We invite readers to make comments on our service and golf topics, so we are bound to publish them whether we agree with them or not ...

"Tam Pepper" comments:

See you have begun where you left off before. You are being disrespectful to other Scottish girls and will, at the same time, do nothing for Carly Booth's popularity which you helped destroy a time ago with your biased reporting.
The girl has got it back and you seem intent on taking her backward.
Let the girl play and do the best she can without you putting more pressure on her among her peers.
Let us analyse the Under-21 and Under-18 competitions. Very good girls were missing from both competitions. The Under-21 one was played over Carly's home course. The distance was 5,500 yards. Hardly makes it hard.
The British was totally different.
I suppose that it will be Carly in Wales taking on the rest of the teams and the other Scottish girls will just be a support act. They won't have much to offer to you.
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ANY COMMENTS? Is Tam Pepper right? Have we been "biased" in our reporting of Carly Booth winning the Scottish Under-21 championship by nine strokes and then completing the double by winning the Under-18 title, the first time this has been done since 1998.
LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK.
E-mail your views to colin@scottishgolfview.com

Switch over to www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk to read responses from Laura Walker and Alasdair Malcolm.

Spaniard could be first European Open champion since Paul Lawrie

SERGIO GARCIA STARTS

LAST ROUND WITH THREE

STROKE LEAD FROM

STEVE STRICKER

The 2007 Open championship and his first Major success is Sergio Garcia's for the taking. He will carry a three-stroke lead into Sunday's final round at Carnoustie.
On a day of low scoring, Garcia needed a three-under-par 68 to maintain the pole position he has had since opening the tournament with a 65 on Thursday.

Garcia (pictured right) is on nine-under-par 204.

His closest rival is American Steve Stricker who carded the lowest round ever in an Open championship at Carnoustie. Striker himself is three shots ahead of the group sharing third place, including Paul McGinley, Padraing Harrington, Ernie Els and Paul Broadhurst.
Stricker equalled the course record held by Alan Tait and Colin Montgomerie with a flawless 64 for a six-under-par total of 207.
Stricker, a former Accenture World Match Play champion, birdied the first three holes and picked up further shots at the fifth and seventh, surprisingly missing out on a birdie at the par-5 sixth - statistically the second easiest hole on the course over the first two days.
Out in a best-of-the-week 31, the 40-year-old from Wisconsin also birdied the 13th and 14th and saved par from 30ft on the 15th after driving into a fairway bunker.
That was precisely the sort of round defending champion Tiger Woods had been looking for, but the world No. l had to settle for a 69 after twice hitting people in the crowd with wild shots.
One female spectator needed stitches in a head wound after being hit by Woods' sliced approach to the par-5 sixth hole.
Jennifer Wilson, 63, from County Antrim, was presented with a signed glove and ball from an apologetic Woods after suffering a cut to the left side of her head.
No damage was done when another fan was struck a glancing blow on the 14th, Woods going on to record one of his four birdies on the 514-yard par-5 to finish the day with a 69 for one-under-par 212 - eight shots behind Garcia.

But even Tiger was recalling 1999 winner Paul Lawrie's feat of eight years ago when he started the final round 10 shots off the pace and finished up winning the title after a three-way play-off.
Sadly, Alastair Forsyth's bid for glory came apart at the seams in the third round for which he required 78 shots for 219, the same total as Sandy Lyle.

Dubai-based Ross Bain, who qualified internationally, is the leading Scot on 216.

WEATHER NOTE: Chua Choo Chiang, Media Director of the Asian Tour, in sending out a Press Release about how Korean K J Choi was faring, prefaced his remarks with "On another FROSTY day at Carnoustie ..." Cold, yes. But, frosty? Hardly.

Choi said the chilly temperatures that forced him to use thick mittens to keep his hands warm and ensured that he struggled on the greens. He finished with a 72 to be one of the pack in joint third place on 210. Choi was won twice on the US PGA Tour this season.

THIRD ROUND
Par 213 (3 x 71)

204 Sergio Garcia (Esp) 75 71 68.
207 Steve Stricker (US) 71 72 64
210 Ernie Els (Rsa) 72 70 68, Chris DiMarco (US) 74 70 66, Stewart Cink (US) 69 73 68, Paul McGinley 67 75 68, Paul Broadhurst 71 71 68, Padraig Harrington 69 73 68, K J Choi (Kor) 69 69 72.

211 Vijay Singh (Fij) 72 71 68, Andres Romero (Arg) 71 70 70, Jim Furyk (US) 70 70 71, Mike Weir (Can) 71 69 72, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Esp) 69 70 72.
212 J J Henry (US) 70 71 71, Tiger Woods (US) 69 74 69, Justin Rose 75 70 67, Rich Beem (US) 70 73 69, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 72 73 67
213 Nick Watney (US) 72 71 70, Lucas Glover (US) 71 72 70, Markus Brier (Aut) 68 75 70, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 68 73 72.

214 Paul Casey 72 73 69, Rodney Pampling (Aus) 70 72 72, Pat Perez (US) 73 70 71, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 70 71 73, Zach Johnson (US) 73 73 68, Nick Dougherty 71 74 69, Lee Westwood 71 70 73.
215 Jerry Kelly (US) 74 70 71, Hunter Mahan (US) 73 73 69, Adam Scott (Aus) 73 70 72, Richard Green (Aus) 72 73 70, Jonathan Byrd (USA) 73 72 70 , Boo Weekley (US) 68 72 75.

216 Won Joon Lee (Aus) 73 73 70, Arron Oberholser (US) 73 71 72, Charley Hoffman (US) 75 69 72, Mark Calcavecchia (US) 74 70 72, Shaun Micheel (US) 70 76 70, Ian Poulter 73 73 70, Ben Curtis (US) 72 74 70, Ross Bain 73 71 72
217 Brian Davis 74 72 71, Rory McIlroy 68 76 73, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 75 69 73, John Senden (Aus) 72 74 71, Scott Verplank (US) 72 73 72
218 Michael Campbell (Nzl) 68 78 72, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 70 75 73, Ryan Moore (US) 72 72 74
219 Anders Hansen (Den) 72 73 74, David Howell 72 74 73, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 74 69 76, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 70 75 74, Luke Donald 70 76 73, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 70 72 77, Mark Foster 76 70 73, Sandy Lyle 73 73 73, Alastair Forsyth 70 71 78.
220 Peter Hanson (Swe) 70 74 76, Kevin Stadler (US) 75 71 74, Sean O'Hair (US) 71 75 74, Tom Lehman (USA) 73 73 74, Toru Taniguchi (Jpn) 72 72 76
222 Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 71 74 77, Mark O'Meara (US) 74 72 76, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 72 71 79.
225 Jon Bevan 73 73 79.

DAVID LEADBETTER'S QUICK
TIPS CAN BENEFIT ANY
CLASS OF GOLFER

David Leadbetter is one of the superstars of golf coaching, credited with helping Nick Faldo to several Major tournament wins and continuing to coach the world’s best players such as Ernie Els and Michelle Wie.
“LEADBETTER’S QUICK TIPS is a superbly accessible collection of mini-lessons that anyonhe can benefit from, whatever their golfing standard.
Derived from Leadbetter’s column in the US Golf Digest Magazine, it is lavishly illustrated with colour photographs and graphics.
The tips include:
*Longer and straighter drives.
*Consistency from the fairway.
*More accurate iron play.
*Better bunker shots.
*Making more putts.
David Leadbetter’s other books include the best-selling “The Golf Swing,” “100% Golf” and “Lessons from the Golf Greats.”
++“Leadbetter’s Quick Tips” will be published in hardback by Aurum Press on July 30, priced £12.99

SCORES FROM US PGA TOUR

US BANK CHAMPIONSHIP
Brown Deer Park Golf Club, Milwaukee.
Par 140 (2 x 70)
130 Joe Ogilvie 67 63
132 Jeff Maggert 63 69, Garrett Willis 64 68
133 Tim Herron 66 67, Billy Mayfair 69 64, Steve Flesch 69 64, Craig Bowden 66 67, Bob Heintz 69 64, Tim Clark (RSA) 68 65
134 Kenny Perry 69 65, Will MacKenzie 70 64, Camilo Villegas (Col) 67 67, John Mallinger 68 66, Steve Allan (Aus) 68 66
135 Tom Johnson 66 69, Jesper Parnevik (Swe) 66 69
136 Charlie Wi (Kor) 70 66, Tom Byrum 68 68, Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 70 66, Cliff Kresge 67 69, Tommy Armour III 70 66
137 Brendon De Jonge 63 74, Robert Gamez 65 72, Bernhard Langer (Ger) 72 65, Jeff Brehaut 71 66, Chris Couch 70 67, Steve Wheatcroft 68 69, Mark Wilson 67 70, Jay Delsing 72 65, Jarrod Lyle (Aus) 68 69, Mathew Goggin (Aus) 70 67, Jay Williamson 65 72, Bubba Dickerson 68 69
138 Kent Jones 72 66, Andrew Ruthkoski 74 64, Chris Riley 70 68, Jeff Sluman 71 67, Jeff Gove 70 68, J.P. Hayes 67 71, Heath Slocum 69 69, Michael Allen 71 67, George McNeill 69 69, Rich Barcelo 71 67
139 Kirk Triplett 70 69, Marco Dawson 70 69, Jeff Overton 68 71, Joey Sindelar 73 66, Chris Smith 69 70, Stephen Leaney (Aus) 69 70, Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 74 65, D. J. Trahan 71 68, Steve Elkington (Aus) 66 73, Alex Cejka (Ger) 68 71, Briny Baird 68 71
140 Michael Bradley 71 69, Daisuke Maruyama (Jpn) 73 67, Tony Finau 75 65, Chris Tidland 68 72, Nathan Green (Aus) 71 69, Bob Estes 68 72, Ryan Palmer 72 68, Dicky Pride 68 72, Craig Kanada 70 70, Larry Mize 68 72, Mark Brooks 71 69, Jason Dufner 70 70, Bob Tway 75 65, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 69 71, Anthony Kim 72 68, Matt Hendrix 74 66, Olin Browne 71 69
MISSED THE CUT
141 Brian Gay 67 74, Neal Lancaster 69 72, Lee Janzen 75 66, James Driscoll 68 73, Billy Andrade 72 69, Bill Haas 69 72, Paul Goydos 71 70, Dan Forsman 71 70, Bo Van Pelt 69 72, Tripp Isenhour 72 69, Ron Philo Jr 71 70
142 Michael Sim (Sco) 71 71, Jon Turcott 69 73, Ted Purdy 69 73, Parker McLachlin 67 75, Alex Aragon 73 69, Kevin Na (Kor) 68 74, Daniel Chopra (Swe) 71 71, Corey Pavin 69 73, Glen Day 74 68, Shigeki Maruyama (Jpn) 71 71, Skip Kendall 69 73, Troy Matteson 70 72
143 Paul Gow (Aus) 72 71, John Merrick 73 70, Paul Stankowski 74 69, David Branshaw 72 71, Brent Geiberger 71 72, Bob May 73 70, Brad Faxon 68 75, Kyle Reifers 72 71, DJ Brigman 71 72, Johnson Wagner 74 69, Frank Lickliter II 70 73
144 Chris Stroud 74 70, Andrew Buckle (Aus) 71 73, Craig Lile (Rsa) 72 72, Charlie Brown 71 73, Jaco Van Zyl (Rsa) 72 72
145 Michael Boyd 72 73, Jim Lemon 77 68, Cameron Beckman 73 72, Gavin Coles (Aus) 73 72
146 Philip Francis 73 73, Jim, jr. Gallagher 70 76, Tag Ridings 73 73, Eric Axley 73 73, Carlos Franco (Par) 75 71, Douglas Labelle 74 72, Jason Schultz 75 71
147 Notah Begay III 74 73, Tim Petrovic 74 73, John Huston 75 72, Jerry Smith 79 68
148 Robert Garrigus 72 76, Ryan Armour 78 70
149 Darron Stiles 72 77, Kris Cox 79 70
150 Craig Perks (Nzl) 74 76
151 Scott Gutschewski 74 77
153 Bryce Molder 79 74

A GRAND PERFORMANCE BY GREIG

HUTCHEON AT PRESTONFIELD

Peterculter's Greig Hutcheon earned himself £1,060 with a four-under-par round of 66 to win the STV Prestonfield pro-am at Prestonfield Golf Club, Edinburgh.
Hutcheon, pictured right, won by one shot from the unattached Dean Robertson.
LEADING SCORES
Par 70
66 G Hutcheon (Peterculter) £1,060.
67 D Robertson (unatt) £847.
68 S Cairns (Westerwood), P McKechnie (Braid Hills), O Leslie (Prestonfield) £498 each.
69 A Lockhart (Ladybank), R Harrower (Boat of Garten), S Rettie (Royal Troon), J McKinnon (Irvine0, A Oldcorn (Kings Acre) £241 each.

LEADING SATURDAY TEE TIMES IN THE OPEN

11:55 Mark Calcavecchia & Jerry Kelly.

12:05 Fredrik Andersson Hed & Rich Beem.

12:15 Markus Brier & Tiger Woods.

12:25 Adam Scott & Raphaël Jacquelin.

12:35 Steve Stricker & Nick Watney.

12:45 Vijay Singh & Pat Perez.

12:55 Lucas Glover & Paul McGinley.

1:05 Stewart Cink & Rod Pampling.

1:20 Padraig Harrington & Gregory Bourdy

1:30 Paul Broadhurst & Ernie Els.

1.40 Retief Goosen & J J Henry.

1:50 Alastair Forsyth & Lee Westwood.

2:00 Andres Romero & Angel Cabrera.

2:10 Jim Furyk & Boo Weekley.

2:20 Mike Weir & Miguel Angel Jiménez.

2.30 K J Choi & Sergio Garcia.

GAVIN DEAR ONLY TWO OFF THE PACE
IN BIARRITZ CUP IN FRANCE

Gavin Dear from Murrayshall Golf Club, Perth is only two shots off the pace at the halfway stage of the Biarritz Cup over Le Phare course at Biarritz Golf Club in southwest France.
Gavin has had rounds of 65 and 69 for a four-under-par tally of 134 over the short (little over 6,000yd) but tricky par 69 lay-out.
Xavier Poncelet and Andres Cuenaa lead on six-under-par 132.
Gordon Yates (Hilton Park) and Ross Kellett (Colville Park) are among a bunch of players sharing 27th place on 139. Gordon has scored 70 and 69 while Ross's rounds have been 69 and 70.

LEADERBOARD
132 Xaver Poncelet 67 65, Andres Cuenca 66 66.
133 Pedro Oriol 63 70.
134 Jorge Campillo 67 67, Gavin Dear (Murrayshall) 65 69.
Other Scots:
139 Gordon Yates (Hilton Park) 70 69, Ross Kellett (Colville Park) 69 70.

The Editor thought you would like to read the following article, written by:

MICHAEL BAMBERGER
Senior Writer, Sports Illustrated.

OPEN STARTER IVOR ROBSON IS TOO
BUSY TO PLAY THE GAME

In Scotland, in summer, golf is an evening game. The St. Andrews locals have the first tee — no tourists allowed — between 5 p.m. and half-6, as they call the hour when the evening news comes on at home.
At 10 p.m., you'll still see people playing through the Valley of Sin in front of the home green on the Old Course. If the day's been bright, there's still a lovely light at that hour. If the day has been gray and overcast, there's still enough light to see the hole and make your final putt. Golf in the Scottish gloaming is one of the game's modest pleasures.
On the weekend at Carnoustie, the leaders will go around half-3, Scotland national time, 10:30 a.m. in the U.S. Eastern zone, 7:30 a.m. in the Pacific. Sergio Garcia, sitting pretty through 36 holes, said the long wait for a late tee time is never easy, but it beats the alternative. On the weekend, the better you're playing, the later you play.
But in the opening rounds, on Thursday and Friday, the last times of the day are reserved for obscure qualifiers. Today, at 4:21 p.m., the last group of the day went off: Won Joon Lee of Australia, Douglas McGuigan of Scotland and Toshinori Muto of Japan.
Before teeing off on Friday, McGuigan spoke to a friend in South Africa, who said, "Before you're done playing, I'll be drunk." As they say, it's 5 o'clock somewhere. More specifically, when it's 9 p.m. on Friday in Carnoustie — the rounds take between four and five hours here — it's 10 p.m in Durban, South Africa. The party is on.
It's not quite accurate to call McGuigan Scottish. His father, Frankie, is a Scot, and a long-retired professional footballer (soccer player) who played in Scotland, England, Canada and South Africa, all places where his son Douglas has lived.
Douglas lives, really, in Durban, but the official Open draw sheet lists his home country as Scotland, for reasons of local pride.
When Ivor Robson, the white-haired starter working his 33rd Open championship, announced McGuigan, he lingered, in his distinctive sing-song voice, on the word Scotland, and the little mellow crowd gathered on the first tee let out a little cheer. There's more art in what Robson does than he could ever know. In his mind, he says, he calls them all the same.
McGuigan's been playing evening golf all his life, in Scottish summers and in the long Canadian summer nights, too. "We'll say, 'Do you want to play tonight?'" That means a 6 p.m. start, after a day in the shop, or on the range picking balls.
Robson, a professional golfer by background, has his own custom for marking the end of the day. He says, "On the tee, the final game of the afternoon," and then he fills in the blank.
He doesn't play much golf anymore. "I'm too busy," he said Friday.
His job — he works many European tour events, too — keeps him on a golf course all day long. A lot of people who work in golf lose the burning desire to play. Their job fulfills their golfing desires. "I don't have time for it." In actual fact, he does. It all depends how you look at it.
He could get out of his red blazer and tie while walking to the car park and be on the first tee of some nearby course by 5 p.m. Five hours of daylight left.
In Scotland, if you're playing in, say, a two-ball match, you could play 36 in that time. For Lee and McGuigan and Moto — and all the others playing Carnoustie — 18 a day will be plenty.

