DOC THOM AYRSHIRE ORDER OF MERIT - Holder boosts defence with win in the Hillhouse Cup

Stuart Robin

Doc Thom Ayrshire Order Of Merit title holder Stuart Robin (Prestwick St Cuthbert) boosted his chances of retaining the title this season with a win on Sunday 18th may in the prestigious Hillhouse Cup competition over the Old Course at Royal Troon.

Robin, who was a member of the Ayrshire side beaten in the quarter finals of the SGU Scottish Area Team Championships on Saturday morning, bounced back with a fine score of 73 over the championship links at Troon to take the trophy by two shots from the new Ayrshire Strokeplay champion John Shanks (Irvine)

Four players shared third place on 76, George Robertson (Irvine Ravenspark), Michael Smyth (Royal Troon), Craig Hamilton (Ballochmyle) and Keith Hamilton (Ayr Belleisle).

With three of the 16 counting events now completed, Strokeplay Champion John Shanks leads the table. Present standings in the Doc Thom Ayrshire Order Of Merit are :-

225		JOHN	SHANKS	IRVINE
135		STEPHEN	SPENCE	ROYAL TROON
103.75		CRAIG	HAMILTON	BALLOCHMYLE
100		STUART	ROBIN	PR. ST CUTHBERT
85		SCOTT	BROWN	TURNBERRY
75		MARK	ANDERSON	IRVINE
50.42		GEORGE	ROBERTSON	IRVINE RAVENSPARK
50		STEVEN	WALLACE	PR. ST CUTHBERT
28.75		MICHAEL	SMYTH	ROYAL TROON
28.75		KEITH	HAMILTON	AYR BELLEISLE
21.67		STEVEN	MCEWAN	LOUDOUN
21.67		EWAN	MCKINNON	CORRIE
0.83		GREG	VERNON	KIL. BARASSIE
0.83		IAIN	MACDONALD	LARGS
0.83		STEPHEN	MCBLAIN	TROON PORTLAND
0.83		A D	WRIGHT	ROYAL TROON
0.83		STEVEN	MURRAY	TROON WELBECK
0.83		GORDON	BOYLE	TURNBERRY

The next counting event is the Scottish Strokeplay Championship from 30th May to 1st June at Panmure.

Local counting competitions due to be played soon include The Belleisle Cup (1st June), The Ayr Seafield Open (7th June), The ballochmyle Open (14th June) and the McGilchrist Cup at Ardeer (21st June)

SCOTTISH AREA TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS - Ayrshire lose out to Perth & Kinross in quarter finals

The Ayrshire team lost out to Perth & Kinross on Saturday morning, 17th May, in the quarter finals of the 2014 Scottish Area Team Championships at Ranfurly Castle Golf Club in Renfrewshire.

Stuart Robin, Tommy McInally, Malcolm Pennycott, John Shanks, Michael Smyth, Keith Hamilton

 facing the second qualifiers and 2012 title winners, the Ayrshire side eventually lost out 4 - 1 to their opponents, who were particularly competent on the greens throughout the match which eventually proved the advantage which saw them through to the semi finals.

The four singles matches were won by the Perth & Kinross players, with the Ayrshire team pretty well matching their opponents from tee to green, though all four eventually succumbed to defeat by very similar margins.

John Shanks went behind early on to Daniel Young and by the time the players reached the sixteenth the Perth & Kinross player was dormie three. In a closing scenario which summed up Shanks' day, the Ayrshire players approach finished adjacent to the hole for a conceded three, only to see his opponent home from 15 feet for a birdie to close out the match by 3 & 2

Michael Smyth fought back from n early two hole deficit against Stuart Graham to square the match, only to see his opponent win three quick holes for a 3 & 2 win.

Stuart Robin also went down to a 3 & 2 defeat against Mark Cameron, the Perth & Kinross player covering the first nine holes of the match with only eleven putts required.

Tommy McInally always faced a difficult task against Scotland internationalist Bradley Neil but despite being two behind early on, McInally stuck to his task, taking the match to the seventeenth hole before losing by 3 & 1.

