TO ABERDEEN IN 1998

COLOMBIAN CAMILO - TIP FOR TOP
ON US TOUR - FINISHED 2ND IN
"DOUG SANDERS" at NEWMACHAR


By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Camilo Villegas, the Colombian player who lost out in a four-way play-off for the Honda Classic title on the US PGA Tour on Monday is the latest “old boy” from the Doug Sanders world junior championships, played in Aberdeen from 1981 to 2000, to make the top grade in later years.
Villegas finished second to England's Andrew Smith from Wolverhampton in the "Doug Sanders" of 1998 at Newmachar.
Incidentally, in 1997, also at Newmachar, the Doug Sanders world title was won by Australian Adam Scott, now ranked No 3 or 4 in the world, with his compatriot Aaron Baddeley – a winner on the US PGA Tour earlier this year – finishing second.
Villegas, pictured above, was born in Medellin, Colombia on January 7, 1982 so he would have been only 16 when he came over to Aberdeen for the “Doug Sanders” in the summer of 1998.
I cannot swear to that the following story concerns Villegas but I do remember that in one of the “Doug Sanders world tournaments” of the late 1990s, there was a South American youngster who arrived in the North-east without any waterproofs. Why? “I have never played golf in rain that was wet enough to need them,” was his answer.
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA TEAM PLAYER
Back to Camilo Villegas. Doug Sanders helped a lot of the talented teenagers who played in his world tournaments, first at Hazlehead, then at Deeside, King’s Links and Newmachar, to get into American colleges.
Villegas went to the University of Florida for four years, during which time he became one of the leading players on the American college circuit. He turned professional as a golfer in 2004.
He was quoted at the weekend as saying: “I’ve been working hard not only the last year but the last 12 years because I always wanted to be on the US PGA Tour. Now I’m here. I wanted to win in college and I did. I’ve always wanted to play Augusta – and I will be playing in the Masters soon. So, slowly, I am accomplying my goals.”
The American magazine “Golf Digest,” ran a feature on young Villegas – he’s actually 25 now! – this week.
Last year was Camilo’s rookie year on the US PGA Tour and he finished 38th on the money list.
HIT OR A MISS START TO SEASON
In five starts this season, he’s missed the cut three times but finished tied 2nd (at the Honda Classic) and joint 11th in the two events in which he made it through to the two final rounds.
Villegas has a lucractive contract with Footjoy and his distinctive style of defying the laws of gravity balanced on one foot while stretching his body as low as possible to examine the line of a putt features in their advertising.
“Golf Digest” posed the double question to its leading writers: “How good is Camilo Villegas and will he score his first US Tour win this year?
Here are their answers:
Bob Harig. Justin Rose is among those who probably beats Villegas, because he's been around a bit longer and has flirted with victories more often.
Jason Sobel. Name a non-winner who's been better than Villegas over the past 15 months. Bet you can't. With three runner-up finishes in his last 32 starts, I'll throw Villegas into the conversation of best player without a victory along with Bo Van Pelt, Brett Quigley, Tim Clark and Daniel Chopra.
(Colin Farquharson note: Daniel Chopra is another who has played in Aberdeen at a Doug Sanders world junior championship).
Ron Sirak. The number of times Villegas has put himself in contention in barely more than a year is as impressive as his Spiderman way of lining up putts.
John Antonini. The best player without a win is Tim Clark. After that there isn't much to choose from. Brett Quigley has earned the most money without a win. Ryan Moore and Michael Putnam are top up-and-coming players, but Villegas is just as good as they are. Camilo is already one of the top-five most popular players on the PGA Tour.
Harig. After Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and maybe John Daly, there are a lot of candidates in a popularity contest, but Villegas has already made his presence known and it is quite apparent people know who he is.
Sobel. Tough question. Let's see, Tiger and Phil are 1-2 and not going anywhere for a while. John Daly isn't the same John Daly of old, but think about the support he'd receive if he was in contention down the stretch at a major again. Same goes for Fred Couples and Chris DiMarco. Villegas is somewhere just behind those guys, but he's climbing quickly.
Sirak. Camilo is probably fourth behind Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and John Daly in the popularity stakes. Now he has to avoid becoming the male Anna Kournikova: a winless hunk.
Harig. As for Villegas getting his first win this year, I think he's still too inconsistent. He had a good chance for victory last weekend but needed a blunder by Boo Weekley to get the opportunity. He's made just two cuts this year in five tournaments.
Sobel. Last year, Villegas had three top-three results by the end of March, but didn't finish better than tied fifth for the final seven months of the season. He seems to be at his best in his adopted home state of Florida.
Sirak. One week all the pieces will fall together and Villegas will simply overpower a golf course. He won't need to win often to be a star in the eyes of the fans -- just like Daly.

ANY COMMENTS? E-mail them to colin@scottishgolfview.com

SCOTS FINISH SIX BEHIND IN
AUSSIE FOURSOMES


Scottish amateur champion Kevin McAlpine from Alyth and Walker Cup man Lloyd Saltman (Craigielaw) finished joint 13th in a field of 51 pairings for the Australian men's amateur foursomes over 36 holes at Riversdale Golf Club, New South Wales.
The Scots scored 76 and 72 for four-over-par 148 - six shots behind the the two Australian partnerships that tied for victory on 142.
Scott Henry (Cardross) and Paul O'Hara (Colville Park) tied for 19th place with 76 and 75 for 151.
The Scots will be back in action over the same course for the prestigious Riversdale Cup, starting on Friday.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 144 (2 x 72)
142 John Fitzgerald & Scott Arnold (NSW) 71 71, Rudi Bezuidenhout & Rohan Blizard (NSW) 71 71.
143 Matt Jager & Jason Scrivener (West Australia).
Other totals:
149 Kevin McAlpine & Lloyd Saltman (Sco) 76 73 (jt 13th).
151 Scott Henry & Paul O'Hara (Sco) 76 75 (jt 19th).
156 Jason Palmer & Chris Hanrahan (Eng) 75 81 (jt 30th).
157 Stephen Lewton (Eng) & Lloyd Fisher (US) 77 80 (jt 33rd).

e

BARRY HUME (65) UP WITH LEADERS IN

SINGAPORE MASTERS

China’s top golfer Liang Wen-chong and Australia's Marcus Fraser shared the lead at eight-under-par 64 after the opening round of the Clariden Leu Singapore Masters at the Laguna National Golf and Country Club.
With the event being played over two courses (Masters and Classic courses), the leading duo held a one-stroke advantage in what promises to be a very low-scoring tournament.

Glasgow's Barry Hume (pictured right), the former Scottish amateur champion, is one of the group on the 64 mark. It's Barry's best start since he joined the Asian Tour as a rookie last year.

Hume birdied the first, fourth and eighth in 33 to the turn, dropped his first and only shot at the 11th before covering the next five holes in five under par - birdies at the 12th, 14th and 16th and an eagle 3 at the 15th.

Simon Yates and Ross Bain, two Scots exiles well used to the dehydrating heat and humidity of the Far East, shot 68 and 69 respectively.

Yates birdied the seventh and ninth for 34 out. Coming home, he birdied the 10th but dropped shots at the 12th and 14th before getting back in the groove with birdies at the 15th, 17th and 18th.

Bain parred his first nine holes and then birdied the 10th and bogeyed the 11th. He followed that with four birdies in a row from the 12th before cooling off with a bogey at the 16th.

Andrew Coltart from Thornhill, who would not be used to the heat, could be very well satisfied with a 69 which had birdies at the first, second, fifth, 10th, 13th and 18th in halves of 34 and 35. He shed shots to par at the ninth, 14th and 17th.

Paul Lawrie shot a one-under-par 71 but so low is the scoring that he will start the second round in a share of 71st place. The project cut halfway figure in a huge field of 204 is two-under-par 142 so Paul has little room for manoeuvre at the moment.

The Aberdonian bogeyed the second but birdied the third, sixth and ninth to turn in two-under-par 34.

He got a fourth birdie at the 13th but perhaps tired a bit with bogeys at the 14th and 18th for 37 home.

Gary Orr is also on the 71 mark with halves of 37 and 34.

Steven O'Hara had a triple bogey 7 at the ninth and a double-bogey 6 at the 10th in his 77 which leaves him languishing in 184th place.

LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES
64 Marcus Fraser (Aus), Liang Wen-chong (Chn)
65 Barry Hume (Sco) 33-32, Shingo Katayama (Jap), Jyoti Randhawa (Ind)
66 Mark Brown (NZ), Peter Lawrie (Ire), Angelo Que (Phi), Graeme Storm (Eng), Martin Kaymer (Ger)
67 Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa), Adam Blyth (Aus), Unho Park (Aus), Peter Hanson (Swe).

Other scores included:

68 Simon Yates (Sco) 34-34 (jt 15th).

69 Ross Bain (Sco) 36-33, Andrew Coltart (Sco) 34-35 (jt 33rd).

70 Andrew Oldcorn (Sco) 34-36, Lee Westwood (Eng), Nick Dougherty (Eng), Oliver Fisher (Eng) (jt 58th).

71 Paul Lawrie (Sco) 34-37, Gary Orr (Sco) 37-34 (jt 74th).

72 Stephen Gallagher (Sco) 35-37 (jt 98th).

73 Marc Warren (Sco) 35-38, Scott Drummond (Sco) 35-38 (jt 115th).

77 Steven O'Hara (Sco) 38-39 (jt 184th).

78 David Drysdale (Sco) 38-40 (jt 190th).

+Projected halfway cut figure is two-under-par 142.

CELTIC PRO TOUR EVENTS AT MONTROSE
LINKS AND MURCAR LINKS

Montrose Links (September 10-11) and Murcar Links (October 1-2) are to host two 36-hole events on a new Celtic Professional Tour which will have at least 15 events on its schedule, the majority in Wales.
The Scottish part of the circuit will be known as the Thistle Tour. The competition at Murcar Links, which staged a European Challenge Tour event last summer, will be knowed as the Grampian Open. The Montrose Links' event will have the title, the Carnoustie Country Open.
There were be a 54-hole Tour Championship on a date and venue still to be fixed in the late autumn.
Rydian Thomas, based at Treorchy in South Wales, is the chief executive of the Celtic Pro Tour. Membership of the Tour, permitting a player to play in all the events, costs £175. On top of that there is an individual entry fee of £99 for the 36-hole events. It will be higher than that for the 54-hole championship finale.
Low-handicap amateurs will be allowed to take part for a fee of £55 per event.
Prize funds will range from £2,000 to £5,350, depending on how many entries are received.
The Celtic Pro Tour starts with the South Wales Open at Pyle & Kenfig, South Wales on June 4 and 5.
The full schedule is available on www.celticpro.co.uk.

Further and later information from Andrew Weltch of the Celtic/Thistle Tour:

To join the tour, all professionals are urged to visit the new website at www.celticpro.co.uk . Annual membership costs £175, while individual event entry is £99. Amateurs (scratch handicap or better) are also allowed to enter at a cost of £55 per event (amateurs are not required to pay membership).

The prize fund for a field of 96 professionals, will be £5,350 with £2,000 going to the winner.
The prize fund for a field of 60 professionals, will be £3,650 with £1,500 going to the winner.
The prize fund for a field of 40 professionals, will be £2,000 with £1,000 going to the winner.

The leading amateur in each event will win a voucher to be spent on golf equipment.

Any corporate clients wishing to invest in the Tour, should contact the chief executive, Rhydian Thomas, on 07861 686568. Naming rights available to corporate clients include tour title, individual event title and associate event sponsors.

PRESS RELEASE FROM EUROPEAN CHALLENGE TOUR

GLASSON GOLF HOTEL & COUNTRY CLUB
TO HOST THE CHALLENGE OF IRELAND

The European Challenge Tour is delighted to welcome the Glasson Golf Hotel & Country Club to the 2007 Schedule as host venue for the €150,000 Challenge of Ireland presented by Glasson to be played from August 2-5.
Glasson Golf Hotel & Country Club, located just outside the town of Athlone, County Westmeath, occupies a truly stunning location in the very heart of Ireland.
Set against the backdrop of the beautiful Lough Ree, the championship venue was designed by one of Ireland’s greatest golfers, Christy O’Connor jun, who describes the venue as: “One of the most scenic pieces of land I've ever seen in my life, with the first nine holes overlooking Lough Ree and the second nine Killenure Bay. There is nothing I've seen that comes close to it.”
The 2007 Challenge of Ireland presented by Glasson will feature many of Ireland’s brightest young golfing hopefuls as they attempt to secure their European Tour cards for the 2008 season by finishing in the top 20 in the Challenge Tour Rankings at the end of this year. These players include former Amateur champions Michael Hoey and Brian McElhinney, while local interest will stem from 2003 Walker Cup player Colm Moriarty, who is now the Touring Professional at Glasson Golf Hotel & Country Club.
Tom Reid, owner and President of Glasson Golf Hotel & Country Club, expressed his delight at having the opportunity to bring such a prestigious golf event to Ireland’s midlands.
He said: “We are absolutely delighted to be staging our first European Challenge Tour event this August and we look forward to showcasing what Glasson and the spectacular scenery of the surrounding area have to offer. We would like to thank Horizon Sports Management for securing this opportunity for us, and are very much looking forward to working with the Challenge Tour to ensure that the Challenge of Ireland presented by Glasson, becomes one of the most successful and high profile events on the 2007 Challenge Tour Schedule.”

TOUGH OPENER FOR SCOTS BOYS IN ROME

Scotland, the title-holders, face potentially their toughest match of the three today when they meet France on the opening day of the boys' quadrangular match at Parco de Roma Golf Club.
The French squad of six all played in a recent, big-margin victory over Spain's Under-18 boys in a 12-a-side match.
The other match today is Sweden v Italy, the hosts.We hope to have news of today's action and, of course, the results on this website this evening.

ENTRIES CLOSE TODAY FOR SCOTTISH BOYS’
CHAMPIONSHIP


Entries for the Scottish boys’ championship at Dunbar from April 9 to 14 close today.
The capacity field for the match-play event is 256. According to the list on the Scottish Golf Union website last night, there were 293 entries at that point – which means there will be some 40+ boys with the highest handicaps balloted out.
Banchory’s James Byrne, currently playing for Scotland in the quadrangular contest in Rome, has the lowest handicap (+2.3) of the entries received so far.
James reached the semi-finals at West Kilbride last year before being eliminated by Michael Main (Thornton) who, in turn, lost to fellow Fifer James White (Lundin) in the 36-hole finial.
Michael is still young enough to enter again for this year’s championship. His handicap is +0.8 compared with 1.7 at this time in 2006.
Byrne has improved his handicap from +0.8 12 months ago.
There is a "James White" in this year's entry list but he is a five-handicap St Andrews New Golf Club member.

Today's Edinburgh & East of Scotland Alliance prizewinners

RICHARD JOHNSTON WINS BEN

SAYERS TROPHY IN TIGHT

FINISH AT MORTONHALL

By DUNCAN IRELAND
Secretary, Edinburgh & East of Scotland Alliance
Yet another fantastic days weather for the Alliance. One hundred players made it today and experienced Mortonhall pretty near as good as was physically possible for early March. A great achievement by them to present the course so well.
Firstly, to all of you who didn't play because sometimes Mortonhall " plays a bit too long" then consider this - Paul Fairbairn wouldn't have got to play today as he was the only player left in the clubhouse until the gallant Tom Galloway - 96 years, 10 months and a couple of days old, decided that he would play to make sure Paul got a game. He made it all the way round, broke 100 and finished 86 nett - beat that!!! Well done, Tom (pictured he was 93).
A very tight finish today but Richard Johnston just pipped Andy Rothney and Tom Buchanan for the Ben Sayers Trophy by virtue of a better back nine.
Richard's 69 - 1 - 68 included a brilliant five-under-par scratch back nine which was just sufficient to take the trophy. Tom won't mind too much as his best of the day, a four-under-par scratch 68 was one shot better than his leading challengers, Norman Huguet, Richard Johnston and Andy Rothney.
Stevie Doyle all but wrapped up the handicap order of merit for this year by finishing third. It would take a miracle for him to lose out now.
Next week's event at Musselburgh (Monktonhall) will be the last of the season unless you are going to qualify for the championship at Dalmahoy. If you haven't already let me know whether you're available for the championship, then please do so ASAP.
LEADING SCORES FROM MORTONHALL GC TODAY

BEN SAYERS TROPHY
Overall Winner: Richard Johnston (Glenbervie) (1) 68 (better inward half)
SCRATCH
1st (£100) Tom Buchanan (Duddingston) 68.
2nd (£80) Norman Huguet (Royal Musselburgh) 69.
3rd (£60) Andrew Dunsmore (Bathgate) 70.
4th (£40 voucher) Alexander Culverwell (Dunbar) 72.
5th (£7) David Miller (Duddingston), Mike Thomson (Cardrona), George Wither (Lothianburn) 73.
HANDICAP (vouchers)
1st (£90) Richard Johnston (Glenbervie) (1), Andrew Rothney (Deer Park) (1) 68.
3rd £60 Steven Doyle (Liberton) (4) 69.
4th (£40) Alan Robson (Burntisland) (6) 70.
5th (£7) Alistair Robertson (Kingsknowe) (10), Peter Sewell (West Linton) (8), George Thomson (Duddingston) (4) 72.
TRAINEE PROFESSIONAL
1st (£20) Kenneth Glen (Royal Musselburgh) 76.
SENIOR PRIZE
1st (£10) John McLean (Bathgate) (4), James Rankeillor (Edinburgh Western) (11) 75.

Report and scores from North-east Golfers' Alliance meeting

EAGLE LANDS CRUDEN BAY

PRIZE FOR TERRY MATHIESON

Murcar Links’ +2 amateur Terry Mathieson scored his second North-east Golfers’ Alliance win in four weeks with a three-under-par 67 in well-night perfect sunny conditions at Cruden Bay Golf Club today.
The hole that separated Terry, pictured right, from the field of 96 was the 14th where he drove the winter green – a hit of around 280yd – and holed a 20ft putt for an eagle 2.
Earlier he had birdied the seventh, eighth and 12th with shots dropped at the ninth and 11th but he also had a victory-clinching par 4 at the last by holing another 20ft putt after driving into a bush and having to take a lift and drop penalty.

Mathieson, quarter-finalist in last year's Scottish amateur championship at Nairn, a semi-finalist at Western Gailes in 2002 and beaten finalist in last season's Scottish mid-amateur championship, is not far short of Scottish international team class - but this coming season might be the last for him to win a cap.

He feels he is coming up to the age when it will be now or never in having a go to see if his amateur skills transfer to the professional ranks.
Joint runners-up on 68 were two professionals, Neil Murray (Cruden Bay) and Ryan Fitzpatrick (Inchmarlo). Both men bogeyed the 17th. In Fitzpatrick’s case it was a three-putt green.

A gallant fourth on 69 was Murcar Links professional Gary Forbes, playing for the first time since he strained muscles in an arm and walked in from the ninth at the Alliance meeting over his home course two weeks ago. Gary blotted his inward half with a double-bogey 7 at 13th in the middle of a run of birdies at the 12th, 14th and 15th.

The best inward half of the day was produced by four-handicap Murcar Links member Sandy Innes. Sandy went out in four-over-par 40 but came rattling home in only 30 strokes, four under par.

"That's the lowest nine-hole score I've ever had," said Sandy. "I reckon I had only 13 putts for the inward half."
Host club steward John Roberts, who plays off seven, won the Class 1 handicap top award with a net 65. John was joint 12th overall in the scratch returns on the 72 mark.
Next week's meeting at Duff House Royal is the first round of the 36-hole NE Alliance championship. Fraserburgh will host the second round on March 21.

Leading returns (par 70)

SCRATCH
67 T Mathieson (Murcar Links).
68 N Murray (Cruden Bay) p, R Fitzpatrick (Inchmarlo) p.
69 G Forbes (Murcar Links) p.
70 N Reid (Deeside) ap, R Hyland (Hazlehead), A Innes (Murcar Links).
71 D Yeats (Newmachar), C Stephen (Meldrum House), S Finnie (Caledonian), S Fraser (Northern).
72 J Roberts (Cruden Bay), R Stewart (Cruden Bay) p, A K Pirie (Hazlehead) s, E Kennedy (Stonehaven).
73 G Grimmer (Nigg Bay), I Bratton (Newburgh), C Nelson (MacKenzie Club) p, S Murray (Aspire) p, F Bisset (Banchory), R McDonald (Kemnay).
74 W Main (Murcar Links), I Welsh (Nigg Bay).
75 J Nicholson (Auchmill), S Chalmers (Banchory) ap, M Barnard (Inchmarlo) ap, D Nelson (Aboyne) s.
76 P Morrison (Oldmeldrum), C Cassie (Nigg Bay), M Kidd (Newburgh), S Kidd (Newburgh), R L Nicoll (Murcar Links) s, D Wilson (Duff House Royal), S Davidson (Banchory) p, L Barbour (Cruden Bay).
77 D Corkey (East Aberdeenshire), W S Urquhart (Murcar Links) s, A Nelson (Banchory), C Alexander (Murcar Links) s, D Leighton (Murcar Links), N Parker (Murcar Links) s.
78 D McKay (Caledonian).
79 F Barclay (Kintore), B Harper (Newburgh), S Scott (Auchmill), K Smith (Aboyne), A Graham (Portlethen).