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

NORTH DOUBLE WHAMMY OVER NORTH-EAST
IN TEENAGE MATCHES AT HOPEMAN

North beat North-east at Under-18 and Under-16 levels in an inter-district match at Hopeman Golf Club this week.
Details:
NORTH U-18s 6, NORTH-EAST U-18s 3
Foursomes: F Fotheringham (Nairn), R Asher (Nairn) lost to S Fraser (Royal Aberdeen), A Dunton (McDonald Ellon) 2 and 1; C Gaittens (Fortrose & Rosemarkie), K Godsman (Hopeman) bt M Campbell Buckpool), R Penny (Portlethen) 5 and 4; S Connell (Inverness), A Begg (Muir of Ord) lost to T Spencer (Inchmarlo), C Treham (Inchmarlo) 3 and 2 (1-2).
Singles: Fotheringham bt Fraser 3 and 2, Gaittens bt Campbell 1 hole, Asher bt Penny 3 and 1, Begg bt Trehan 1 hole, Connell lost to Spencer 4 and 2, Godsman bt Dunton 3 and 2 (5-1).
NORTH U-16s 5, NORTH-EAST U-16s 4
Foursomes: L Reid (Fortrose & Rosemarkie), M Ross (Fortrose &Rosemarkie) halved with D Law (Hazlehead), C Robb (Inchmarlo); C Stewart (Brora), M Laing (Inverness) bt N McAndrew (Cullen), D Christie (Portlethen) 5 and 3; R Clarke (Moray), J Treasurer (Loch Ness) lost to J Littler (Inchmarlo), W Rennie (Royal Aberdeen) 3 and 1 (1 ½-1 ½).
Singles: Reid lost to Law 5 and 4, Clarke bt Robb 3 and 1, Stewart bt Littler 5 and 3, Treasurer halved with Rennie, Ross bt Christie 3 and 2, Laing lost to McAndrew 5 and 4 (3 ½-2 ½).

Alastair Forsyth leading Scot as Open enters third day at Carnoustie

PAUL LAWRIE AND COLIN MONTGOMERIE

MISS CUT (at 9.18pm) AS GARCIA

LEADS BY TWO AT HALFWAY STAGE

Paul Lawrie, the 1999 winner, and Colin Montgomerie, who has never won a Major, failed by one shot to survive the cut at four-over-par 146 in the Open championship at Carnoustie. Mind you, neither did Phil Mickelson but that will be no comfort for Paul and Colin.

Korean-born Australian Lee Won-joon expects to be an unpopular guy after defying the gathering gloom to put Montgomerie, Lawrie, Justin Leonard, Henrik Stenson and six others out of the Open.

Lee was in the final group and had to avoid a double-bogey 6 on the 499yd par-4 18th to make the halfway cut four over par 146, rather than five over 147. The Sydney-based golfer missed the green to the right but chipped on and two-putted.

It was 9.18pm by then and it was only then that Lawrie, winner on the course in 1999, Montgomerie, the course record holder, Leonard, beaten in the play-off eight years ago, and the others discovered their fate.

Acting as Lee's caddie was Englishman Pete Coleman, who for many years worked for Bernhard Langer.

"Peter told me he didn't want me to go to five over because it would bring in a few other guys," Lee joked.

"So we made sure I was going to make 5. I wouldn't go around telling anyone. There will probably be a big mob at the first tee!"

For Montgomerie it was a fifth straight missed cut in major championships since blowing his chance to win last year's US Open at Winged Foot.

"I'm disappointed obviously. I didn't play well but I battled well and played the last five holes in one under par, which is as good as it gets," said the 44-year-old.

"It wasn't easy. I played well on Thursday but didn't putt well."

Asked where he would be with a combination of first-round ball-striking and second-round putting, Montgomerie said: "I would be leading. But I'm not."
Alastair Forsyth (pictured above), Ross Bain and former Open champion Sandy Lyle are the only Scots through to the Saturday and Sunday action. Alastair, on 141, is five strokes behind the leader through the first two rounds, US-based Spaniard Sergio Garcia.

EARLY NERVES

Garcia overcame early nerves to retain his two-stroke lead - with more than a little help from an off-form Tiger Woods.
But now comes the hard part for the 27-year-old Spaniard - 12 times he has finished in the top 10 in majors, but not once yet has he achieved victory.
A chance to follow in the footsteps of his compatriots Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal has arrived again on the same course where eight years ago he had the worst two rounds of his professional career.
From the nightmare of his 30-over-par total at Carnoustie in 1999, when rounds of 89 and 83 left him dead last - the world No. 13 today added a level-par 71 to his sparkling opening 65. A shot-a-hole improvement over the two days.
And with Woods' bid for a third successive Claret Jug hitting trouble from the moment he hooked a "safety" iron out of bounds off the first tee - he eventually came off with a 74 to fall seven behind - Garcia's six-under-par halfway total of 136 was always likely to keep him at the top of the leaderboard in the windy conditions.
South Korean KJ Choi, one place ahead of Garcia on the world rankings after two recent wins on the US Tour, looked for a while as if he might at least draw level with him after birdies at the 14th and 15th brought him one behind.
But he was almost in the Barry Burn with his closing drive and with a bogey 5 had to settle for a second successive 69.
Choi was still second on his own in the clubhouse, one ahead of Garcia's countryman Miguel Angel Jimenez and Canadian Mike Weir, while out on the course in-form Swede Pelle Edberg also stood three under with the feared closing four-hole stretch still to come in the cold of the evening. Edberg succumbed to a 73 for 145.
Sadly for the Irish fans, Paul McGinley, second overnight, hit early trouble and was down to level par with two to play. He finished on 75 for 142, while 18-year-old amateur Rory McIlroy failed to rediscover the magic of an initial 68 that had put him joint third.

SILVER MEDAL FOR RORY
But even with a 76 he was safely inside the halfway cut mark at two over 144 - and guaranteed the Silver Medal as leading amateur after 72 holes, because Rory is the ONLY amateur to get past the cut.

And that was more than world No 2 Phil Mickelson could say. With a double bogey on the last he crashed to a 77 and six over-par 148. He missed the cut by two strokes.

Only 12 men are under par after 36 holes which speaks volumes for Carnoustie as a true Open test of would-be champions. No 1999-style complaints about the rough or the narrowness of the fairways, just a recognition that Carnoustie is a course to sort out the men from the boys.

QUALIFIERS FOR THIRD ROUND
Par 142 (2 x 71)
136 Sergio Garcia (Spa) 65 71
138 K J Choi (Kor) 69 69
139 Mike Weir (Can) 71 68, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 69 70
140 Jim Furyk (US) 70 70, Boo Weekley (USA) 68 72
141 J J Henry (US) 70 71, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 70 71, Andres Romero (Arg) 71 70, Alastair Forsyth 70 71, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 68 73, Lee Westwood 71 70
142 Rodney Pampling (Aus) 70 72, Ernie Els (Rsa) 72 70, Stewart Cink (US) 69 73, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 70 72, Paul McGinley 67 75, Padraig Harrington 69 73, Paul Broadhurst 71 71
143 Steve Stricker (US) 71 72, Nick Watney (US) 72 71, Tiger Woods (US) 69 74, Pat Perez (US) 73 70, Adam Scott (Aus) 73 70, Lucas Glover (US) 71 72, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 72 71, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 74 69, Vijay Singh (Fij) 72 71, Rich Beem (US) 70 73, Markus Brier (Aut) 68 75
144 Jerry Kelly (US) 74 70, Charley Hoffman (US) 75 69, Arron Oberholser (US) 73 71, Chris DiMarco (US) 74 70, Ross Bain 73 71, Toru Taniguchi (Jpn) 72 72, Peter Hanson (Swe) 70 74, Rory McIlroy (am) 68 76, Mark Calcavecchia (US) 74 70, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 75 69, Ryan Moore (US) 72 72
145 Anders Hansen (Den) 72 73, Nick Dougherty 71 74, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 72 73, Paul Casey 72 73, Justin Rose 75 70, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 71 74, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 70 75, Richard Green (Aus) 72 73, Scott Verplank (US) 72 73, Jonathan Byrd (US) 73 72, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 70 75
146 Ben Curtis (US) 72 74, Won Joon Lee (Aus) 73 73, Sean O'Hair (US) 71 75, Mark O'Meara (US) 74 72, Shaun Micheel (US) 70 76, Sandy Lyle 73 73, Brian Davis 74 72, Zach Johnson (US) 73 73, Michael Campbell (NZ) 68 78, David Howell 72 74, John Senden (Aus) 72 74, Tom Lehman (US) 73 73, Jon Bevan 73 73, Hunter Mahan (US) 73 73, Kevin Stadler (US) 75 71, Ian Poulter 73 73, Luke Donald 70 76, Mark Foster 76 70.
MISSED THE CUT
147 Tomohiro Kondo (Jpn) 74 73, Colin Montgomerie 73 74, Tom Pernice (USA) 74 73, Matthew Zions (Aus) 72 75, Johan Edfors (Swe) 72 75, Joe Durant (US) 77 70, Justin Leonard (US) 74 73, Paul Lawrie 73 74, Peter Fowler (Aus) 74 73, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 71 76.
148 Benn Barham 75 73, David Toms (US) 71 77, Toshimitsu Izawa (Jpn) 75 73, Darren Clarke 72 76, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 74 74, Phil Mickelson (US) 71 77, John Rollins (US) 72 76, Brett Quigley (US) 72 76, Drew Weaver (US) (am) 76 72, Gregory Havret (Fra) 72 76
149 Steve Alker (NZ) 74 75, Adilson Da Silva (Bra) 74 75, Ross Fisher 74 75, Peter Baker 73 76, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 75 74, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 71 78, Achi Sato (Jpn) 71 78, David Frost (Rsa) 74 75, Hideto Tanihara (Jpn) 72 77, Charles Howell III (US) 73 76, Chad Campbell (US) 74 75, Loren Roberts (USA) 74 75, Brett Wetterich (US) 75 74, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 74 75
150 Spencer Levin (US) 76 74, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 77 73, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 76 74, Mattias Eliasson (Swe) 74 76, Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 76 74, Graeme McDowell 77 73, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 75 75, Davis Love III (US) 79 71, Michael Putnam (US) 78 72, Matt Kuchar (US) 74 76, John Daly (US) 74 76, David Higgins 79 71, Bradley Dredge 76 74, Paul Sheehan (Aus) 75 75, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 76 74
151 Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 78 73, Richie Ramsay (am) 76 75, John Bickerton 75 76, Stephen Ames (Can) 81 70
152 Robert Karlsson (Swe) 74 78, Nick Faldo 79 73, Yong-eun Yang (Kor) 74 78, Robert Allenby (Aus) 73 79, Oliver Wilson 80 72, Kevin Harper 77 75.
153 Anthony Wall 77 76, Toshinori Muto (Jpn) 74 79, Dong-Hwan Lee (Jpn) 75 78, David Shacklady 76 77, Todd Hamilton (USA) 81 72, Seung Hoo Lee (Kor) 77 76, Chih-bing Lam (Sin) 76 77, David Coupland 79 74.
154 Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 75 79, Scott Laycock (Aus) 74 80, Steve Parry 73 81, Paul Waring 74 80, Mark Hensby (Aus) 79 75, Anders Hultman (Swe) 77 77
155 Duffy Waldorf (US) 82 73
156 Desvonde Botes (Rsa) 78 78, Vaughn Taylor (US) 82 74
157 Justin Kehoe 78 79, Doug McGuigan 77 80
158 Llewellyn Matthews (am) 75 83, Ben Bunny (Aus) 81 77, Graeme Storm 78 80
160 David Gleeson (Aus) 83 77, Scott Drummond 79 81, Adam Groom (Aus) 79 81
161 Tony Jacklin 78 83
162 Ewan Porter (Aus) 83 79

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

CHRIS BEATS GOLFING PAL TOM

IN FINAL OF NORTH-EAST

DISTRICT BOYS’ MATCH-PLAY

Chris Robb, pictured right, rallied from two down after 11 holes to beat his Inchmarlo clubmate Tom Spencer 3 and 1 to win the North-east District boys’ match-play title for the Bill Brown Trophy at Murcar Links Golf Club today.
On Thursday, Spencer won the district’s Under-18 boys’ stroke-play championship with Robb runner-up and winner of the Under-16s’ trophy.
The match was all square at the turn with both players out in level par 36.
Spencer went two up, winning the 10th and 11th with par figures before Robb found his touch again to win the 12th, 13th and 14th with a birdie-par-birdie run.
Spencer three-putted for a fourth time to go two down at the 16th and then lost ball off the tee at the next to lose a match which played at an admirable speed – 2hr 50min – and on a busy course at that.

Results
Semi-finals – C Robb (Inchmarlo) bt S Griffiths (Cullen) 3 and 2, T Spencer (Inchmarlo) bt R Bain (Strathlene) 1 hole.

Final – Robb bt Spencer 3 and 1.

RECORD NUMBER TO TEE UP FOR SENIOR OPEN
QUALIFYING AT CRAIGIELAW, DUNBAR
AND NORTH BERWICK ON MONDAY

A record number of 337 qualifiers, including 74 amateurs, will be attempting to earn one of the final 34 remaining spots available for entry into The Senior Open Championship, presented by Aberdeen Asset Management, at Muirfield from July 26-29, when Pre Qualifying takes place at three of east Scotland’s most testing links circuits.
On Monday, Craigielaw Golf Club, Dunbar Golf Club and North Berwick Golf Club will respectively host the many senior golfers seeking a route into the Senior Major, which gets underway on Thursday at the famous East Lothian club.
Highlighting the growth and stature of The European Seniors Tour, and particularly the special lure of The Senior Open Championship, it is the third consecutive year Pre Qualifying numbers have grown.
In 2005, 264 golfers entered Pre Qualifying and last year, 302 players teed it up in their efforts to join those already exempt for the Championship.
Each of the 34 qualifiers this time around will be hoping to emulate Pete Oakley, who, in 2004, made history by becoming the first qualifier to win The Senior Open title when he claimed a one shot victory at Royal Portrush Golf Club.
The previously unknown American, from Lincoln, Delaware, shocked the golfing world with his play and courage to hold off experienced challengers Tom Kite, Eduardo Romero and Mark James in Northern Ireland.
Oakley started the final round with a one stroke lead and held his nerve to fire a two under par 70 – getting up and down from a greenside bunker on the 18th hole to finish the tournament on four under par 284, one ahead of Kite and Romero, with James a further shot back.
This year, the 72 hole Senior Open Championship has 110 exempt players guaranteed their place at Muirfield – and among them are a host of legends, including 14 former Major Champions, and 21 Senior Major Champions.
Six times Major Champion Nick Faldo makes his European Seniors Tour debut, having turned 50 on July 18, and returns to the course where he won two of his three Open Championships, in 1987 and 1992.
Eight times Major Champion Tom Watson – who won five Open Championships in his prolific career – also won at Muirfield, in 1980, and returns keen to claim his second Senior Open in as many years, after winning at Royal Aberdeen in 2005 when he beat Ireland's Des Smyth at the third extra hole in their play-off.
That was Watson's fourth Senior Major victory, and second in a play-off, having beaten England's Carl Mason at the Westin Turnberry Resort in 2003. By winning at Turnberry, he joined Bob Charles as the only player to win an Open Golf Championship and Senior Open Championship at the same venue.
Wayne Grady, Tony Jacklin and Mark O’Meara are also in the 144 man field alongside the cream of international Seniors golfing talent.
Grady, winner of the 1990 US PGA Championship, celebrates his 50th birthday on the first day of the Championship and has chosen to swap his place in the BBC television commentary box for a place competing.
Jacklin, winner of The Open Championship in 1969 and the US Open Championship the following year, and O’Meara, who captured both the Claret Jug and the Masters Tournament during 1998, will be joined at the renowned links course by former Major winners Bob Charles, Ben Crenshaw, Tom Kite, John Mahaffey, Jerry Pate, Gary Player, Dave Stockton, Scott Simpson and Craig Stadler.
Last year’s Senior Open Championship, presented by Aberdeen Asset Management, was won by former United States Ryder Cup player Loren Roberts, who defeated Eduardo Romero on the first play-off hole at The Westin Turnberry Resort.
The Senior Open Championship began in 1987 and its most prolific winner is Gary Player, who has three victories to his name.