Ayrshire's only point came from the foursomes pairing of Keith Hamilton & Malcolm Pennycott who were one down with two to play against Scott Michie & Philip Scott before they finished in style by taking the final two holes for a one hole victory.

Ayrshire players & officials
Team manager Ricky Magee, John Rushbury, Malcolm Pennycott, Tommy McInally, Stuart Robin,
John Shanks, Michael Smyth, Keith Hamilton, Allan Muir, President Milton Murray

In the other quarter finals on Saturday morning, Renfrewshire beat the North area by 4 - 1 whilst Glasgow beat Lothians 3 - 2 and Lanarkshire beat Stirlingshire by the same margin.

The semi finals on Saturday afternoon resulted in Renfrewshire beating Glasgow by 3.5 - 1.5 and Lanarkshire beating Perth & Kinross 3 - 2.

The final between Renfrewshire and Lanarkshire is scheduled to take place on Sunday 18th may with three foursomes in the morning and six singles in the afternoon.

AYRSHIRE FOURBALL - Latest results

Two more second round results in the 2014 Ayrshire Fourball Championship have been posted this week.

Hugh Fyfe and Callum Weir (Muirkirk) beat Robert Long and John Sloan (Tam O Shanter) at Muirkirk and now play host to Andrew Macdonald & Robert Paterson (Auchenharvie 88) in the third round.

Also through are Alistair McCall & David Moore (Fenwick) who had a 4 & 3 victory at home over Stuart Wilson & Jim Mason (North Beach). The Fenwick pair are at home again in round three, against  Jim Paterson & Danny Monaghan (Loudoun).

SCOTTISH AREA TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS - Ayrshire edge into matchplay stages

Ayrshire edged into the matchplay stages of the 2014 Scottish Area Team Championships on Friday 16 May over the Ranfurly Castle and Old Ranfurly courses in Bridge Of Weir, securing seventh place of the eight qualifiers.

With the best five of the six scores over each course counting towards the team total, Tommy McInally (71), Malcolm Pennycott (72), Keith Hamilton (73) and John Shanks (74) all counted over the par 70 Old Ranfurly course, along with one of the 75's returned by both Stuart Robin and Michael Smyth.

At Ranfurly Castle, also a par 70 course, Stuart Robin (72), Tommy McInally (73), John Shanks (75), Keith Hamilton (77) and Malcolm Pennycott (78) all counted with an 81 from Michael Smyth being discarded.

This gave Ayrshire a team total of 740, just ahead of the eighth and final qualifier from the 16 competing areas, North district.

The matchplay rounds begin on Saturday morning with one foursome and four singles, the winners progressing to the semi finals under the same format on Saturday afternoon.

In the first round of the matchplay, Ayrshire take on the second best qualifiers, Perth & Kinross.

The final on Sunday will consist of three morning foursomes and six afternoon singles matches.

Matches on Saturday 17th May will tee off as follows at Ranfurly Castle:-

0730 - Renfrewshire (1) Vs North (8)
0810 - Lothians (4) vs Glasgow (5)
0850 - Stirlingshire (3) vs Lanarkshire (6)
0930 - Perth & Kinross (2) vs Ayrshire (7)

INNES McQUEEN TROPHY - Fixture postponed

The annual match between the Ayrshire Men's and Woman's teams, for the Innes McQueen Trophy was called off on Sunday 18th May due to adverse weather conditions closing the course at Rowallan Castle.

Both teams were in attendance at the club but the prevailing weather prior to the scheduled 2 pm tee time made any play on the day impossible.

The fixture will be rescheduled later in the season.

AYRSHIRE FOURBALL - Turnberry Staff pair through to round 3

The latest Ayrshire Fourball result saw the pairing representing Turnberry Staff book their place in the last sixteen of the competition.

William McMeikan & Robert Galloway (Turnberry Staff) were at home to Gary Steele & John Urie (Maybole) in their second round tie and were on top form, beating their visitors by 6 & 5.

In the third round the Turnberry Staff pairing face an away fixture against Thomas Alexander & Alex Leishman (Ayr Seafield).

The second round matches are due to be completed by Sunday 18th May.