HANDICAP
Class 1 – J Roberts (Cruden Bay) (7) 65; A Innes (Murcar Links) (4) 66; C Cassie (Nigg Bay) (8), M Kidd (Newburgh) (8) 68; T Mathieson (Murcar Links) (+2), F Bisset (Banchory) (4), D Nelson (Aboyne) (6) s, S Kidd (Newburgh) (7) 69; A K Pirie (Hazlehead) (2) s, S Fraser (Northern) (1) 70; D Yeats (Newmachar) (scr), S Finnie (Caledonian) (scr), G Grimmer (Nigg Bay) (2), J Nicolson (Auchmill) (4), P Morrison (Oldmeldrum) (5), R L Nicoll (Murcar Links) (5) s, D Wilson (Duff House Royal) (5), N Parker (Murcar Links (6) s, D McKay (Caledonian) (7) s, A Buchan (Northern) (9) 71.
Class 2 – R Addison (Newburgh) (18) s 68; J Jessiman (Oldmeldrum) (14) s, B Lumsden (Northern) (16) 69; R Alison (Deeside) (13) s, K Duncan (Cruden Bay) (12) 71; D Moir (Murcar Links) (12), G Travis (Auchmill)( (5) 72; D Wood (Newburgh) (14) s 73; J Robb (Turriff) (11) 74; M F R Rogers (Kemnay) (14) s 75; I Strachan (Royal Aberdeen) (11) s, G Homer (Lumphanan (12), J Jones (Craibstone) (16) s 76; D Randall (Banchory) (11) s 77; H McNaughton (Cruden Bay) (10), W Forbes (Murcar Links) (15) s 78; N A Ogston (Turriff) (11) s 79.

p denotes professional; ap assistant professional; s senior.

SCORECARD FOR CRUDEN BAY - Par 70

OUT: 4-4-4-4-3-4-5-4-4-4-36. IN: 4-3-4-5-4-3-3-4-4-34

TERRY MATHIESON 67

OUT: 4-4-4-3-4-5-3-3-5-35. IN: 4-4-3-5-2-3-3-4-4-32

NEIL MURRAY 68

OUT: 5-4-3-3-4-4-4-3-4-34. IN: 4-3-3-5-4-3-3-5-4-34

RYAN FITZPATRICK 68

OUT: 4-4-3-4-4-4-4-3-5-35. IN: 3-3-3-5-5-2-3-5-4-33

GARY FORBES 69

OUT: 4-4-3-4-5-5-4-3-4-36. IN: 5-3-3-7-3-2-3-4-3-33

SANDY INNES 70

OUT: 4-4-4-5-4--5-5-5-4-40. IN: 4-2-3-5-3-3-3-4-3-30

NICK REID 70

OUT: 4-4-4-3-5-4-4-4-3-35. IN: 3-3-4-5-4-5-3-4-4-35

ANY COMMENTS? E-mail them to colin@scottishgolfview.com

United States college round up from coast to coast

ROSEANNE CHALKS UP FIRST

TOP-20 FINISH IN AMERICA

Scottish Under-18 girls golf champion Roseanne Niven from Perth achieved her first top-20 finish on the American women’s college circuit at the Spartan Invitational tournament at Almaden Country Club, San Jose in California this week.
In only her third event since enrolling at the University of California Berkeley earlier this year, 18-year-old Roseanne, a member of Crieff Golf Club, finished joint 19th in a field of 74 players with rounds of 77, 74 and 75 for an aggregate of 226 over the 6,121yd, par-72 course.
Selanee Henderson (UC Irvine) won the individual honours with scores of 69, 71 and 70 for six-under-par 210.
Roseanne’s much improved effort enabled California to share second place with Colorado on 892 behind team title winners San Jose State (877) in a field of 14 colleges.

KNOX AND STEWART PIPPED BY
JACKSONVILLE TEAM-MATE

Russell Knox from Inverness and Duncan Stewart of Grantown on Spey, both senior students at Jacksonville University, Florida finished second and third behind junior team-mate Matt Kleinrock in the Braveheart Classic men’s college tournament at Oak Valley Golf Club, Beaumont in California.
Knox shot 77, 75 and 71 for a total of 223 – three behind first-time winner Kleinrock (78-73-69)– with Stewart scoring 77, 72 and 75 for 224.
A third Jacksonville student, Jamie Kennedy from Edinburgh, finished joint 21st on 232 with scores of 81, 75 and 76 in a field of 95 players.
Jacksonville overtook the favourites, UCLA, over the final round to win the team event by nine shots with a total of 896 in a field of 17 colleges.

CHRIS BARON TIES 57th IN PANTHER INVITE

Chris Baron from Oldmeldrum, a freshman student at Belmont Abbey College, North Carolina, finished tied for 57th place in a field of 93 with scores of 78, 82 and 80 for an aggregate of 240 in the Panther Invite college tournament at Duran Golf Club, Viera in Florida.
David D’Agostino (Florida Tech) won the event over a tough par-72, 7,127yd course, with scores of 73, 72 and 72 for one-over 217.
Belmont Abbey (924) finished eighth in the team event behind winners Florida Gulf Coast (892).

KATE MAKES TOP 20 AT SPARTANBURG

Paisley’s Kate O’Sullivan (High Point University, North Carolina) finished joint 17th in a field of 37 for the Wofford Intercollegiate women’s tournament at Carolina Country Club, Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Kate had scores of 81 and 83 for a total of 164 over the 5,847yd, par-72 course.
Team-mate AnnMarie Dalton from Belfast finished fourth with 75 and 78 for 153 – eight shots behind the winner, Erin Wells (Wofford) with 74 and 71 for 145.
High Point (640) finished fourth of seven behind team title winners Wofford (616).

SOMMERVILLE JT EIGHTH IN NORTH CAROLINA

Two Clayton State University, Atlanta students, Daniel Sommerville from St Andrews and Glasgow's Neil McBridge finished joint eighth and joint 41st respectively in the Richard Rendelman Invitational at Country Club of Salisbury, North Carolina.
Freshman Sommerville had scores of 75 and 71 for a total of 146 over the par 71 course.
McBride scored 77 and 76 for 153.
USC-Aiken provided both the individual winner, Jeff Goff, and the team winners.
Goff scored 70 and 66 for six-under-par 136. USC-Alken won the team title with a total of 580. Clayton State (598) finished sixth.

US Curtis Cup player Amanda wins by 12 strokes

JODI FINISHES 15th BUT GEMMA
FADES TO 27th IN FLORIDA

Yorkshire girl Jodi Ewart (New Mexico University) finished joint 15th and Glasgow's Gemma Webster (Ohio State University) came joint 27th in a field of 73 players for the UCF Challenge women's college tournament at Grand Cypress Golf Club, Orlando in Florida.
Jodi scored 76, 75 and 74 for a total of 225. Her final round was made up of 15 pars, a birdie at the second, a double bogey (her third of the tournament) at the third and a single bogey at the sixth.
Gemma scored 76, 74 and 78 for 228. She had three birdies in her final round at the eighth, 14th and 18th but had a double-bogey 6 at the 15th and dropped single shots at seven other holes.
US Curtis Cup player Amanda Blumenherst (Duke), pictured above, outclassed the field with an 11-under-par 205 performance, made up of three sub-par rounds round the 6,223yd, par 72 course, of 70, 65 and 70. Amanda won by a staggering 12 shots while her university won the team event by a yawning 26 shots from Georgia.


LEADING INDIVIDUAL TOTALS

Par 216 (3 x 72)
205 Amanda Blumenherst (Duke) 70 65 70.
217 Jacqui Concolino (Vanderbilt) 72 75 70.
218 Alina Lee (Georgia) 73 72 73.
Other totals:
225 Jodi Ewart (New Mexico) 76 75 74 (jt 15th).
228 Gemma Webster (Ohio State) 76 74 78 (jt 27th).
LEADING TEAM TOTALS
860 Duke. 886 Georgia. 898 Pepperdine, Vanderbilt, 907 Florida. Also: 922 New Mexico (8th). 937 Ohio State (11th).

RHYS DAVIES CHALKES UP WIN NO. 9
ON AMERICAN COLLEGE CIRCUIT

Edinburgh-born Rhys Davies, the Walker Cup player from Bridgend, Wales, won his ninth tournament on the United States college golf circuit at Tallahassee, Florida today.
Davies, a final-year student at East Tennessee State University, shot rounds of 73, 68 and 69 for a six-under-par total of 210 to win the Seminole Intercollegiate title by two shots at Golden Eagle Country Club.
Rhys birdied the third, seventh, eighth, 15th and 17th in his final halves of 33-36 to clinch victory. He had 15 birdies over the three rounds to compensate for two double bogeys at short holes in his first round.
Gareth Shaw (East Tennessee State) from Lisburn score 77, 75 and 70 to finish joint 23rd on 222 – a shot ahead of young team-mate Seamus Power from Waterford. Freshman Seamus had rounds of 70, 80 and 73 for joint 29th place.
Banchory’s Scott Larkin (College of Charleston) had scores of 73, 75 and 77 to finish joint 41st on 225.
CALLUM'S DISASTROUS 80
Callum Macaulay (Mississippi) from Tulliallan dropped from 18th to a share of 46th place in the final standings after a disastrous final round of eight-over-par 80 (38-42).
Callum had a triple bogey 6 at the short 12th and a double-bogey 5 at the short 17th in his final round in which he birdied the second, 10th and 15th.
Ciaran McAleavey (Toledo) from Banbridge, Ireland finished on the same mark as Macaulay with rounds of 72, 76 and 78. McAleavey had a 9 at the par-5 15th in his last circuit.
Cian McNamara (East Tennessee State) from Limerick finished equal 58th with scores of 82, 69 and 77.
Jordan Findlay from Fraserburgh helped East Tennessee State to finish fourth equal in the team event by returning a one-over-par 73 over the 7,041yd course. Findlay, disqualified as an individual for a scorecard error in the first round, was able to continue playing as a team member.
Auburn (865) won the team title by five shots from North Carolina in a field of 15 colleges.
LEADING INDIVIDUAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4 x 72)
210 Rhys Davies (East Tennessee State) 73 69 69.
212 Zach Sucher (UAB) 69 74 69.
213 Patton Kizzire (Auburn) 72 70 71, Glenn Northcutt (Auburn) 73 74 66, Chris Rogers (Mississippi) 70 73 70.
Other final totals:
222 Gareth Shaw (East Tennessee State) 77 75 70 (jt 23rd).
223 Seamus Power (East Tennessee State) 70 80 73 (jt 29th).
225 Scott Larkin (College of Charleston) 73 75 77 (jt 41st).
226 Callum Macaulay (Mississippi) 74 72 80, Ciaran McAleavey (Toledo) 72 76 78 (jt 46th).
228 Cian McNamara (East Tennessee State) 86 69 77.
Team score only: Jordan Findlay (East Tennessee State) Disq 79 73.
LEADING TEAM TOTALS
865 Auburn. 870 North Carolina. 875 Florida State. 878 East Tennessee State, University of Alabama Birmingham. 880 Virgina. 885 Mississipi (7th). Other total: 896 College of Charleston (13th of 15).
ends

BULLSEYE FOR BYRNE IN ROME PRACTICE
James Byrne from Banchory achieved his first ever hole in one with a seven-iron at the par-3 second hole at Parco di Roma Golf Club today in his first practice round for Scotland's quadrangular boys' international against Italy, Sweden and France, beginning on Thursday.

ELS SWITCHES FROM ACUSHNET TO CALLAWAY

Ernie Els has reached an equipment deal with Callaway Golf. Terms of the endorsement contract were not disclosed but it will be worth a few (million) dollars more to the South African.
Els.
To sign up with Callaway, El first had to work out a deal to end his contract a year early with Acushnet -- the maker of Titleist equipment and FootJoy shoes.
A Callaway spokesman said the three-time major champion will begin the deal by using a Callaway ball and bag and wearing its logo on the sides and back of his cap. He will work with the company to determine which clubs best suit his game.

SCOTS OUTSIDE TOP 20 IN NORTH CAROLINA

Daniel Somerville from St Andrews and Glasgow's Neil McBride, both students at Clayton State University, Atlanta, were lying 21st and 40th at the end of the first round of the Richard Rendelman Invitational college tournament at Country Club of Salisbury, North Carolina.
Somerville had a 75 - six shots behind the joint leaders - and McBride a 77.
Clayton State (302) were sharing eighth place behind USC-Aiken (291) in the team event.

GERMANY'S NICOLA KNOCKS HOLLY OFF THE
TOP OF EGA WOMEN'S AMATEUR RANKINGS

Nicola Roessler (Germany), beaten in the final of the Spanish women's open amateur championship on Sunday, is the new leader of the European Golf Association's women's amateur rankings for 207.She has 130pt to her credit and leads by 30pt from the player who beat her in Sunday's final at Sherry Golf, compatriot Katharina Schallenberg.Portuguese women's open amateur title-winner Holly Aitchison from England drops down from first to a share of seventh place.The new top 20 placings are:
1 Nicola Roessler (Ger) 130.
2 Katharina Schallenberg (Ger) 100.
3 Azahara Munoz (Spa) 91.
4 Anna Nordqvist (Swe) 77.
5 Carolina Masson (Ger) 74.39.
6 Nina Holleder (Ger) 62.50.
7 Dewi-Claire Schreefel (Net) 60.
7 Holly Aitchison (Eng) 60.
9 Sandra Gal (Ger) 51.
9 Pernilla Lindberg (Swe) 51.
11 Carlota Ciganda (Spa) 47.50.
11 Emilie Alonso (Fra) 47.50.
11 Anna Dahlberg (Swe) 47.50.
11 Stephanie Doering (Ger) 47.50.
15 Ines Lescudier (Fra) 42.50.
15 Ana Santos Melo (Por) 42.50.
17 Mireia Prat (Spa) 37.38.
17 Ana Urchegui (Spa) 37.38.
19 Adriana Zwanck (Spa) 35.
20 Belen Mozo (Spa) 29.83.
+Points totals are based on performances in the Portuguese and Spanish open amateur championships in recent weeks plus a restricted amount of US college tournaments. The next counting event on the European women's amateur circuit is the Helen Holm Scottish women's open amateur stroke-play championship at Troon Portland and Royal Troon at the end of April.

ROSEANNE SETTLES TO PRODUCE HER
BEST AMERICAN COLLEGE SCORES

Scottish Under-18 girls champion Roseanne Niven has found her feet on the American women's college golf circuit in her third tournament since she enrolled at the University of California Berkeley earlier this year.
The Crieff girl, only just turned 18, produced her two lowest scores so far - a 77 and a 74 - over a 6,121,yd, par-72 course to be in 19th position on 151 with one round to go in the Spartan Invitational tournament at Almaden Country Club, San Jose in California.
Jenelle Gomez (San Jose State University) has a three-shot lead with scores of 70 and 68 for 138.
California (595) are lying third in the team event behind San Jose State (581) and Colorado (592) in a field of 14 teams.

GREAT WRITER IAN WOOLDRIDGE

(75) DIES: TRIBUTE

FROM EUROPEAN TOUR

Ian Wooldridge, who has died after a long illness, aged 75, wrote unrivalled columns which transcended sport with golf passionately supported both on and off the fairways.
Wooldridge, saluted as the greatest sports journalist of his generation, played golf left-handed, but never seriously enough not to realise that winning a hole with an eight to a nine was far more fun than overcoming his opponent with a birdie. Such experiences lit-up the 19th hole! After all, he was recognised for the brilliance of his prose and his unerring eye for the telling of an anecdote not to mention his liking for a small refreshment.
Early in his career, which started on the New Milton Advertiser in Hampshire, Wooldridge ghosted a syndicated column for Max Faulkner, winner of the Open Championship in 1951.

MAX FAULKNER STORY INVENTED

On one occasion, having been unable to extract a good anecdote from Faulkner on his success at Royal Portrush, he invented the story that Faulkner, before teeing off in the final round, had scrawled the words “Open Champion – 1951” on a ball and handed it to a young autograph hunter. Some years later George Plimpton, an American writer who had read about the tale, said on meeting Wooldridge – “Great story that one about Max Faulkner,” Wooldridge’s response? “Total nonsense!”
Wooldridge’s incomparable and entertaining style of writing delighted his followers in the Daily Mail for more than 40 years and also millions of readers of countless other publications worldwide. He enjoyed the world of golf, enthusing about the sportsmanship of the game, and the qualities of its players.
In The 2006 Ryder Cup Official Programme he was asked to visualise golf “In The Year 2525” and his entertaining essay included the words: “And what of global warming? If Sir David Attenborough’s anxious countenance is anything to go by, the polar icecaps will have melted to such a degree that even imperious golfing premises like St Andrews and the Augusta National will be several unplayable fathoms under water.

RYDER CUP WILL SURVIVE
“Well, I am having none of this pessimism. I believe The Ryder Cup will survive because, despite the odd hiccup here and there, it simply deserves to.
“From its original concept until today, it has established itself as one of the greatest sporting events in the entire curriculum. Conflict? Occasionally. Continuity? Unhindered, except by war. Courtesy? Mostly infallible because long, long ago golf created a code of conduct that has survived the ill-discipline that has disfigured so many other professional games.”
George O’Grady, Chief Executive of The European Tour, said: “Ian’s special ability to capture the very essence of sport and captivate the reader was a rare gift which he shared through his words with his readers. He enjoyed his golf, writing warmly and enthusiastically about our sport, and, more importantly, he was a good friend whose company we all relished. We will miss his passionate and instinctive views at our summit meeting luncheons and we send our condolences to his wife, Sarah, his family and his thousands and thousands of friends around the world.”
A LEGEND OF SPORTS JOURNALISM
The Daily Mail pointed out in its tribute to Wooldridge that: “With style and coruscating wit, he celebrated the achievements of our sporting heroes, but was merciless in his condemnation of the cheap and tawdry, the fake and the crooked. From the Rumble in the Jungle to a rumble in Kampala with Idi Amin, from racing with huskies on the Iditarod Trail to running with the bulls in Pamplona, Wooldridge was there.”
Arnold Palmer and Colin Montgomerie led those tributes from the world of golf.
Palmer said: “I am extremely sorry to hear of Ian’s passing. I had great respect for him as a journalist and always enjoyed his company. He was a fine man.”
Montgomerie said: “We have lost one of the real legends of sports journalism. He was damn good fun to be around.”
Ian Wooldridge was a lovely person. He was his own man. He had a great sense of humour. He was self-effacing and never self-congratulatory. He was an absolute gentleman in whose company all felt at ease.
He was appointed OBE in 1991 and his awards were legion. In the British Press Awards he was Columnist of the Year in 1975 and 1976 and Sportswriter of the Year in 1972, 1974, 1981 and 1989. The Sports Council made him Sportswriter of the Year in 1987, 1988 and 1996 and it elected him Sports Feature Writer of the Year in 1991 and 1997. In May, 2006, he won the London Press Club’s Edgar Wallace award for outstanding reporting over many years.
Wooldridge concluded that article in The 2006 Ryder Cup programme with the words: “Nonetheless, 2525 is a long way distant. Maybe the pills won’t have worked. Perhaps some police car may have got me or some cross-eyed politico might have peppered me with lethal shot. In which case I hope there is spirit in a celestial press box along with such glorious Ryder Cup chroniclers of the past as Henry Longhurst and Peter Dobereiner.”
+The above article is reproduced from the European Tour website.

CONSISTENT WILLETT TIES FOR

FIFTH PLACE AT LAKE JOVITA

Daniel Willett, pictured right, from Sheffield, a sophomore student at Jacksonville State University, Alabama, followed up his third place in the All-American Classic by finishing joint fifth in a field of 90 for the Ron Smith/USF Invitational at Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club, Dade City in Florida.
The consistent Willett – it was his fourth top-five finish in six 2006-2007 competitions – had rounds of 74, 73 and 69 for level par 216.
Winner by one shot was Mike Van Sickle (Marquette University) with a three-under-par total of 213 (71-71-71).
Middle Tennessee State (869) won the team event from Jacksonville State (881) and Columbus State (883) in a field of 17 colleges.

£200million OPEN DRIVES HOME
OF GOLF PROMOTION
The R&A and three public sector agencies are to continue using The Open Championship to promote Scotland as the worldwide home of golf, Patricia Ferguson announced today.
EventScotland, VisitScotland and Scottish Enterprise have agreed to extend the partnership with the R&A till 2010.
The R&A is predicting a £200 million boost for the Scottish economy from The Open Championship, which will be staged in Scotland three times between 2007 and 2010.
The Open Championship will be played at Carnoustie in 2007, Turnberry in 2009 and returns to St Andrews in 2010.
Speaking at the inaugural National Events Conference at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow, the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport said:
“In July, The Open will once again return to Scotland, a country where golf tourism is lucrative to our economy.
“I am delighted that Open Championship organiser The R&A, has agreed until 2010 to extend its partnership agreement with EventScotland, Scottish Enterprise and VisitScotland.
“It enables The Open to be harnessed as a means to promote Scotland as the home of golf and a world-class tourist destination.”
£100millon of "new money"
Peter Dawson, Chief Executive of The R&A commented:
“Scotland plays host to The Open three times in the next four years and we know from a detailed economic impact study that the event will bring £100m of new money to the Scottish economy over that period and deliver a promotional legacy benefit to Scotland’s tourism industry of £100m more. The R&A is pleased to support Scotland in building its worldwide reputation as the home of golf.”
David Williams, CEO of EventScotland; “The R&A’s decision to continue its partnership with EventScotland, Scottish Enterprise and VisitScotland, is terrific news for golf tourism in this country and an example of how such a high profile event can provide leverage to effectively showcase the best of Scotland to the world.”
Williams added: “The events industry is a major success story in this country. Since 2003, EventScotland has helped stage 162 international events, subsequently generating over £315m for the national economy. The whole of Scotland is now engaged in the events industry with EventScotland directly supporting events in 26 out of Scotland’s 32 local authorities.
“Today’s announcement by the Minister and our hosting of this conference is further evidence of our commitment to engage a host of partners across the sports and cultural spectrum about the economic and social value of events and realise a vision of establishing Scotland as one of the world’s premier events destinations by 2015.”