CARLY MAKES WALLY A PROUD DAD

Proud dad Wally Booth with his 15-year-old daughter Carly Booth after her success in the final of the Scottish Under-18 girls championship over the Peterhead links this morning. Carly beat Megan Briggs (Kilmacolm) 2 and 1 in a quality final between two very good young players. Full report on www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk

Wally, an Aberdonian, knows what it's like to be close to silverware. He was a Commonwealth Games silver medallist at wrestling.

How did he and his Liverpool-born wife Pauline choose Carly for their daughter's name? Well, Carly Simon the singer was Top of the Pops around 15 years ago ...

NORTH OF SCOTLAND SENIORS OPEN AT NAIRN DUNBAR

Leading first round scores (Par 72, CSS 74)

 

69-I C Hutcheon.

 

70-I Stewart.

 

72-P Tomisson.

 

73-F Urquhart.

 

74-J W Johnston, A K Pirie, J Watt, R Stewart, D Miller, G Paterson.

vcen

75-S Ellis, G Maatman, P Smith.

 

76-J Paton, J Johnston, R Paton, G Rees, M Jenkins, K Howie, C Christy.

 

77-D McCart, J Fraser, C Stewart, D Smith, W Kettles, K Bruce, R McLellan, R Edgar.

 

78-F Sharp, G Rodaks, B Grieve, D McQuade, J Broadfoot, D Brodie, J McDonald, A Fiddes, G MacDonald.

 

79-C Alexander, R Grant, R Millar, G Thomson, S Pond.

 

80-J Kinloch, R Gill, P Lamb, M Elder, D Miller.

 

81-B Methven, A Laird, P York, P Kinloch, C Moir, B Nicholson, L Fowler, D Albutt, A Cameron.

 

82-I Brotherston, K Lumsden, D Bunker, G Anderson, J MacPherson, M Lironi, D Dodson.

 

++Second and final round being played today.

DOUGLAS PHILIP TROPHY FINALISTS

 Royal Aberdeen's Steven Buchan will meet Stewart Finnie (Caledonian) in the final of the Douglas Philip Trophy – the match-play championship for Aberdeen golf club champions – at Deeside Golf Club on Sunday (10am).

In the semi-finals, Buchan beat Lee Vitesse (Nigg Bay) by two holes while Finnie beat Matthew Greig (Bon Accord) by 2 and 1.

 

GAVIN DEAR (65) IN JOINT THIRD PLACE
IN BIARRITZ CUP

Gavin Dear (Murrayshall) had a four-under-par round of 65 in the first round of the Biarritz Cup international amateur tournament over the shortish but tricky Le Phare course at Biarritz Golf Club.
The course measures only 5402 metres - about 6,000 yards - but it has 70 bunkers, and when the wind blows off the Bay of Biscay to this southwest French venue, the locals say the par can be as high as 75!
Ross Kellett from Colville Park had a 69 to be lying third and Gordon Yates (Stirling University), the third player sent by the Scottish Golf Union to play in last week's Chiberta Grand Prix and stay on for the Biarritz Cup, had a 70 to be joint 52nd in the massive field of 162 players.
Romain Barbey leads the way with a seven-under-par 62, one ahead of Pedro Oriol.
Then come comes Gavin Dear in joint third place on 65 with three players.

OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP
FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
Carnoustie. Par 71
Players GB&I unless stated.
65 Sergio Garcia (Spa)
67 Paul McGinley
68 Rory McIlroy, Michael Campbell (Nzl), Boo Weekley (USA), Markus Brier (Aut), Angel Cabrera (Arg)
69 Tiger Woods (USA), Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), KJ Choi (Kor), Stewart Cink (USA), Padraig Harrington
70 Rodney Pampling (Aus), Retief Goosen (Rsa), Peter Hanson (Swe), J J Henry (USA), Jim Furyk (USA), Thomas Bjorn (Den), Shaun Micheel (USA), Alastair Forsyth, Rich Beem (USA), Luke Donald, Gregory Bourdy (Fra), Carl Pettersson (Swe)
71 Steve Stricker (USA), Lucas Glover (USA), Nick Dougherty, David Toms (USA), Achi Sato (Jpn), Nick O'Hern (Aus), Paul Broadhurst, Phil Mickelson (USA), Trevor Immelman (Rsa), Sean O'Hair (USA), Mike Weir (Can), Andres Romero (Arg), Lee Westwood, Henrik Stenson (Swe)
72 Nick Watney (USA), Anders Hansen (Den), Ben Curtis (USA), Pelle Edberg (Swe), Johan Edfors (Swe), Toru Taniguchi (Jpn), Vijay Singh (Fij), Brett Quigley (USA), Ernie Els (Rsa), Gregory Havret (Fra), David Howell, John Senden (Aus), Matthew Zions (Aus), Darren Clarke, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe), Hideto Tanihara (Jpn), Paul Casey, John Rollins (USA), Richard Green (Aus), Scott Verplank (USA), Ryan Moore (USA)
73 Charles Howell III (USA), Won Joon Lee (Aus), Sandy Lyle, Arron Oberholser (USA), Pat Perez (USA), Adam Scott (Aus), Zach Johnson (USA), Colin Montgomerie, Peter Baker, Tom Lehman (USA), Ross Bain, Steve Parry, Hunter Mahan (USA), Jon Bevan, Robert Allenby (Aus), Paul Lawrie, Ian Poulter, Jonathan Byrd (USA)
74 Ross Fisher, Adilson Da Silva (Bra), David Frost (Rsa), John Daly (USA), Robert Karlsson (Swe), Chad Campbell (USA), Justin Leonard (USA), Yong-eun Yang (Kor), Mark O'Meara (USA), Peter Fowler (Aus), Stuart Appleby (Aus), Scott Laycock (Aus), Brian Davis, Jerry Kelly (USA), Steve Alker (Nzl), Mattias Eliasson (Swe), Paul Waring, Chris DiMarco (USA), Tomohiro Kondo (Jpn), Tom Pernice (USA), Toshinori Muto (Jpn), Matt Kuchar (USA), Terry Pilkadaris (Aus), Raphael Jacquelin (Fra), Mark Calcavecchia (USA), Loren Roberts (USA)
75 Charley Hoffman (USA), Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Benn Barham, Llewellyn Matthews, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus), Toshimitsu Izawa (Jpn), John Bickerton, Jose-Filipe Lima (Por), Kevin Stadler (USA), Justin Rose, Niclas Fasth (Swe), Dong-Hwan Lee (Jpn), Brett Wetterich (USA), Paul Sheehan (Aus)
76 Francesco Molinari (Ita), Spencer Levin (USA), Richie Ramsay (am), Rory Sabbatini (Rsa), David Shacklady, Chih-bing Lam (Sin), Drew Weaver (USA) (am), Mark Foster, Richard Sterne (Rsa), Bradley Dredge
77 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Anthony Wall, Joe Durant (USA), Graeme McDowell, Anders Hultman (Swe), Kevin Harper, Doug McGuigan, Seung Hoo Lee (Kor)
78 Desvonde Botes (Rsa), Aaron Baddeley (Aus), Justin Kehoe, Michael Putnam (USA), Tony Jacklin, Graeme Storm
79 Nick Faldo, Davis Love III (USA), Mark Hensby (Aus), Scott Drummond, David Higgins, Adam Groom (Aus), David Coupland
80 Oliver Wilson
81 Ben Bunny (Aus), Todd Hamilton (USA), Stephen Ames (Can)
82 Duffy Waldorf (USA), Vaughn Taylor (USA)
83 David Gleeson (Aus), Ewan Porter (Aus)

CLARK WINS AGAIN AND JACK DOHERTY PICKS
UP £2,500 CHEQUE FOR THIRD PLACE

Englishman Graeme Clark has become the first golfer to win two PGA EuroPro Tour events this season. Clark ended on 12-under-PAR 204 to triumph by four shots at The Players Club in Bristol for his second victory of the campaign, after also finishing first at Faithlegg, Waterford in May.
Five shots clear of the field goin ginto the final day, Graeme held his nerve with a third round of 70 to claim the £10,000 top prize.
This victory moves him back to the top of the Order of Merit standings and he has now won more than £24,000 this year.
His impressive form means Clark is now almost certain to be competing in the Tour Championship in October. The top five golfers in the PGA EuroPro Tour Order of Merit standings after the Tour championship will move up to the Challenge Tour and be a step closer to playing on the main European Tour.
Elsewhere, Mark Smith (Erewash Valley) has jumped up to tenth in the Order of Merit after finishing second. .
Scotland’s Jack Doherty finished third to collect £2,500, while Welshman Alex Smith, England’s Martin Le Mesurier and Ireland’s Brendan McCarroll came tied fourth.
The next event in the PGA EuroPro Tour season is the Towergate Insurance Championship at Maylands Golf and Country Club in Harold Park, near Romford, Essex.
This will be held from Wednesday, August 1 to Friday, August 3.

LEADING TOTALS
Par 216 (3 x 72)
204 G Clark (Eng) 69 65 70 (£10,000).
208 M Smith (Eng) 71 69 69 (£5,000).
209 J Doherty (Sco) 72 69 68 (£2,500).
212 A Smith (Wal) 72 72 68, M Le Mesurier 9Eng) 69 73 70, B McCarroll (Ire) 72 67 73 (£1,433 each).
Other Scottish totals:
217 A Hay (Royal Winchester) 69 72 76 (jt 22nd) (£360).
220 E Saltman 75 71 74 (jt 36th) (£260).
224 J Taylor 78 69 77 (jt 49th) (£197).
225 G Gordon 73 72 80 (53rd) £185)

WILLIAM BREMNER RETAINS ANGUS BOYS
MATCH-PLAY TITLE AT BRECHIN

William Bremner (Edzell) retained the Angus County Golf Association boys' match-play title at Brechin Golf Club today.
He beat A Cappi (Letham Grange), the Angus boys' stroke-play champion from 2007 and 2006.

Details:
STROKE-PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP
69 A Cappi (Letham Grange).
71 W Bremner junior (Edzell).
73 R Storrier (Downfield).
MATCH-PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP
Quarter-finals
A Cappi (Letham Grange) bt G Farquharson (Kirriemuir) 5 and 4.
D Lawrence (Ballumbie) bt D Mellon (Carnoustie) 3 and 2.
W Bremner junior (Edzell) bt M McKenzie (Forfar) 2 holes.
R Storrie (Downfield) bt R Mitchell (Downfield) 5 and 4.
Semi-fiinals
Cappi bt Lawrie 2 and 1.
Bremner b t Storrier 3 and 2.
Final
Bremner bt Cappi 6 and 5.

Inchmarlo Golf Club pair score double whammy at Murcar Links

Chris Robb (Inchmarlo), winner of the North-east District Under-16 boys' championship at Murcar Links today.

Tom Spencer with the North-east District boys' championship trophy at Murcar Links.

TOM SPENCER BACK IN FORM TO WIN
NORTH-EAST BOYS’ CHAMPIONSHIP

Scotland boy international Tom Spencer regained the form that gained him a cap by winning the North-east District boys’ championship after a long, long day's golf at Murcar Links.
Spencer opened up a four-stroke lead with a first-round, two-under-par 69 to which he added a 74 for a one-over-par tally of 143.
Tom had bogey-free opening round highlighted by birdies at the first and short fifth in halves of 34 and 35. He again got a 2 at the fifth second time round and a birdie 3 at the ninth but his halves of 36 and 38 also included five bogeys, three on them on the inward half.
Neverthless, Spencer had three shots to spare at the finish from Inchmarlo clubmate Chris Robb who had a pair of 73s for 146.
Robb won the Under-16s trophy.
Sam Griffiths (Cullen), the long-time clubhouse leader, finished third on 147 with 74 and 73.
Sam won the prize for the best net aggregate of 139.

+++Two players, Steven Smith (Deeside) and Fraser Clarke (Westhill), both had holes in one at the short fifth.

The top four players qualify to contest the North-east District boys' match-play championship, also at Murcar Links, on Friday. The semi-finals, starting at 8.45am, are:

Tom Spencer v Ryan Bain (Strathlene) (better second round than two others who finished on 148).

Chris Robb v Sam Griffiths.

The leading 12 players (also those on 151 or better plus one from the 152 mark: Ewan Barrack with a better second round) qualified to be the North-east District representatives in the Platform 2 boys and girls tournament, sponsored by Eric Lindsay, at Letham Grange on Sunday, September 16.

NORTH-EAST DISTRICT UNDER-18 BOYS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
Murcar Links. Par 71, CSS 73 72.
LEADING SCRATCH
143 T Spencer (Inchmarlo) 69 74.
146 C Robb (Inchmarlo) 73 73.
147 S Griffiths (Cullen) 74 73.
148 R Bain (Strathlene) 75 73, C Trahan (Inchmarlo) 74 74, A Dunton (McDonald Ellon) 74 74.
150 O Coull (Buckpool) 76 74, S Robertson (Hazlehead) 75 75, M Campbell (Buckpool) 77 73, D Law (Hazlehead) 78 72.
151 F Clarke (Westhill) 80 71.
152 M Stainton (Peterhead) 77 75, E Barrack (Oldmeldrum) 78 74, W Rennie (Royal Aberdeen) 77 75, R Penny (Portlethen) 75 77.
153 K Watson (Newburgh) 78 75, S Strachan (Inverallochy) 76 77.
155 C Cromar (Lumphanan) 76 79, E McIntosh (McDonald Ellon) 80 75.
156 N Barnes (Deeside) 74 82, C Chalmers (Oldmeldrum) 80 76, C Brown (Stonehaven) 77 79, S Brown (Murcar Links) 78 78, J Scott (Deeside) 77 79.
157 M Mair (Cullen) 84 73.
158 R Milne (Aboyne) 78 80, N McAndrew (Cullen) 81 77.
159 D Ibbotson (Murcar Links) 80 79, D McAndrew (Royal Aberdeen) 80 79, J Robertson (Turriff) 81 78, S Fraser (Royal Aberdeen) 76 83.
160 S Smith (Deeside) 82 78.
163 F O’Connor (Inchmarlo) 84 79, C Ross (Northern) 81 82.
164 M Roger (Fraserburgh) 82 82.
165 M Kelly (Deeside) 80 85.
166 I McLeod (Stonehaven) 83 83.
168 K Booth (Hazlehead) 90 78, G Law (Oldmeldrum) 85 83.
169 S Goodbrand (Westhill) 83 86, M Wiseman (Peterhead) 81 88.
171 G Kennedy (Hazlehead) 90 81, M Patterson (McDonald Ellon) 89 82.
172 M Kidd (Newburgh) 86 86, P Lemon (Peterhead) 92 80.
174 S Sharp (Newburgh) 92 82.
175 M Lawson (Peterhead) 86 89.
179 D Christie (Portlthen) 89 90.
180 G McKechnie (Oldmeldrum) 90 90.

UNDER-14s (Strabathie course, Par 70, CSS 67)
Leading scratch - 72 C Kelman (Deeside). 73 R Gauld (Cruden Bay). 75 J Presley (Deeside). 77 S McNeill (Inchmarlo). 79 R Gordon (Alford), A Carrell (Peterculter). 81 C Campbell (Inchmarlo). 83 G Joss (Royal Aberdeen). 84 C Cross (Peterhead). 85 D Ross (Portlethen). 86 E Robertson (Peterculter). 87 S Skinner (Peterhead). 88 M Fraser (Alford). 89 G Wilson (Alford), C Polson (Auchmill).
Leading handicap – C Kelman (Deeside) (13) 59; J Presly (Deeside) (11), R Gauld (Cruden Bay) (9) 64; R Gordon (Alford) (11), G Joss (Royal Aberdeen) (15), L Minty (Northern) (22) 68; C Campbell (Inchmarlo) (11), E Robertson (Peterculter) (16) 70; S McNeill (Inchmarlo) (6) 71.

CARLY v MEGAN FOR SCOTTISH GIRLS' TITLE

CARLY v MEGAN FOR GIRLS' TITLE

Carly Booth (Comrie) will play Megan Briggs (Kilmacolm) in the 18-hole final of the Scottish girls' championship at Peterhead on Friday morning. Tee off: 9am.