Outstanding results are :-
Irvine Ravenspark Vs Brunston Castle
Muirkirk Vs Tam O Shanter
Fenwick Vs North Beach
Moorpark Vs Malletsheugh
Ballochmyle Vs Prestwick St Cuthbert

AYRSHIRE FOURBALL CHAMPIONSHIP - Two more second round results posted this week

Two more second round results in the 2014 Ayrshire Fourball Trophy competition were recorded over the weekend.

Jim Paterson & Danny Monaghan (Loudoun) had a 3 & 2 home win over Alexander Kerr & Fraser Innes (Largs) to set up an away tie in round three against either Alistair McCall & David Moore (Fenwick) or Stuart Wilson & Jim Mason (North Beach).

The other result posted at the weekend was a one hole victory by Tom Reid & Dougie Ainslie (Stewarton) away from home against John McLuskie & Alan McKinnie (Largs Routenburn). The Stewarton pair now have a home tie against either Scott Maxwell & Tom Moore (Irvine Ravenspark) or David & George McCulloch (Brunston Castle).

AYRSHIRE SCRATCH LEAGUES - Champions make it two wins from two

Defending champions in Division 1 of the Ayrshire Scratch leagues, Loudoun Gowf Club, made it two wins from two this week in their bid to win the title for a third year in a row.

In their latest match on Friday 9th May, the Loudoun team defeated newly promoted Ballochmyle by 6 - 0 at Loudoun.

Also in Division 1, Irvine Ravenspark opened their season with a 4 - 2 win away at Troon Welbeck.

In Division 2, Caprington opened their account with a 4 - 2 home win over West Kilbride.

In Division 4, newly promoted Doon Valley suffered their second successive defeat in the campaign with a 4 - 2 loss at Ayr Dalmilling.

WEST OF SCOTLAND UNDER 18 LEAGUE - Ayrshire earn draw away to title holders Lanarkshire

In their opening fixture of the season in the West Of Scotland Inter County Under 18 League, Ayrshire earned a 4 - 4 draw against their hosts, and defending champions, Lanarkshire on Sunday 11 May.

Ayrshire had three new players in their team for the fixture at Carluke but it was the visitors who took the early initiative in the match. Ross McDonald fought back from two behind after twelve to win four of the next five holes for a 2 & 1 win.

Murray McCrone required only a par at the last to record a one hole win and extend Ayrshire's lead to 2-0.

In his first appearance for the county side, Elliot Spence was ahead in the final stages before losing the sixteenth and seventeenth to square the match, however he showed determination to win the last hole for a one hole win in his tie.

Lanarkshire's first point on the board was recorded by Graeme Greer with a 4 & 3 win over Blair Fleming.

Ayrshire were assured of at least a draw when Jordan Fraser birdied two of the last three holes in his match for a 4 & 3 win.

In the seventh and eight ties, Andrew Thomson and Innes Frenson kept Lanarkshire hopes alive with wins by 3 & 1 and 4 & 2 over Jack Purdie and Shaun Hedger respectively.

With only the tie between Ayrshire debutant  Craig McKenzie and Lanarkshire's Fraser King still to be completed, Ayrshire only required a half match for a notable win overall, but coming up the last hole all square Mckenzie hit a good tee shot but found an unplayable lie in the roots of a tree a couple of yards off the fairway, and lost the final hole to a par from Fraser Kane whose victory earned his Lanarkshire team a draw in the match.

Match Details (Lanarkshire names first) :-

Craig Dalziel (Airdrie) lost to Ross McDonald (Irvine) by 2 & 1
Keiran McCallister (Easter Moffat) lost to Murray McCrone (Troon Welbeck) by 1 hole
Lewis Irvine (Kirkhill) lost to Elliot Spence (Loudoun) by 1 hole
Graeme Greer (Carluke) beat Blair Fleming (Troon Welbeck) by 4 & 3
Kieran McVicar (East Kilbride) lost to Jordan Fraser (Ayr Belleisle) by 4 & 3
Fraser Kane (Kirkhill) beat Craig McKenzie (Troon Welbeck) by 1 hole
Andrew Thomson (Lanark) beat Jack Purdie (Largs) by 3 & 1
Innes Frenson (Drumpellier) beat Shaun Hedger (West Kilbride) by 4 & 2

LANARKSHIRE   4    AYRSHIRE   4

Following their win over Glasgow last week, Stirlingshire lead the table from the four counties who drew their matches this week.