GEMMA AND JODI IN TOP 20 WITH
ROUND TO GO AT GRAND CYPRESS

United States Curtis Cup player Amanda Blumenherst (Duke University) showed her class with a second-round of 65, seven under par for the 6,223yd Grand Cypress course to forge 10 shots clear of the field on nine-under-par 135 with one round to go in the UCF Challenge women’s college tournament at Orlando, Florida.
Scotland cap Gemma Webster (Ohio State), pictured right, is in joint 15th place with scores of 76 and 74 for 150. Gemma started her second round at the 12th and bogeyed the 13th and 15th before she hit form with birdies at the 16th and 17th, only to fall back again with bogeys at the 18th, third and fourth. But the Hilton Park Golf Club member finished on a high with a birdie at the 10th.
Jodi Ewart, from Catterick, a student at New Mexico University, has scored 76 and 75 for a share of 17th place on 151.
Jodi began at the fifth and she double-bogeyed the long seventh and dropped a third shot at the ninth. Then she had back to back birdies at the 10th and 11th before she dropped another shot at the 12th and then double-bogeyed the 13th.
Miss Ewart’s roller-coaster ride continued with a birdie at the 14th but she parred the remainder of the holes.
With three players in the top six, Duke are galloping away with the team title. They lead by 21 strokes from Pepperdine.

LEADING INDIVIDUAL SCORES
Par 144 (2 x 72)
135 Amanda Blumenherst (Duke) 70 65.
145 Misun Cho (Pepperdine) 72 73, Alina Lee (Georgia 73 72, Jennie Lee (Duke) 73 72, Nicole Montgomery (Pepperdine) 74 71, Alison Whitaker (Duke) 71 74.
Other scores:
150 Gemma Webster (Ohio State) 76 74 (jt 15th).
151 Jodi Ewart (New Mexico) 76 75 (jt 17th).
LEADING TEAM SCORES
573 Duke. 594 Pepperdine. 595 Georgia. 600 Vanderbilt. 612 Louisiana State. 614 Florida. 617 New Mexico, Purdue.
Also:
626 Ohio State (11th of 13).

RHYS DAVIES TAKES UP RUNNING

IN SEMINOLE INTERCOLLEGIATE

Edinburgh-born Welsh Walker Cup player Rhys Davies (East Tennessee State) has taken over the lead with one round to go in the prestigious Seminole Intercollegiate tournament at Golden Eagle Country Club, Tallahassee in Florida.
Rhys, pictured right, has had rounds of 73 and 68 for a three-under-par tally of 141 over a testing 7,041yd course with a par of 72.
Davies birdied the first, fourth, eighth, 15th and 17th with a single bogey at the sixth in halves of 34.
He leads by one shot from Reed Darsie (North Carolina), Patton Kizzire (Auburn) and first-round leader Brad Revell (North Carolina State).
West of Scotland Open champion Callum Macaulay (Mississippi) from Tulliallan is sharing 18th place on 146 after scores of 74 and 72.
Callum has had seven birdies over the first 36 holes, three of them in his second round – at the ninth, 14th and 15th. He cancelled them out with bogeys at the second, 11th and 18th in halves of 37.

MACAULAY'S TOP-10 CHANCE
But for a double bogey at the fourth in the first round, Macaulay would have been challenging for a top-10 place … he might still do it.
Banchory Golf Club men’s and junior champion in 2003, Scott Larkin, a student at the College of Charleston, South Carolina, is in joint 28th place on 148 after scores of 73 and 75.
Scott birdied the fourth and fifth in his second round – boosting his total to six for the tournament – but wiped out that good start with a double bogey 5 at the short seventh. That took the steam out of Larkin because he bogeyed the 10th, 14th and 18th in an inward 39.
Waterford’s Seamus Power (East Tennessee State) fell from a share of third place to joint 48th with an 80 after an opening 70. Double bogeys at the long fourth and short seventh saw him turn in 41, despite a birdie at the sixth. Even with additional birdies at the 12th and 15th, the inward half still cost young Power 39 shots for an 80.
Another East Tennessee State Irishman, Cian McNamara went the opposite way from Seamus. Cian followed up an 82 with a 69 for 151 and a share of 48th place.
McNamara from Limerick had a bogey-free second round, studded with birdies at the 10th, 16th and 18th

DISQUALIFIED FINDLAY STILL PLAYING
Team-mate Gareth Shaw from Lisburn is sharing 55th place in a quality field of 78 players with 77 and 75 for 152. Gareth had only one birdie, at the 15th in his second round.
Fraserburgh’s former British boys champion Jordan Findlay (East Tennessee State) was disqualified after reporting to the officials that he had inadvertently signed for a lower score than he actually had in the first round (in which he had been credited with an 83).
Although disqualified, under NCAA rules Findlay is allowed to continue playing – but only for team purposes (four from five to count) each round – and his 79 today was a counting score, one shot better than Seamus Power’s 80.
North Carolina (577) lead by a single shot from Auburn with Northwestern (584) a couple of shots ahead of Mississippi.
LEADING INDIVIDUAL SCORES
Par 144 (2 x 72)
141 Rhys Davies (East Tennessee State) 73 68.
142 Reed Darsie (North Carolina) 72 70, Patton Kizzire (Auburn) 72 70, Brad Revell (North Carolina State) 67 75.
Other scores:
146 Callum Macaulay (Mississippi) 74 72 (jt 18th).
148 Scott Larkin (College of Charleston) 73 75 (jt 28th).
150 Seamus Power (East Tennessee State) 70 80 (jt 41st).
151 Cian McNamara (East Tennessee State) 82 69 (jt 48th).
152 Gareth Shaw (East Tennessee State) 77 75 (jt 55th).
Team score only: Jordan Findlay (East Tennessee State) 79.
LEADING TEAM SCORES
577 North Carolina. 578 Auburn. 584 Northwestern. 586 Mississippi, Florida State. 587 UAB. 589 Mississippi State. 593 East Tennessee State.
Also: 596 College of Charleston.

Deutschland Uber Alles in Spanish women's amateur championship

All four semi-finalists were Germany-born in the Spanish women's amateur international championship at Sherry Golf Jerez, ending with Katharina Schallenberg beat Nicola Roessler in the final. Their compatriot semi-finalists were Caroline Masson (who beat the title-holder and favourite Carlota Ciganda, Spain in the quarter-finals) and Nina Holleder.
We in Scotland will probably be seeing a lot more of the all-conquering Germans this season, not only in the Helen Holm Scottish women's open amateur championship at Troon Portland and Royal Troon - remember it's a three-day event for the first time, at the end of April - and the St Rule Trophy at St Andrews, but also in the Continent of Europe team to play Great Britain & Ireland in the Vagliano Trophy match at Fairmont St Andrews Bay at the end of July.

NORTH-EAST ALLIANCE AT CRUDEN BAY

Ron Menzies, the North-east Alliance secretary, says that which Cruden Bay course Wednesday's competition will be held over will very much depend on the weather.

CALLING EDINBURGH & EAST OF SCOTLAND
ALLIANCE MEMBERS

Message to Edinburgh & East of Scotland Alliance members from secretary Duncan Ireland:

I've spoken to Mortonhall today and they are all geared up and looking forward to, having us on Wednesday.
Their clubhouse will be open from 7am, with catering available from 7.30am.
Hope to see you there.
Regards
Duncan

The Way We Were: Francis Ouimet, the first American golf hero

Francis Ouimet, centre, the amateur player who became the first American golf hero by beating English professionals Harry Vardon (left) and Ted Ray (right) in a play-off for the 1913 United States Open championship. Click on the image to enlarge it.

The picture on the right (John Mummert/USGA) shows the four clubs used by Oimet to win the title, some 94 years ago, that will be on display at the new Arnold Palmer Centre for Golf History, alongwith the ball and scorecard from the historic play-off.

U S G A ACQUIRE ST ANDREWS-FORGED CLUBS THAT

FRANCIS OUIMET USED IN HISTORIC US OPEN VICTORY

By Rand Jerris, USGA

(The following article is reproduced from the United States Golf Association website)

Far Hills, N.J. — In 1913, Francis Ouimet defeated legendary British professionals Harry Vardon and Ted Ray in a play-off to win the United States Open championship. Ouimet, a 20-year-old amateur and former caddie at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., where the championship was played, tied Vardon and Ray at the end of four rounds, aided by a critical birdie on the 71st hole. Expected to wilt under the pressure of the play-off the following day, Ouimet played his best golf of the championship in a driving rain, shooting 72 against Vardon’s 77 and Ray’s 78. His startling victory placed golf on the front page of many American newspapers for the first time and inspired a new generation to take up the game.
To this day, Ouimet’s unlikely victory in 1913 is celebrated among the greatest moments in USGA championship history. Fittingly, it will be one of the stories featured in the USGA’s new Arnold Palmer Center for Golf History, scheduled to open in 2008. Visitors to the Palmer Center will have the opportunity to view unique artifacts from the 1913 U.S. Open that the USGA has collected through the years. This includes the three golf balls used by Ouimet, Vardon, and Ray in the historic playoff, as well as the three original scorecards from that memorable round.
CADDIE WAS ONLY TEN YEARS OLD
Visitors will also see four of the newest additions to the museum collection – a set of irons used by Ouimet in his remarkable win. Shortly after his victory, Ouimet gifted these clubs to Eddie Lowery, the 10-year-old caddie who had carried his bag during the four regulation rounds of the championship, as well as the playoff. Lowery held on to the clubs for several years, but concerns about their security prompted him to sell them to a good friend. This past January, the USGA was fortunate to acquire these clubs from a Connecticut couple who had obtained the clubs from Lowery’s friend and subsequently cared for them for some 25 years.
The four irons acquired by the museum include Ouimet’s mid iron, mashie, mashie niblick, and jigger (the equivalents of the modern 2-iron, 5-iron, 7-iron, and utility/chipping club). The mashie stands out as perhaps the most important, for it was this club that Ouimet used to play two of the most important shots of the championship. In the fourth round, needing to birdie one of the closing two holes to tie Vardon and Ray, Ouimet played a magnificent shot with his mashie at the par-4 17th, striking his approach to 15 feet and converting the putt for a birdie 3. And in the playoff, again at the 17th hole and now leading Vardon by one stroke and Ray by five, Ouimet rifled his approach to within 20 feet of the hole to set up the birdie that insured his victory.
ST ANDREWS’ FINEST CLUBMAKER
The clubs were made by Tom Stewart, widely regarded as the most accomplished clubmaker in St. Andrews, Scotland in the early decades of the 20th century. Stewart was never the most prolific clubmaker in the British Isles, but he had learned the craft at an early age from renowned 19th-century cleek maker Robert White, who also hailed from St. Andrews. This pedigree and years of experience helped establish Stewart as the premier clubmaker of his day, and many of the game’s legends came to play his clubs. Old Tom Morris, Harry Vardon, Freddie Tait, and Bob Jones were just four of the players who, like Ouimet, were clients of Tom Stewart. Stewart’s characteristic trademark – a pipe – is clearly visible on the back of each of the Ouimet clubs.
In 2004, the USGA Museum and Archives completed an extensive period of internal review, which led to the adoption of a comprehensive strategic plan. The development of the Palmer Center is just one step – albeit the most critical one – in our effort to strengthen the museum, its programs, and its role within the USGA.
We are now working diligently to implement the new mission of the museum, with a focus on the history of golf in America, and a particular emphasis on the history of USGA champions and championships.
SIGNIFICANT MOMENT IN US GOLF HISTORY
In many ways, the set of four clubs used by Francis Ouimet embodies this new direction. There are few moments more significant in USGA history, and in all of American golf history, than Ouimet’s victory in 1913. We are confident that these clubs will long be celebrated among the treasures of the museum’s rich and deep collections.
***Dr. Rand Jerris is the director of the USGA’s museum and archives and is responsible for overseeing the development of the Arnold Palmer Center for Golf History. Email him with questions and comments at rjerris@usga.org.

DE SAVARY'S BIG PLANS FOR ROYAL
GOLF HOTEL AT DORNOCH

Peter de Savary, the man who originally made Skibo Castle a world-class golfing retreat, has returned to the north - well, not physically - with plans for a mult-million £ overhaul for the Royal Golf Hotel, the Dornoch hotel which he bought late last year.
De Savary, who is now based at Bovey Castle Country hotel and golf course, Dartmoor, plans to get rid of the buildings that were added to the original stone structure.
He wans to add a spa, conference and meeting facilities, extra bedrooms and suits.
Subject to planning permission being granted, homes and apartments will also be built in the grounds which are adjacent to the first tee of Royal Dornoch golf course.
The Royal Hotel, not surprisingly with all that work to be done, will not reopen until 2008.

CARRICK AT LOCH LOMOND
POST FOR ALAN TAIT

Alan Tait, Tartan Tour Order of Merit winner in 1996 but an administrative PGA professional in recent years, has been appointed head professional at The Carrick at Loch Lomond, the new course which is due to be opened in May with a PGA EuroPro Tour event.
Tait showed his skills early as an amateur and won the Doug Sanders world boys' championship at the Aberdeen Links in the 1980s and the Scottish boys' title at Dunbar in 1986 (beating Euan McIntosh of Turnhouse in the final) before losing to Alan Thomson from Ayrshire in the final of the Scottish amateur championship at Lossiemouth in 1989.
The beaten semi-finalists that year, by the way, were Duncan Weir, now the R&A's Golf Development Officer, and Colin Dalgleish, the new Walker Cup captain.
Alan Tait played for Scotland from 1987 through to 1989 before turning professional.
Latterly, he was director of golf at the Westerwood Hotel Golf & Country Club, Cumbernauld but five months ago the enterprise's new owners made him redundant.
"Westerwood were great to me for seven years and I wish them all the very best. But I honestly believe I'm now going to one of the best jobs in the country," says 37-year-old Alan who still holds the Carnoustie championship course record of 64 jointly with Colin Montgomerie.

WIN A ROUND OF GOLF WITH
SAM TORRANCE AND STEVEN
O'HARA OVER THE CARRICK

Visitors to the London Golf Show in April will stand a chance of winning a round of golf with Ryder Cup-winning captain Sam Torrance OBE.
The European Tour legend – who won 21 titles over three decades – is an ambassador for VisitScotland, and as part of the national tourism organisation’s participation in the show it will be running a competition to win a once-in-a-lifetime prize.
The winner of the competition will play in a dream four-ball with Sam Torrance and Steven O'Hara, the former Walker Cup player and now European Tour regular at a new, luxurious - The Carrick at Loch Lomond in September.
They will also enjoy two nights’ dinner, bed and breakfast at the picture postcard, five-star De Vere Cameron House on the shores of Loch Lomond.
The course, which opens this year, is one of the eagerly-awaited new builds, with Loch Lomond providing a stunning backdrop to many of the holes.
To enter this fantastic competition, visitors to the London Golf Show merely need to visit the Scotland Home of Golf stand and fill in an entry form.
The competition’s terms and conditions are available upon request from VisitScotland.
The London Golf Show 2007 returns to ExCeL, from April 26-29, with another European Ryder Cup hero, David Howell, making an appearance.
There will also be Europe’s largest golf retail store courtesy of the UK’s No. 1 retailer, American Golf, a 30-bay driving range, the chance to go head-to-head on the chipping green with celebrities, the opportunity to sink a 100ft putt, the iconic floating green, myriad game-improvement gadgets, a fashion show, plus a much bigger area dedicated to junior golf with free coaching, fun and games and prizes.
What’s more, two juniors get in free with every paying adult.
■ For tickets visit www.londongolfshow.com or call Ticketmaster on 0870 1451205. For more information on Golf in Scotland go to www.visitscotland.com/golf

North Golfers' Alliance report and scores

MUNRO FERRIES SCORES

SECOND WIN OVER

DORNOCH STRUIE

By ROBIN WILSON
Tain’s North District team member Munro Ferries made the short trip across the Dornoch Bridge to secure his second win of the North Alliance season on the Dornoch Struie with a one- over-par card of 72.
Despite its many short par-4 holes few players break par on the Royal Dornoch relief course. It has the protection of narrow fairways and small greens and, in the middle, a tough stretch of new holes that include two par-5S, big, contoured greens, and a tough par-3 of over 200 yards.
After an outward one-over-par 36 it was at the second of the new holes, the 10th that skirts the Kyle of Sutherland, that Ferries ran into trouble with a pulled drive. The lost ball cost him a damaging triple bogey 7. Then a bogey on the new long par-3 12th hole compounded his card to five over par before three of these shots were recovered with a run of birdies from the 14th to 16th holes.

A final birdie 2 from the edge of the 18th green restored his card to a repeat 36 and 72.
In second place came Reay Golf Club match secretary, Lee Parnell who had the consolation of winning a card play-off against Wick’s Ali MacKay for the first handicap place in Class 1. Both had net 70s.
With Thurso’s Doug Thorburn scoring 76 and Wick’s Ron Taylor at home with a back strain there was no alteration to their aggregate scratch scores but Ferries, third in the race for the scratch trophy, got two shots closer to second-placed Thorburn’s total of 286. Taylor remains out in front on 283.
Although not in the Struie prize list, the big mover of the weekend towards the handicap Mackintosh Salver prize was Richard MacDonald. It has taken the Reay member from last November to ditch his Invergordon score of net 84. With a net 75 at Struie, he sliced nine strokes from his outside Caithness returns to drop to 276 and into a tie with Mike Keay (Tain).
In joint third scratch place with 74s came the older Ferries brother, Billy, and Thurso’s Jim Sangster.

Billy, pictured above by Robin Wilson saving par from a bunker at the 17th, got ahead and into second place on the strength of his lower last nine holes, 36 to Sangster’s 39, and there was more success for Tain when Chris Ilett took third handicap place ahead of the Thurso pair, Peter O’Hare and Sangster. All had net cards of 72.
Alister McCowan takes to his home Durness course for this coming weekend’s fixture a winning score in Class 2. McCowan’s net 71, off 12, was two ahead of a group of three where second place, on the card countback, went to George Robertson (Reay) followed by Davie Duncan (Invergordon) and then Willie Dunbar (Reay).

But there will be no visit to Durness for Munro Ferries after receiving an invitation to attend the North District’s training day at Castle Heather on Sunday.
The entry at Struie was 55.
LEADING RETURNS

SCRATCH

72 M Ferries (Tain).

73 L Parnell (Reay).

74 B Ferries (Tain), J Sangster (Thurso).

75 A Mackay (Wick).

76 C Ilett (Tain), D Thorburn (Thurso).

HANDICAP

Class 1 – L Parnell (Reay) (3), A Mackay (Wick) (5) 70; C Ilett (Tain), P O’Hare (Thurso), J Sangster (Thurso) (2) 72.

Class 2 – A McCowan (Durness) (12) 71; G. Robertson (Reay) (20), D Duncan (Invergordon) (12), W Dunbar (Reay) (18) 73.

MARK WILSON WINS HONDA
CLASSIC PLAY-OFF
American Mark Wilson won the held-over four-man play-off for the Honda Classic first prize when the US PGA Tour event over the PGA National course at Palm Beach Gardens, Florida finally ended on Monday morning.
Wilson birdied the third play-off hole from 8ft to relegate Jose Coceres to second place, Camilo Villegas and Boo Weekley had been eliminated at the second hole. All four had par 5s at the first extra hole on Sunday evening before darkness forced officials to call a halt for the day.
It was Wilson's first US PGA Tour win in 111 starts.
The long-awaited victory was worth $990,000 to Mark Wilson but, almost as important, it means he now has exempt status on the US Tour through to the end of the 2009 season.
He has been to the Tour's Qualifying School in each of the last 10 years.

PGA SENIORS CHAMPIONSHIP GOES
BACK TO SUFFOLK COURSE
Sam Torrance has welcomed the announcement that the £200,000 PGA Seniors Championship will return to The Stoke by Nayland Golf Club in Suffolk from September 6-9 this year.
The former Ryder Cup captain produced an outstanding final round of six under par 66 to win last year’s event and will draw on those happy memories as he bids to become only the third player in the 51 year history of the championship to capture the title in three consecutive years.
Torrance commented: “The PGA Seniors Championship is one of the most important events of the year for me. It’s a flagship tournament and having won it for the past two years I’ll be looking to make it three in a row.
“I enjoyed the testing course at Stoke by Nayland last year and look forward to returning there.”
Since its inception in 1957, the PGA Seniors Championship has attracted some of the finest names to have ever graced the fairways and a very special name could be added to the list this year with Major champions Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo and Bernhard Langer all eligible to play.
The Stoke by Nayland Golf Club boasts two championship courses – the Constable and Gainsborough - and is located in 350 acres of rolling hills, woodlands and lakes, on the edge of the Dedham Vale. The 2007 PGA Seniors’ Championship will be played over 72 holes on the Gainsborough Course.
Sam Torrance, winner of the European Seniors Tour Order of Merit for the past two years, has yet to make his seasonal debut due to a hand injury.