Read all about Thursday's play - Megan had a hole in one at the 16th in her semi-final - and all the results by switching to www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk

SCOTTISH GOLF UNION PRESS RELEASE

BYRNE, STEWART FAVOURITES TO DOMINATE
SCOTTISH BOY' STROKE-PLAY AT CARDRONA

With the ‘Open’ season well and truly underway on Scottish shores this week, Scotland’s future stars of the game will tee up among a field brimming with talented players at the Scottish boys' open amateur stroke play championship next week (Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday, 24-26 July).
The boys' national title will be contested at the MacDonald Cardrona Hotel Golf & Country Club, one of Scotland’s parkland gems set in the picturesque Scottish borders near Peebles.
The event has produced a number of notable champions who have gone on to grace the upper echelons of the amateur game. In 2003, Lloyd Saltman etched his name on the trophy, before progressing to the men’s game to distinguish himself with a stunning array of accolades, including his sensational Open silver medal winning performance in 2005.
Previous winners also include Scottish international Scott Henry (2004) - who narrowly missed out on holding the stroke-play title over two consecutive years, a ‘double feat’ he was only able to clinch in the Scottish match-play event – as well as Scott Jamieson, who is now carving out a promising professional career on the other side of the atlantic.
Aspiring golfers travelling from as far a field as New Zealand, Singapore and the US - as well as a strong contingent from Europe - will provide fierce competition in this three day tournament. Last year’s champion Shaun McAllister (Craigielaw) is too old to contest the title – leaving a wide field of hungry hopefuls keen to cast their eyes over the silverware.
The two lowest handicappers in the event, Scottish caps James Byrne and Michael Stewart will start as two of the favourites. Troon Welbeck star Stewart, who has regularly competed at the highest level on the domestic and international circuit for Scotland, will be keen to get his first SGU ‘major’ individual title under his belt.
Banchory teenager James Byrne, who graduated to the men’s game at the European team championship, helping Scotland to a bronze medal finish at Western Gailes, will also prove to be a worthy contender. With a Junior Tour win under his belt this season and a US golf scholarship beckoning at the end of this summer, the stroke play title would provide a treasured leaving present for one of Scotland’s hottest prospects.
Boasting a number of recent champions, the line up includes Scottish boys' match-play champion Paul Ferrier who raced to victory at Dunbar earlier this year.
Ian Redford, fresh from his win last week at the Scottish Under-16 championship, will be keen to demonstrate his prowess again over a parkland course. Redford will rub shoulders with his King James VI clubmate and former Under-16 champion Sam McLaren, also not to be discounted.
Other names to watch include, boys finalist William Bremner and semi-finalist Jeff O’Malley, who after coming so close to taking their first national title, their keen appetite for a victory will make them likely rivals to the throne.
Action commences at 7am on Tuesday and only the top 40 players plus ties will survive the cut on Wednesday night, to progress to the final 36 holes on Thursday.

FROM THE R&A WEBSITE:

TEXAN COLT KNOST ENTERS WORLD AMATEUR
GOLF RANKINGS' TOP TWENTY

Texan player Colt Knost, entered the top 20 of The R&A World Amateur Golf Ranking after his victory at the US Amateur Public Links in which he defeated Cody Paladino 6 and 4 in the final. The 22-year-old Texan scored just seven bogeys over six rounds at the Cantigny Golf Club in Wheaton Illinois. Knost moves up 18 places to No 17 following on from his win, and he also gains exemption into the 2007 and 2008 US amateur championships.
An invitation to the 2008 Masters is also likely if he remains an amateur. This performance will also strengthen Knost’s bid to feature in the 2007 US Walker Cup team, captained by George “Buddy” Marucci.
American, Rickie Fowler has risen to No 25 after an impressive performance at the Players Amateur held at the Belfair Golf Club in Bluffton, South Carolina. Finishing two strokes ahead of fellow American Michael Thompson at 24 under par, Fowler added to his victory in the Sunnehanna Amateur last month.
As a result of his most recent win, Fowler has climbed 118 places in the rankings. The second place finish has moved Thompson firmly inside the top 20, at No 16 while third place player Kyle Stanley remains at No 9.
Englishman Seve Benson has moved up 25 places to No 42, following his victory in the Tillman Trophy at Wentworth. The Wentworth player carded an aggregate of 285 to claim victory by a solitary stroke over Dale Whitnell who climbed up 130 places to No 118 in The R&A World Amateur Golf Ranking.

The new top 31 are:
1 Jamie Lovemark (US) 1093.75.
2 Billy Horschel (USA) 1050.82.
3 Jamie Moul (Eng) 1050.00.
4 Rhys Davies (Wal) 1049.18.
5 Lloyd Saltman (Sco) 1045.76.
6 Dustin Johnson (USA) 1038.89.
7 Chris Kirk (USA) 1034.92.
8 Webb Simpson (USA) 1016.39.
9 Kyle Stanley (USA) 1005.00
10 Alan Wagner (Arg) 992.11
11 Daniel Summerhays (USA) 982.61.
12 John Parry (Eng) 972.73.
13 Richie Ramsay (Sco) 969.05.
14 David Horsey (Eng) 962.90.
15 Gary Boyd (Eng) 955.81.
16 Michael Thompson (USA) 950.91.
17 Colt Knost (USA) 949.18.
18 Rory McIlroy (Ire) 945.61.
19 Gary Wolstenholme (Eng) 945.21.
20 Paul Waring (Eng) 936.36.
21 Rohan Blizard (Aus) 922.22.
22 Kevin Chappell (US) 919.05.
23 Roberto Castro (USA) 913.51.
24 Bjorn Akesson (Swe) 911.43.
25 Rickie Fowler (USA) 909.38.
26 Benjamin Alvarado (Chi) 907.89.
27 Nigel Edwards (Wal) 906.38.
28 Charlie Beljan (USA) 904.88.
29 Rob Grube (USA) 900.00.
29 Niklas Lemke (Swe) 900.00.
31 Danny Lee (NZ) 894.20.

MONTY FANCIES HIS CHANCE AT CARNOUSTIE

Hope springs eternal. Well at least it does with Colin Montgomerie.
He missed the cut last Friday in the Scottish Open at Carnoustie but today he was saying that he really believes he has a good chance of winning his first major this weekend.
Given that no other Scot in the field has anything like a bit of form, it must be the 44-year-old who carries the home hopes on his shoulders.
"I'm playing as well as I have - tee to green certainly - for many years," said Monty who has always been one of the most articulate players around in the build-up to a tournament. "I have a chance, of course I do. I'm playing well enough."
A lot of rain is forecast for the Carnoustie area on Saturday and a tee time that dodges the worst of the weather on any of the four days could make or break a potential Open champion.
Montgomerie is hoping for a decent break when he tees off at 9.31am tomorrow alongside American Ryder Cup player Stewart Cink and Japan's Toshi Izawa.
However, with the weather incredibly changeable - Tuesday's glorious sunshine was replaced by driving rain today - getting a clear run is all down to luck.
"I've got a good time in the draw and you just take it as it comes," the eight-time Order of Merit winner added, as the rain continued to lash the press tent as he spoke.
"If I get off to a decent start - by 11am if I'm a couple under par or something - then we can stay in contention.
"The start is very important to me and if I can get a decent first round I should be there by Sunday. It depends on the weather and if we are lucky with conditions.
"If this was Thursday and I was out there at 9.30am and then it all clears up and dries up for the afternoon it could work in reverse. You don't know. One just takes their chances with the weather on these links courses."

QUALIFIERS FOR PAUL LAWRIE YOUNG
PROFESSIONALS' MATCH-PLAY

Fourteen qualifiers out of a field of 77 for the Paul Lawrie Young Professionals' match-play tournament at Newburgh on Ythan are:

VENUE FOR QUALIFIER: WEST LOTHIAN
Par 71
67 James McGhee (Turnhouse), Steven Duncan (Balbirnie Park), Chris McCalman (unatt).
68 Jonnie Cliff (Murrayfield), Graham Fox (West Kilbride).
69 Calum Smith (Royal Musselburgh), Stephen Lamb (Broomieknowe), Bert Mackay (Loch Lomond).
70 Jamie Wales (Kings Acre), Alastair MacKenzie (Liberton), Peter Mitchell (Aberdoour), Graeme Lornie (Aspire).
71 Andrew Carlton (Cawder), David Orr (East Renfrewshire).

SHOTTS PRO GUIDE YOUNG PROFESSIONALS' QUALIFIER.
Par 70
65 Fraser McLaughlan (Bothwell Castle), Graham Fox (West Kilbride).
66 Chris McCalman (unatt).
68 James McGhee (Turnhouse).
69 Kris McGowan (Burntisland), Nicholas Reid (Deeside).
70 Kenneth Monaghan (Bothwell Castle), Daivd Orr (East Renfrewshire.

CELTIC TOUR PRESS RELEASE

CELTIC PRO TOUR HEADS BACK TO IRELAND
FOR WICKLOW OPEN ON MONDAY-TUESDAY

The Wales-based Celtic Pro Tour heads back to Ireland next week, when Tulfarris Hotel and Golf Resort hosts the Wicklow Open on Monday and Tuesday, July 23 and 24.
The Tour, which has grown from the Dragon Tour, encompasses two visits to Ireland and two events in Scotland.
It has a further seven events in Wales from August to October at Ashburnham, Clyne, Pwllheli, St Mellons & St Mary's (joint event), Cottrell Park, Aberdovey and St Pierre.
“Our first four events in Wales this season have already created a lot of interest, with Setanta Golf, S4C and BBC 2 Wales visiting and filming parts of each event, said Tour Director, Rhydian Thomas. “The four events have also produced four different winners.”
Companies in Wales are now coming forward to support the Tour with Porthcawl-based Waterfront Promotions supplying the golfers with bottled water at each event.
"This kind of support is invaluable to the players,” said Thomas. “It enables them to keep fluids in their system throughout the four or five hours of a long round, helping them to maintain peak physical and mental performance when the competition is at its toughest.''
Golfers can still join the Celtic Pro Tour, with individual event entry priced at £99 per person. Amateur golfers with a scratch handicap or better can also enter events at a cost of £55.
Prize money at each event will be at least £1,000 to the winner, with the top 25% in the field winning money also.
A voucher will be available to the leading amateur, depending on numbers in the field.
Golfers wishing to enter next week's event, the Wicklow Open at Tulfarris Hotel and Golf Resort on Monday and Tuesday, are asked to contact Tour Director, Rhydian Thomas on 07861 686568 or register online at the website at www.celticpro.com by 5pm on Saturday, July 21.
The next Welsh-based event is the West Wales Classic at Ashburnham on Monday 13th and Tuesday, August 14.

GRAEME CLARK IN COMMAND AT PGA EUROPRO
TOUR EVENT AT BRISTOL

Englishman Graeme Clark produced a stunning second day effort to take control of the latest PGA EuroPro Tour event.
Clark was equal third on three-underpar 69 after Tuesday’s first round at The Players Club in Bristol but he bettered that with a 65 today for a 36-hole tally of 10-under-par 134.
He now has a commanding five-shot lead and is in a great position to win another competition after also finishing first at Faithlegg in May.
Elsewhere, Ireland’s Brendan McCarroll is on course for his best finish of the season after an impressive second round of five-under 67 for 139. He shares that mark with two Englishmen, Mark Smith and Matthew Woods.
LEADERBOARD
Par 144 (2 x 72)
134 G Clark (Eng) 69 65.
139 M Smith (Eng) 71 68, B McCarroll (Ire) 72 67, M Woods (Eng0 68 71.
140 I Ridgway (Eng) 70 70.
141 A Hay (Sco) 69 72, J Doherty (Sco) 72 69, P Hendriksen (Eng) 71 70, C Moriarty (Ire) 68 73.
Other Scottish scores:
145 G Gordon 73 72 (jt 28th).
146 E Saltman 75 71 (jt 35th).
147 J Taylor 78 69 (jt 45th).
DID NOT QUALIFY
148 C Kelly 74 74, C Nicoll 75 73.
149 P Doherty 73 767, P Cormack 75 74, G Brown 73 73.
152 N Mitchell 79 73.
156 C Farr 79 77.
160 C Campbell 80 80.

QUARTER-FINALS IN SCOTTISH UNDER-18 GIRLS
CHAMPIONSHIP AT PETERHEAD

Thursday morning's quarter-finals in the Scottish Under-18 girls championship at Peterhead are:
8.45 Carly Booth (Comrie) v Rebecca Watson (Elie & Earlsferry Ladies).
8.50 Eve Muirhead (Pitlochry) v Pamela Pretswell (Bothwell Castle).
9.05 Megan Briggs (Kilmacolm) v Kelsey MacDonald (Nairn Dunbar).
9.15 Sammy Vass (Tain) v Jacqueline Sneddon (Alyth).

Switch over to our sister website, www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk, and read all about Wednesday's play and the results, including the Ansley Reid Salver competition.

AWARD WINNING ALYTH GOLF CLUB BECOMES MORE

ACCESSIBLE

Alyth Golf Club is celebrating after securing an award to make its club more accessible to its members and visitors. The Perthshire club made an application for an Awards For All grant to obtain funds to purchase a buggy and storage facility to ensure less abled golfers could continue to enjoy the game at their club.
The forward thinking club formed the Alyth Golf Club Disabled Users Group, after recognising some of their golfers were resigning from their membership.

Managing Secretary for the club, Jim Docherty said: “It had become apparent that we were losing some of our members as they were no longer able to get around our course unassisted and were leaving due to health reasons.
“The club was keen to remedy the situation as soon as possible, so club members donated money to form and set up the group to specifically look after the interests of our less able members.”
Docherty and the group recognised that buggies would help to resolve the accessibility issues and submitted the funding application, supported by local MP Peter Wishart.
Docherty was recently notified that his funding application had been successful and would receive a grant of £5,000. The Disabled Users Group met and agreed the award would be used to purchase a buggy and storage facility.
Docherty said, “We were absolutely delighted when we discovered we would receive the award and are very grateful to the support we received which helped our application. It will make a huge difference to some of our members and we hope to attract some of the former members back to the club as well as coax new members to become involved and enjoy the game.”
Keen to keep the momentum going, Docherty and the members group is now seeking to attract further funding from Perth and Kinross Council to buy three more buggies for the club and also hope to get support from Scottish Hydro Electric to instal electrical services for the buggies.
Hamish Grey, CEO at the Scottish Golf Union said, “Alyth is a great example of a club showing initiative and successfully ensuring their club and facilities are as inclusive as possible for its members and visitors alike."

Any parties interested in lending support or funding to Alyth’s Disabled Users Group should contact Jim Docherty, the group’s secretary and treasurer (telephone 01828 632268).

JOE CARR AND KEL NAGLE AWARDED PLACES
IN WORLD GOLF HALL OF FAME

Irishman Joe Carr and Australian Kel Nagle will be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame on November 12 as part of the Class of 2007.
Carr, who died in 2004, will become the first Irish member and was selected in the Lifetime Achievement Category.
Nagle was selected in the Veteran’s Category. Both categories were determined by the World Golf Foundation Board of Directors Selection Committee.
“I am very pleased to be recognized and look forward to joining some of my old friends in the Hall of Fame, including Peter Thomson, Greg Norman, Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson—all with whom I’ve played golf during my career,” said Nagle.
Carr and Nagle are the final two to be named as part the Class of 2007, which includes Hubert Green (Veteran’s Category), Charles Blair Macdonald (Lifetime Achievement), Se Ri Pak (LPGA Points System) and Curtis Strange (PGA TOUR Ballot).
The 2007 World Golf Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place at the Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Florida.
“Both Joe Carr and Kel Nagle are legends of golf and it is appropriate that they be honoured at the highest level,” said Peter Dawson, Chief Executive of the R&A and a member of the World Golf Foundation Board of Directors.
“Joe remains Ireland’s most outstanding amateur golfer and Kel boasts a remarkable career in the game where he dominated his home tour and found success as he travelled to play around the world. It is a pleasure to make this announcement at The Open Championship. Kel will always be remembered for his victory in The Centenary Open in 1960.”
Born just outside Dublin in 1922, Carr won the Amateur championship in 1953, 1958 and 1960. Between 1941 and 1969, he won 37 championships in Ireland, including the Irish Amateur Championship six times and the Irish Open Amateur Championship four times.
Carr played in a record 10 Walker Cup matches and chose to be a non-playing captain in 1965. He won the USGA’s Bob Jones Award in 1961 and in 1991 was Captain of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews.