The next matches in the series are :-

15 June - Ayrshire Vs Dumbartonshire at Ardeer
15 June - Lanarkshire Vs Stirlingshire at Colville Park
22 June - Renfrewshire Vs Glasgow at Caldwell

AYRSHIRE MATCHPLAY CHAMPIONSHIP - Hamilton wins second title at Barassie

2014 Ayrshire Matchplay Champion
Craig Hamilton
(Ballochmyle GC)

Craig Hamilton won his second Ayrshire Matchplay title at Kilmarnock (Barassie) on Friday evening, 9th May 2014, when he defeated Steven Wallace (Prestwick St Cuthbert) in the final of this years competition.

Previous winner of the championship in 2008 at Western Gailes, Hamilton was never behind to Wallace, who was making his first appearance in the Matchplay Championship final.

Hamilton opened the match in perfect style, taking the first hole with a birdie four and when Wallace bogeyed the third hole, Hamilton led by two holes.

At the par three fourth hole, Wallace reduced the deficit following a three put from Hamilton but when Wallace missed the green on the right at the fifth hole and failed to get up and down for par, Hamilton restored his two hole lead with a par four.

A lost ball from the tee at the par three sixth hole, after a blocked tee shot, led to Wallace conceding the hole to Hamilton whose lead increased to three holes.

With the seventh halved in pars after a good chip and putt from Wallace, Wallace reduced the deficit to two holes at the eighth, getting up and down from a greenside bunker for a winning birdie four after Hamilton missed his birdie effort from three feet, but having missed the green to the left with his approach to the ninth and following it with an indifferent chip, Wallace conceded the hole to Hamilton and the Ballochmyle player turned for home with a three hole lead.

At the tenth hole Hamilton increased his lead to four holes after holing a good birdie putt but again Wallace came back at him at the following hole, recovering from apulled tee shot to record a winning par four after Hamilton missed his approach left and failed to chip and putt for par.

Both players narrowly missed their birdie efforts at the twelfth, leaving Hamilton's lead as three holes and when Wallace went through the thirteenth green with his approach and failed in his effort to save par, Hamilton restored his four hole advantage with five holes to play.

At the par three fourteenth, Hamilton missed the green right and chipped up to twenty feet whilst Wallace's tee shot found the centre of the green. Wallace narrowly missed his curling birdie effort from twenty five feet but Hamilton's lead was still reduced to three after his own par effort missed.

Three ahead with four to play, Hamilton halved the fifteenth to leave him dormie in his bid for the trophy.

At the sixteenth hole, which proved to be the last hole of the match, Wallace was at the back of the green in two, fully fifty feet from the hole whilst Hamilton was pin high on the left apron of the green. Wallace's putt ran fifteen feet past the hole whilst Hamilton, after receiving a free drop from interference by a sprinkler head, putted up to two feet in three.  Wallace needed to hole his par putt to keep any hope alive but when his effort failed to drop he conceded a 4 & 2 victory to Hamilton.  

At the conclusion of play, Ayrshire Golf Association President Milton Murray presented vouchers to both players and handed the Ayrshire Matchplay Trophy to the 2014 winner Craig Hamilton.

US COLLEGE GOLF - Walker named in Freshman team

Euan Walker

Ayrshire's Euan Walker is making his mark in the college golf circuit in America, being named this week n the Columbia Regional All Freshman squad by league coaches.

(Report courtesy of Colin Farquarson)


Columbia, Mo. - Missouri Golf will host the 2014 NCAA Men's Golf Columbia Regional, May 15-17, and the Tigers will have a pair of All-SEC award winners in their lineup as Emilio Cuartero was named Second Team All-SEC and freshman standout Euan Walker was named to the All-Freshman squad Thursday morning by the league coaches.