FINDLAY DISQUALIFIED AFTER BRINGING
SCORECARD ERROR TO THE NOTICE
OF TOURNAMENT OFFICIALS
Former British boys champion Jordan Findlay from Fraserburgh, a second-year student at East Tennessee State University, disqualified himself as an individual from the remaining two rounds of the Seminole Invitational men's college tournament at Golden Eagle Country Club, Tallahassee in Florida.
Findlay signed a scorecard for a first-round score of 83 which was posted on the official scoreboard and appeared on the GolfStat website service.
Jordan realised later that he had signed for a wrong score, obviously a lower one than he actually had, and went back to the officials to bring his mistake to their attention, knowing that it would mean instant disqualification.
He can continue playing in the tournament but his scores, hopefully, will only count for the East Tennessee State University team total (best four from five count daily). His second and third-round scores cannot count for himself as an individual

SGU and SLGA PRESS RELEASE

ANDY SALMON APPOINTED

DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

OF SGU AND SLGA

The Scottish Golf Union (SGU) and Scottish Ladies’ Golfing Association (SLGA) are pleased to announce today the appointment of Andy Salmon (pictured right) as the new Scottish Golf Development Manager.

The post will fulfil a key role in the ongoing drive towards ‘One Plan for Golf’ with partners working more closely together, and Salmon will be responsible for aiding the delivery of the strategy.
The new position was formulated in a joint SGU and SLGA initiative and is part funded by sportscotland. Andy, the former Chief Executive of the Ladies Golf Union (LGU), will be responsible for the strategic development of Scottish Golf, helping to deliver one of its key goals, that of ‘growing the game.’
Salmon’s exciting and diverse developmental remit will encompass the recruitment and retention of membership and volunteers at all levels, golf tourism and club development. He will also lead the strategic direction of the national junior golf strategy, clubgolf, and facilitate its integration with other golf developments.
EXPERIENCED GOLF ADMINSTRATOR
Andy has a longstanding knowledge of golf, having worked in various roles at the Professional Golfers Association (PGA), Marriott Hotels Golf Management and latterly as Golf and Leisure Manager for De Vere Hotels and Resorts, in addition to his time at the LGU.
Commenting on his appointment, Andy said, “I am absolutely delighted to be taking on this new role and to have this opportunity to be closely involved in a sport which is one of my lifelong passions. My background in the sport has given me a thorough understanding of governance and my experience in golf club management means I have an empathy with golf clubs, which will bode well when engaging with clubs and expanding the involvement and interaction with members and non-members alike across the country.
He added, “Last season produced a stream of notable successes for Scottish amateur golf, raising awareness of the game and reinforcing its importance to Scotland as the home of golf. I am very keen to play a part in building upon that momentum and developing opportunities, which will hopefully lead to more Scots enjoying and participating in the game in the future.”
SGU Chief Executive, Hamish Grey said, “We are delighted to have a person of Andy’s calibre combined with his strong background and knowledge of golf joining the Scottish Golf team.
COMBINATION OF SKILLS
Grey added, “His experience working for the PGA, LGU and in golf hotel management provides an extremely valuable combination of strong project and people management skills along with a good understanding of golf and golf tourism which augurs well for him expanding and implementing our strategy, and achieving targets we have set through to 2009 and beyond.”
A sport administration and science graduate, Salmon, who hails from Anglesey, North Wales, has experience of competing at national level, representing his country on numerous occasions and was Welsh schoolboys champion in 1987.
Andy currently resides in Kinross and is married with two children.
He will be in post from today.

YOUNG SCOTS GOLFERS

IN ROME TO DEFEND

QUADRANGULAR TITLE

Scotland's squad of six flew to Rome yesterday (Monday) to defend the Under-18 boys' golf international quadrangular title against Italy, France and Sweden. The Scots won the title in France last year for the first time since 1995.
Banchory's James Byrne and Cameron Gray (West Kilbride) are the only two survivors from the winning Scotland line-up. The remainder are now over the age limit.
The rest of the team are: Michael Stewart (Troon Welbeck), Sam McLaren (King James VI, Perth), Tom Spencer (Inchmarlo), pictured right, and Kyle Smith (Kilmarnock Barassie).
The three-day match tees off on Thursday at Golf Club Parco di Roma.
Scotland’s foursomes pairings in Rome will be Spencer and McLaren, Smith and Stewart, and Byrne and Gray.
Barrie Douglas is the team captain and manager. Scottish Golf Union junior national coach Spencer Henderson also travelled with the squad.
France will probably be Scotland's toughest opponents. A couple of weeks ago, France beat Spain convincingly (22-8) in a 12-a-side Under-18 match. All six French boys in Rome played in that match.
In the 2006 quadrangular, Scotland beat Italy 6-3, France 5 1/2-3 1/2 and Sweden 6-3.

The Italian team this week is:

Andrea Chiapuzzo, Valentino Dall'arche, Gabriele Heinrich, Matteo Manassero, Niccolo Quintarelli, Cristiano Terragni. Captain: Alberto Campanile.

The French team is:

Allan Arnaudet, Edouard Dubois, Ambroise Fourquet, Francois Le Goff, Damien Perrier and Jean-Pierre Verselin. Captain: Francois Illouz.

HONDA CLASSIC FOUR-WAY PLAY-OFF
HALTED BY DARKNESS IN FLORIDA
The winner of the US PGA Tour's Honda Classic is still undecided. A four-man play-off had only time to play one hole - at which the quartet each matched par - before darkness forced a halt. It will be resumed Monday morning at the PGA National Course, Palm Beach Gardens in Florida.
The four who tied on five-under-par 275 were Jo Coceres, Boo Weekley, Mark Wilson and Camilo Vilegas.
Padraig Harrington finished tied 13th on 280.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
275 Camilo Vilegas 70 68 71 66, Jose Coceres 69 71 69 66, Boo Weekley 71 68 66 70, Mark Wilson 72 66 66 71.
276 Tripp Isenhour 71 70 68 67, Robert Allenby 67 68 73 68, Steve Stricker 68 68 70 69.
Other scores:
277 Daniel Chopra 70 68 68 71 (jt 8th).
279 Bernhard Langer 66 75 70 68 (jt 10th).
280 Padraig Harrington 768 71 70 71 (jt 13th).
282 Mathias Gronberg 72 66 7569 (jt 22nd).
285 Luke Donald 77 67 72 69, Ian Poulter 70 73 72 70, Brian Davis 68 73 73 71, Jesper Parnevik 70 69 71 75 (jt 46th).

FINDLAY STRUGGLES BUT
MACAULAY'S FIGHTING
FINISH AT TALLAHASSEE

Fraserburgh teenager Jordan Findlay is not yet 100 % fit after his bout of pneumonia earlier in the year. It showed again in today’s first round of the Seminole Intercollegiate tournament at Golden Eagle Country Club, Tallahassee in Florida.
Jordan, pictured right, a second-year student at East Tennessee State, struggled round in 11-over-par 83 over a longish (7,041yd) course. Starting at the 10th, the former British boys champion had a double bogey 5 at the short 12th, a triple bogey 8 at the long 15th and a double-bogey 6 at the 16th in a total of nine-over-par 45 shots for his first nine.
Jordan still did not get a birdie over holes one to nine but at least he reduced his flow of bogeys to two, at the third and eighth.
Fellow Scot Callum Macaulay from Tulliallan, in his senior year at Mississippi University, from Tulliallan had a 74 with a double bogey at the long fourth but a fighting finish of birdies at the 14th, 15th and 18th for 34 home.
It was a strange tournament for the high-flying East Tennessee State. As well as Jordan Findlay, they had Irishman Cian McNamara from Limerick scoring in the 80s – 82 to be precise with a double bogey at the 13th and a triple bogey at the 15th in halves of 40 and 42.
Team-mate Gareth Shaw did not fare all that much better with a 77, which included a double bogey 7 at the fourth and a triple bogey 8 at the 18th.
POWER UP WITH LEADERS
But, at the other end of the first-round leaderboard, East Tennessee State freshman student Seamus Power from Cork was right up there with a two-under-par 70. Starting at the 10th, young Power birdied the 15th and 16th and bogeyed the 17th in 35 for his first nine. Then he birdied the third, bogeyed the eighth and birdied the ninth for another half of 35 – so simple, it makes you wonder why his team-mates found it so difficult.
Yet another East Tennessee State player, Walker Cup Welshman Rhys Davies had a 73 with double bogeys at two short holes, the third and the 17th but he also had five birdies – at the first, third, 10th, 12th and 15th in halves of 37 and 36.
FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 72
67 Brad Revell (North Carolina State).

69 Zach Sucher (UAB).
70 Seamus Power (East Tennessee State), Chris Rogers (Mississippi), Noah Goldman (Mississippi State), Song Jeon (Florida State).
Other scores:
73 Rhys Davies (East Tennessee State) (jt 16th).
74 Callum Macaulay (Mississippi) (jt 26th).
77 Gareth Shaw (East Tennessee State) (jt 46th).
82 Cian McNamara (East Tennessee State) (jt 71st).
83 Jordan Findlay (East Tennessee State).

LEADING TEAMS

290 Mississippi State, Auburn.

293 Charleston.

294 Northwestern.

Also:

297 Mississippi (7th).

302 East Tennessee State (11th).

+Jordan Findlay's scorecard was later deleted from the GolfStat score service. We are trying to find out what the position is.

FOTHERINGHAM WINS NORTH
ALLIANCE FIXTURE AT
LOCH NESS NEW
BY ALAN COWIE
Brian Fotheringham (Forres), pictured right, won Saturday's penultimate North Scottish Golfers' Alliance fixture at Loch Ness New with a three-under-par 67.

In doing so he clinched the runner-up spot in the aggregate competition based on the best five counting scores over the winter. Three birdies were carded on his front nine with no bogeys at all in the round.
John Campbell of Grantown could not improve on his aggregate on the day but triumphed overall by four shots (The aggregate results to appear in a separate report.)
Colin Small from the host club clinched the High Handicap Section aggregate with a net 67 which gave him a 10-shot margin overall as well as the section win on the day.
The three-way tie for the low aggregate section was resolved with Mike Macdonald (Fortrose & Rosemarkie) winning by virtue of his second best non-counting score.
LEADING SCORES AT LOCH NESS

SCRATCH
67 B Fotheringham (Forres).
70 G Morrison (Fortrose & Rosemarkie) p.
71 Ross Mackay (Inverness).
72 J Simpson (Forres).
73 B A Watson (Nairn Dunbar), K Thomson (Moray).
74 RAL Cameron (Inverness).
75 I Findlay (Grantown), D Joel (Loch Ness).
76 J R Ingram (Boat of Garten).
77 J A Grant (Grantown), A P Thomson (Inverness) p, D F Sharp (Boat of Garten), A Henry (Grantown).
78 D R McKellar (Grantown), B Inch (Elgin).
79 S Mitchell (Moray), S Duncan (Moray), N D Hampton (Loch Ness).

HANDICAP
Class 1 (eight and under)
70 A Henry (Grantown) (7), D Joel (Loch Ness) (5), Ross J Mackay (Inverness) (1).
71 S Duncan (Moray), I Findlay (Grantown) (4), D R McKellar (Grantown) (7), J R Ingram (Boat of Garten) (5).
Class 2 (nine to 14)
67 C Small (Loch Ness) (13).
71 R J Milne (Elgin) (9).
73 B Wilding (Grantown) (11).
74 D Ross (Boat of Garten) (14).
75 B Spencer (Boat of Garten) (9), B Thomas (Forres) (12).

SALTMAN’S CONQUEROR

PARRY GOES ON

TO WIN SPANISH

AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

Harrogate teenager John Parry, conqueror of Craigielaw’s Elliot Saltman by 2 and 1 in the semi-finals, went on to win the Spanish men’s open amateur golf championship at Desert Springs Golf Resort, Almeria today.
Parry, pictured right, the leading qualifier, gave a brilliant performance to win the 36-hole final by 10 and 9 against Baptiste Chapellan (France), the No 15 qualifier.
John was five up after 18 holes with level-par play but then moved up a gear to win the 19th with a par and then the 20th, 21st, 25th and 26th holes with birdies. He was four under par for the afternoon’s nine holes.
Parry was following in the footsteps of another England youngster, Sam Hutsby, who beat Edoardo Molinari (Italy), at that time the United States amateur champion, by 7 and 6 in the final.

Results:
Semi-finals – J Parry (Eng) bt E Saltman (Sco) 2 and 1, B Chapellan (Fra) bt P Figueiredo (Por) 2 and 1.
Final (36 holes) – Parry bt Chapellan 10 and 9.

FULKE (36) RETIRES FROM EUROPEAN TOUR

Former Ryder Cup player, Pierre Fulke from Sweden, has hung up his clubs after 18 years as a tournament player during which he played in the winning team in the 2002 Ryder Cup after winning the Scottish PGA championship and the Volvo Masters in 2000. His first big win was the Lancome Trophy in 1999.
Fulke, who is 36, said: "I'm not tired of golf, but I'm tired of the tour and all the travel. It feels good to sleep in my own bed. Now it's time to explore other areas in golf. I'm involved in several new projects in Sweden as a course designer."
He had not played on the European Tour since last April due to an injury.

SPRINGBOK HAIG WINS

THREE- MAN PLAY-OFF

IN JOHNNIE WALKER

CLASSIC CLIMAX

South African Anton Haig showed he was a star in the making when he clinched a dramatic three-man play-off victory in the prestigious Johnnie Walker Classic at Phuket, Thailand today.
Haig, who turns 21 in May, sank a 10-foot birdie putt in the first hole of a sudden-death shootout against compatriot Richard Sterne and Mansfield's Oliver Wilson to prevail over a world-class field assembled at the spectacular Blue Canyon Country Club.
The new Johnnie Walker champion, who joins luminaries including Greg Norman, Nick Faldo, Ernie Els and Tiger Woods as a winner of the popular event, showed nerves of steel to force his way into the play-off after the leading trio finished tied on 13-under-par 275.
"It feels absolutely amazing," said Haig, pictured above, who earned nearly $405,000 for his career's biggest triumph yet. "At the start of the week, I didn't think this was actually going to be possible. But after that 64 (on day two), I knew I was hitting the ball good enough to win, and thank God that driver went straight for me today and the putts fell. And the putt on the last, what a feeling that was. If only I could explain it in words!"
BIRDIE TO EARN PLAY-OFF
Trailing Wilson and overnight leader Sterne by one stroke with the last to play, Haig pulled off a gutsy birdie after finding a lucky break when a wayward drive ended in a safe spot. He nailed a wedge from 98 yards to three feet to join the play-off, and then sealed a memorable triumph.
After his putt disappeared into the hole, Haig leaped for joy towards his parents, Tony and Lorraine, who had flown over this week for the Johnnie Walker Classic. "I thought, "oh, this is trouble," after I hit the drive on 18 in regulation and I thought I had actually lost the tournament there," he said.
"But I got a good break and had a shot. The ball was lying on a downslope, not lying too good, but hit a great lob‑wedge, one of the best shots I've ever hit, to about three‑foot and made it for birdie. And then the play-off hole, I hit a smooth wedge to about 10 feet and made that. What a feeling, birdieing one of the toughest holes out there."
Haig, who has been rated highly by his more famous compatriots, Els and Retief Goosen, moved up to the to the top of the UBS Order of Merit with US$421,889 with his second Asian Tour triumph and his maiden European Tour win also gave him a priceless two-year exemption onto the European Tour.
FIRST OF MANY VICTORIES
"Hopefully there will be many more to come. I will keep fighting and hopefully be as good as Ernie and Retief one day," he said.
Sterne, who charged into contention with a pair of course record equalling 64s after opening with a 75, came closest to forcing a second extra hole but his birdie attempt from 12 feet hit the edge of the cup. Ultimately, he would rue a costly bogey on 17 which saw him relinquish the lead which he had held for much of the back nine of a thrilling Sunday afternoon.
"It was close," said Sterne."I played my best but it didn't go the way I wanted to go. It's great for Anton. I'm disappointed but I did my best. The 17th is a tough hole. I hit a good putt there and hit a good putt on 18 in regulation and again in the play-off. But nothing went in," he added.
It was Wilson's second defeat in a play-off following his loss to countryman Paul Casey in the 2005 Volvo China Open and he took it in his stride. After leading briefly with a birdie on the second hole, Wilson dropped successive bogeys on the sixth and seventh but clawed his way back into the hunt by birdieing the par fives on the back nine.
"Anton did well. I had my chances and didn’t take them. It was easy from the middle of the fairway, both in regulation play and in the play-off and I didn’t get the ball within 20 feet. That was disappointing. I hit a great putt in the play-off but probably gave myself too much to do with Richard and Anton well inside me," said Wilson, who stared at a 25ft birdie putt in extra time.
GOOSEN FINISHES FOURTH
World No. 8 Goosen, a two-time Major champion and winner of the Johnnie Walker Classic in 2002, settled for fourth place after a 70, finishing three strokes outside the play-off while former US Masters winner Mike Weir of Canada was a further stroke back after a 67.
Two-time Johnnie Walker Classic winner Els settled for a share of sixth place alongside Colin Montgomerie (who bidied the 16th and 17th for a 71) , South African veteran David Frost and India's Gaurav Ghei, who was Asia's best finisher.
Ghei, who started the day in 50th place, equalled Greg Norman's 12-year-old course record of 64, the fourth time that it has been achieved this week, with a stunning round that included an eagle-two on his first hole. The Indian, a two-time winner on the Asian Tour, signed off in equally superb style when he rolled in a 40-foot birdie putt at the last. He required only 23 putts in his final round.
Alastair Forsyth double-bogeyed the long 11th but rallied with birdies at the 14th, 15th and 17th for a 70 and a total of 283.
Stephen Gallagher finished with a 74 for 284. The Bathgate Scot played well every second round in Phuket and this was one of the odd ones out. He double-boged the short 14th, birdied the15th but dropped another shot at the last.
Andrew Coltart had a douoble-bogey at the short 17th for a 73 and 291.
Barry Hume had an eagle 3 at the 11th but gave it all back with bogeys at the 12th, 13th and 17th for a 71 and 292.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4 x 72)
275 - Anton Haig (SAf) 71-64-70-70, Richard Sterne (SAf) 75-64-64-72, Oliver Wilson (Eng) 68-66-70-71 (Haig won sudden-death play-off at first extra hole).
278 - Retief Goosen (SAf) 68-68-72-70
279 - Mike Weir (Can) 66-78-68-67
280 - Colin Montgomerie (Sco) 69-70-70-71 (35-36), Ernie Els (SAf) 73-70-67-70, David Frost (SAf) 69-70-72-69, Gaurav Ghei (Ind) 69-73-74-64
281 - Richard Bland (Eng) 68-70-72-71, Simon Hurd (Eng) 73-71-66-71, Jean Van De Velde (FRA) 72-69-71-69, Iain Steel (Mas) 69-73-70-69
282 - Richard Lee (NZ) 67-70-70-75, Marc Warren (Sco) 68-72-71-71 (35-36).
283 - Wang Ter-Chang (Tpe) 68-70-71-74, Graeme Storm (Eng) 66-73-70-74, Aron Price (Aus) 74-68-67-74, Chris Rodgers (Eng) 71-70-71-71, Adam Bland (Aus) 71-67-75-70, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 70-70-73-70, Garry Houston (Wal) 72-68-73-70, Alastair Forsyth (Sco) 74-70-69-70 (35-35), Robert-Jan Derksen (Net) 71-71-73-68
284 - James Nitties (Aus) 69-67-74-74, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 67-72-71-74, Stephen Gallacher (Sco) 66-76-68-74 (37-37), Matthew Millar (Aus) 71-70-71-72, Brad Kennedy (Aus) 65-77-71-71, Adam Scott (Aus) 74-69-70-71, Mark Foster (Eng) 72-70-72-70.
Other scores included:
285 Simon Dyson (Eng) 71 70 73 71, Damien McGrane (Ire) 71 72 69 73, David Lynn (Eng) 73 69 73 70, Philip Archer (Eng) 74 69 67 75 (jt 32nd).
287 Gary Orr (Sco) 73 68 74 72 (34-38) (jt 42nd).
290 Graeme McDowell (NIr) 67 76 70 77 (jt 60th).
291 Andrew Coltart (Sco) 72 72 74 73 (37-36) (jt 63rd).
292 Barry Hume (Sco) 68 74 79 71 (34-37) (jt 65th).

KATHARINA SCHALLENBERG

WINS ALL-GERMAN

SPANISH FINAL

The Continent of Europe team of nine to play Great Britain & Ireland in the Vagliano Trophy women’s amateur interntional golf match at Fairmont St Andrews Bay on July 27-28 looks like being dominated by players from Germany.
The top German female amateur, Katharina Schallenberg, 26, beat compatriot Nicola Roessler by 3 and 2 in the 18-hole final of the Spanish women’s open amateur championship for the Queen’s Cup at Sherry Golf, Jerez today.
Katharina took an early lead and was never pegged back. She was four up after 11 holes.

All four semi-finalists were from Germany, having made up five of the eight quarter-finalists.
Caroline Masson, the No 7 seed, beat the title-holder and No 2 seed, Carlota Ciganda (Spain) by 4 and 3 in the quarter-finals before losing by 5 and 3 to Katharina Schallenberg, the No 19 qualifier, in the semi-finals.
Miss Roessler, the No 8 seed, beat Krystle Caithness (St Regulus) by 4 and 3 in the first round of the match-play.
Miss Schallenberg looks set for another great season.
She has won the Germany women’s amateur title in 2005 and 2006. Last year she won the Sherry Cup 72-hole tournament after a play-off against Sophie Walker (England) at Sotogrande. After failing by one shot to catch Krystle Caithness in the 54-hole St Rule Trophy at St Andrews, Miss Schallenberg reached the 36-hole final of the United States women’s amateur championship before losing by one hole.
Other background information about Katharina is that she has a fear of flying which may explain why she has not turned professional by now. Being a tour pro would be a tiresome travelling life if one did not fly to the tournament venues.
It was because of her dislike of flying that Miss Schallenberg stayed only a short time at the University of Oregon in 2000. Being a member of the golf team in that distant state involved a lot of flying to the more central tournament venues.
She was born on July 27, 1980 at Lengerich, Nordrhein-Westfalen. After coming home from Oregon, she trained as a bank clerk but gave up that job because she thought it was "too boring."