PRESS RELEASE

OUTSTANDING FIELD FOR SENIOR OPEN
CHAMPIONSHIP AT MUIRFIELD

An outstanding field of Major champions and some of golf’s most charismatic characters will head to Muirfield golf course, in the Lothians village of Gullane, next week to challenge for one of the biggest honours in over-50s golf at the Senior Open Championship 2007, presented by Aberdeen Asset Management.
At close of entries for the US$2,000,000 championship, to be played over 72 holes on the magnificent Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers' links from July 26-29, a total of 14 Major champions and 21 senior Major champions featured on the list of 110 exempt players.
Included in the international line-up are three championship debutants with nine major trophies between them: Nick Faldo of England, who celebrates his 50th birthday today, Wayne Grady of Australia and Mark O’Meara of the United States.
Faldo is arguably the greatest English golfer of all time. For 20 years from 1977, his relentless pursuit of perfection saw him win 39 titles worldwide.
He took a while to win a Major, finally doing so in 1987 at Muirfield on a memorable last day when he defied the conditions and his opponents with a display of precision golf which saw him par every hole.
Faldo added five more Majors - the Open in 1990 and the 1992 edition back at Muirfield, plus the Masters in 1989, 1990 and 1996.
Although Faldo will be only eight days into his 50th year when he tees up in next Thursday’s first round, he will not be the youngest competitor in the 144 man field. That honour goes to Grady, the 1990 US PGA Champion and BBC golf commentator, who celebrates his 50th on the first day of the Championship.
O’Meara, who tasted success in the Open and the Masters during a brilliant spell in 1998, reached seniors eligibility in January and forms part of a star-studded United States contingent that also features, among others, defending Senior Open champion Loren Roberts, US Champions Tour Money Leader Jay Haas, and Major winners Ben Crenshaw, Jerry Pate, Craig Stadler and Tom Watson.
Watson, winner of The Senior Open Championship in 2003 and 2005, previously tasted success at Muirfield in The Open of 1980 and another of the venue’s former Open champions, and a three-time winner of The Senior Open, South African Gary Player, is set to make his 20th appearance in the competition at the age of 71.
Tony Jacklin is another veteran whose return to Muirfield will bring back some strong memories. The former Ryder Cup captain was denied a second Claret Jug when Lee Trevino rode his luck to the edge a dramatic final day in 1972, but 35 years later Tony is glad to be heading back to the East Lothian links.
He said: “I think Muirfield is the best links course we have in Britain. When I say that I mean I think it is the fairest of all the links: you have run-ins to all the holes and you can bounce the ball in. It’s a great test of golf and a wonderful place.
“This year you have Faldo and a great field from America, so it should be a great Championship. Jay Haas and some of those Champions Tour guys are quite phenomenal.”
From mainland Europe there is Italian favourite Costantino Rocca, who is having a fine maiden season on the European Seniors Tour having won the AIB Irish Seniors Open in June.
Juan Quiros of Spain is in excellent form having won the Open de France Senior Divonne last weekend, while Carl Mason of England, a 15-time winner on the European Seniors Tour, has proven his ability at this level by losing a play-off to Watson in The 2003 Senior Open Championship.
Sam Torrance, winner of the European Seniors Tour Order of Merit in the last two seasons, has bounced back to form in time for the event with victory in the Bendinat London Seniors Masters and a share of fifth place at the US Senior Open.
Last year’s runner-up Eduardo Romero went desperately close to winning the US Senior PGA in May and will be trying to notch a memorable double for Argentina after Angel Cabrera’s US Open victory.
An adult season ticket (which allows entry to the course on all four tournament days plus the practice day on Wednesday July 25) costs £60 and £20 for any one-day ticket, while entrance to the practice day is £10. There is no entry charge for U-16s, providing an adult accompanies them, and car parking is also free.

ONLY ONE DOUGLAS PHILIP TROPHY TIE PLAYED

The format for the Douglas Philip Trophy - contested by the champions or beaten finalists of Aberdeen golf clubs from the previous year - is likely to be changed after only one of the scheduled quarter-final ties was played at Deeside Golf Club this week.
Steven Buchan (Royal Aberdeen) beat Brian Rae (Northern) 3 and 2.
Lee Vitesse (Nigg Bay), Matthew Greig (Bon Accord) and Stewart Finnie (Caledonian) were given walk-overs in the three other ties because their opponents had other commitments.
Even Deeside, the host club, could not field an opponent against Stewart Finnie.
The semi-finals line-up at Thursday at 5pm is:
Steven Buchan (Royal Aberdeen) v Lee Vitesse (Nigg Bay).
Matthew Greig (Bon Accord) v Stewart Finnie (Caledonian).

SCOTTISH MEN'S AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP DRAW
FOR PRESTWICK
Draw for the Allied Surveyors Scottish men's amateur championship at Prestwick Golf Club from July 30 to August 4:
MONDAY 30 JULY
6.45 Lindsay Miller (Cawder) v David Strachan (Turnberry).
6:53 Euan Polson (Inverness) v Chris Conroy (Paisley).
7.01 Gary Thomson (Moray) v David Miller (Kilmacolm).
7.09 Colin Thomson (East Renfrewshire) v Mark Hislop (Glenbervie).
7.17 Daniel Sommerville (St Andrews) v Graham Turner (West Linton).
7.25 Lloyd Saltman (Craigielaw) v Frank Drum (Cowglen).
7.33 Steven Rennie (Airdrie) v Steven Robertson (Sandyhills).
7.41 Philip McLean (Peterhead) v Stephen Neilson (Dunbar).
7.49 Colin Mundie (Falkirk) v Malcolm Graham (Newbattle).
7.57 Richard Hyland (Hazlehead) v Fraser Fotheringham (Nairn).
8.05 Peter Keeling (North Berwick) v Joshua Clarke (Royal Montrose).
8.15 Mark Wilkie (St Andrews New) v David Donaldson (Bruntsfield Links).
8.21 George Finlay (Ballumbie Castle) v John Cairney (Irvine Ravenspark).
8.29 Craig Watson (East Renfrewshire) v Stephen Murray (Troon Welbeck).
8.37 Scott Green (Westhill) v Colin Kelly (Kirkhill).
8.49 Alexander Main (Thornton) v David Simpson (Crieff).
8.57 James Bunch (Prestwick) v Andrew McLachlan (Bonnyton).
9.05 George Barrie (Callander) v Stewart Tully (Duddingston).
9.13 Alexander Gourlay (Irvine) v Paul O'Hara (Colville Park).
9.21 Glenn Campbell (Blairgowrie) v William Bremner (Edzell).
9.29 Terry Mathieson (Murcar Links) v Douglas Hunter (Marriott Dalmahoy).
9.37 David Walker (Paisley) v Gregor Stewart (Murcar Links).
9.45 Duncan Weir (Lundin) v Andrew McKay (Balmore).
9.53 Stewart McCulloch (McDonald Ellon) v James Hendrick (Pollok).
10.01 Richard Craig (Merchants of Edinburgh) v Wallace Booth (Comrie).
10.09 James White (Lundin) v Shaun Gordon (Glen).
10.17 James Gunn (Royal Dornoch) v Graeme Mitchell (Braemar).
10.25 Steven McEwan (Caprington) v Mark Dickson (Alwoodley).
10.33 Steven Hume (Murrayshall) v Bryan Fotheringham (Forres).
10.41 Shaun McAllister (Craigielaw) v Craig Hamilton (Ballochmyle).
10.53 Scott Henry (Cardross) v Barry Lindsay (Mount Ellen).
11.01 Martin Lawrence (Newmachar) v Alex Moir (Thornton).
11.09 Keir McNicoll (Carnoustie) v Malcolm Isaacs (Nairn Dunbar).
11.17 Calum Morrison (Kilmacolm) v Munro Ferries (Tain).
11.25 Jack Bradley (Paisley) v Richard Graham (Hayston).
11.33 Chris Robb (Inchmarlo) v Ian MacMillan (Glenearn).
11.41 Kristian Branum-Burns (Bearwood Lakes) v James Smart (Paisley).
11.49 Neil Cameron (King James VI) v Euan Brown (Kilmarnock Barassie)
11.57 Neil Henderson (Glen) v Nicky Gold (Bonnyton).
12.05 Kevin Fergusson (Prestwick St Cuthbert) v Malcolm Davidson (Craigie Hill).
12.13 Cameron Gray (West Kilbride) v Anthony Bews (Murcar Links).
12.21 Graham Molloy (Wishaw) v Craig McLaughlin (Largs).
12.29 Scott Mann (Carnoustie) v James Foley (Forres).
12.37 Andrew Weir (Montrose Mercantile) v Brian Moore (Largs).
12.45 Peter Latimer (St Andrews New) v Scott Herald (Whitecraigs).
12.57 Garry Duncan (Caledonian) v Stephen Keane (Cathkin Braes).
1.05 Ross Noon (Longniddry) v Chris Baron (Oldmeldrum).
1.13 Gordon Black (Fereneze) v Ross Bell (Downfield).
1.21 Les Pirie (Millport) v Craig Haugh (Cathkin Braes).
1.29 Richard Elrick (Kilmacolm) v Graeme Gimson (Prestwick St Cuthbert).
1.37 Matthew Burt (Helensburgh) v Ross McKen (Newburgh on Ythan).
1.45 Ross Kellett (Colville Park) v Ross Dixon (Kilmarnock Barassie).
1.53 David Mitchell (Leven Thistle) v Zack Saltman (Craigielaw).
2.01 Ryan McKenzie (Easter Moffat) v Terry Corrieri (Callander).
2.09 Andrew Wallace (Glenbervie) v Scott Bordon (Mouse Valley).
2.17 Paul McGhee (US) v Wilson Bryson (Drumpellier).
2.25 Fraser McKenna (Balmore) v Gordon Hillson (Craigielaw).
2.33 John Godward (McDonald Ellon) v Stewart Elder (Kirkcaldy).
2.41 Ross Leeds (Muckhart) v John Shanks (Irvine).
2.49 James Byrne (Banchory) v Allan Johnston (Bonnyton).
3.01 Chris Heslip (Monifieth) v Liam McGowan (St Andrews New).
3.09 David Currie (Kilmarnock Barassie) v Jamie Farmer (St Andrews).
3.17 Colin Shaw (Royal Aberdeen) v Murray Stewart (Ranfurly Castle).
3.25 John McMahon (Cardross) v Christopher Wedgeworth (Cowglen).
3.33 Jonathan King (Glasgow) v William Campbell (Kirkintilloch).
3.41 Chris Harkins (Ayr Belleisle) v Steven Higgins (Gourock).
3.49 Keith Spence (Newmachar) v Robert McKnight (Kilmarnock Barassie).
3.57 Aaron Sweeney (Carnoustie) v Greg Paterson (St Andrews New).
4.05 Paul Moultrie (Troon Portland) v Frazer Bone (Cardross).
4.13 Steven Maxwell (Windyhill) v Andrew Hay (Westhill).
4.21 Allan Thomson (Ayr Belleisle) v Michael Campbell (Renfrew).
4.29 Gordon Sangster (Cathkin Braes) v Lewis Kirton (Newmachar).
4.37 Gregor Munro (Ranfurly Castle) v David Marshall (Marriott Dalmahoy).
4.45 Martin Stein (Craigielaw) v Jordon Findlay (Fraserburgh).

TUESDAY 31 JULY
6.45 Steven Fraser (Tain) v David Ferguson (Paisley).
6.53 Kris Nicol (Fraserburgh) v Craig Elliot (Carrickvale).
7.01 Angus Cappi (Loretto School) v Stephen Spence (Irvine).
7.09 David Henderson (Hamilton) v Colin Heuchan (Southerness).
7.17 Simon Barras (Helensburgh) v George Crawford (Williamwood).
7.25 Gavin Dear (Murrayshall) v Philip Edwards (Meldrum House).
7.33 Daniel Harrison (Crieff) v Joe Lockie (Tantallon).
7.41 Gavin Smith (Stirling) v Alan Brown (Strathaven).
7.49 Michael Williams (Craigielaw) v Mark Bookless (Sandyhills).
7.57 Graham Lowson (Auchterarder) v Andrew Hogg (Mortonhall).
8.05 Scott Borrowman (Dollar) v Colin Peddie (Hayston).
8.13 Tom Blennerhassett (Marriott Dalmahoy) v Kenneth Fairbrother (Cochrane Castle).
8.21 Barry Scott (Dumfries & Galloway) v Greg Watson (Dunaverty).
8.29 Stephen McBlain (Prestwick St Cuthbert) v John Miller (Gullane).
8.37 Niall Lamond (Balmore) v David Murray (Blairgowrie).
8.49 Robert Carson (Marriott Dalmahoy) v John Burns (Mount Ellen).
8.57 Warren Blair (Troon Portland) v Derek Paton (Dunnikier Park).
9.05 Stuart Roberts (Gullane) v Stuart McKendrick (Dunkeld & Birnam).
9.13 Robert Ferguson (Royal Troon) v Stephen Simants (Dunbar).
9.21 Kevin McAlpine (Alyth) v David Addison (Kilmarnock Barassie).
9.29 Kristofer Harper (Carnoustie) v Graeme Gorrie (Glasgow).
9.37 Bobby Rushford (Grangemouth) v Steven MacDonald (Nairn).
9.45 Alister Ferguson (Dunfermline) v Graeme Belch (Haggs Castle).
9.53 Clark Riddick (Dumfries & Galloway) v Scott Michie (Thornton).
10.01 Callum Macaulay (Tulliallan) v Steven Wallace (Prestwick St Cuthbert).
10.09 Aaron Howard (Murrayshall) v Garry Wood (Crow Wood).
10.17 Kevin Brock (Prestwick St Nicholas) v John Greer (Gourock).
10.25 Alan McLean (Kilbirnie Place) v Derek Anderson (Cochrane Castle).
10.33 Mark Lamb (Haddington) v Graeme Sorbie (Hamilton).
10.41 Richard Bunch (St Andrews New) v Gregor Munro (Archerfield Links).
10.53 Pete McLachlan (Bonnyton) v Paul Ferrier (Baberton).
11.01 Les McLaughlin (Cowglen) v Brian Soutar (Leven Golfing Society).
11.09 Ross Crowe (Newcastle Utd) v Graeme Rodger (Cambuslang).
11.17 John Gallagher (Swanston New) v George Robertson (Irvine Ravenspark).
11.25 Stan Morrison (US) v Sam Binning (Ranfurly Castle).
11.33 Fraser Henderson (Craigielaw) v Alexander Culverwell (Dunbar).
11.41 Colin Colraine (Windyhill) v Allan McKie (Glencruitten).
11.49 Allan McDonald (Crow Wood) v Thomas Sharkey (Helensburgh).
11.57 Stephen Clark (Haggs Castle) v Stuart Graham (Blairgowrie).
12.05 Allyn Dick (Shotts) v Michael Daily (Erskine).
12.13 Mark Kerr (Craigielaw) v Iain Brown (West Kilbride).
12.21 Anthony Doherty (Cowglen) v Gordon Yates (Hilton Park).
12.29 Matthew Clark (Kilmacolm) v Jamie Mackay (Kilmarnock Barassie).
12.37 William Anderson (Cambuslang) v Stephen Burt (Murcar Links).
12.45 Paul Betty (Hayston) v Keith Hamilton (Whitecraigs).
12.57 Graham Robertson (Silverknowes) v Michael Stewart (Troon Welbeck).
1.05 Mark Hillson (Craigielaw) v Kyle Smith (Kilmarnock Barassie).
1.13 Gordon Stevenson (Whitecraigs) v Jamie Neilson (Dunbar).
1.21 James Paterson (Hayston) v Robby Anderson (Duddingston).
1.29 Richie Ramsay (Royal Aberdeen) v Kevin Reid (Moray).
1.37 Stephen Buckley (Royal Burgess) v Neil McBride (Cowglen).
1.45 Michael Main (Thornton) v Kevin Duncan (McDonald Ellon).
1.53 Richard Gill (Craigmillar Park) v Michael Smyth (Royal Troon).
2.01 Myles Cunningham (Longniddry) v Euan McIntosh (Newmachar).

MICHAEL SIM WILL COME OVER FOR NEXT
YEAR'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

Aberdeen-born Michael Sim, who finished joint 11th in the John Deere Open on the US PGA Tour on Sunday, has E-mailed Scottishgolfview.com from his United States base.

"I didn't try to qualify for the Open. I would love to play in it next year, not sure where it is (answer: Royal Birkdale), but I am looking forward to playing whether it is next year or the following.
"John Deere was a great tournament. The course suited my eye well, and I had my coach, David Milne over earlier in the week from Australia, so we worked hard and it was nice to get my best finish so far.
"Carnoustie should be a great test of golf. I have never played there but from what I have heard the lay-out is a fair challenge. I will definitely be watching on TV over here."

Michael Sim.

TIGER'S CONCEPT OF TIME: "FOUR HOURS HITTING
BALLS, NOT MUCH"

Quote of the week so far at Carnoustie came from no less a person that Tiger Woods.
Asked how much time a day on average he devotes to hitting balls in practice when he is limbering up for a major, he answered without the hint of a smile:
"Hitting balls? I don't spend that much time hitting range balls. At the most, maybe three or four hours, not that much."
No-one asked him how long he spent on gym work. The answer would probably have been along the same lines.
Most professional golfers are golfers. Tiger is an athlete-golfer or golfer-athlete.
When Butch Harmon was his coach, he once said that not only could Tiger beat the field at golf but if it were an athletics contest, Tiger could also beat them at running (sprinting or middle distance), high or long jump, throwing the javelin, putting the shot, weight-lifting, arm-wrestling, and so on.
We believe him.