 

It's the second consecutive year Head Coach Mark Leroux's club has enjoyed multiple All-SEC

 

award recipients in its lineup. Last season, Jace Long was named All-SEC, while Hunter Kraus was

 

the Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

 

"I'm very excited for Emilio and Euan to earn this recognition," Head Coach Mark Leroux said.

"Emilio was incredibly steady for us all year and Euan is one of the top young golfers in this

 

conference. This is  the premier golf conference in the country and I am really proud of the way our

 

program has developed. 

Obviously we are very excited for this weekend's event and excited for the future of Mizzou Golf

 

with four starters coming back next season."

Cuartero finished ninth at the 2014 SEC Championships (April 25-27), shooting 4-under-par through

 

the 54-hole event. He finished just one shot out of the Top Five. For the year, Cuartero led Mizzou in

 

scoring average, shooting 71.1 and he won the 2013 Columbia Regional Preview event last fall. He

 

finished the year with six Top 10 placings and never finished outside of the Top 30 in his 10 starts.

 

 

Walker, a freshman from Troon, Scotland, was second on the club in scoring average (72.5) and

 

recorded four Top 20 finishes as a rookie. His top finish came at the Columbia Regional Preview

 

where he tied for second with a 6-under-par score. Walker finished fourth in the SEC among

 

freshmen in scoring average and finished under par three times in 10 events.

 

Missouri Golf returns to action next week (May 15-17) at The Club at Old Hawthorne as the Tigers

 

host the NCAA Columbia Regional. The Columbia Regional field is loaded with the nation's top

 

teams as the 14-team field includes nine clubs ranked inside Golfstat's Top 50. No. 2 Oklahoma

 

State is the top seed at the Columbia Regional. Missouri, which is seeded eighth in the regional, is

 

ranked No. 46 nationally.

ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
 

Matthias Schwab, Vanderbilt
 

Robby Shelton, Alabama
 

Matt Gilchrest, Auburn
 

Greyson Sigg, Georgia
 

Euan Walker, Missouri

 

AYRSHIRE SCRATCH LEAGUES - Champions off to a winning start.

Defending champions Loudoun got off to a winning start in their bid to retain the Ayrshire Scratch leagues this year.

In their opening Division 1 fixture, Loudoun beat their visitors Kilmarnock (Barassie) by 4.5 - 1.5.

In Division 2, a fixture mix up resulted in Caprington being awarded a 4 - 2 away win over newly promoted Girvan in their opening match.

In Division 3, Prestwick St Nicholas indicated their early intentions with a 6 - 0 home win over new Cumnock in their first fixture of the league campaign.

In Division 4, Tam O Shanter opened with a 4.5 - 1.5 home win over newly promoted Doon Valley.

Team captains should note that the results sheet is now available to download from this web page, via the appropriate link on the left of the page under the 'Results' heading.

AYRSHIRE FOURBALL CHAMPIONSHIP - Three more teams through to the last 16

Three more clubs have booked their place in the last 16 of the 2014 Ayrshire Fourball Championship.

Gary Jordan & Paul Ferguson (Crosshouse) won by 3 & 2 at home to Jock Barr Jr. & David Sloan (Doon Valley) to set up a third round encounter away from home against Victor Sproat & David Lewis (Ayr Belleisle).

Blair Graham & Jamie Bryant (Ardeer) beat Robert Cornelius and Nairn Burns (Alton) away from home in round two and will be at home to either Jim Mitchell & Ian Fisher (Ballochmyle) or Shaun Armstrong & Gary Davidson (Prestwick St Cuthbert) in round three.

Also through to round three are Andrew Macdonald & Robert Paterson (Auchenharvie) who beat Stephen Simpson & Gavin Stewart (Girvan) by 4 & 3, at Girvan, in the second round. The Auchinharvie pair have another away tie in round three, against either Hugh Fyfe & Callum Weir(Muirkirk) or Robert Long & John Sloan (Tam O Shanter).

All remaining second round ties are due to be completed by 18th May.

AYRSHIRE CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS - Latest results

A number of second round ties in the 2014 Ayrshire Champion Of Champions competition have been played recently.