Weekend results at Sherry Golf:
Semi-finals – N Roessler (Ger) bt N Holleder (Ger) 3 and 2, K Schallenberg (Ger) bt C Masson (Ger) 5 and 3.
Final (18 holes) – Schallenberg bt Roessler 3 and 2.

HARRINGTON IN THE HUNT WITH ONE
ROUND TO GO IN HONDA CLASSIC

Padraig Harrington is lying joint seventh after three rounds of the US PGA Tour's Honda Classic over the PGA National Course at Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
The Irish Ryder Cup player has had rounds of 68, 71 and 70 for 209 - five behind the American pacemaker Mark Wilson with 72, 66 and 66 for 204.
In third place is Sweden's Daniel Chopra with 70, 68 and 68 for 206. Daniel has played in Aberdeen as a competitor in the Doug Sanders European and world junior championships which were staged first at Hazlehead, then at the King's Links and finally at Newmachar between 1980 and the late 1990s.
Defending champion Luke Donald from England is not going to win the title this time round. He is in joint 61st place on six-over-par 216 after scores of 77, 67 and 72.

LEADERBOARD
Par 210 (3 x 70)
204 Mark Wilson (US) 72 66 66.
205 Bo Weekley (US) 71 68 66.
206 Daniel Chopra (Swe) 70 68 68.
207 Steve Stricker (US) 68 69 70, Charlie Wi 65 70 72.
208 Robert Allenby (Aus)67 68 73.
Other scores:
209 Padraig Harrington (Ire) 68 71 70 (jt 7th).
210 Jesper Parnevik (Swe) 70 69 71 (jt 13th).
211 Bernhard Langer (Ger) 66 75 70 (jt 20th).
214 Brian Davis (Eng) 68 73 73 (jt 43rd).
215 Ian Poulter (Eng) 70 73 72 (jt 53rd).
216 Luke Donald (Eng) 77 67 72 (jt 61st).

"Two spectacular courses - one great golf club"

PGA SEAL OF APPROVAL GIVES ANTALYA GOLF CLUB
EDGE OVER COMPETITORS ON TURKISH RIVIERA

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Earlier this year the Professional Golfers’ Association gave Turkey's booming golf economy its seal of approval by branding its first course inthe country.The agreement resulted in Antalya Golf Club's David Jones-designed championship course being re-named The Sultan. Its other, shorter course, is The Pasha.
PGA Property and Development Manager, Robert Maxfield, said: “The PGA is delighted to be associated with such a quality development in Turkey which is rapidly becoming one of the most popular golfing destinations in Europe.”
The Belfry-based PGA, which has more than 7,500 members including 2,000 working overseas, has a growing portfolio of branded courses and academies across the world. Now that long list includes Turkey’s Antalya Golf Club.
Director of Golf, John Dent, who has been at Antalya Golf Club since it opened four-and-a-half-years ago, believes PGA branding will help the course stand out from its competitors – and they are increasing every year in the Belek Region of Turkey.
PREMIER GOLF RESORT
“We're making a mark and see ourselves as a premier golf resort in Turkey and view the PGA branding as setting us apart from the competition,” said Dent.“We've got some great facilities and the PGA branding gives us credit with our customers because they know if they're going to play a PGA-branded course the standard is going to be high”.
If you stay at the Sirene Golf Hotel – and they will pick you up from the Antalya domestic or international airport on arrival because it is less than a 45min drive away – your golf at Antalya Golf Club will cost you less.
We were there in mid-February, which is rated “High Season” for golf because the temperatures, in the 60s as opposed to the 90s in June-July-August when it is too darned hot to play golf, are ideal for leisurely round.
For Sirene Golf Hotel guests the Antalya Golf Club green fees for a round, whether over The Sultan or The Pasha was only 50 Euros. You could almost walk from the hotel to the golf club but there is a free shuttle service from every hotel in the Belek Region to the more popular courses – Antalya, National, Gloria and Cornelia – none of which is any distance away, not matter at which hotel you stay.
EVERY CLUBHOUSE IS BRAND NEW
Because golf is a relatively new sport on the Turkish Riviera, every clubhouse is brand new by British standards and the Antalya clubhouse is no exception. Such was fine weather that when we were there, we sat and dined on the clubhouse patio areas.
Its professional shop, where you pay your green fees, hire a buggy, etc is well stocked. More and more people are going on Turkish golf holidays so advisable to reserve your tee times through your hotel reception.

Looking back at the Antalya clubhouse from The Pasha course. Both courses have an abundance of water hazards.

OUR ADVERTISEMENTS ARE THERE FOR A PURPOSE
Please make a point of reading our advertisements. They all have something they want to bring to your attention.
We have a new one this month .... a holiday house on the Isle of Arran ... from Neil McAllister, whose son Shaun won the Scottish boys' open stroke-play at Alloa last year and who is meantime in New Zealand warming up for the 2007 season in Scotland.

ROESSLER v SCHALLENBERG IN
ALL-GERMAN SPANISH FINAL

It was a case of Deutschland Uber Alles at Sherry Golf, Jerez today.

An all-German 36-hole final in the Spanish women’s open amateur championship was assured when the semi-finals were contested by four players from Germany.
The finalists are the No 8 seed, Nicola Roessler who beat Krystle Caithness (St Regulus) by 4 and 3 in the first round of the match-play, and Katharina Schallenberg, pictured left, the No 19 seed who has played for the Continent of Europe in the Vagliano Trophy match and reached the final of the United States women’s amateur championship last year.
The big shock of Saturday’s play was the defeat of the No 2 seed and winner of the title for the past two years, Spain’s Carlota Ciganda.

She chose the wrong moment to have a rare off day and was roughly seven over par in going down by 4 and 3 in the quarter-finals to Caroline Masson.
That victory must have sapped Caroline’s strength because she was quickly overpowered by her compatriot, Katharina Schallenberg, 5 and 3 in the second semi-final.
In the first semi-final, Nicola Roessler won by 3 and 2 over another German, Nina Holleder.
Results:
Quarter-finals – N Rosssler (Ger) bt A Dahlberg – Soderstrom (Swe) 3 and 2, N Holleder (Ger0 bt S Doering (Ger) at 19th, K Schallenberg (Ger) bt E Alonso (Fra) 4 and 3, C Masson (Ger) bt C Ciganda (Spa) 4 and 3.
Semi-finals – Roessler bt Holleder 3 and 2, Schallenberg bt Masson 5 and 3.

Uncapped Scot reached last four of Spanish open amateur

ELLIOT SALTMAN'S
GLORY RUN ENDS
IN DEFEAT BY TOP

SEED IN SEMI-FINAL

Craigielaw's uncapped Elliot Saltman was beaten in the semi-finals of the Spanish men's open amateur golf championship at Desert Springs Golf Resort today.
Saltman, the only Scot to figure among the 32 qualifiers for the match-play stages in 13th place, lost by 2 and 1 to the leading qualifier, John Parry from Harrogate.
In the morning quarter-finals, Elliot, pictured left, the oldest of three talented golfing brothers - Walker Cup man Lloyd and world hickory champion Zack - beat the No 5 seed, England's Paul Waring, by 5 and 4 to reach the last four.
Perhaps Elliot, who has a +3 handicap and finished sixth in the Scottish Golf Union Order of Merit last year, has done enough to be considered for a first Scotland cap this season. Elliot, who will be 25 on March 24, says his ambition is to be a successful tour pro.
In Sunday's 36-hole final, Parry will play the 15th qualifier, Baptiste Chapellan from France. He will be bidding to following in the footsteps of another young Englishman, Sam Hutsby, who won the title last year by beating the then US men's amateur champion, Edoardo Molinari (Italy) by a big margin in the final.
Results:
Quarter-finals - J Parry (Eng) v M Veijalainen (Fin) 4 and 3, E Saltman (Sco) bt P Waring (Eng) 5 and 4, P Figueiredo (Por) bt G Boyd (Eng) 4 and 3, B Chapellan (Fra) bt B Evans (Eng) 1 hole.
Semi-finals - Parry bt Saltman 2 and 1, Chapellan bt Figueiredo 2 and 1.

MARC WARREN LOSES OUT TO
QUIROS FOR J/WALKER
YOUNG PLAYER TITLE

India's Jeev Milkha Singh has capped a fine year by being named the Johnnie Walker Classic Asian Player of the Year for 2006.
Singh, who will become the first Indian golfer to play at the US Masters in Augusta, collected four tournament victories around the world following a seven-year winless streak.
The 35-year-old lifted the Volvo China Open in Beijing before finishing the year by winning the European Tour's season-ending Volvo Masters in Spain and recording back-to-back wins in Japan. Singh also won his first Asian Tour Order of Merit crown and ended 2006 as the first Indian player to reach the top 50 in the world after finishing 37th.
Thailand's Chinarat Phadungsil collected the Johnnie Walker Classic Asian Rising Star award, while Spaniard Alvaro Quiros beat off competition from Marc Warren, pictured above, the 2006 European Tour Rookie of the Year, to secure the Johnnie Walker Young Player of the Year accolade.
Quiros beat Ernie Els and Lee Westwood to lift the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa.

James Byrne, Bill McAllister and Kelsey MacDonald at the NPFA Awards ceremony in Edinburgh's City Chambers.

JAMES AND KELSEY RECEIVE

NPFA AWARDS IN

EDINBURGH ... BUT RICHIE

CAN'T COLLECT SALVER
James Byrne (Banchory) and Kelsey MacDonald (Nairn Dunbar) were both presented with medals at the National Playing Fields Association Awards Night at the City Chambers in Edinburgh.
Lady Provost Lesley Hinds and Bill McAllister from Inverness, vice-chairman of the NPFA Scotland, made the presentations to some 22 Scottish athletes for meritorious performances during 2006.
Richie Ramsay (Royal Aberdeen), pictured right, winner of the United States amateur championship last year, was not able to be present to accept the main NPFA Award, a silver salver.
Stuart Turner of the Scottish Golf Union accepted the award on Richie’s behalf. Previous winners of the salver include former Open and Masters champion Sandy Lyle and racing driver Jackie Stewart.

Colin Montgomerie sharing sixth place in Johnnie Walker Classic

STERNE'S SECOND 64 GIVES

HIM ONE-SHOT LEAD FROM

WILSON AFTER ROUND 3

South African Richard Sterne carries a one-stroke lead from Mansfield's Oliver Wilson into Sunday's final round of the Johnnie Walker Classic at Phuket, Thailand after equalling the course record of eight-under-par 64 for the second successive day.
It has been a remarkable turnaround for the 25-year-old from Pretoria, who had packed up his bags a day earlier in anticipation of a quick departure at the halfway stage from the $2.44 million event after he had opened his campaign at Blue Canyon Country Club with a 75.
But another stunning display on a sunny but breezy day propelled Sterne into prime position on 13-under-par 203 and in great position to savour the finest that Johnnie Walker has to offer on Sunday. Oliver Wilson had a third-round 70 for 204.

SOUTH AFRICANS IN FORM

Three of the leading players in the top five are from South Africa.
Another young Springbok, Anton Haig, a winner on the Asian Tour last year, stayed within striking distance after battling to a 70 to lie two back while New Zealander Richard Lee, who won the Thailand Open at Blue Canyon in 2005, was fourth, four off the pace after a 70.
Two-time US Open champion Retief Goosen slipped back to fifth with a disappointing 72, failing to capitalise on a fast start where he shot three consecutive birdies from the second hole.
Asia's challenge in the Johnnie Walker Classic, tri-sanctioned by the Asian, European and Australasian Tours, was in the hands of China's Liang Wen-chong (67) and Chinese Taipei veteran Wang Ter-chang (71), who share sixth place on 209 with, among others, Colin Montgomerie whose third-round 70 included a double bogey 6 at the 16th.
Although Sterne arrived on the holiday isle of Phuket in confident mood following a win and a second place in the final two events on the Southern African Tour, he struggled to piece his game together on Thursday. But like a bolt from out of the blue, Sterne has been bogey free over his last two rounds, snaring another brilliant eight birdies today, highlighted by two bursts of three straight birdies on both nines.

READY FOR EARLY FLIGHT
"After shooting three-over, I'd actually brought my bags to the golf course on Friday because the flight was at 8pm as I wouldn't have to make it going back to the hotel. A bit of a change around, but I have played good golf and I made good putts and that sort of makes a big difference," said Sterne.
"After winning and finishing second at the Vodacom Championship and Telkom PGA Championship (this month), my confidence was high. Thursday, things just didn't go my way. Last two days, they have. So no bogeys, I think 16 birdies, just sort of ended up nicely."
With golf being such as fickle game as he would attest to, Sterne, who won the 2004 Madrid Open for his lone European Tour success, knows he must hold up to the challenges from the chasing pack.

"I'm quite excited. You know, anything can happen. You can go out there and shoot another 64; you can go out there and shoot 74. I don't get my hopes up too much. This game can change around very quickly," said Sterne.
Former US college circuit player Wilson, chasing his first professional victory after an impressive amateur career, had the tournament firmly in his grip with an outward 33, leading by three at one stage, before slipping back. He was lucky to survive a bogey on the demanding 221-yard 17th, where he sprayed his four iron tee shot which ended next to a drink's can.
"It's a shame to hit a bad shot, but the way I finished it was nice to make a go out there with 4(bogey)," said Wilson. "I really struggled on the back nine with my concentration. I hit some good shots, but I was really, really struggling to keep concentration. I just couldn't see a shot going into 17," said the 26-year-old.

Stephen Gallacher had a bogey-free 68 to be one behind Colin Montgomerie on 210, the same mark as Ernie Els.

Marc Warren is sharing 18th place on 211 after a 71 in which he was two-over-par for his last 10 holes, none of which he birdied.

Alastair Forsyth had an eagle 2 at the 16th in an inward 34 for a 69 and 213, the same score as Adam Scott.

Gary Orr ran up a double-bogey 5 at the short seventh in his 74 for 215.

Andrew Coltart had an uninspired 74 for 218 while Barry Hume lost his way metaphorically on the inward half which he covered in 44 shots for a 79 and a share of 73rd place on 221. The former Scottish amateur champion had only one par, at the 17th, after the turn. He bogeyed the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th; double-boged the short 14th, birdied the 15th, double-bogeyed the par-4 16th, parred the 17th and then bogeyed the 18th.

HAPPY HUNTING GROUND
New Zealander Richard Lee, lying fourth on 207, continued to relish his return to Blue Canyon, the venue which saw him produce his only Asian Tour victory to date. A birdie on 18 from 10 feet edged him closer to the lead and raised hopes of winning the Johnnie Walker Classic, whose past winners include the stellar names including Tiger Woods, Greg Norman, Nick Faldo and Ernie Els.
"I'm sure I'll be a bit nervous tomorrow as I've not been in that position for a while. I'm relishing this, I'm enjoying this. Hopefully the good form will continue," said the Kiwi. "I've been getting lots of text messages, a few calls, from back home. My wife just says 'Keep it going.' She's Japanese and her family in Japan have been following the internet, my mum too. Everyone's happy. I'm sure they'll be watching."
THIRD-ROUND LEADERS
203 - Richard Sterne (SAf) 75-64-64
204 - Oliver Wilson (Eng) 68-66-70
205 - Anton Haig (SAf) 71-64-70
207 - Richard Lee (NZ) 67-70-70
208 - Retief Goosen (SAf) 68-68-72
209 - Wang Ter-chang (Tpe) 68-70-71, Graeme Storm (Eng) 66-73-70, Colin Montgomerie (Sco) 69-70-70 (35-35), Liang Wen-chong (Chi) 72-70-67, Aron Price (Aus) 74-68-67.
210 - James Nitties (Aus) 69-67-74, Richard Bland (Eng) 68-70-72, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 67-72-71, Stephen Gallacher (Sco) 66-76-68 (35-33), Ernie Els (SAf) 73-70-67, Phillip Archer (Eng) 74-69-67, Simon Hurd (Eng) 73-71-66.
211 - David Frost (SAf) 69-70-72, Marc Warren (Sco) 68-72-71 (34-37), Scott Strange (Aus) 73-69-69
212 - Kim Felton (Aus) 70-68-74, Keith Horne (SAf) 68-71-73, Chris Rodgers (Eng) 71-70-71, Matthew Millar (Aus) 71-70-71, Jean Van De Velde (Fra) 72-69-71, Rahil Gangjee (Ind) 72-69-71, Iain Steel (Mas) 69-73-70, Damien McGrane (Ire) 71-72-69, Mike Weir (Can) 66-78-68.

Other scores included:

213 Alastair Forsyth (Sco) 74 70 69 (35-34), Adam Scott (Aus) 74 69 70, G McDowell (NIr) 67 76 70, Garry Houston (Wal) 72 68 73, Brad Kennedy (Aus) 65 77 71.

215 David Lynn (Eng) 73 69 73, Gary Orr (Sco) 73 68 74 (38-36).

218 Andrew Coltart (Sco) 72 72 74 (36-38).

221 Barry Hume (Sco) 68 74 79 (35-44).

For more information, log on to: http://www.asiantour.com/livescoring.htm?id=149

£4,800 payday for Scot as he sets out on over-50s circuit

ROSS DRUMMOND FINISHES

SIXTH IN EUROPEAN

SENIORS DEBUT

By STEVEN FRANKLIN

Press Officer, European Seniors Tour

Four times Scottish professional champion Ross Drummond from Prestwick, pictured right, had mixed emotions after finishing in a share of sixth place on his European Seniors Tour debut at the DGM Barbados Open today.

The Paisley-born former European Tour stalwart and subject of the best-selling golf book, Four Iron in the Soul, carded rounds of 72-70-72 to finish on two under par 214 and left Royal Westmoreland with a cheque for £4,797.

The 6ft 4in Tartan Tour regular since he lost his European Tour player's card after 20-odd years was the best placed on the four Scots in the 48-man field.

Drummond said he was bitterly disappointed with the quality of his short game and felt that he should have finished much closer to the eventual winner, England's Gordon J Brand, who collected his third European Seniors Tour title in four events with a 54-hole total of eight under par 208.

On a brighter note, however, the Prestwick golfer was delighted to confirm his competitiveness at this level after a five-year stint playing Scottish PGA Region events.

"This tournament was a bit of a benchmark for me. I had been looking at the Seniors Tour scores in the run-up to turning 50 and thought that I would do okay, but then again you don't know what the courses are like and what the course set-up is going to be.

"Now I have a good idea of both and I look forward to competing amongst the leading Seniors Tour players this season. I just need to put in extra work on my short game," commented Drummond.

Brand, who played with Drummond on the final day, stormed through the field in six-under-par 66 to win the DGM Barbados Open title by a stroke from Doug Johnson of the United States.

The former Ryder Cup player secured the first prize of £19,990 with a 54 hole total of eight under par 208, one better than a charging Johnson, who finished with three birdies in the closing five holes for a fine round of 67.

Overnight leader Giuseppe Cali of Italy, who had produced some wonderful ball-striking with his new Cleveland irons, closed with a 73 to take third place on six under par.

Brand admitted he had been surprised to keep his hot streak going. The winning stretch had started back in October when he outscored, among others, two-time Open champion Greg Norman to capture his maiden Seniors Tour title in Spain and two events later he was on top again, making up a five shot deficit before beating Adan Sowa in a play-off at the Arcapita Seniors Tour Championship in Bahrain.

"It's amazing to win again and to be honest I hadn't expected it, although I always seem to play better in hot weather," commented Brand, who can point to seven wins in Africa as further evidence of this point.

"I had not played much golf before coming here and I wasn't feeling too positive after my opening scores of 72 and 70, but then someone pointed out that I was in fourth place.

"Then I started thinking that I've got a chance, as it's obviously not only me who is finding the greens difficult to read. I set out today thinking that if I got to five under par I would have a chance of a play-off. As it happened I holed everything I had to and got to eight under, which was only just enough. I had been watching Cali all day but Johnson finished really fast and nearly surprised me."

Sam Torrance, winner of the European Seniors Tour Order of Merit for the past two years, is still unable to resume playing this year due to a hand injury.

FINAL TOTALS

Par 216 (3 X 72)

208 Gordon J Brand (Eng) 72 70 66.

209 Doug Johnson (US) 72 70 67.

210 Giuseppe Cali (Ita) 68 69 73.

213 José Rivero (Spa) 69 74 70, Bob Cameron (Eng) 70 70 73.

214 Juan Quiros (Spa) 73 69 72, Ian Mosey (Eng) 69 73 72, Ross Drummond (Sco) 72 70 72.

215 Luis Carbonetti (Arg) 69 74 72, Nick Job (Eng) 67 75 73.

216 Bruce Heuchan (Can) 75 73 68, Delroy Cambridge (Jam) 71 70 75.

217 Tony Johnstone (Zim) 72 71 74, Alan Tapie (US) 70 73 74.

218 Martin Poxon (Eng) 74 72 72.

219 Pete Oakley (US) 71 77 71, Gavan Levenson (SAf) 73 74 72, Glenn Ralph (Eng) 78 68 73.

220 Jimmy Heggarty (NIr ) 72 74 74, Jerry Bruner (US) 69 77 74, Emilio Rodriguez (Spa) 80 72 68.

221 John Chillas (Sco) 73 73 75.

222 Denis O'Sullivan (Ire) 70 75 77, Bob Boyd (US) 72 77 73, Adan Sowa (Arg) 74 73 75, David Creamer (Eng) 75 75 72, Antonio Garrido (Spa) 69 75 78, Bob Lendzion (US) 75 71 76.