PGA PRESS RELEASE

DAVID LEADBETTER RECEIVES PGA MASTER
PROFESSIONAL AWARD

Swing king David Leadbetter picked up another accolade today after receiving his PGA Master Professional award at Carnoustie.
The Zimbabwe-born coach was presented with a specially inscribed plaque by PGA captain Parnell Reilly and PGA chief executive Sandy Jones.
Leadbetter, who is guiding the challenges of a number of players at this week's Open including Ernie Els, admitted he was delighted with the honour and revealed he was still as passionate about coaching the game as he was as a teenager when he used 1994 Open champion Nick Price as a guinea pig.
"It's a great privilege," said Leadbetter. "I think it is something that you aspire to when you first start in the profession - everybody aspires to be the best they can be and obviously to be awarded the highest one that the PGA has to offer is very pleasing and I'm thrilled about it.
"I joined the PGA back around 1970 when I was 19 so I go back with it a long way," he added.
"At the time I still really wanted to be a player but I loved teaching all along and always had my nose in books and magazines even way back when and the technique side of things really fascinated me.
"It was something that probably affected my playing career because I was so swing orientated and very much a perfectionist and having grown up with peers like Nick Price and Mark McNulty they were handy guinea pigs in those early years.
"Looking back it was great because coaching, especially in the upper echelons, is still a fairly new approach shall we say. OK, Jack Nicklaus had Jack Grout, but I had the good fortune to hook up with Nick Faldo in the mid-1980s and that probably helped turn things around with player-coach relationships from that point on.
"If you look now there are very few players, especially in the younger ranks, that don't have coaches. The great thing for me is that you are continually learning, whole new areas are opening up from the mental side to bio-mechanics which is a very exciting area too, looking at how certain techniques work with certain players depending on their build, depending on their mindset.
"These days, there's a big thing in matching clubs and equipment to players but you are also doing the same thing with techniques, matching swings to players so it's really fascinating. "Obviously it was done years ago with Tom Morris who did instruction books and these days it's a specialised art and it's been a great journey."
Paying tribute to David Leadbetter, Sandy Jones described him as an 'inspiration.
"He's set new standards for coaches to aspire to and if there was an order of merit for coaches, David would be right up there among the very best," he said.
PGA Master Professional status is awarded as part of the Association's Accreditation of Prior Achievement and Learning programme designed to reflect members who have made a significant and outstanding contribution to golf.
endsIssue date: 17 July 2007Image of David Leadbetter receiving his award from PGA captain Parnell Reilly and PGA chief executive Sandy Jones attached for use courtesy of Dave Cannon at Getty Images.For further information contact Nathaniel Sylvester on 01675 470 333 or email media@pga.org.uk

PGA EUROPRO TOUR WINNERS ON TRAIL
OF REPEAT PERFORMANCE

COLM Moriarty and Matthew Woods are aiming to become the first player to win two events in the 2007 PGA EuroPro Tour season.
Both men, who have won previous competitions at Wensum Valley and Bovey Castle respectively, made a fine start to event eight, which is being held at The Players Club in Bristol.
On day one the pair both fired rounds of four-under-par 68 to lead the race for the £10,000 top prize in the field of 168.
Irishman Moriarty, a member of the Glasson Golf Hotel and Country Club, had birdies at the first, third, eighth and 18th, while Woods (Donnington Grove) secured five birdies but a dropped shot at the 13th cost him the overall lead.
It was also a good day for the other former winners as each of the seven players are well positioned in the event, which is sponsored by Claytons Kola Tonic.
Faithlegg victor Graeme Clark is one of five men on three-under in equal third, along with Anglo-Scot Alasdair Hay (Royal Winchester), Martin Le Mesurier, Steve Surry (Cumberwell) and James Ruebotham (Welwyn Garden City).
The top 50 plus ties after Wednesday's second round will advance to Thursday's third and final round.
LEADERBOARD
Par 72
68 C Moriarty (Ire), M Woods (Eng).
69 G Clark (Eng), A Hay (Sco), M Le Mesurier (Eng), S Surry (Eng), J Ruebotham (Eng).
Other Scots' scores:
72 J Doherty (24th).
73 G Gordon, P Doherty (jt 34th).
74 C Kelly (jt 51st).
75 E Saltman, C Nicoll, P Cormack (jt 70th).
76 G Brown (jt 82nd).
78 J Taylor (jt 117th).
79 C Farr, N Mitchell (jt 126th).
80 C Campbell (jt 139th).

SCOTTISH GIRLS' CHAMPIONSHIP REPORT
ON WWW.KIRKWOODGOLF.CO.UK

For a full report on Carly Booth's superb round of 64 and all the other scores and match-play draws in the Scottish Under-18 girls' championship at Peterhead, switch to our sister website, www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk

World University Games

The Great Britain Golf Squad to travel to the World University Games, was announced today with 7 athletes looking to perform well in the heat of Bangkok. The Golf tournament lasts four days - August 14, 15,16 and 17 - at Watermill Golf & Gardens, Nakhonnayok.

Georgia State University in America has provided two of the delegation with Anna Scott and Thomas Sherreard representing Great Britain at the Games. Anna Scott will be in good form after reaching the Semi Finals of the English Amateur Championship 2007, though arguably her greatest achievement to date was her bronze medal at the European U21 Team Championships for England in 2006. Thomas Sherreard was captain of the England Boys' Golf Home International Squad in 2005 at which he was named player of the tournament. Thomas is also an England A Squad player who has turned down the chance to represent England in the Czech Amateur Championship to compete for GBR at these Games.

Charles Ford of the University of Tennessee travels to Bangkok with the advantage of being on a golf scholarship at the University while Hannah Burke, from Baylor University (USA), was a member of the 2006 English Elite Squad.

Emma Fairnie, pictured left, from The University of Edinburgh is a Scotland U21 International who won the 2007 BUSA regional Order of Merit in Scotland. Emma also finished 2nd in the R&A Bursars Tournament in 2007 and has, thus far, enjoyed a very successful 2007.

Gavin Dear (University of Stirling), pictured right, who plays off a +3 handicap, gained his first senior international cap last week when he represented Scotland at the Chjiberta Grand Prix in France. Gavin is currently ranked 4th in the Scottish Golf Union Order of Merit 2007 and he played an important role in helping Stirling retain its British Universities Team Matchplay title for the 3rd successive year.

Daniel Willett completes the squad and is no stranger to University International Competition. Daniel helped team GBR to a bronze medal at the World University Golf Championships in Torino last year and when he returns from Bangkok he will represent England in the European Amateur Championships after winner the NCAA Strokeplay event this year.

Raleigh Gowrie, Golf Team Manager for the Games, is happy with his squad and is eagerly anticipating the games. 'Team GBR finished 3rd at the 2006 World University Golf Championships in Torino. The team appears to be stronger this year and a podium position is anticipated for the highly talented squad of players this time around' said Raleigh. This seems to be a squad to watch at the Games this year.

Golf Squad in full for the World University Games in Bangkok 2007

Gavin Dear – University of Stirling (GBR)
Daniel Willet – Jacksonville State (USA)
Charles Ford – University of Tennessee (USA)
Hannah Burke – Baylor University (USA)
Anna Scott – Georgia State University (USA)
Thomas Sherreard – Georgia State University (USA)
Emma Fairnie – University of Edinburgh (GBR)

Raleigh Gowrie – Team Manager
Jason Atkins – Assistant Manager

ABERDEEN JUNIOR PENNANT LEAGUE FINALISTS

Peterhead will be play Deeside in the final of the Aberdeen & District Junior Pennant League competition at McDonald Ellon Golf Club on Sunday, July 29 (12.0 first tee off for six foursomes)
In the semi-finals, Peterhead beat Westhill 4-2 at Portlethen while Deeside beat Hazlehead 3 1/2-2 1/2 at Newburgh.

PAUL’S FIRST WIN OF SEASON EARNS HIM £1,106

Burntisland professional Paul Wytrazek scored his first win of the season on the Tartan Tour with a four-under-par round of 65 in the Dumfries & County Golf Club pro-am.
Paul earned the £1,106 prize by one shot from Jim McKinnon (Irvine) and Craig Lee (All Golf Swing Centre, Stirling) who received £774 each.
Home club pro Richard Clark led the Unicorn Restaurants’ amateur trio of Gordon Ho (handicap 14), Win Ho (12) and Kenny Ho (9) to victory in the team event with a net score of 20-under-par 118.
LEADING PROFESSIONAL SCORES
Par 69
65 P Wytrazek (Burntisland).
66 J McKinnon (Irvine), C Lee (All Golf Swing Centre).
67 S Cairns (Westernwood), C Ronald (Carluke), B Mason (Drumoig).
68 J McCreadie (Buchanan Castle).
69 J Cliff (Murrayfield), C Gordon (Edinburgh Golf Centre), G Hutcheon (Peterculter), A Marshall (Houston Golf Range), C Doak (unatt), P McKechnie (Braid Hills).

PRESS RELEASE

JACK NICKLAUS FLIES IN TO MAKE TOUR OF
URY ESTATE, STONEHAVEN TODAY

Golf great and course designer Jack Nicklaus will today visit Ury Estate, Stonehaven, just five days after it was announced that Ury Estate is to become home to a Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course.
Nicklaus, nicknamed the Golden Bear, will explore the spectacular course site, which spans at least 160 acres of the Mearns countryside with commanding views extending to the North Sea, before beginning to map out the 18-hole championship course.
Nicklaus will be joined by his design team at Ury Estate, which Nicklaus says offers unrivalled landscape for a memorable golf experience. Nicklaus says he is looking forward to the challenge of infusing his course design with the incredible Mearns scenery, including the majestic centrepiece of Ury House.
A £40million vision to breathe new life into Ury Estate is planned that will include restoring Ury House, which is widely believed to be the birthplace of Stonehaven, to its former glory and converting it into the golf clubhouse, complete with function and conference facilities.
Under the investment plans, the picturesque estate is also to be infused with an extensive range of much-wanted outdoor leisure facilities for the local community, as well as creating hotel facilities to blend in with the awe-inspiring estate setting.
FM Developments was granted planning approval last year to create the golf course. Graeme Webster, of Team Niblick, created the masterplan for the initial course and will work with Nicklaus Design on the construction of the course.
In May, FM Developments lodged its masterplan with Aberdeenshire Council for its golf and leisure resort at Ury Estate.
Hotel accommodation apartments would be created within the picturesque walled garden area, and golf lodges in the valley would comprise of seven overlooking the golf course.
Wide-ranging leisure pursuits for the wider population of Stonehaven and visitors to the area include:
·A shooting range
·An equestrian centre
·Fishing ponds
·Tennis courts
·Children’s play areas
·Picnic areas
·Cycle routes
·Historical trail allowing walkers, runners and cyclists to visit the Roman camp, the Barclay family mausoleum, and Ury House
·Wildlife trails and viewpoints overlooking the spectacular scenery
·Cricket/rugby pitch

A series of four hamlets peppered across the periphery of the estate is also included in the plans. The inspiration for the design of the hamlets originated from the traditional layout of villages in the Stonehaven area.

MARK HALLIDAY WINS BACK SINCLAIR CUP
AT ROYAL DORNOCH

By ROBIN WILSON
With a first place in 2005 and third 12 months ago, Royal Aberdeen’s Mark Halliday regained the Sinclair Cup at Royal Dornoch on Saturday with a 36 hole aggregate of 141 (69-72) to win by three strples frp, Brian Innes (Murcar Links) and home club member Bert Nicholson.
With the Royal Dornoch SSS rising from 73 to 74 in round one and to 75 in the second round plus two handicapper Halliday will have taken his handicap even lower after bettering the SSS in both rounds over the renowned championship links that often figures in the world’s top twenty course rankings.
The four par-3 holes at Royal Dornoch are often regarded as its best defence but Halliday cut them down to just nine shots on his first round card with birdies at the sixth, 10th and 13th for a one under par card of 69 (35-34). His lead was one shot over plus three handicapper Innes from the neighbouring Murcar Links course in Aberdeen.
Innes' first round was hampered by a double bogey 6 at the opening but he got under par figures at the fifth, sixth and ninth to get out in 35 and a repeat count over the next nine with a birdie at the 15th for level par 70.
During his winning round of 2005, Halliday equalled Jimmy Gunn’s then course record of 65 (subsequently lowered by Gunn to 64 this year) but with no Gunn in last Saturday’s entry and the holder Kevin Matheson putting up a poor defence with an opening 81, the home challenge was spearheaded by senior member Bert Nicholson, a winner of the Scottish open stroke play championship thirty five years ago. Nicholson turned in a first round 73.
Halliday added a second round 72 to win with 141 and Innes and Nicholson were joint second three shots back on 144. With his second round 71 Nicholson would have been placed second scratch but with a bigger first place handicap voucher Innes got the runner up prize.
James Macleod (Tain) matched his third place from last year with rounds of 74 and 75 and in the handicap section two club mates, Tony Gordon and Ian Rennie, followed Nicholson.
Leading returns (CSS 74 75)

SCRATCH
141 M Halliday (Royal Aberdeen) 69 72.
144 B Nicholson (Royal Dornoch) 73 71, B Innes (Murcar Links) 70 74.
149 J R Macleod (Tain) 74 75.
150 I Brotherston (Dumfries & Co) 78 72.
151 G Taylor (Meldrum House) 77 74.
HANDICAP
B Nicholson (Royal Dornoch) (2) 140.
T Gordon (Royal Dornoch) (6) 145.
I Rennie (Royal Dornoch) (2) 146.
A Jarvie (Deeside) (4), R Murray (Ratho Park) (6) 148.
Individual Scratch round
N MacDonald (Muckhart) 75.
Handicap
S Mortimer (Ghyll) (6) 70.

CLUB SEC RETAINS BLACK ISLE OPEN TITLE

Local club secretary Michael Macdonald lifted a £200 first prize voucher with a successful defence of the Ness Motors Black Isle Open at Fortrose & Rosemarkie after pulling away from the field with a three under par second round 68 to win by five shots from Darren Hexley (Inverness).
They shared the lead after first round scores of one under par 70. The eventual winner made an eagle 3 at the 6th hole in his second round and Hexley struggled to a double bogey 7 at the same hole. After that the Inverness member was always struggling to catch up despite Macdonald following up his eagle with two bogeys.
Details (CSS 69 69)
(All Fortrose & Rosemarkie unless stated).
SCRATCH
138 M Macdonald 70 68.
143 D Hexley (Inverness) 70 73.
145 C Gaittens 74 71.
146 S McIntosh (Torvean) 77 69.
148 S Chisholm (Torvean) 77 71.
149 R Mackay 74 75.
HANDICAP
136 S Bassindale (6) 70 66.
138 S Mackenzie (7) 69 69, K Gaittens (4) 68 70.
140 S Fitzgerald (Torvean) (5) 75 65, A Morrison (Blairbeth) (13) 64 76.
143 D Simpson (7) 72 71.
Individual Round
Scratch: L Reid 72.
Handicap: B Vitoux (12) 67.
Isa Ross Cup: M MacDonald 138.
Newton Cup: S Bassindale (6) 136.

BOYS AND GIRLS FOR GRAMPIAN HOUSTON JUNIOR TRIP

You can see the names of the boys and girls who have been selected for this year's Grampian Houston Junior Trip to Texas in October by switching over to our sister website, www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk

OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP FIRST AND SECOND ROUND
STARTING TIMES, THURSDAY AND FRIDAY

(x) denotes amateur. Players are GB&I unless otherwise stated.

6.30 & 1141 Joe Durant (USA), Oliver Wilson, Ben Bunny (Aus).
6.41 & 1152 Kevin Stadler (USA), Graeme Storm, David Higgins.
0652 & 1203 Adilson Da Silva (Bra), Gregory Bourdy (Fra), Matt Kuchar (USA).

0703 & 1214 Vaughn Taylor (USA), Peter Fowler (Aus), (x) David Coupland.
0714 & 1225 Ross Bain, Duffy Waldorf (USA), John Bickerton.
0725 & 1236 Scott Drummond, Rod Pampling (Aus), Steve Stricker (USA).
0736 & 1247 KJ Choi (Kor), Richard Sterne (Rsa), David Howell.
0747 & 1258 Stuart Appleby (Aus), John Rollins (USA), Raphael Jacquelin (Fra).
0758 & 1309 Michael Campbell (Nzl), Darren Clarke, Chris DiMarco (USA).

0809 & 1320 Retief Goosen (Rsa), Thomas Bjorn (Den), Justin Leonard (USA).
0820 & 1331 Geoff Ogilvy (Aus), Anthony Wall, Todd Hamilton (USA).
0831 & 1342 (x) Drew Weaver, Paul Casey, Stephen Ames (Can).
0842 & 1353 Nick Faldo, Trevor Immelman (Rsa), Carl Pettersson (Swe).
0858 & 1409 Adam Scott (Aus), Davis Love (USA), Hideto Tanihara (Jpn).

0909 & 1420 Tiger Woods (USA), Paul Lawrie, Justin Rose.
0920 & 1431 Ian Poulter, Scott Verplank (USA), Mike Weir (Can).
0931 & 1442 Colin Montgomerie, Toshi Izawa (Jpn), Stewart Cink (USA).
0942 & 1453 Tom Lehman (USA), Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Nick O'Hern (Aus).
0953 & 1504 Michael Putnam (USA), David Shacklady, Tomohiro Kondo (Jpn).

1004 & 1515 Paul McGinley, J J Henry (USA), John Senden (Aus).
1015 & 1526 Markus Brier (Aut), Gregory Havret (Fra), Rich Beem (USA).
1026 & 1537 Ryan Moore (USA), Pelle Edberg (Swe), Dong-Hwan Lee (Kor).
1037 & 1548 Adam Groom (Aus), Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe), Hunter Mahan (USA).
1048 & 1559 Peter Baker, Mark Foster, Spencer Levin (USA).
1059 & 1610 Mattias Eliasson (Swe), Justin Kehoe, David Gleeson (Aus).