Craig Robertson (Abbotsford) beat Gary Jordan (Crosshouse) by 4 & 3 and now faces an away tie against either Kenny Mackaskill (Turnberry Staff) or Gary Steele (Maybole) in the last 16.

Colin Craig (Troon Welbeck) had a 2 & 1 home win over James Patterson (Braehead) and faces an away tie against either Frank Murdoch (Brunston Castle) or Stephen Brown (Drongan) in round three.

Gary Bryden (Girvan) and Gordon McKelvie (Royal Troon) meet in the last 16 at Troon after both players recorded big wins in their second round ties. Bryden had an away win over Alan Smeeton (The Chase) by 6 & 5 whilst McKelvie had an 8 & 6 home win against Tom Reid (Stewarton).

Due to injury, Darren Mallinson (Irvine Ravenspark) had to withdraw from the competition this year, and awarded a walkover to Iain Macdonald (Largs) who now faces an away tie against either Adam Sweeney (Largs Routenburn) or Colin Berry (Rowallan Castle) in round three.

All remaining second round ties are due to be completed by 18th May.

WEST OF SCOTLAND UNDER 18 LEAGUE - Ayrshire team named for season opener

Ayrshire begin their bid for the 2014 West Of Scotland Inter County Under 18 League on Sunday 11 May with an away match against Lanarkshire at Carluke.

The Ayrshire team, announced this week, is:-

Jordan Fraser (Ayr Belleisle)
Shaun Hedger (West Kilbride)Craig McKenzie (Troon Welbeck)
Jack Purdie (Largs)Murray McCrone (Troon Welbeck)Ross McDonald (Irvine)Blair Fleming (Troon Welbeck)Elliot Spence (Loudoun)

 

AYRSHIRE MATCHPLAY CHAMPIONSHIP - Wallace and Hamilton meet in the final

Craig Hamilton

The final of the 2014 Ayrshire Matchplay Championship will be between Steven Wallace (Prestwick St Cuthbert) and Craig Hamilton (Ballochmyle).

Steven Wallace

The semi finals, suspended on Wednesday evening, were resumed on Thursday night and Wallace booked his final place by beating Scott Brown (Turnberry) by 3 & 2 whilst Hamilton was pegged back by Stephen Spence (Royal Troon), who fought back from three behind when play was suspended to take the match to the final green before losing by a single hole.

The final is scheduled to be played, again at Kilmarnock (Barassie), on Friday evening.

AYRSHIRE MATCHPLAY CHAMPIONSHIP - Semi final matches suspended

The two semi final matches in the 2014 Ayrshire Matchplay Championship were suspended on Wednesday night, 7th May, due to the greens at Kilmarnock (Barassie) becoming waterlogged as a result of persistent heavy rain.

When play was suspended, Craig Hamilton (Ballochmyle) was three up against Stephen Spence (Royal Troon) after 8 holes whilst Steven Wallace (Prestwick St Cuthbert) was one up on Scott Brown (Turnberry) after 7 holes.

The semi final matches will resume, at the point where they were suspended, on Thursday evening, with the final now rescheduled to be played on Friday evening, 9th May. 

AYRSHIRE MATCHPLAY CHAMPIONSHIP - Smyth and Shanks exit in quarter finals

The title holder and the leading qualifier for the 2014 Ayrshire Matchplay Championships both bowed out of the competition at the quarter final stage, when the competition continued over the Kilmarnock (Barassie) course on Tuesday 6 May.  


Top qualifier John Shanks (Irvine) lost out to Steven Wallace (Prestwick St Cuthbert) by 2 & 1, whilst title holder Michael Smyth (Royal Troon) was defeated 3 & 2 by Craig Hamilton (Ballochmyle).

STEVEN WALLACE

SCOTT BROWN

In Wednesday's Semi Finals, Steven Wallace plays 2009 title winner Scott Brown (Turnberry) who booked his place in the last four courtesy of a 4 & 3 win over Kenny Milliken (Troon St Meddans).