223 Mike Miller (Sco) 74 74 75, Bill Hardwick (Can) 75 73 75, Andrew Murray (Eng) 76 71 76.

224 Bertus Smit (SAf) 75 74 75, Tim Rastall (Eng) 76 73 75, Manuel Piñero (Spa) 76 77 71, Neville Clarke (SAf) 79 72 73, Tony Charnley (Eng) 76 73 75.

225 Kevin Spurgeon (Eng) 72 78 75.

226 Gery Watine (Fra) 79 75 72.

227 John Benda (US) 74 76 77, David J Russell (Eng ) 72 78 77, Guillermo Encina (Chi ) 77 80 70.

228 Victor Garcia (Spa) 74 75 79, Ray Carrasco (US) 76 81 71, Horacio Carbonetti (Arg) 78 73 77.
230 Maurice Bembridge (Eng) 73 76 81.

231 Martin Gray (Sco) 78 77 76.

234 Tommy Horton (Eng) 78 79 77.

237 Brian Evans (Eng) 79 81 77.

LUKE DONALD IMPROVES BY TEN

SHOTS TO MAKE THE CUT

IN HONDA CLASSIC

Defending champion Luke Donald only just made the cut in the Honda Classic over the PGA National course at Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

Luke, pictured left, was in the danger zone after an opening round of seven-over-par 77 but he improved by 10 shots at the second time of asking and his 36-hole tally of four-over-par 144 was the limit mark for the 60 players and ties who advanced to the third and fourth rounds.

Australian Robert Allenby shares the lead at five-under-par 135 with Charlie Wi from Korea.

LEADING SCORES

Par 140 (2 x 35)
135 Robert Allenby 67 68, Charlie Wi 65 70.

137 Will MacKenzie 68 69, Steve Stricker 68 69.

138 Daniel Chopra 70 68, Joe Ogilvie 67 71, Mathias Gronberg 72 66, Camilo Villegas 70 68, Mark Wilson 72 66.

Other qualifiers included:

139 Jasper Parnevik 70 69, Padraig Harrington 68 71.

141 Brian Davis 68 73.

143 Ian Poulter 70 73.

144 Luke Donald 77 67.

ELLIOT SALTMAN KEEPS

SCOTLAND FLAG FLYING

IN SPANISH MEN'S EVENT

Elliot Saltman from Craigielaw kept the Scottish flag flying in the Spanish men's open amateur golf championship when the match-play stages began at Desert Springs Golf Resort.
Uncapped Saltman, a +3 player and the only Scot among the 32 qualifiers for the match-play, reached the last eight with a thumping 7 and 6 win over Englishman Adam Hodkinson followed by a 3 and 1 victory in the second round over a Spaniard by the name of Sebastian Garcia - no relation to Sergio!
Saltman, pictured above, now plays Paul Waring, one of four Englishmen through to the quarter-finals.
The others are top seed John Parry who plays Finland's Miro Veijalainen, No 3 seed Gary Boyd who plays Portugal's Pedro Figueiredo and 23rd qualifier Ben Evans to meets France's Baptiste Chapellan.

Sam Hutsby, the young Englishman who beat Italy's then US amateur champion Edoardo Molinari convincingly in last year's 36-hole final of the "Spanish," lost in the second round to Portugal's Figueiredo.

Results:

FIRST ROUND

J Parry (Eng) bt J Hurst (Eng) 4 and 3, G J Evans (Eng) bt G Cuquejo (Spa) 4 and 3, R Thomas (Wal) bt S Capper (Eng) 3 and 2, M Veijalainen (Fin) bt G Vicente (Spa) 3 and 2, P Waring (Eng0 bt D Marmion (Eng) 2 and 1, M Haines (Eng) bt R Menard (Fra) 4 and 2, E Saltman (Sco) bt A Hodkinson (Eng) 7 and 6, S Garcia bt C Wood (Eng) 1 hole.

G Boyd (Eng) bt P Westermann (Ger) 4 and 3, I Garcia Avis (Spa) bt F Schulte (Ger) 1 hole, P Figueiredo (Por) bt D Belch (Eng) 3 and 1, S Hutsby (Eng) bt E Dubois (Fra) at 19th, J Hiluta bt D Horsey (Eng) at 20th, B Evans (Eng) bt G Berlin (Spa) 6 and 5, B Chapellan (Fra) bt M Cryer (Eng) 5 and 4, R Enoch (Wal) bt J Legarrea (Spa) 1 hole.

SECOND ROUND

Parry bt G J Evans 4 and 3, Veijalainen bt Thomas 2 holes, Waring bt Haines 4 and 3, Saltman bt Garcia 3 and 1.

Boyd bt Garcia Avis 4 and 3, Figueiredo bt Hutsby 2 and 1, B Evans bt Hiluta 4 and 3, Chapellan bt Enoch 4 and 2.

ANY COMMENTS? E-mail them to colin@scottishgolfview.com

Two Scots, one from Wales and English trio knocked out on Black Friday

BRITISH CHALLENGE SNUFFED
OUT IN SPANISH
WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP

The British challenge in the match-play stages of the Spanish women's open amateur golf championship - two Scots, three English players and one Welsh representative - was snuffed out today over the first and second rounds at Sherry Golf, Jerez.
Jenna Wilson (Strathaven), 15th of the 32 qualifiers after two rounds of stroke-play, beat Belen Buendia (Spain) by 5 and 3 but lost to the title-holder and No 2 seed, Carlota Ciganda (Spain) by 3 and 1 in the second round.
Scottish Under-21 champion Krystle Caithness (St Regulus), the No. 25 qualifier, lost by 4 and 3 to the eighth seed Nicola Roessler from Germany.
Rachel Jennings, the 17-year-old English girls champion from Izaak Walton Golf Club, Staffordshire, beat Lucie Andrew (France) by one hole in the first round but then lost by one hole to Katharina Schallenberg (Germany) who had beaten Lydia Hall from Wales by 5 and 3 in the first round.
Kerry Smith (Waterlooville) beat Audrey Decharne (France) by one hole before going out at the 19th to another French girl, Emilie Alonso.
Danielle Montgomery from Lambourne lost by 3 and 2 to Linn Gustafsson (Sweden) in the first round.

Results:
FIRST ROUND
M Silva (Spa) bt J Pajares (Spa) 2 holes, A Dahlberg-Soderstrom (Swe) bt E Cabrera 1 hole, A Urchegui (Spa) bt D Becker (Ger) 3 and 2, N Roessler (Ger) bt K Caithness (Sco) 4 and 3, I Gustafsson (Swe) bt D Montgomery (Eng) 3 and 2, N Holleder (Ger) bt L Matthews (Can) 2 and 1, M Prat (Spa) bt P Queipo (Spa) 4 and 2, S Doering (Ger) bt T Lorenzen (Ger) 1 hole.
R Jennings (Eng) bt L Andre (Fra) 1 hole, K Schallenberg (Ger) bt L Hall (Wal) 5 and 3, K Smith (Eng) bt A Decharne (Fra) 1 hole, E Alonso (Fra) bt J Hedwall (Swe) 2 holes, C Masson (Ger) bt A Vilatte (Fra) 6 and 5, R Svahn (Fin) bt I Tusquets (Spa) at 19thy, J Wilson (Sco) bt B Buendia (Spa) 5 and 3, C Ciganda (Spa) bt M Engzelius (Nor) 3 and 1.
SECOND ROUND
Dahlberg-Soderstrom bt Silva 2 and 1, Roessler bt Urchegui 4 and 3, Holleder bt Gustafsson at 20th, Doering bt Prat 1 hole.
Schallenberg bt Jennings 1 hole, Alonso bt Smith at 19th, Masson bt Svahn 19th, Ciganda bt Wilson 3 and 1.

TRICK SHOT STAR CONFIRMED FOR
SCOTTISH GOLF SHOW RETURN

Organisers of the 2007 Scottish Golf Show, which takes place at the Royal Highland Centre in Ingliston, near Edinburgh, from March 30 April 1, have confirmed the return of one of the stars of last year’s debut show.
David Edwards, the trick-shot expert who dazzled visitors at the three-day golfing extravaganza last year, has signed-up to bring his unique and entertaining show back again this year – and, like the Scottish Golf Show itself, it will be bigger, better and more daring than before!
As well as demonstrating shots from high tees, shots from on his knees, draws and fades fired at will and balls dispatched from clubs in both hands at once, David will also be looking to break his own world record for the most amount of golf balls hit in three minutes. The record currently stands at 309 and was set by David last year – but, on the Friday of this year’s show, he’ll be looking to beat that total.
ONE OF LAST YEAR'S HIGHLIGHTS
Confirming the involvement of David Edwards this year, a spokesperson for the 2007 Scottish Golf Show said: “David Edwards’ trick-shot shows were one of the highlights of last year’s inaugural Scottish Golf Show and we are sure that will be the case again this year.
“His vast array of tricks and witty repartee are a winning combination and, with the promise of a world record attempt added in, David’s shows are another great reason to visit the 2007 Scottish Golf Show. We are delighted to have him on-board again.”
The Scottish Golf Show will take place at the Royal Highland Centre, near Edinburgh, on March 30 through to April 1.
Log on to www.thescottishgolfshow.co.uk for more information.

EUROPRO TOUR EVENT TO BE PLAYED
AT THE CARRICK AT CAMERON HOUSE
ON LOCH LOMOND MAY 23 to 25

The PGA EuroPro Tour will break new ground in May when they stage a tournament at The Carrick at Cameron House on Loch Lomond.
The event will be the first staged on the course, designed by Doug Carrick, which does not open to the public until later in 2007.
The tournament will be staged from May 23 to 25, and furthers the PGA EuroPro Tour's relationship with the De Vere Collection, whose De Vere Deluxe Cameron House Hotel is Scotland's finest new golf and spa resort.
"The Carrick at Cameron House is an amazing new project that is set to be not just one of the best courses in the UK but in the world," said PGA EuroPro Tour Operations Manager Dan Nickless.
"We are privileged to be staging a PGA EuroPro Tour event there and it will be a very special time, only a few weeks before its official launch.
"I have been lucky enough to visit the course and it truly is a fantastic site.
"Our players are going to love the course, which rivals its famous neighbour Loch Lomond in beauty and design.
"De Vere have become a great supporter of the PGA EuroPro Tour and we are thrilled that The Carrick at Cameron House, alongside Oulton Hall near Leeds, will become the second De Vere location on our schedule this year."
Philip Mahoney, General Manager of the De Vere Deluxe Cameron House Hotel, said: "The Carrick at Cameron House will open up the Loch Lomond golf experience and offer all of the luxury of a world class resort.
"We are delighted that the inaugural event at the Course will be the PGA EuroPro Tour."

For more information on The Carrick at Cameron House, log on to http://www.thecarrick.com/carrick.html

Each event on the PGA EuroPro Tour is played over 54 holes, with the top 50 plus ties going through to the third and final round.
Every tournament carries a minimum prize fund of £40,000, and the season will culminate in the PGA EuroPro Tour Championship with the top 50 players from the Order of Merit.
Highlights of every PGA EuroPro Tour event are shown around the World, in countries such as America, Canada, Japan and South Africa, as well as on Sky Sports in the UK.

JENNA WINS IN SPAIN BUT KRYSTLE
GOES DOWN IN FIRST TIE

Strathaven’s Jenna Wilson won her opening tie in the match-play stages of the Spanish women’s open amateur championship at Sherry Golf, Jerez – to set herself up for a meeting with the title-holder and No 2 seed, Carlota Ciganda (Spain) later in the day.
Jenna, 15th of the 32 qualifiers after two rounds of stroke-play, beat Ines Tusquets (Spain) by 5 and 3 in the first round.
Scottish Under-21 champion Krystle Caithness (St Regulus), the No. 25 qualifier, lost by 4 and 3 to the eighth seed Nicola Roessler from Germany.
Two English players made it through to the last 16. Rachel Jennings, the 17-year-old English girls champion from Izaak Walton Golf Club, Staffordshire, beat Lucie Andrew (France) by 1 hole. Kerry Smith (Waterlooville) beat Audrey Decharne (France) by one hole.
Danielle Montgomery from Lambourne lost by 3 and 2 to Linn Gustafsson (Sweden) by 3 and 2.

KEVIN IS P AND K SPORTS
PERSONALITY OF YEAR
FOR SECOND TIME IN ROW

Scottish amateur golf champion Kevin McAlpine, a member of Alyth Golf Club, has won the Perth & Kinross Sports Personality of the Year Award, sponsored by Norwich Union, for the second year in a row.
McAlpine was unveiled as the winner of the 2006 accolade in a ceremony staged at the AK Bell Library Theatre, before an audience of invited guests.
Big County team player McAlpine was recognised for ensuring the Allied Surveyors Scottish amateur golf title remained in Perthshire. Glenn Campbell, who plays out of Blairgowrie, was Scottish champion in 2005.
The judging panel felt McAlpine’s landmark victory at Nairn in August was worthy of taking the Norwich Union trophy, although there was stiff competition from veteran powerlifter Alastair Christie and international sharpshooter Carol Montgomery.
Kevin’s trophy haul in 2006 also included the Perth and Kinross Golf Union stroke-play championship and the North of Scotland open amateur championship for the David Blair Trophy at Nairn Dunbar.

Four strokes dropped from the 15th to the 18th in Johnnie Walker Classic

FOUR HOLES KILL PAUL

LAWRIE'S HOPES
OF BEATING THE
HALFWAY PHUKET CUT

As England's Oliver Wilson jumped into the lead with a six-under-par 66 for the halfway lead on 10-under-par 134, Aberdeen's Paul Lawrie was rueing a disastrous four holes that cost him a place in the field for this weekend's last two rounds in the $2.44million Johnnie Walker Classic at Blue Canyon Country Club, Phuket in Thailand.
Lawrie, pictured right, after an opening 74, needed at least a two-under-par 70 today to match the projected halfway cut figure of level par 144.
Starting at the 10th hole at 7.30am, Paul reeled off four par figures and then dropped four shots to par over the last four holes of the half. He bogeyed the par-4 15th, then the short 17th before a double-bogey disastrous 6 at the 18th.
Turning in 40, the 1999 Open champion made a brave bid to retrieve the situation. He birdied the first and fourth, bogeyed the fifth and then birdied the eighth and ninth for 33 over his second nine. Paul's 73 put him on 147 - three strokes too many to retain an active interest in the tournament.
Lawrie could certainly have done with Oliver Wilson's inward 32 which included two eagles. The former US college circuit player goes into the third round one stroke ahead of 20-year-old South African Anton Haig, who equalled Greg Norman's long-standing course record with an outstanding 64.
Australian James Nitties, another emerging player in his 20s, carded a 67 for equal third place alongside two-time Major champion Retief Goosen, who has had a pair of solid 68s for 136.
After turning in 34, Wilson, bidding for a maiden professional victory, charged ahead with a run of two eagles and a birdie over a stretch of five holes but needed to hole a brave six-footer to save bogey on the last after a wayward drive. He drained a 12-footer for his first eagle on 11, and then chipped in from the back of the green on the 15th.
"I've just been working on a few mental things really this week trying to stay relaxed and enjoy it and it seems to work. So if I can keep doing that, you know, and you never know what happens on the weekend," said Wilson.
Part of Wilson's preparation included a holiday in the Bahamas and he hopes to deliver a final twist by winning the Johnnie Walker Classic ahead of the big guns. "I'm sure the cream always rises to the top. So you know those guys are going to be coming down the stretch, they are probably going to be around there. Hopefully they will be chasing me," said Wilson, who finished runner-up in the 2005 Volvo China Open after losing in a play-off to Paul Casey.
Haig, who claimed a maiden victory on the Asian Tour last season, rattled in an eagle 2 on the 13th hole, driving the green and draining a 30ft putt, and enjoyed seven other birdies to surge into contention.
The big-hitting Haig has been hailed as a rising star and he underlined his growing prospects with a wonderful ball-striking display. "I've been practising hard and working a bit on the golf swing, and my coach has really helped me back in South Africa. It's about time that it's shown on the golf course," he said.
Ernie Else, one of the pre-tournament favourites, is nine shots off the pace after adding a 70 to his first-round 73.
World No. 4 Adam Scott of Australia, the highest ranked player in the elite field, improved by five shots with a 69 and is tied with Els on 143.
South African Richard Sterne, who had brought his luggage to the club in anticipation of an early exit after an opening 75, equalled the course record of 64 set by Norman when the Aussie legend won the Johnnie Walker Classic in 1994. Sterne moved up to equal 11th on 139.
First-round leader Brad Kennedy of Australia had a frustrating day with a 77 and slipped down to joint 32nd place on 142.
Biggest name among the non-qualifiers was Ryder Cup player Paul Casey with 71 and 74 for 146.

LEADING QUALIFIERS
Par 144 (2 x 72)
134 Oliver Wilson (Eng) 68 66.
135 Anton Haig (SAf) 71 64.
136 Retief Goosen (SAf) 68 68, James Nitties (Aus) 69 67.
137 Richard Lee (NZ) 67 70.
138 Peter Hanson (Swe) 66 72, Wang Ter-chang (Tpe) 68 70, Richard Bland (Eng) 68 70, Kim Felton (Aus) 70 68, Adam Bland (Aus) 71 67.
139 Graeme Storm (Eng) 66 73, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 67 72, Keith Horne (SAf) 68 71, David Frost (SAf) 69 70, Colin Montgomerie (Sco) 69-70 (34-36), Nick Flanagan (Aus) 70 69, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 71 68, Richard Sterne (SAf) 75 64.
140 Peter Fowler (Aus) 68 72, Marc Warren (Sco) 68 72 (37-35), Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 70 70, Garry Houston (Wal) 72 68.
141 Lin Keng-Chi (Tpe) 70 71, Zhang Lian-wei (Chi) 70 71, Jarrod Moseley (Aus) 70 71, Simon Dyson (Eng) 71 70, Chris Rodgers (Eng) 71 70, Matthew Millar (Aus) 71 70, Jean Van De Velde (Fra) 72 69, Rahil Gangjee (Ind) 72 69, Gary Orr (Sco) 73 68 (34-34).
Other qualifiers included:
142 Stephen Gallacher (Sco) 66 76 (39-37), Barry Hume (Sco) 68 74 (37-37), Brad Kennedy (Aus) 65 77.
143 Adam Scott (Aus) 74 69, Ernie Els (SAfr) 73-70, Alastair Forsyth (Sco) 74 70 (38-32).
144 Andrew Coltart (Sco) 72 72 (37-35).

NON-QUALIFIERS INCLUDED:
146 Paul Casey (Eng) 71 75.
147 Paul Lawrie (Sco) 74 73 (33-40).
148 Simon Yates (Sco) 72 76 (36-40).
155 Scott Drummond (Sco) 77 78 (39-39).

For further information visit www.asiantour.com.

MORE PIVOT, LESS DIVOT
GOLF SHOE DESIGN

The most revolutionary golf shoe design since Bertie Wooster first hammered nails into the sole of his boots will be on display for the first time in the UK at the London Golf Show from April 26-29.
The German-designed Free-Release golf shoe, from U-Go, contains a unique, swivelling, spiked sole which moves independently from the shoe. The manufacturer claims it prevents - and helps treat - back, hip, knee and ankle pain, torn ligaments and Achilles tendon problems.
And, claims United Golfers GmbH (U-Go), “it significantly improves the golfer’s swing, by effectively stabilising the body’s centre of gravity”.
Developed by Andrea and Frank Drollinger, the shoe was described as “the technical revolution of the century for golfers” by GOLFmagazine. And its developers have been rewarded for their innovation with the Artur Fischer Innovation Award, July 2005; the Trade Fair for Innovations IENA Nurnberg Gold Medal; and the Brand New Award, in January 2006.
The London Golf Show’s marketing director, Andy Barwell, said: “There are many exciting things afoot at the golf show this year. And as you can see, exhibitors are really putting their heart and sole into the event.
“Seriously though, this is just one example of the many revolutionary gadgets and game-improvement ideas on display at this year’s show. It’s gratifying that a product such as the Free-Release golf shoe should have its first UK outing at the London Golf Show.”
The London Golf Show 2007 returns to ExCeL from April 26-29 with Ryder Cup hero David Howell just one of the celebrity visitors.
The show will also have Europe’s largest golf retail store courtesy of the UK’s No. 1 retailer, american golf; a 30-bay driving range; the chance to go head-to-head on the chipping green with celebrities; the opportunity to sink a 100ft putt; the iconic floating green; myriad game-improvement gadgets; a fashion show; plus a much bigger area dedicated to junior golf with free coaching, fun and games and prizes.
What’s more, two juniors go free with every paying adult.
■ For tickets visit www.londongolfshow.com or call Ticketmaster on 0870 1451205.

MURIEL BACK FROM

ANOTHER MONTH

WORKING WITH

ORPHANS IN INDIA

Portlethen Golf Club professional Muriel Thomson is back from a month's trip to India to work with the orphans at Chennai.
Here's a message from Muriel:
"It was a very busy and productive month and you can read all about it if you log on to:

http://www.murielthomson.co.uk/Newsletter.htm

This should take you straight into my website and my newsletter on all I managed to set up on my trip to Chennai. It certainly has been an amazing year since I last visited them in February 2006."