1110 & 1621 Won Joon Lee (Aus), Doug McGuigan, Toshinori Muto (Jpn).
1141 & 0630 Jerry Kelly (USA), Paul Broadhurst, Mark Hensby (Aus).
1152 & 0641 Sandy Lyle, Shaun Micheel (USA), Andres Romero (Arg).

1203 & 0652 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Mark Calcavecchia (USA), Ross Fisher.
1214 & 0703 Peter Hanson (Swe), Brett Wetterich (USA), Matthew Zions (Aus).
1225 & 0714 Anders Hansen (Den), David Frost (Rsa), Richard Green (Aus).
1236 & 0725 Robert Karlsson (Swe), Ernie Els (Rsa), Lucas Glover (USA).
1247 & 0736 John Daly (USA), Bradley Dredge, Robert Allenby (Aus).
1258 & 0747 Luke Donald, Charles Howell (USA), (x) Llewellyn Matthews.

1309 & 0758 Angel Cabrera (Arg), Rory Sabbatini (USA), Sean O'Hair (USA).
1320 & 0809 Padraig Harrington, (x) Richie Ramsay, David Toms (USA).
1331 & 0820 Jim Furyk (USA), Niclas Fasth (Swe), Nick Dougherty.
1342 & 0831 (x) Rory McIlroy, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), Henrik Stenson (Swe).
1353 & 0842 Vijay Singh (Fij), Arron Oberholser (USA), Brian Davis.

1409 & 0858 Aaron Baddeley (Aus), Ben Curtis (USA), (x) Paul Waring.
1420 & 0909 Phil Mickelson (USA), Toru Taniguchi (Jpn), Lee Westwood.
1431 & 0920 Graeme McDowell, Zach Johnson (USA), Jose Maria Olazabal (Spa).
1442 & 0931 Sergio Garcia (Spa), Chad Campbell (USA), Johan Edfors (Swe).
1453 & 0942 Achi Sato (Jpn), Brett Quigley (USA), Francesco Molinari (Ita).

1504 & 0953 Mark O'Meara (USA), Loren Roberts (USA), Tony Jacklin.
1515 & 1004 Boo Weekley (USA), Jon Bevan, Paul Sheehan (Aus).
1526 & 1015 Pat Perez (USA), Yong-Eun Yang (Kor), Kevin Harper.
1537 & 1026 Ewan Porter (Aus), Jonathan Byrd (USA), Alastair Forsyth.
1548 & 1037 Steve Alker (Nzl), Nick Watney (USA), Desvonde Botes (Rsa).
1559 & 1048 Charley Hoffman (USA), Chih Bing Lam (Sin), Steve Parry.
1610 & 1059 Scott Laycock (Aus), Anders Hultman (Swe), Seung-Ho Lee (Kor).
1621 & 1110 Jose-Filipe Lima (Por), Terry Pilkadaris (Aus), Benn Barham

SEVE HANGS UP HIS COMPETITIVE CLUBS AND
SAYS NO TRUTH IN SUICDE ATTEMPT RUMOURS
Seve Ballesteros was due to give a press conference at the Open championship in the Carnoustie Press Centre this afternoon when he will speak about recent reports of a suicide attempt - reports he strenuously denies.
In advance of the conference Ballesteros, not competing at Carnoustie, gave his first radio interview since last week's headlines and told BBC Radio Five Live:
"I am perfect - doing great. I know that a lot of rumours have been out all over the world, all as a consequence of one of the TV channels in Spain. They said things that were not even close to reality and that's why I have to make a statement later in the day to deny the things.
"I feel great - as good as ever and I want to say that I really appreciate all the people for the phone calls and letters and everything. They were really worried about my health.
"There was confusion. I have no idea how it arose. I was at hospital for several hours. I didn't feel good in my chest and thought my heart was not doing very good.
"I was there in observation and then I left because everything was OK. I don't know why those rumours happened. You can't control those things sometimes.
"The only important thing is that I am OK. I am very happy and everything is OK."
LATER NEWS:
At the Press Conference, Seve announced his retirement from competitive golf. He said: "You need to remember I have been playing from an early age. Now it is time to enjoy family life and my children."

ROYAL ABERDEEN v PORTLETHEN PENNANT FINAL

Royal Aberdeen will play Portlethen in this coming Sunday's Ritson Smith Aberdeen & District Pennant League final at East Aberdeenshire.
In yesterday's semi-finals, Royal Aberdeen beat Nigg Bay 5-1 at Craibstone and Portlethen beat Hazlehead 4-2 at Peterculter.
This is the first time that Portlethen have reached the final. In fact, they had never got to the semi-finals previously.
"We are all very excited about it," said Muriel Thomson, the Portlethen GC professional.

HOW TO ENTER STONEHAVEN'S 36-HOLE OPEN

If you scroll down a few pages you will find a story about a lucrative 36-hole men's open being staged by Stonehaven Golf Club on Sunday, August 26.
What we forget to tell you was how to get an entry form, etc.
All the details can be found on the Stonehaven Golf Club website:
www.stonehavengolfclub.com


++Free space is available on www.scottishgolfview.com and www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk to any golf club throughout Scotland to pass on news, information and pictures they feel will be of general interest to readers.

All you have to do is send an E-mail message to colin@scottishgolfview.com

CLACKMANNAN COUNTY NEWS ..... FROM HUGH HUNTERE

NOW IT’S THE WEE COUNTY BOYS' TURN!

Last week's Scottish championships for Under-16s and Under-14s gave the top boys a chance to prove their golf skills on the national stage and show that top Clackmannan golf is not just about Callum Macaulay and Scott Borrowman. And prove it they did with their first appearances at this level over the tough Brunston Castle course in Ayrshire.
First event was the three-round Under-16s championship with a cut after two rounds, and the 120 strong field included locals Grant Dowie (Alloa) and John McPherson (Braehead). After first rounds of 80 from Grant and 79 from John, they were just above the middle of the field, with a good chance of making the cut.
John repeated his first-round score (two-round total of 158), but Grant fell back by a couple of shots (two-round total of 162), just missing the qualifying cut at 15-over-par 159. John went on to score a final round of 82, finishing in 29th position (actually 19th Scot).
The title was won by Ian Redford (King James VI) with a three-round total of 222. A fine result by John on his first appearance – well done!
The Under-14s event on the same course with a field of 84 was decided over 18 holes, and four locals took the plunge to try their game against other good golfers in their age group. All four hit first class drives off the first tee to a narrow fairway with bunkers, thick rough and a large water hazard close by.
In this nerve-racking situation, Gary Chalmers (Dollar) finished left centre, Lawrence Allan (Alva) was right and the best drives rifled a long way down the middle came from the Braehead duo of Michael Barrett and Jamie Pollock.
Best of the group was Gary who set about the course in his usual determined way. A one under par outward nine became two under at the 11th with a birdie 3, and at that point he led the tournament. However, a combination of difficult holes and heavy rain saw him slip back to finish with a two over par 74. The winner, Harry Whittle (Woburn) played his closing holes in two under par to finish in 70, and take the 2007 title.
Gary can be very pleased with his performance, although he is probably a bit disappointed at dropping shots over the closing holes. He finished eighth (sixth Scot), next best being Michael Barrett with a well compiled 79, spoiled only by a couple of 6s on the inward nine.
A bit further back were Lawrence Allan (84) and Jamie Pollock (90). Another measure of the fine performance of Gary and Michael was the fact that they were the only two players in the last 12 matches to break 80 in the deteriorating conditions.
County president Sam Kinnaird was pleased with the performances “Well done to all these boys, and over the next few years, we hope to see good results in boys' golf from Clackmannanshire players.”

JUNIOR MASTERS GOLF
The 2007 Junior Masters national tournament reaches the regional finals next week, and six local juniors will be competing at Stirling for a place in the finals to be held over the Queen's Course, Gleneagles on October 7.
Alloa Golf Club is represented by William Nelson and junior club champion John Salmond, Tillicoultry by Scott Baird and David Kinnaird; Dollar by Gary Chalmers and Steven McPherson (pictured above, Gary on the left). Other finals will be held at Dunfermline and Peebles.

COUNTY JUNIOR LEAGUE
The Clackmannan Boys League is reaching a critical stage where every tie is almost certain to affect the final top placings. In the latest matches, Alva continued their undefeated run with another halved match, this time against Dollar.
The home club took the first three matches, but the Alva tail wagged strongly to take the remaining three, interestingly by exactly the same margins. Alloa had a solid win over Tillicoultry who were unable to recover from the strong opening by the Alloa juniors.

Details:
DOLLAR 3, ALVA 3
(Dollar names first)
Steven McPherson bt Lawrence Allan 4 and 3.
Gary Chalmers bt Daniel Ashe 3 and 2.
Tom Hogarth bt Scott Thomson 3 and 2.
Ian Cullins lost to Adam Ashe 4 and 3.
Scott Green lost to Martin Hall 3 and 2.
Jack Dowie lost to David Fisher 3 and 2.

ALLOA 4, TILLICOULTRY 2
(Alloa names first)
Andre Scotland bt Colin Carberry 5 and 4.
Grant Dowie bt Scot Baird 5 and 4.
Grant Ross bt Jonathan Imrie 4 and 3.
William Nelson lost to Kevin Ross 2 and 1.
Calum Boyd bt David Kinnaird 4 and 3.
Calum Graham lost to Richard Brown 1 hole.

HOW THEY STAND

1 Alva 8 pt (played five).
2 Dollar 5 pt (played four).
3 Alloa 3 pt (played four).
4 Braehead 2 pt (played three).
5 Tillicoultry 2 pt (played four).

SUTHERLAND CHALICE
At the weekend, the Scottish Golf Union Order of Merit events moved to the south at Dumfries for the 72-hole event. Once again the top two Wee County golfers were in the prizelist, and collected valuable points for the Order of Merit title.

Over the par-70 lay-out, Callum Macaulay (Tulliallan) opened with two steady rounds of 71, then unleashed two final rounds of 65 and 68 to lift him well up the field to third equal position.

Scott Borrowman (Dollar) moved to runner-up spot after three rounds following his 65, but fell back with a final round 71 to share sixth place.

Greg Paterson from St Andrews New scored a runaway victory by eight shots.

SELECTED FINAL SCORES
1 Greg Paterson 68 64 66 66: 264 (-16)
3 (equal) Callum Macaulay 71 71 65 68: 275 (-5)
6 (equal) Scott Borrowman 69 72 65 71: 277 (-3)

SCOTLAND CALL-UP FOR CALLUM
Callum Macaulay (Tulliallan), with his consistently high standard of golf performances lately, has been named in a six-man squad to represent Scotland in the European individual championship in Berlin from August 22 to 25.

Each country in membership of the European Golf association nominates their top amateur golfers, and these are joined by exemptions and individual entries to make up the high quality field.

The 2007 event is decided over 72 holes at the Nick Faldo-designed course at Sporting Club Berlin. It is a 7134yd, par-75 lay-out and boasts a Scottish links design with 133 deep pot bunkers. Probably only room in each for one angry man with his golf club!

The other team members are Wallace Booth, Kevin McAlpine, Keir McNicoll, Scott Henry and Lloyd Saltman.

SCOTTISH GOLF RANKINGS
Callum Macaulay’s world golf ranking continues to improve. He has now moved to 59th, and is third Scot, having now overtaken James Byrne. In the home rankings, covering only UK tournaments, Callum is ranked fifth and Dollar’s Scott Borrowman is ranked 23rd.

Both players will be looking towards the Scottish Amateur to be played over Prestwick from July 30, and hoping (along with hopefully the rest of the Wee County golfers) that their fine form will take them a fair distance in the match-play tournament which starts with a field of 256.
Callum’s bid to reach the Open championship starting field at Carnoustie came unstuck at the local final qualifying over the Barry links at Panmure last week. After qualifying at Musselburgh with a brilliant five-under-par 67, his final two rounds of 76 and 72 were well outside the qualifying mark.

With only three spots available from the field of over 100 top-class amateurs and professionals at each of the four venues, it was always going to be difficult and in fact no home-based Scots won any of the 12 spots. The qualifying scores were around five under par or better for the two rounds. It's tough at the top.

TOO MANY LAIRD BOGEYS IN FINAL

ROUND COST HIM A TOP-20 PLACE

IN NATIONWIDE TOUR EVENT

Martin Laird from Glasgow finished joint 34th in the Nationwide Tour Children's Hospital Invitational at OSU Club, Columbus, Ohio.

The former Scottish youths champion, pictured right, had rounds of 75, 71, 70 and 73 for a five over par total of 289 over the par-71 course.

The Scot's hopes of another top-20 finish on the No 2 pro tour in the States were dashed when he had bogeys at the fourth, fifth, sixth, eighth and 17th in his final round. He did have birdies at the seventh, 12th and 13th in halves of 39 and 34 but could not quite repair the damage.

An amateur, Daniel Summerhays from Brigham Young University - Johnny Miller's alma mater - won with a six-under-par total of 278, made up of scores of 68, 69, 72 and 69.

England's Gary Christian tied with Laird on 289 with scores of 72, 71, 72 and 74.

Ireland's Keith Nolan finished on 290 with 73, 71, 76 and 70.

ABERDONIAN MICHAEL SIM FINISHES

JOINT 11TH IN JOHN DEERE CLASSIC

- HIS BEST YET ON US PGA TOUR

Aberdeen-born Michael Sim finished joint 11th - his best yet on his seventh start in his US PGA Tour rookie season - in the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run, Silvis in Illinois.

His cash prize of $90,200 was also his biggest this season, although he did earn roughly the same amount in scoring a victory on the Nationwide Tour last year.
The 22-year-old, who emigrated with his parents from Westhill when he was seven and was brought up in Perth, Western Australia, becoming the world No 1 amateur (before Richie Ramsay!) before he turned pro in 2005, had rounds of 69, 67, 68 and 68 for a 12-under-par total of 272 over the par-72 course.
Sim bogeyed the first and the 11th but he had birdies at the second, third, fourth, eighth and 15th in halves of 32 and 36 in his final round of 68 which moved him up two notches on the leaderboard from a start of the day tied 13th position.
Michael gained promotion to the US PGA Tour by finishing among the top 20 moneywinners on last year's Nationwide Tour. But he was dealt a body blow last November when he was diagnosed with a stress fracture the lower back. Rest was the real cure and he did not make his debut on the No 1 circuit until May.
He finished 18th on his first start and earned $76,860 but then missed three cuts in a row, raising fears that his spine problem was still there. But Michael cleared that loss-of-confidence hurdle and finished joint 36th and joint 73rd in this fifth and sixth outings on the US PGA Tour, boosting his earnings to $113,310. He also won $10,200 on a one-off return to the Nationwide Tour.

This latest addition to his bank balance of $90,200 gives him a running total of $203,510 from seven starts (three missed cuts) on the US PGA Tour.
Sim averaged 304 yards off the tee in the John Deere Classic and 1.7 putts per green.
He finished only six strokes behind the tournament winner, American Jonathan Byrd who scored 67, 68, 65 and 66 for 266. Byrd birdied three of the last five holes for a victory that earns him a place in the Open field on Thursday and the news is that he will fly to Scotland today if he can fix up the flights.
Because Sim missed so many events at the start of the season he was never going to qualify for a place at Carnoustie as one of the leading money-winners on the US PGA Tour.

JOHN DEERE CLASSIC FINAL TOTALS

The TPC at Deere Run, Silvis, Illinois.