CRAIG HAMILTON

STEPHEN SPENCE

The 2008 winner Craig Hamilton plays Steven Spence (Royal Troon) in the penultimate round, Spence having beaten Gordon Boyle (Turnberry) by 4 & 3 in their quarter final tie.

AYRSHIRE FOURBALL CHAMPIONSHIP - Beith duo into round three

Robert Marshall & Phil Rooney (Beith) are into round three of the 2014 Ayrshire Fourball Championship.

The pair, who were runners up in the competition in 2012, beat George Brown & Gordon Johnston (Kilbirnie Place) at Beith at the weekend by 3 & 2 to set up a home match in the last sixteen against David Gemmell & Scott Ward (West Kilbride).

AYRSHIRE MATCHPLAY CHAMPIONSHIP - Smyth back in the hnt to retain title whilst Shanks continued bid for county double

As a result of two late call offs, defending champion Michael Smyth (Royal Troon), third reserve last week, secured a place in the starting line up for the 2014 Ayrshire Matchplay Championship, which began at Kilmarnock (Barassie) on Monday evening, 5th May.
 

MICHAEL SMYTH

Smyth took full advantage of his good fortune, recording a 3 & 2 win over David McLellan (Largs) to book a quarter final tie against Craig Hamilton (Ballochmyle), who won by a similar margin against George Higgins (West Kilbride) in round one.


CRAIG HAMILTON



STEPHEN SPENCE

GORDON BOYLE

Stephen Spence (Royal Troon), runner up in last weeks Strokeplay Championship, had a 2&1 win over his former Irvine Bogside clubmate Gareth Lamb and now faces a quarter final match against Gordon Boyle (Turnberry) who ended the hopes of Greg Cathie (Irvine) with a 4 & 3 win.











JOHN SHANKS

STEVEN WALLACE








 

The new Ayrshire Strokeplay Champions John Shanks (Irvine) kept his double title bid on track with the biggest win of the night, by 6 & 5 over Brian Moore (Largs) and now plays Steven Wallace (Prestwick St Cuthbert) in the last eight, after Wallace edged out Malcolm Pennycott (Whiting Bay) by two holes in their first round tie.









SCOTT BROWN

KENNY MILLIKEN

The remaining quarter final will be between Scott Brown (Turnberry) and Kenny Milliken (Troon St Meddans). Brown booked his quarter final place witn a 4 & 3 win over paul Denim (Loudoun) whilst Milliken beat George Robertson (Irvine Ravenspark) by 2 & 1.







The quarter finals are scheduled to take place at Kilmarnock (Barassie) on Tuesday evening, 6th May, with the semi finals and final the following two evenings.







AYRSHIRE JUNIOR GOLF LEAGUE - Irvine off to flying start in League Championship whilst Wallace Thornton fixtures are announced.

Irvine Golf Club are off to a flying start in the 2014 Ayrshire Junior Golf League Championship, with wins in their opening two fixtures of the season.

With the two matches in Section B involving Irvine being the only results posted so far, the Bogside team have a 100% record, winning their opening home match by 5 - 1 and following that with a 4 - 2 away win at Ayr Belleisle.

Meanwhile, the qualifying section fixtures for the Wallace Thornton Trophy competition have been announced, following the completion of the Ayrshire Boys Team Championship recently.

The fixtures in the two qualifying sections are :-

SECTION 1                                     

 

IRVINE V LARGS                                   

IRVINE V WEST KILBRIDE                                                

BALLOCHMYLE V IRVINE                                                

LOUDOUN V IRVINE                               

LARGS V WEST KILBRIDE                            

LARGS V BALLOCHMYLE                        

LOUDOUN V LARGS                           

WEST KILBRIDE V BALLOCHMYLE                         

WEST KILBRIDE V LOUDOUN              

BALLOCHMYLE V LOUDOUN   

 

SECTION 2

TROON WELBECK V AYR BELLEISLE

TROON WELBECK V KILMARNOCK BARASSIE

PRESTWICK ST NICHOLAS V TROON WELBECK

PRESTWICK ST CUTHBERT V TROON WELBECK

AYR BELLEISLE V KILMARNOCK BARASSIE

AYR BELLEISLE V PRESTWICK ST NICHOLAS

PRESTWICK ST CUTHBERT V AYR BELLEISLE

KILMARNOCK BARASSIE V PRESTWICK ST NICHOLAS

KILMARNOCK BARASSIE V PRESTWICK ST CUTHBERT

PRESTWICK ST NICHOLAS V PRESTWICK ST CUTHBERT

AYRSHIRE FOURBALL CHAMPIONSHIP - Latest results

A number of second round ties in the 2014 Ayrshire Fourball Championship were played over the last week, with four clubs booking their places in the third round.