ENGLAND NAME FOUR FOR

GREY GOOSE EUROPEAN

NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP

Gary Wolstenholme, winner of the New South Wales amateur championship last month, has been named in an experienced England international line-up to contest the Grey Goose, European nations championship at Sotogrande Golf Club on Spain's Costa del Sol from March 21 to 24.

Wolstenholme, pictured right, will be joined by Matthew Cryer, Ed Richardson and Paul Waring for the four-day championship, formerly known as the Sherry Cup.

England’s last win was in 2004 and for the past two years they have finished third behind Spain, but Wolstenholme has an impressive record in the individual contest with four victories. He won the individual title in 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2005, but finished equal 12th a year ago when his Walker Cup team-mate Nigel Edwards from Wales was champion.

However, Wolstenholme is in good form after winning the New South Wales amateur title in February, having lost at the final hurdle last year. On the way to that triumph, Wolstenholme beat Cryer in the quarter-finals, while Cryer during his trip to Australia finished ninth in the Tasmanian Open.

The Grey Goose Cup is competed for over 72 holes with the best three cards each day counting towards the team event. The individual competition runs simultaneously with the Nations Championship, the champion collecting a trophy and the Amateur Masters Jacket.

If the championship ends in a tie, the teams involved will nominate one player to compete in a sudden death play-off.

Apart from Wolstenholme and Edwards, other notable winners of this prestigious event include Padraig Harrington (1991), and Sergio Garcia (1997 and 1998).

Debutant Drummond lying joint fourth after 36 holes

CALI TAKES SECOND-ROUND
EUROPEAN SENIORS TOUR
LEAD AT BARBADOS OPEN
By STEVEN FRANKLIN
Press Officer, European Seniors Tour
BBC golf presenter Gary Lineker proved he is a pretty decent golfer himself by finishing joint runner-up in the amateur competition at the DGM Barbados Open, the opening event of the 2007 European Seniors Tour season.
However, the Seniors Tour professionals still have one more round to play and Italy’s Giuseppe Cali heads the leaderboard at Royal Westmoreland by three strokes with a 36-hole total of seven-under-par 137.
The DGM Barbados Open has a pro-am format. The professionals compete for a $250,000 prize fund in a 54-hole stroke-play event. At the same time they accompany amateur partners who maintain a better-ball score with their professional for a concurrent amateur competition.
Lineker, the former England footballer, carded better ball scores of 61, 65 and 67 for a 23-under-par total of 193, tying Bob Briscoe in second place.
Laura Mahony won the amateur event with a total of 29-under-par.
Now the attention will focus on the climax to the professional event, with Cali looking to wrap up the first title of the year and the third of his European Seniors Tour career.
The Italian has so far carded scores of 68 and 69 for 137 and will go into the final round with a three- stroke advantage over England’s Bob Cameron. Jamaica’s Delroy Cambridge is one stroke farther back in third place.
Nick Job of England, the first-round leader after a bogey-free 67, is in a six-way tie for fourth place on 142.
Job was tied with Cali around the turn but the Londoner ran into problems on the back nine, the worst of which saw him make 7 at the long 16th en route to a 75.
Also among those on 142 is European Seniors Tour debutant Ross Drummond from Prestwick. The four times Scottish professional champion and long-time European Tour regular added a 70 to his opening 72.
Defending champion José Rivero of Spain is in the group a shot further back.
Further down the field, Adan Sowa of Argentina celebrated a notable personal achievement when he recorded the first hole-in-one of his professional career. Sowa delivered the perfect blow with a five-iron at the 12th hole to win 198 bottles of wine – one for every yard of the hole - courtesy of Hardys, the No. 1 Australian wine brand in the UK and sponsor of the European Seniors Tour Hole-in-One prize.

SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2 x 72)
137 Giuseppe Cali (Ita) 68 69.
140 Bob Cameron (Eng) 70 70.
141 Delroy Cambridge (Jam) 71 70.
142 Gordon J Brand (Eng) 72 70, Juan Quiros (Spa) 73 69, Ian Mosey (Eng) 69 73, Ross Drummond (Sco) 72 70, Doug Johnson (US) 72 70, Nick Job (Eng) 67 75.
143 José Rivero (Esp) 69 74, Luis Carbonetti (Arg) 69 74, Alan Tapie (USA) 70 73, Tony Johnstone (Zim) 72 71.
144 Antonio Garrido (Spa) 69 75.
145 Denis O'Sullivan (Ire) 70 75.
146 Jerry Bruner (US) 69 77, Martin Poxon (Eng) 74 72, Bob Lendzion (US) 75 71, Jimmy Heggarty (NIr) 72 74, John Chillas (Sco) 73 73, Glenn Ralph (Eng) 78 68.
147 Andrew Murray (Eng) 76 71, Adan Sowa (Arg) 74 73, Gavan Levenson (SAf) 73 74.
148 Bruce Heuchan (Can) 75 73, Bill Hardwick (Can) 75 73, Pete Oakley (US) 71 77, Mike Miller (Sco) 74 74.
149 Maurice Bembridge (Eng) 73 76, Bob Boyd (US) 72 77, Tony Charnley (Eng) 76 73, Bertus Smit (SAf) 75 74, Tim Rastall (Eng) 76 73, Victor Garcia (Spa) 74 75.
150 David J Russell (Eng) 72 78, Kevin Spurgeon (Eng) 72 78, David Creamer (Eng) 75 75, John Benda (US) 74 76.
151 Neville Clarke (SAf) 79 72, Horacio Carbonetti (Arg) 78 73.
152 Emilio Rodriguez (Spa) 80 72153 Manuel Piñero (Esp) 76 77.
154 Gery Watine (Fra) 79 75.
155 Martin Gray (Sco) 78 77.
157 Ray Carrasco (US) 76 81, Guillermo Encina (Chi) 77 80, Tommy Horton (Eng) 78 79.
160 Brian Evans (Eng) 79 81.

US college that has $2.5 golf clubhouse and facilities for students

THIS IS WHY SO MANY GB&I GOLFERS CHOOSE TO GO

TO EAST TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY ...

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Ever wondered how an American University, East Tennessee State, which is not all that well known on this side of the Atlantic continues to have more than its fair share of the young top British and Irish golf prospects?
One of the answers is its own five-star golf clubhouse and facilities (pictured above) at the $2.4 Warren-Greene Golf Centre, designed by leading golf architect Tom Fazio (the man who is going to design the two Donald Trump Links courses at Balmedie, Aberdeenshire) and sitting on 14 acres of land overlooking the university campaus at Johnson City, Tennessee.
Named in honour of long-time ETSU men's golf coach Fred Warren and ETSU golf supporter William B. Greene, jun, the Warren-Greene Golf Center includes six target greens, two bent-grass greens (one for putting and one for short-game work), three tee areas, a fairway bunker and four greenside bunkers.
The accompanying 3,000sq ft, two-story building contains coaches' offices, meeting rooms, the Hal Morrison Hall of Fame room, players' lounge, two indoor hitting bays, and an observation deck.

Without a doubt, the Warren-Greene Golf Center provides ETSU players with one of the best on-campus practice facilities in American college golf.
So that's what the British universities are competing against when they want to persuade a teenager to stay at home and combined golf with eduction.
On the East Tennessee State University roster at the moment are Walker Cup player Rhys Davies (Edinburgh-born) from South Wales, Jordan Findlay from Fraserburgh, and from Ireland: Gareth Shaw from Lisburn, Cian McNamara from Limerick and Seamus Power from Waterford. Adam Hodkinson from England, currently playing in the Spanish men's open amateur championship, was on the ETSU golf team until fairly recently.
The ETSU women's golf squad includes twice former Welsh girls champion Lucy Gould.

ANDREW HAY FROM WESTHILL

jt 27th AT VALDOSTA, GEORGIA

Former North-east boys' golf champion Andrew Hay from Westhill, Aberdeen finished joint 27th in a field of 46 for the Thomas University Winter Invitational college tournament at Kinderlou Forest Golf Club, Valdosta in Georgia.
Hay, pictured right, a student at Webber International University, Florida, had rounds of 74 and 80 for a total fo 154 - 22 shots behind the winner, David Venegas (Johnson & Williams University) who had a pair of 66s for a 12-under-par total of 132 and a winning margin of 11 strokes.
Three of Hay's UK-born team-mates were also in the field. Craig Isabel from Stanford-Le-Hope finished jt 20th on 151 (78-73), Matthew Bransby from Aylesbury totalled 153 (77-76) for a share of 24th place and Alex Evans from The Wirral came 36th on 159 (77-82).
Webber International (609) finished fifth of eight in the team event behind Johnson & Wales (583) who won by nine strokes from St Leo University

WATCH THE MASTERS - ON ITS OWN WEBSITE

They used to say the (US) Masters - or those who organised it - did not like changes to the traditional way they did things at Augusta National.
Now now. New chairman Billy Payne is not only moving the tournament with the times, in many ways he is ahead of them.
This year's Masters - April 5 to 8 - will have one hour of live coverage on its own dedicated tournament website (www.masters.org) before the worldwide TV broadcasting begins.
Payne feels it is through "new media" such as websites that the Masters' audience can be expanded.
The Masters website will feature "Amen Corner Live," showing every man playing the famous 11th, 12th and 13th holes.
Last year, some 3.7 million unique users visited the Masters website.
"Providing this additional coverage further demonstrates the importance we place on the Internet,'' said Payne.
"The Internet complements our broadcast and it fulfills one of our principal objectives of exposing as many people as possible to this great sport of golf. Online coverage of the Masters has great potential to reach an even larger audience.''

A TURKISH DELIGHT: THAT'S WINTER GOLF IN BELEK

A view of the Gloria Golf Club New Course at Belek in Turkey.

They build some spectacular golf cluhouses in the Belek region of Turkey. That's the innovative design of the Gloria GC clubhouse in the background. Scroll down to read some words of wisdom from Tony Martin, who has been in Turkey some 21 years and is the Consultant Professional at Gloria Golf Club. Click on the images if you want to enlarge them.

Midland Alliance at Scotscraig Golf Club, Tayport

CRAIG AND VANNET SHARE TOP
SCRATCH PRIZE WITH 72s
The Midland Golfer's Alliance held their annual Hi Tech Acustic Services LTD pro-am on blustery but sunny day at Scotscraig Golf Club in Tayport, Fife.
Joint winners of the individual scratch prize was Edinburgh Leisure professional Steve Craig and Carnoustie Links pro Lee Vannet with scores of one over par 72.
Steve also led his team of G Atkinson, J Barnett and J Wilson, all from Dunfermline Golf Club, to the team prize with a superb score of 127. They won by seven strokes.

LEADING SCRATCH
72 S Craig (Edinburgh Leisure) p, L Vannet (Carnoustie Links) p.
73 S Smith (Ladybank) p, A. Webster (Edzell) p.
74 T McLevy (Blairgowrie), K. McGowan (Burntisland) ap, C. Nugent (Dunfermline) p.
75 K Hutton (Downfield) p, B. Smith (AP, Downfield)
76 S Rettie (Royal Troon) ap, R. Walker (The Duke's) p, S. Gillespie (Balbirnie Park) ap.

LEADING TEAM SCORES
127 S Craig (Edinburgh Leisure) p, G Atkinson (Dunfermline), J Barnett (Dunfermline), J Wilson (Dunfermline)
134 D Mitchell (Panmure), W Miller (Monifieth), G Paton (Dalhousie), J Meikle (Panmure).
135 C Nugent (Dunfermline) p, R. De Rose (Dunfermline), B. Black (Dunfermline), T McKenna (Dunfermline)
135 K Hutton (Downfield) p, D Adams (Carnoustie), J Cree jun (Thornton), D Herd (Scotscraig)

Next meeting is at Kirkcaldy GC on Thursday, March 8 (tee reserved 8.30 - 12.30).

Jenna,

Krystle

qualify

for

match-

play in

Spain

Strathaven's Jenna Wilson and Krystle Caithness (St Regulus) gave Scotland a 50 per cent success rate in the qualifying stages of the Spanish women's open amateur golf championship at Sherry Golf, Jerez in the Cadiz region.
Jenna, pictured far right, was the 15th of the 32 qualifiers for the match-play stages with scores of 72 and 76 for 148 while Krystle, left picture, gained the No 25 spot with 74 and 76 for 150.
But Heather MacRae (Dunblane) and Kylie Walker (Hilton Park) both finished on the 161 mark - nine shots more than the 32nd qualifier.
Two Spaniards finished six shots clear of the pack - defending champion Carlota Ciganda with 71 and 68 for 139 and Marta Silva Zamora with 72 and 67 for the same five-under-par mark. Marta gained the top seed berth with the better second round.
England had three qualifiers - Rachel Jennings in third spot with 74 and 71 for 145, Danielle Montgomery, fifth on 146 (70-76) and Kerry Smith, 11th with 77 and 71 for 148.

MATCH-PLAY QUALIFIERS
Par 144 (2 x 72)
139 Marta Silva Zamora (Spa) 72 67, Carlota Ciganda (Spa) 71 68.
145 Rachel Jennings (Eng) 74 71, Stephanie Doering (Ger) 73 72.
146 Danielle Montgomerie (Eng) 70 76, Emilie Alonso (Fra) 67 79.
147 Caroline Masson (Ger) 76 71, Nicola Roessler (Ger) 74 73, Denise Becker (Ger) 73 74, Rosa Svahn (Fin) 73 74.
148 Kerry Smith (Eng) 77 71, Laura Matthews (Can) 74 74, Patricia Queipo de Llano (Spa) 74 74, Lydia Hall (Wal) 73 75, Jenna Wilson (Sco) 72 76, Anna Dahlberg-Soderstrom (Swe) 72 76, Emma Cabrera Bello (Spa) 72 76.
149 Belen Buendia (Spa) 75 74, Katharina Schallenberg (Ger) 74 75.
150 Mireia Prat (Spa) 77 73, Nina Holleder (Ger) 77 73, Audrey Decharne (Fra) 76 74, Ines Tusquets (Spa) 76 74, Ane Urchequi (Spa) 74 76, Krystle Caithness (Sco) 74 76, Alexandrea Vilatte (Fra) 73 77, Jacqueline Hedwall (Swe) 72 78.
151 Linn Gustafsson (Swe) 77 74, Tina Lorenzen (Ger) 77 74, Luce Andre (Fra) 77 74, Marita Engzelius (Nor) 76 75.
152 Irene Pajares (Spa) 79 73.
NON-QUALIFIERS INCLUDED:
152 Browning Mullins-Lane (Eng) 77 75.
154 Naomi Edwards (Eng) 77 77, Henrietta Brockway (Eng) 75 79, Sahra Hassan (Wal) 73 81.
155 Melissa Reid (Eng) 81 74.
156 Rachel Bell (Eng) 80 76, Rachel Connor (Eng) 74 82, Elizabeth Bennet (Eng) 71 85.
158 Breanne Loucks (Wal) 81 77.
160 Joanne Hodge (Eng) 79 81.
161 Rozalyn Adams (Eng) 83 78, Heather MacRae (Sco) 82 79, Kylie Walker (Sco) 79 82.
163 Hanna Barwood (Eng) 80 83.

MATCH-PLAY

First round:

Top half: Silva v Pajares, Soderstrom v Cabrera, Becker v Urchequi, Rosssler v Caithness, Montgomery v Gustaffson, Matthews v Holleder, Queipo v Prat, Doering v Lorenzen.

Lower half: Jennings v Andre, Hall v Schallenberg, K Smith v Decharne, Alonso v Hedwall, Masson v Vilatte, Svahn v Tusquets, Wilson v Buendia, Ciganda v Engzelius.

INTERNATIONAL TEAM EVENT

FINAL TOTALS

278 Spain A (Ciganda, Silva, Urchegui).

291 England B (Reid, Bennet, Montgomery).

292 Germany A.

294 Germany B.

295 France C.

296 Spain B.

297 Sweden B.

298 Wales (Loucks, Hall, Hassan).

301 France A, Germany C, England A (Bell, Smith, Edwards), Spain C, Sweden C.

308 Belgium A.

309 Finland A, Scotland A (Wilson, MacRae).

310 Scotland B (Caithness, Walker), Sweden A.

313 Italy B.

316 Italy A.

325 Finland B.

16 ENGLISHMEN BUT ONLY
ONE SCOTSMAN AMONG
'SPANISH' QUALIFIERS

Craigielaw's Elliot Saltman - who paid his own way there - is the only Scot to have figured among the 32 qualifiers for the match-play stages of the Spanish men's open amateur golf championship at Desert Springs.
Saltman, a +3 player, qualified in 13th position with scores of 73 and 72 for 145 - six shots behind the top seed, Englishman John Parry who had a 70 and 69 for 139.
Perhaps Elliot, pictured right, who has never been capped for Scotland although he finished sixth in the SGU Order of Merit last season, might begin to get some overdue recognition this year.
Of the official Scottish Golf Union squad who made the trip, Glenn Campbell (Blairgowrie) was just one shot outside the qualifying mark of 148 with a 76 and 73 for 149.
John Gallagher (Swanston) and Ross Kellet (Colville Park) both finished on 150. Gallagher scored 78 and 72, Kellet 77 and 73.
Craig Elliot's youngest brother, teenager Zack scored a 79 and 73 for 152.
Robert McKnight (Barassie) had a pair of 76s for 152.
No 1 seed John Parry was not the only player to total 139 for the qualifying rounds. Spaniard Jesus Legarrea had 68 and 71 and another Englishman, Gary Boyd, scored 67 and 72. Parry's second-round 69 gained him top billing for the match-play.
In the first round of the match-play, Elliot Saltman plays Englishman Adam Hodkinson, the 20th qualifier. Until fairly recently, Adam was a golf scholarship student at East Tennessee State University - the one where Rhys Davies and Jordan Findlay are on the roster.
The breakdown of the qualifiers' nationalities was:
England 16, Spain 6, France 3, Germany 2, Wales 2, Finland 1, Portugal 1, Scotland 1.

LEADING QUALIFIERS
Par 144 (2 x 72)
139 J Parry (Eng) 70 69, J Legarrea (Spa) 68 71, G Boyd (Eng) 67 72.
140 C Wood (Eng) 70 70, P Waring (Eng) 68 72, E Dubois (Fra) 68 72.
141 D Horsey (Eng) 71 70, M Veijalainen (Fin) 69 72.
143 S Capper (Eng) 70 73, G Berlin (Spa) 70 73.
144 P Figueiredo (Por) 71 73.
145 M Haines (Eng) 74 71, E Saltman (Sco) 73 72, I Garcia (Spa) 72 73, B Chapellan (Fra) 73 72.
146 G J Evans (Eng) 76 70, G Cuquejo (Spa) 74 72, M Cryer (Eng) 72 74.
147 F Schulte (Ger) 78 69, A Hodkinson (Eng) 76 71, R Menard (Fra) 75 72, D Belch (Eng) 75 72, B Evans (Eng) 75 72, T Ryan (Wal) 74 73, G Vicente (Spa) 73 74, J Hiluta (Eng) 73 74, S Hutsby (Eng) 71 76.
148 D Marmion (Eng) 79 69, S Garcia (Spa) 78 70, P Westermann (Ger) 78 70, R Enoch (Wal) 76 72, J Hurst (Eng) 75 73.

NON-QUALIFIERS INCLUDED:

148 S Ward (Ire) 74 74, L Campbell (Eng) 72 76.
149 L Matthews (Wal) 77 72, G Campbell (Sco) 76 73, M Baldwin (Eng) 74 75.
150 J Freeman (Eng) 80 70, C Rice (Eng) 78 72, J Gallagher (Sco) 78 72, W Bowe (Eng) 77 73, R Kellet (Sco) 77 73.
151 B Parker (Eng) 73 78.
152 Z Saltman (Sco) 79 73, M Mackman (Eng) 78 74, R McKnight (Sco) 76 76, D Brooks (Eng) 76 76, R Neil-Jones (Eng) 74 78.

153 L Collins (Eng) 79 74, S Uzzell (Eng) 78 75, D Whitnell (Eng) 77 76, I Winstanley (Eng) 77 76, J Abbott (Eng) 74 79.

154 J Howarth (Eng) 79 75, R Merchant (Wal) 79 75.

155 J T Smith (Eng) 79 76.

156 B Britton (Eng) 81 75, S Stuart (Eng) 78 78.

157 P Murray (Ire) 79 78, N Chaudhuri (Eng) 79 78.

158 E Pepperell (Eng) 79 79.

159 G Blainey (Eng) 81 78, J Senior (Eng) 76 83.

160 S Lowry (Ire) 83 77, J Curry (Eng) 79 81, M Thistleton (Eng) 78 82.

161 J Barnes (Eng) 87 74, L Goddard (Eng) 79 82, B Jones (Eng) 78 83.

163 J Timmis (Eng) 84 79.

164 E Wise (Eng) 80 84.

MATCH-PLAY

First round

Top half: Parry v Hurst, Evans v Cuquejo, Caper v Thomas, Veijalainen v Vicente, Waring v Marmion, Haines v Menard, E Saltman v Hodkinson, Wood v Garcia.

Lower half: Boyd v Westermann, Garcia v Schulte, Figueiredo v Belch, Dubois v Hutsby, Horsey v Hiluta, Berlin v Evans, Chapellan v Cryer, Legarrea v Enoch.

