DOC THOM AYRSHIRE ORDER OF MERIT - Michael Smyth in front with four counting events remaining

Michael Smyth (Royal Troon) is out in front in the race for the 2021 Ayrshire Order of Merit title and the Doc Thom Salver.

First place and full points in the recent Troon St Meddans Open put Smyth just over 200 points clear of club mate Blair Morton in second place.

A win in the recent Viking Krus 36 hole event at Largs, which included a second round score of 64,  moved John Shanks (Irvine) into third place in the table.

There are only four events remaining this year, including the Mainholm Cup on the 15th of August, the Ballochmyle Rosebowl on the 22nd of August, The Stone Trophy at Routenburn in Largs on the 11th of September and the Arrol Cup at Prestwick St Nicholas on the 18th of September.

Present positions in the Doc Thom Ayrshire Order of Merit are:- 

445		MICHAEL	SMYTH	ROYAL TROON
236.67		BLAIR	MORTON	ROYAL TROON
227.5		JOHN	SHANKS	IRVINE
225		DANIEL	FORBES	IRVINE
137.5		CRAIG	TELFER	PRESTWICK ST CUTHBERT
133.75		JACK	BROUN	TURNBERRY
120		STUART	EASTON	IRVINE
115		JASON	BUTLER	ARDEER
100		KEITH	HAMILTON	AYR BELLEISLE
87.5		SCOTT	BROWN	PRESTWICK ST CUTHBERT
87.5		RYAN	MORRISON	AYR SEAFIELD
87.5		KEVIN	THOMAS	PRESTWICK ST CUTHBERT
87.5		SANDY	WALKER	KIL. BARASSIE
87.5		COLIN	McGOWAN	LARGS
87.5		JOHN	ROBERTSON	LARGS
84.17		HARVEY	McDONALD	AYR BELLEISLE
80		STEVEN	STAMPER	TURNBERRY
75		GRAHAM	MACKENZIE	WEST KILBRIDE
72		FRANCIS	McNEILLIE	AYR SEAFIELD
62.5		ROBBIE	MUIR	KIL. BARASSIE
62.5		SANDY	BUCHANAN	PR. ST NICHOLAS
57.5		KEVIN	THOMAS	PRESTWICK ST CUTHBERT
50		PAUL	DICKSON	AYR SEAFIELD
50		PAUL	GIFFNEY	ARDEER
50		GRAEME	GIMSON	PRESTWICK ST CUTHBERT
42.5		GREG	JARVIE	LOUDOUN
42.5		ALAN	McLEAN	LARGS
42.5		BARRY	O'ROURKE	LOUDOUN
35		AIDAN	LONG	AYR BELLEISLE
35		MARK	WATT	PRESTWICK ST CUTHBERT
35		STEWART	RUSSELL	ROYAL TROON
27.5		DAVID	DALTON	AYR BELLEISLE
27.5		WILLIAM	HUGHES	AYR SEAFIELD
27.5		JAMES	McCULLAGH	KILMARNOCK BARASSIE
21.67		JAMES	McINTYRE	REDBURN
21.67		SCOTT	AINSWORTH	ARDEER
15		JOE	McSORLEY	PRESTWICK ST CUTHBERT
15		SCOTT	DAVIDSON	LARGS
15		KRIS	KIRK	TROON PORTLAND
11.67		COLIN	BERRY	ROWALLAN CASTLE
11.67		ADAM	SWEENEY	PRESTWICK ST CUTHBERT
10		ROBBIE	McFARLANE	CAPRINGTON
10		JOHN	HAGGARTY	LOUDOUN
10		RUBEN	LINDSAY	TURNBERRY
5		CRAIG	STEVENSON	WEST KILBRIDE
2.5		KYLE	FINNIE	ARDEER
2.5		LEWIS	HIGGINS	ARDEER
1		STEVEN	ARRANDALE	THE CHASE
1		KIERON	JOHNSTONE	AYR DALMILLING
1		BRUCE	RENNIE	AYR BELLEISLE
1		RYAN	CAMERON	AYR SEAFIELD

MUIRKIRK OPEN - Entries now being accepted

Entries for the Muirkirk Open, to be played on Saturday the 4th of September over the Muirkirk course, are now being accepted.

Entry is £10 and there are scratch and handicap prizes and trophies on offer as well as additional prizes at every hole.

Details of how to enter are reproduced below.

SKELMORLIE SENIORS OPEN - Entries open for September event

Entries are now being accepted for the Skelmorlie Golf Club Seniors Open, which will be held on Thursday the 2nd of September.

Entry is open to players aged 50 or over and the entry fee is £10, which includes a two's sweep.

Details of how to enter are reproduced below.