Par 284 (4 x 71)

266 Jonathan Byrd 67 68 65 66
267 Tim Clark (Rsa) 68 65 66 68.
269 Nathan Green (Aus) 67 63 68 71, Troy Matteson 69 67 67 66
270 Carl Pettersson (Swe) 67 64 71 68
271 Jason Dufner 65 66 72 68, Neal Lancaster 64 68 70 69, Jeff Gove 69 68 66 68, Kevin Sutherland 66 67 70 68, Heath Slocum 70 69 67 65
272 Kenny Perry 65 68 68 71, Michael Sim (Sco) 69 67 68 68, Billy Mayfair 69 66 67 70, Lucas Glover 71 69 65 67
273 J P Hayes 70 65 69 69, Stephen Leaney (Aus) 69 69 67 68, Briny Baird 67 70 68 68
274 Marco Dawson 68 72 69 65, Brian Gay 72 63 66 73, Greg Kraft 69 71 68 66, Tommy Armour III 69 70 68 67
275 Chris Stroud 71 67 68 69, Paul Stankowski 65 70 69 71, Ted Purdy 70 70 69 66, Darron Stiles 70 70 71 64, Chris Couch 68 69 72 66, George McNeill 71 69 70 65, Cameron Beckman 67 70 68 70, Tim Petrovic 68 68 72 67, Dicky Pride 70 69 67 69, Jesper Parnevik (Swe) 69 68 71 67
276 Bernhard Langer (Ger) 72 68 69 67, Tim Herron 69 69 71 67, Harrison Frazar 69 68 73 66, D. J. Trahan 67 68 71 70, Steve Allan (Aus) 71 66 70 69, Kevin Na (Kor) 68 69 72 67, Craig Lile (Rsa) 67 71 69 69, Scott Gutschewski 65 71 72 68, Brandt Snedeker 69 68 73 66.
277 Charles Warren 68 71 71 67, Kirk Triplett 67 72 69 69, Tom Byrum 69 70 71 67, Jeff Overton 70 66 69 72, Bob May 66 67 71 73, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 71 68 70 68, John Huston 70 68 72 67, Bob Heintz 67 70 71 69, Mark Brooks 70 68 66 73
278 Chris Tidland 69 69 69 71, Duffy Waldorf 65 68 73 72, Paul Goydos 67 71 74 66, Woody Austin 72 67 69 70.
279 Chris Riley 72 67 72 68, John Merrick 72 67 70 70, Gavin Coles (Aus) 72 68 68 71
280 Tom Johnson 68 68 72 72, Paul Gow (Aus) 69 68 72 71, Phil Tataurangi (Nzl) 68 71 73 68, Joe Ogilvie 71 68 72 69, Brady Schnell 70 68 73 69
281 Brendon De Jonge 67 68 74 72, Kent Jones 67 72 72 70, Vance Veazey 69 69 73 70, Bronson LaCassie (Aus) 71 66 74 70, Jason Gore 69 68 78 66
282 Jay Williamson 70 70 69 73, Douglas Labelle 70 68 69 75
285 Jose Coceres (Arg) 71 69 71 74
288 Grant Waite (Nzl) 71 69 75 73
289 Jerry Smith 70 69 74 76, Jim Rutledge (Can) 72 68 73 76

St Andrews New player makes 72-hole OOM breakthrough

GREG PATERSON WINS SUTHERLAND CHALICE BY EIGHT STROKES WITH

16-UNDER-PAR 264

Uncapped Fife county player Greg Paterson of the St Andrews New Golf Club scored his first ever SGU Order of Merit 72-hole tournament win today – and he did it in style, winning the Sutherland Challice by EIGHT strokes at Dumfries & Galloway Golf Club.
Paterson, who lives at Drumoig, shot to the front at halfway with a second-round 64, six under par, but those it was a flash in the performance were silenced when Greg actally increased his five-stroke advantage over the field at halfway to eight shots with one round to go.
Greg repeated his third-round 66 at the last time of asking for a exceptional total of 16-under-par 264 … not bad going indeed for a player who was joint 23rd in the Cameron Corbett Vase, joint 20th in the West of Scotland Open and tied 19th in the Scottish youths championship.

Paterson's best open tournament performance prior to this weekend was possibly to finish joint runner-up to Scott Henry in the 2004 Scottish boys' open stroke-play at Machrihanish.
Keir McNicoll (Carnoustie), pictured above, finished strongly with Sunday rounds of 67 and 65 to finish second on 272.
Joint third were Callum Macaulay and Craig Watson on 275.
Wallace Booth (Comrie), winner of the Tennant Cup and the Cameron Corbett Vase to lead the SGU Order of Merit, saddled himself with a second-round, five-over-par 75 but he finished well with scores of 65 and 68 to gain fifth place on 276.

Scroll down if you want to see the list of non-qualifiers for the final two rounds ... they included such big names as Paul O'Hara and Scott Henry.

FINAL TOTALS
Par 280 (4 x 70). CSS 72 72 70 70
264 G Paterson (St Andrews New) 68 64 66 66.
272 K McNicoll (Carnoustie) 71 69 67 65.
275 C Macaulay (Tulliallan) 71 71 65 68, C Watson (East Renfrewshire) 70 70 66 69.
276 W Booth (Comrie) 67 75 65 69.
277 L Kirton (Newmachar) 73 73 64 67, M Millson (Craigielaw) 71 72 65 69, S Borrowman (Dollar) 69 72 65 71, P McLean (Peterhead) 71 68 69 69, J King (Glasgow) 67 71 72 67, I Thomson (Powfoot) 68 69 69 71.
279 C Harkins (Ayr Belleisle) 70 72 69 68, J White (Lundin) 68 71 71 69.
281 B Fotheringham (Forres) 72 69 71 69.
282 M Lawrence (Newmachar) 73 73 67 69, G Campbell (Blairgowrie) 71 66 75 70.
283 J Hempstock (Dumfries & Galloway) 72 74 66 71, P Latimer (St Andrews New0 67 78 70 68, R McKnight (Barassie) 74 71 69 69, S McEwan (Caprington) 71 73 68 71, J Findlay (Fraserburgh) 69 74 72 68.
284 P Betty (Hayston) 74 68 70 72.
285 M Bookless (Sandyhills) 73 72 74 66.
286 G C Turner (West Linton) 72 73 68 73, A Main (Thornton) 73 72 72 69, N Bell (Carlisle) 71 73 70 72, J Hamilton (NZ) 72 69 74 71.
287 A Culverwell (Dunbar) 70 74 76 67.
288 A Gordon (Portpatrick (Dunskey) 71 75 71 71, E Polson (Inverness) 74 71 67 76.
289 R Dixon (Barassie) 68 77 68 76.
290 J Clarke (Royal Montrose) 73 73 73 71, C Riddick (Dumfries & Galloway) 74 72 73 71, S Lockhart (Bathgate) 72 71 74 73.
292 D Addison (Barassie) 75 69 75 73.
293 J Paterson(Hayston) 72 73 75 73.
297 S Hume (Murrayshall) 73 72 74 78.
Scratched from final round – M Kerr (Craigielaw) 71 71 74 -, R Shaw (Wigtown & Bladnoch) 70 75 81 -.

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

Top American meets the bogey man at holes 72 and 73

GOOD GREGORY! HAVRET

BEATS MICKELSON IN

PLAY-OFF TO WIN

SCOTTISH OPEN

Who said Frenchmen couldn't stand the heat in the golfing kitchen!

Forget about Jean Van de Velde, Carnoustie 1999 and all that and remember one of his compatriots, Gregory Havret, in future.

Havret, ranked 320th in the world, pulled off one of the golfing shocks of the season when he beat American star Phil Mickelson in a play-off to win the Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond today.
Mickelson led by one stroke with one hole of the 72-hole tournament to play but bogeyed the last and did the same in the play-off.
Rank outsider Havret, 30, pictured above, was rewarded not only with cheque for £500,000, almost four times the previous biggest of his career just last week, but also a place in the Open at Carnoustie starting on Thursday.
Even after seeing the last of a three-stroke lead disappear when he bogeyed the 16th Mickelson appeared back on course for his expected victory - the 34th of his professional career, but first outside the United States since 1993 - when he rolled in a 30-foot birdie putt on the next.

But the world's best left-hander bogeyed the last after a poor drive and overhit third, then did exactly the same when they went into sudden death.
Havret, whose one previous European Tour win in nearly 200 starts was at the 2001 Italian Open, was himself bunkered in two in the play-off, but he splashed out to within six feet of the flag and when he made the par putt was showered in champagne by fellow-Frenchmen, Thomas Levet and Raphael Jacquelin.
"It's just a dream - I can't say more," said Havret.
His three-under-par closing round of 68 was by no means the lowest of his career, but it was certainly the sweetest.
Havret beat a quality field to take the the trophy with a 14-under-par total of 270, while Mickelson, who was 25-1 ODDS-ON favourite with five holes to play, still moves up to World No. 2 ahead of Jim Furyk, but clearly has to work to do yet on his driving before he tries to deny Tiger Woods a hat-trick of Open crowns next weekend.
When Havret and Mickelson went into their play-off it still did not look an even contest. Havret had lost his one previous play-off on the circuit, while, in America, Mickelson's play-off record is an impressive seven wins and one defeat - to Jesper Parnevik seven years ago.
But Havret fully deserved his success and a week after the disappointment of losing out on an Open spot to Swede Pelle Edberg by virtue of a worse last round in the European Open after they had both finished third, he is into Europe's top 10 this season.

Could Gregory succeed at Carnoustie where Jean Van de Velde failed so famously eight years ago? Stranger things have happened ... as they did at Loch Lomond today.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 284 (4 x 71)

Players from GB&I unless stated.
270 G Havret (Fra) 68 64 70 68, P Mickelson (US) 65 68 68 69 (Havret won sudden-death play-off at first hole). Havret 738,255 Euros, Mickelson 492,165 Euros.
271 E Els (RSA) 69 66 71 65 (277,288 Euros).
273 L Donald 70 69 70 64, P Edberg (Swe) 67 68 72 66, L Oosthuisen (RSA) 70 71 64 68, R Sterne (RSA) 72 69 68 64 (174,302 Euros each).

274 S Webster 68 67 69 70, M Ilonen (Fin) 66 70 70 68, I Poulter 69 67 71 67.
275 G McDowell 70 71 67 67, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 67 74 69 65.
276 P Hanson (Swe) 72 67 69 68, R Jan Derksen (Ned) 69 68 73 66, P Archer 68 68 69 71, M Foster 66 74 71 65.
277 S Micheel (US) 67 71 70 69, A Tadini (Ita) 72 68 69 68.
278 R Fisher 69 69 69 71, S Hansen (Den) 65 73 71 69, A Cabrera (Arg) 71 70 70 67, D Clarke 71 67 74 66, J M Lara (Spa) 67 65 74 72, O Fisher 70 71 67 70, S Garcia (Spa) 71 65 71 71, R Finch 68 70 72 68, A Canizares (Spa) 72 67 68 71, L Westwood 65 74 70 69, I Garbutt 71 69 69 69
279 B Weekley (US) 68 66 74 71, B Dredge 68 72 72 67.
280 S Khan 67 67 75 71, J Randhawa (Ind) 71 69 70 70, P Broadhurst 71 70 71 68, R Jacquelin (Fra) 69 70 73 68
281 K Sullivan 70 69 73 69, P Hedblom (Swe) 69 70 70 72, A McLardy (Rsa) 71 68 75 67
282 A Marshall 70 71 70 71, M Tunnicliff 68 67 73 74, G Storm 65 72 72 73, T Levet (Fra) 70 67 73 72
283 J Milkha Singh (Ind) 72 67 71 73, P Sjoland (Swe) 68 71 71 73, P Price 71 67 74 71, I Garrido (Spa) 72 68 71 72, G Bourdy (Fra) 70 67 75 71, Peter Lawrie 68 73 71 71
284 G Houston 69 71 71 73, T Bjorn (Den) 69 70 73 72, P McGinley 68 70 74 72
285 S Walker 67 69 77 72, O Wilson 74 67 75 69, A Canete (Arg) 68 68 76 73
286 M Erlandsson (Swe) 72 69 72 73, Yong-eun Yang (Kor) 73 68 73 72
287 Paul Lawrie 68 71 74 74, M Millar (Aus) 72 69 73 73, J Hepworth 71 70 73 73 (13,288 Euros each).
288 L Slattery 69 71 72 76, W Ormsby (Aus) 70 70 78 70, P O'Malley (Aus) 70 70 75 73.
290 J Backstrom (Swe) 72 68 78 72, D Drysdale 70 69 75 76 (10,852 Euros each).
291 A Romero (Arg) 67 67 80 77
292 M Mamat (Sin) 69 72 75 76

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

KELLETT CATCHES FIRE

WITH A 63 TO MAKE TOP

10 IN CHIBERTA G P

Scotland youth international Ross Kellett fired a brilliant last round of seven-under-par 63 to surge up the leaderboard from joint 30th to a final position of tied ninth on level par 280 in the Chiberta Grand Prix amateur tournament at Chiberta Golf Club, Biarritz in southwest France.
The Colville Park Golf Club player, pictured right, had earlier rounds of 73, 72 and 72 against the par of 70 over the short but tight 6,215yd course. Then he caught fire to equal the 63 shot in the second round by tournament winner Luke Goddard from Hendron.
Goddard’s 63 after an opening 67 put him in the lead at the halfway stage and he stayed there with closing rounds of 70 and 71 for a nine-under-par tally of 271.
And so a British player won this prestigious Continental event for the second year in a row. Duncan Stewart (Grantown on Spey) won the Chiberta Grand Prix last year.
Miles Mackman from Broome Manor finished joint fifth on 277 with scores of 68, 70, 72 and 69.
Gordon Yates (Hilton Park) finished joint 26th on 288 with scores of 72, 73, 71 and 72.
Sam Hutsby (Lee on the Solent), winner of The Duke of York Young Champions’ Trophy tournament at Dundonald Links last autumn, was also on the 288 mark with 72, 71, 70 and 75.
Gavin Dear (Murrayshall), the leading Scot after rounds of 70 and 69 had him in the top 10, faded to closing scores of 78 and 76 for a share of 46th place on 293.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 280 (4 x 70)

271 L Goddard (Hendon) 67 73 70 71.
273 E Espana (Fra)( 72 69 65 67.
275 N Glans (Swe) 70 65 70 70.
276 A Fourquet (Fra) 66 69 72 69.
277 A Cuenca (Esp) 73 69 67 68, M Mackman (Broomne Manor) 68 70 69 70.
278 K Nielsen (Den) 67 71 70 70.
279 B Chapellan (Fra) 72 70 69 68.
280 R Kellett (Colville Park) 73 72 72 63, S Seijo Garcia (Esp) 70 72 66 72.
Other totals:
288 G Yates (Hilton Park) 72 73 71 72, S Hutsby (Lee on the Solent 72 71 70 75 (jt 26th).
293 G Dear (Murrayshall) 70 69 76 76 (jt 46th).

GREG PATERSON GOES EIGHT SHOTS CLEAR IN
RBOS SUTHERLAND CHALICE AFTER 54 HOLES

Greg Paterson (St Andrews New) may have been the "surprise" halfway leader in the Royal Bank of Scotland Sutherland Chalice at Dumfries & Galloway Club, but there's no mistaking his superiority now over the field in this SGu Order of Merit 72-hole tournament.
Paterson had a third-round 66 (four under par) this morning to extend his five-shot lead to eight strokes with 18 holes to play.
Three players are disputing second place - Scottish youths champion Scott Borrowman (Dollar), who had a 65 for 206, "Mr Reliable" Craig Watson (East Renfrewshire) with a 66 for 206 and local hero Ian Thomson, who had a 69 for the same mark.

AFTER THREE ROUNDS
Par 210 (3 x 70). CSS 72 72 70
Halfway cut: scores of 146 or better
198 (-12) Greg Paterson (St Andrews New) 68 64 66.
206 S Borrowman (Dollar) 69 72 65, C Watson (East Renfrewshire) 70 70 66, I Thomson (Powfoot) 68 69 69.
210 J King (Glasgow) 67 71 72.
212 G Campbell (Blairgowrie) 71 66 75.
.

VICKI JUST OUTSIDE TOP 20 WITH ONE
ROUND TO GO IN CIGNA CLASSIC

Vikki Laing goes into the final round of the Cigna Classic on the US Futures Tour at Gillette Ridge Golf Club, Bloomfield, Connecticut in joint 21st place.
The Musselburgh exile had second-round 75 for a 36-hole tally of four-over-par 148 on a 6,402yd course in testing conditions of a 12mph breeze that gusted up to 21mph. Firm greens would not hold a full approach shot. The temperature was up in the low 80s most of the day.

Vikki is 11 shots behind the three-stroke leader Mollie Fankhauser from Columbus, Ohio. Millie has scored 67 and 70 for 137 to lead from Taylor Leon (Texas) (70-70) and Stephanie Otteson (North Carolina) on 142 (71-71).
Seventy players made the cut on 155 or better.
South Wales amateur Natasha Morgan, spending her summer holidays from Lynn University, Boca Raton in Florida, on the No 2 women's pro circuit in the States, missed out with 78 and 79 for 157.
So too did Brenda McLarnon from Belfast with 83 and 81 for 164.
Polly Willett from London withdrew after an opening round of 79.
Lisa D Mickey (Futures Tour staff writer) writes:
In the second day’s oddest incident, rookie Kailin Downs of Bend, Oregon, was disqualified when she ran out of golf balls.
Downs says she started the round with “seven or eight” Callaway HX Tour balls in her bag, but it was a day in which she “put a whole bunch in the hazards.”
She finally ran out on the seventh hole, which was her 16th, when her errant shot sailed into the woods.
The one-ball rule states that a contestant may borrow a ball from fellow contestants if all are using like brands, but the other two players in Downs’ group were both using Titleist balls.“It’s not the goal to play bad and need more golf balls,” said Downs, who opted to remain with her group as a scorekeeper for the last three holes of the round.
“This was a first.”She had been joint 47th after a first-round 76.

LEADERBOARD
Par 144 (2 x 72)
137 Mollie Fankhauser (Ohio) 67 70.
140 Taylor Leon (Texas) 70 70.
142 Stephanie Otteson (North Carolina) 71 71.
Other scores:
148 Vikki Laing (Musselburgh) 73 75.
MISSED THE CUT
(Qualifiers 155 or better)
157 Natasha Morgan (South Wales) (am) 78 79.
164 Brenda McLarnon (Belfast) 83 81.
Withdrew:
Polly Willett (London) 79 - .