INTERNATIONAL TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP

FINAL TOTALS

279 England B (Parry, Cryer, Waring).

280 England A (Horsey, Boyd, Parker).

287 France A.

291 Spain C.

293 Portugal.

294 Germany A.

295 England C.

296 Spain A, France C, Germany B, Wales A (L Matthews, R Thomas).

298 (12th) Scotland (Gallagher, Kellet, Campbell).

302 Wales B (R Merchant, R Enoch).

303 Sweden, Italy.

3o4 Ireland (S Lowry, S Ward, P Murray).

309 Netherlands.

310 Spain B.

312 France B.

Turkey's Belek is a golf destination developing at amazing speed

GLORIOUS GOLF AT GLORIA
- AND YOU DON'T NEED TO
HIRE A CAR TO GET AROUND

By TONY MARTIN
Consultant Professional at Gloria Golf Club, Antalya, Turkey

Gloria Golf Resort boasts two 18 holes and a full-length nine-hole lay-out, all carved through ancient pine forest, with many water features.
The quality of the golf courses are superb, which is reflected in the numbers of repeat guests from all over Europe.
Many have visited the Gloria Resort up to 10 times and Gloria is again to host a European Seniors Tour event on the New course in May this year.
Turkey's Belek as golf destination is developing at amazing speed with eight courses up and running, and five more under construction. All the course are within 15 minutes drive of each other, and the hotels operate shuttle services, so it is not necessary to rent a car.
The standards have been set, and all the courses open, and being built, are to the highest specifications. Some compare us to Spain 30 years ago.
In my opinion – and I have been in Turkey for 21 years – there is no comparison. Our standards are higher and we are developing faster.
After Belek there are many projects on the Turkish Riviera drawing board, both east and west along the Mediterranean coast.

COURSES IN BELEK
Antalaya Golf Club (2 Courses: Sultan & Pasha).
http://www.antalya24.com/
Cornelia Golf Club (Nick Faldo Course; two nines, third nine-hole lay-out soon to be opened).
Gloria Golf Club (2 Courses: New & Old).
http://www.gloria.com.tr/new/index.asp?sayfa=2
National Golf Club (1 Course).
http://www.nationalturkey.com/defaulteng.asp
Robinson Nobilis Golf Club (1 Course).
Tat Beach Golf Club (27 holes).

UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Papillon Colin Montgomerie (18 holes).
Kaya (18 holes).
Silence Beach (36 holes).
Carya (18 holes).

LEADING GOLF HOTELS
Cornelia De Luxe Resort.
http://www.corneliagolfresort.com/
Kempinski Hotel: The Dome.
http://www.kempinski-antalya.com/en/home/index.htm
Papillon Zeugma Hotel..
http://www.papillon.com.tr/
Sirene Belek Hotel.
http://www.sirenegolfhotel.com/index3.htm

Turkish Golf Federation
http://www.tgf.org.tr/main.asp

COLIN FARQUHARSON COMMENTS:

DIRECT WINTER FLIGHTS TO ANTALYA
NEEDED FOR TURKISH GOLF HOLIDAYS

The airlines and tour operators hold the key to opening up the Belek region of Turkey as a winter golf destination. When I tried to book a direct flight in February from Glasgow or Edinburgh to Antalya, which is the airport that serves the area, I found it was impossble.
Instead, my wife and I had to take the tortuous, all-day travelling schedule of Edinburgh-Amsterdam-Istanbul-Antalya.
The airline supremos have got to realise that golf is a winter game on the Turkish Riviera. It is far too hot in the summer, which is when the direct flights to Antalya start at the moment.
All the hotels will pick you up from Antalya Airport, domestic or international. It is a drive of between 30 and 40min.
The hotels we stayed in for the Media Masters golf tournament - Papillion Zeugma and Sirene - were first class and, just like a package holiday, the price you thought you were paying for accommodation also included meals and drinks at the bar.
ALL-INCLUSIVE RATES AT HOTELS
Most of the hotels in the Belek region have these all-inclusive rates. Not having to pay for drinks at the bar takes a bit of getting used to.
The hotel rates do not include the cost of a round of golf but the hotels run free shuttles to all the most popular courses. Green fees compare favourably with those on the Algarve and the Costa del Sol.
All the courses and hotels have their own websites and you should trawl through them to build up information on what a winter golfing holiday on the Turkish Riviera will cost you.
Quite frankly, there does not seem much to do apart from lounge around the hotels or play golf although we were taken on a day's drive to an ancient Roman bridge and amphitheatre as Aspendos.
If like me, you have reservations about going to a Moslem country for the first time, put them behind you. The Turkish people that we met could not have been more pleasant or more helpful. I would go back there tomorrow ... if I did not have to drive down to Edinburgh Airport and then fly to Amsterdam-Istanbul-Antalya!
You don't need the Turkish local currency. Euros are accepted everywhere you go. But you will need to spend £10 on a visa whether you land at Istanbul or Antalya from outwith Turkey. They are available BEFORE you have your passports checked on arrival. Don't make the mistake of going to passport control before you get your passport stamped with a visa or else you will be turned back.

SETANTA GOLF TO BROADCAST
SGU BELHAVEN CHAMPIONSHIP

The Scottish Golf Union was today given a further boost with the confirmation of Setanta Sports as the official broadcast partner of its flagship grass roots event, the Belhaven Best Scottish Club Handicap Championship.
Setanta Sports, the new home of televised golf from the US PGA Tour, will screen coverage of the Belhaven Best Scottish Club Handicap Championship final from the Macdonald Cardrona Golf Hotel & Country Club on September 14, as well as featuring news and results from the event’s regional finals throughout August and September.
The event will be shown on the Setanta Golf channel which is one of the eight channels in the Setanta Sports Pack.
The agreement will include a special offer to participants in the championship of Setanta Golf’s subscription for just £10 per month for three months, followed by £15 a month thereafter.
The event is Scotland’s largest participation golf event, with an estimated 24,000 golfers from 320 clubs expected to feature in the local qualifying rounds this year.
Setanta Sports, who recently appointed Ryder Cup player Darren Clarke as their golf ambassador, will also be broadcasting the English Golf Union (EGU) Golf Medal as part of their amateur golf coverage.

STEPHEN GALLACHER ONLY

A SHOT OFF PACE IN JOHNNIE
WALKER CLASSIC

Australian Brad Kennedy upstaged the big guns to take the first- round lead in the star-studded Johnnie Walker Classic with a superb seven-under-par 65 today.
Kennedy, a regular on the Asian Tour, sank eight birdies at the spectacular Blue Canyon Country Club, Phuket in Thailand and leads by one stroke from former US Masters champion Mike Weir of Canada, Scotland's Stephen Gallacher, England's Graeme Storm and Sweden's Peter Hanson.
The Johnnie Walker Classic's star attractions, South African duo Ernie Els and Retief Goosen and Australian Adam Scott, all top-10 players in the world, endured mixed fortunes over the challenging par-72, 7,189 yard course.
After missing the cut in his last two tournaments, Kennedy returned home to the Queensland Gold Coast and put in the hours at the gym and practice range with his coach Ian Triggs and he clearly struck gold today in idyllic Phuket.
"I had a great start, chipping in on the first for birdie and hit a great 4‑iron to two feet on the second. Things just started and I just eased my way through the round after that. I hit a lot of fairways," said Kennedy.
"I missed the cut in Qatar and Malaysia, didn't play Indonesia and went home and got stuck at the gym and had a good couple of weeks with my coach. We just found a couple of keys to my swing and I feel sort of ready to play these next four weeks in a row now," added the Australian, who enjoyed a couple of seasons on the European Tour before turning his focus back on Asia.
The left-handed Weir, making his debut in the Johnnie Walker Classic and visiting Thailand for the first time, has adapted quickly to the heat and humidity of Phuket, an impressive feat considering that he was enjoying some skiing only last Sunday in Salt Lake City.
An eagle 3 at the 11th, set up with a glorious rescue club shot from 230 yards out that landed eight feet away, was Weir's highlight of the round. "It was a nice high fade, probably the best shot I hit today. The score was great today," said Weir, who describes himself as a two-handicapper in skiing.
"I still feel I can sharpen up a few things. I'm not saying I'm going to shoot six under every day but I feel that I've been giving myself chances. That's the key to shooting good scores," added the 36-year-old, who has won seven US PGA Tour titles including the 2003 US Masters.
Less than a week after trudging through the rugged terrains of the Scottish highlands in the freezing cold, Stephen Gallacher, whose uncle Bernard is a former European Ryder Cup captain, lived up to Johnnie Walker's motto of "Keep Walking" as he battled the heat and humidity to surge into contention.
The 2004 Dunhill Links winner said: "I went with six of my friends and we were walking through the heather, soaked to the bone in seven degrees (Centigrade) compared to over 30 degrees here. We did a total of 40 miles in two days. That was my preparation for this tournament! It was good. I enjoyed it.
"I’ve never been to Thailand or Malaysia before and you have to be fit to play here. I went through about eight litres of water to stay rehydrated in this heat. Coming from Scotland we are not used to this. We never get humidity like this."
Fellow Scots Barry Hume and Marc Warren also started well and are on the 68 mark.
Colin Montgomerie had a 69.

Andrew Coltart and Simon Yates are on the level par 72 mark (144 is the projected cut figure at halfway).

Gary Orr had a 73, one ahead of Paul Lawrie and Alastair Forsyth.

Scott Drummond fared worst of the Scots in action. He had two double bogeys in his inward half on his way to a 77.

LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES
Par 72
65 Brad Kennedy (Aus).
66 Graeme Storm (Eng), Mike Weir (Can), Stephen Gallacher (Sco) 35-31, Peter Hanson (Swe).
67 Scott Gardiner (Aus), Richard Lee (NZ), Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Graeme McDowell (NIr). 68 Wang Ter-chang (Tpe), Barry Hume (Sco) 35-33, Keith Horne (SAf), Oliver Wilson (Eng), Peter Fowler (AUS), Nick Dougherty (Eng), Retief Goosen (SAf), Richard Bland (Eng), Marc Warren (Sco) 34-34.
69 Iain Steel (MAS), Angelo Que (Phi), Gaurav Ghei (Ind), Craig Parry (Aus), David Frost (SAf), Colin Montgomerie (Sco) 34-35, Lu Wen-teh (Tpe), James Nitties (Aus)
70 Nick Flanagan (Aus), Lin Ken-chi (Tpe), Wade Ormsby (Aus), Peter O'Malley (Aus), Zhang Lian-wi (Chi), Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa), Edward Michaels (US), Terry Pilkadaris (Aus), Jarrod Moseley (Aus), Peter Senior (Aus), Simon Khan (Eng), Unho Park (Aus), Gary Emerson (Eng), Adam Blyth (Aus), Lin Wen-tng (Tpe), Suk Jong-yul (Kor), Kim Felton (Aus).
Other Scots scores:

72 Andrew Coltart 35-37, Simon Yates 37-35.

73 Gary Orr 37-36.

74 Paul Lawrie 39-35, Alastair Forsyth 35-39.

77 Scott Drummond 37-40.

For further information, please visit www.asiantour.com

NORTH OF SCOTLAND GIRLS TO BE
HOSTED BY THURSO ON AUGUST 19

The North of Scotland girls' championship will be played at the most northerly venue in its history this summer.
Thurso Golf Club on the Pentland Firth will host the 18-hole event for Under-18 girls on Sunday, August 19.
Last year the title was won by Laura Murray (Alford) at Kirriemuir and in 2005 Kelsey MacDonald (Nairn Dunbar) was the champion over her home course.
The Platform 2 boys' and girls tournament - formerly the Grampian TV junior championships - is to be played at Forfar Golf Club on Sunday, September 16, subject to the booking being confirmed by the host club.
The boys play 36 holes and the girls one round.

HERIOT-WATT UNIVERSITY

OPEN NEW INDOOR

GOLF ACADEMY

A new indoor Golf Academy, the only such facility in Scotland, has been opened at Heriot-Watt University's Edinburgh Campus.
The new indoor golf practice facility, an addition to the already extensive portfolio of facilities at the university, incorporates driving, chipping, bunker and putting areas, and provides users with the unique opportunity of practising their golfing skills in an indoor environment away from the vagaries of the weather.
It also complements Heriot-Watt's golf scholarship programme, one of only 11 in Britain to receive R&A Funding to develop their golf programme.
Facilities at the new Golf Academy include:
*Driving range mats: five high-quality driving mats situated 14m from a heavy-duty restraining net, allowing players to develop a smooth and consistent swing while gauging the accuracy of their shot.
*Chipping practice mats: two chipping mats with a synthetic landing area, incorporating target areas, for practising short, greenside shots up to 10m.
*Bunker practice area: a self-contained sand-trap with an adjustable height bunker and target mat, allows players to hone their skills at extricating themselves from greenside bunkers.
*Putting green: a self-contained area, measuring approximately 9m X 2.5m, encouraging the development of a consistent and successful putting style.

The facilities are available to Heriot-Watt students and staff and to local players who have taken membership of the University's Centre for Sport and Exercise.

R & A Funding to develop the Heriot-Watt University golf sports scholarship allows golfers to receive a comprehensive range of supporttailored to their needs. Typical support includes:
Equipment and clothing expenses.
Competition entry fees.
Travel and accommodation expenses.
Warm weather training.
Group and individual coaching.
Sports science and sports medicine support.
Academic flexibility.
Exclusive access to the indoor Golf Academy.
Free access to the Centre for Sport and Exercise facility.

SOLID START BY ROSS DRUMMOND

ON HIS EUROPEAN SENIORS TOUR

DEBUT IN THE BARBADOS

BY STEVE FRANKLIN

Prestwick's Ross Drummond (pictured right) made a solid start to his European Seniors Tour career, carding a battling level par 72 to finish in a share of 13th place after round one of the DGM Barbados Open at Royal Westmoreland.
Unsurprisingly given his time away from top-level competition, the four times Scottish professional champion produced a mixed display that contained four birdies and four bogeys in matching halves of 36.
Drummond, whose most successful season came in 1996 and was chronicled in the best-selling golf book, Four Iron in the Soul, quit playing full-time on The European Tour in 2001, after 24 years. Since then the 6f 4in Paisley man has played regularly - and successfully - on the Tartan Tour.
“Like most players, I reached that interval period on The European Tour when you are aged mid-40s and starting to struggle. I quit as a result, so it’s appealing to be given the chance to get back into top-level tournament golf and being able to compete again,” commented 50 year old Drummond, who is the best placed of the four Scots competing in Barbados.
Aberdonian John Chillas carded a 73, Torrance-based Mike Miller a 74 and Ladybank’s Martin Gray a 78.
England’s Nick Job set the first round pace with a bogey-free card of five under par 67 to lead by one stroke from Italy’s Giuseppe Cali.
It was vintage stuff from Job – he was never in trouble during his 18 holes on this spectacular layout – and afterwards he admitted that he was benefiting from a winter spent jousting with the young guns on mini tours in the United States.
“I kept my competitive edge by playing mini tours in Florida and also worked hard on my swing. I was playing against young guys and I used them as my example. I am now standing taller, using my height. I am also trying to release more, something we never did as kids in England,” explained Job, a three-time winner on the European Seniors Tour.
In fact, Job won twice during his sojourn Stateside and is looking to convert his renewed confidence into early success on the 2007 European Seniors Tour. He certainly started positively enough, producing birdies at the 14th, 15th, first, second and third holes, having begun his round at the tenth.
“I played nicely and did not miss a single green in regulation. I want more of the same tomorrow,” he added.
Meanwhile, BBC sport pundit Gary Lineker lies second in the pro-am competition that runs alongside the professional tournament. The former England footballer has a better ball score of 18 under par for two rounds so far, three strokes behind Laura Mahony.
SCORES FROM BARBADOS

Leading scores in the European Seniors Tour event, the DGM Barbados Open, which teed off at Royal Westmoreland, Barbados today:
Par 72
67 Nick Job (Eng).
68 Giuseppe Cali (Ita).
69 Luis Carbonetti (Arg), Antonio Garrido (Esp), José Rivero (Esp), Ian Mosey (Eng), Jerry Bruner (US).
70 Alan Tapie (US), Denis O’Sullivan (Ire), Bob Cameron (Eng).
71 Pete Oakley (US), Delroy Cambridge (Jam)
72 Gordon J Brand (Eng), David J Russell (Eng), Kevin Spurgeon (Eng), Ross Drummond (Sco), Bob Boyd (US), Tony Johnstone (Zim), Jimmy Heggarty (NIr), Doug Johnson (US)
73 Gavan Levenson (SAf), Maurice Bembridge (Eng), Juan Quiros (Esp), John Chillas (Sco)
74 Victor Garcia (Spa), John Benda (US), Adan Sowa (Arg), Martin Poxon (Eng), Mike Miller (Sco)
75 Bruce Heuchan (Can), David Creamer (Eng), Bill Hardwick (Can), Bob Lendzion (US), Bertus Smit (SAf)
76 Ray Carrasco (US), Andrew Murray (Eng), Tony Charnley (Eng), Tim Rastall (Eng), Manuel Piñero (Spa).
77 Guillermo Encina (Chi).
78 Glenn Ralph (Eng), Tommy Horton (Eng), Martin Gray (Sco), Horacio Carbonetti (Arg)
79 Neville Clarke (SAf), Gery Watine (Fra), Brian Evans (Eng).
80 Emilio Rodriguez (Spa).

STENSON NAME EUROPEAN TOUR
GOLFER OF THE MONTH

Henrik Stenson has been named as The European Tour Golfer of the Month for February following a spectacular four weeks in which he won in Dubai and the United States, climbed to the top of the Order of Merit for the first time in his career and became the highest ranked Swedish golfer in history.
Just six seasons after heading the Challenge Tour Rankings, the 30 year old Ryder Cup player recorded his fifth European Tour victory in the Dubai Desert Classic at the Emirates Golf Club in the opening event of the month, edging out South Africa’s Ernie Els by a stroke.
He then closed out February in style by becoming only the second European behind Darren Clarke to win one of the World Golf Championships when he beat defending champion Geoff Ogilvy in the final of the Accenture Match Play at Gallery Golf Club in Tucson, Arizona.
In doing so, Stenson surpassed the achievement of compatriot Jesper Parnevik by moving to Number Five in the Official World Golf Ranking – the highest position attained by a Swedish golfer. Stenson currently leads The European Tour Order of Merit from Korea’s YE Yang with €1,473,950.
Stenson’s superb performances during February earned him the award ahead of a pair of outstanding contenders in Mikko Ilonen, who became the first Finnish champion on The European Tour by winning the Enjoy Jakarta Astro Indonesia Open and another Swede, Peter Hedblom, winner of the Maybank Malaysian Open.

North Scottish Golfers' Alliance revisits Black Isle

JOHN CAMPBELL WINS AT FORTROSE
WITH SEVEN-UNDER-PAR 64

By ALAN COWIE
The North Scottish Golfers' Alliance returned to the Black Isle for a fixture at Fortrose & Rosemarkie for the first time in several years.
A total of 116 competitors found a course in excellent condition for the time of year and greens that had several competitors struggling to cope with their faster pace.
The leading scratch score was achieved by John Campbell, from Grantown, who all but wrapped up the aggregate competition with a seven-under-par 64. He has a seven-shot cushion in the aggregates with one round to come.
It took him six holes to score the first of seven birdies which secured a two-stroke victory over Allan Cameron, a local member who plays out of Inverness GC.
Cameron raced to the turn in five-under-31, but slipped up with bogeys at the 12th and 14th.
Graham Short of the host club won the low handicap with a 66 off seven and there was a three- way tie for first in the high handicap section, including Malcolm McArthur, also Fortrose, who had a double-hit tapping in at the 16th.
Leading returns:
SCRATCH
64 J S D Campbell (Grantown).
65 R A L Cameron (Inverness).
67 M Macdonald (Fortrose & Rosemarkie), B Fotheringham (Forres).
70 C Gaittens (Fortrose & Rosemarkie).
71 D Hector (Elgin).
72 K Thomson (Moray), R Mackay (Fortrose & Rosemarkie).
73 G Short (Fortrose & Rosemarkie), K Fowler (Fortrose & Rosemarkie).
74 B Main (Fortrose & Rosemarkie), J A Grant (Grantown), M Mann (Moray).
75 N D Hampton (Loch Ness), L Reid (Fortrose & Rosemarkie), R McKerron (Forres).
76 S Wilson (Inverness), W Kettles (Nairn Dunbar), J Simpson (Forres), W Donnelly (Forres), G Morrison (Fortrose & Rosemarkie) p, M McArthur (Fortrose & Rosemarkie).
77 A W Mair (Moray), J S Macpherson (Forres), W R Duncan (Moray), K Gaittens (Fortrose & Rosemarkie), JAG Innes (Elgin).
78 J Bellshaw (Fortrose & Rosemarkie), A Thomson (Moray) p, J Hearmon (Fortrose & Rosemarkie), A Henry (Grantown), D F Sharp (Boat of Garten).

HANDICAP
Class 1 (eight and under)
66 G Short (Fortrose & Rosemarkie) (7).
67 K Fowler (Fortrose & Rosemarkie) (6).
69 D Hector (Elgin) (2), M Mann (Moray) (5), W R Duncan (Moray) (8), B Main (Fortrose & Rosemarkie) (5).
Class 2 (nine to 14).
67 R B Urquhart (Inverness) (13), M McArthur (Fortrose & Rosemarkie) (9), T Loynes (Boat of Garten)(13).
70 W Fairfield (Nairn Dunbar) (13), A Boxx (Boat of Garten) (9), W Maclennan (Inverness) (12), C Small (Loch Ness)(13).

+Apologies for the late display of Alan Cowie's report due to transmission difficults with AOL.