David Gemmell & Scott Ward (West Kilbride) beat their hosts Ian McFarlane & Billy Watson (Caprington) by 3 & 2 on their visit to the Kilmarnock course, and now have an away tie at Beith or Kilbirnie Place in round 3.

Tom Alexander and Alex Leishman (Ayr Seafield) needed to go to the first extra hole to overcome their visitors John Errington & Alastair Colquhoun (Prestwick St Nicholas) and are now at home to either Turnberry Staff or Maybole in the next round.

Also through following a win at the first extra hole are Victor Sproat and David Lewis (Ayr Belleisle) who had a notable away win over Peter Clark & Kenny O'Neill (Kilmarnock Barassie). The Belleisle duo now have a home tie against Crosshouse or Doon Valley in round 3.

The remaining second round tie played recently saw Robert Adams & Ian Pirrie (Abbotsford) use home advantage to good effect with a 7 & 6 victory over Sandy Redford & Lawrence Peacock (Skelmorlie). The Abbotsford team now play either Moorpark or Malletsheugh at home in round 3.

All remaining second round ties are due to be played by Sunday 18th May.

AYRSHIRE CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP - Entry forms now available for Championship at Rowallan Castle

The 2014 Ayrshire Club Championship competition will be held at Rowallan Castle Golf Club on Sunday 6th July, and entry forms are now available.

The competition, for the R.L. Crawford Trophy is open to member clubs of The Ayrshire Golf Association and takes the format of a three man scratch team strokeplay competition with the best two from three scores counting. Only one team can represent each ember club.

The winners will go forward to represent Ayrshire at the Scottish Club Championship finals at Lundin Links on 14th September.

Entry forms have been emailed to club secretaries and are also available to download direct from this page, via the appropriate link under the 'Mens Info' heading.

Entries close on Saturday 21 June.

SCOTTISH AREA TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS - Ayrshire names team for National title bid

The 6 man Ayrshire team for the forthcoming Scottish Area Team Championships has been announced.

The 2014 Ayrshire Area Team Championship Squad :-
John Shanks, Stuart Robin, Keith Hamilton
Malcolm Pennycott, Tommy McInally, Michael Smyth.

Despite Scotland internationalist Jack McDonald of Kilmarnock Barassie being unavailable due to university exams, Ayrshire have named a strong and experienced squad for the championship, which will take place over the Ranfurly Castle and Old Ranfurly courses in Renfrewshire from Friday 16th to Sunday 18th May.

Newly crowned Ayrshire Strokeplay Champion John Shanks (Irvine) is the only player remaining from the 2013 team to be selected this year.

Tommy McInally (Loudoun), a winner of all the major county titles over the years is also included and, along with John Shanks, previously enjoyed success in the competition as part of the last Ayrshire side to triumph in the competition in 2008.

Keith Hamilton (Ayr Belleisle) is also in the side as is the 2013 Ayrshire Strokeplay winner Stuart Robin (Prestwick St Cuthbert) and last years Ayrshire Matchplay Champion Michael Smyth (Royal Troon).

The team is completed by Malcolm Pennycott (Whiting Bay) who will make his debut in the Area Team Championship this year, bringing with him a number of years experience representing Ayrshire at various levels.

The championship will be played under a slightly altered format this year, with strokeplay qualifying rounds being played on Friday 16th May, from which eight team will qualify to progress to the matchplay stages, instead of four as in previous championships.

Quarter final and semi final matches will take place on Saturday 17 May with the final being played over two rounds on Sunday 18th May.