BYRNE HOWARD JUNIOR OPEN - Entries still being taken for Royal Troon event

Entries are still being accepted for the Byrne Howard Junior Open, to be played over the Portland course at Royal Troon on Sunday the 22nd of August.

Copies of the entry form can be downloaded via the link on the left of this page, under the 'Juniors' heading.

AYRSHIRE BOYS' MATCHPLAY CHAMPIONSHIP - DOUBLE TITLE JOY FOR HARVEY BROADFOOT

Harvey Broadfoot (Troon Welbeck) completed the Ayrshire Boys' Championship and Matchplay Championship double on Thursday night, the 12th of August, when he beat Max Barclay (Ayr Belleisle) in the matchplay final at Prestwick Golf Club.

Harvey got off to the perfect start, pars at the opening two holes being enough to give him a two hole advantage early on but Max settled down quickly and reduced the deficit to one hole with a birdie three at the fourth hole. Harvey quickly restored his two hole lead with a par three at 'The Hymalayas' winning him the hole and as Max struggled to get up and down from the surrounds of a couple of the greens in the mid holes of the outward half, Harvey pressed home his advantage, winning the sixth and seventh to go four up in the match. Max again fought back and reduced the deficit to two holes by the turn, only to lose the tenth to let Harvey restore a three hole advantage.

When Harvey lost his second shot to the thirteenth in rough to the left of the fairway, the hole was conceded and Max was back to two behind. A half in regulation par fours at the fourteenth saw the players move into Prestwick's famed closing loop of four holes with Harvey holding a two hole lead.

At the fifteenth Max was through the back right of the green in two with Harvey on the green, towards the back right edge of the putting surface. Max's chip pulled up eighteen feet short of the hole and when Harvey putted up to within eighteen inches of the hole, his par four was conceded. Max needed to hole his putt to prevent Harvey going dormie three, but his effort slipped past the right side of the hole and harvey went three up with three to play.

At the sixteenth, Harvey was short of the green and playing his approach first whilst Max's tee shot came to rest on the grass bank within the Cardinal Bunker, close to the sleepers at the front of the bunker. Harvey's approach finished twelve feet past, and below, the hole and then Max played a very good chip from the lie, his ball coming to rest ten feet past the hole.

Putting first, Harvey gave max no chance to keep the contest alive, stroking in his putt for a birdie to secure a 3&2 victory in the match.

In following up his success in the Ayrshire Boys Championship at Ballochmyle earlier in the month with the Matchplay Championship title, Harvey Broadfoot became the fifth player to 'do the double' following Scott Brown (Turnberry) in 2008, the last one to achieve the feat, Jack Thomas (Irvine) in 2014, as well as two other Troon Welbeck members in Louis Murray in 2013 and Callum Beveridge in 2011.

Ayrshire Golf Association President John W Watt (Prestwick St Cuthbert) presented vouchers to both finalists at the conclusion of the match and handed over the Ayrshire Boys Matchplay Championship trophy, and commemorative medal, to the 2021 winner, Harvey Broadfoot.

BOYS' AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP - Cameron Johnstone shines in strokeplay qualifying

Cameron Johnstone (Kilmarnock Barassie) shone in the 36 hole strokeplay qualifying at the 2021 Boys' Amateur Championship, being held at Royal Cinque Ports GC in Kent from the 10th to the 15th of August.

An opening round of 73 followed by a second round of 70 gave Cameron a one under par total of 143, which saw him comfortably qualify for the matchplay stages in sixth place overall.

Unfortunately Cameron's title bid was ended in the first round of the matchplay on Thursday morning, when he lost out on the final green, beaten by two holes by England's Andrew Haswell (Ormskirk).

The cut for the matchplay stages fell at 10 over par, showing how difficult the course and conditions were during qualifying, and indicating just how good Cameron's effort in qualifying was.

Ayrshire's only other representative in the championship, Ruben Lindsay (Turnberry) missed out on qualification for the matchplay stages after rounds of 80 and 81 left him on 17 over par, seven adrift of the qualifying mark.

In the Girls' Amateur Championship, being held at Fulford, Ayrshire's only representative, Rachel Foster (Prestwick St Nicholas) was on 4 over par in her opening round when she retired from the competition.

AYRSHIRE BOYS MATCHPLAY CHAMPIONSHIP - Broadfoot and Barclay through to the final as semi finals go the distance

The final of the 2021 Ayrshire Boys Matchplay Championship will be between Harvey Broadfoot (Troon Welbeck) and Max Barclay (Ayr Belleisle), after both semi finals went the distance at Prestwick Golf Club on Wednesday the 11th of August.

Jack Allan & Harvey Broadfoot

The new Ayrshire Boys Champion Harvey Broadfoot faced fellow Ayrshire Boys' team member Jack Allan (Ballochmyle) in the first semi final and there was little between the players throughout the match. By the time the players reached the final hole the match score was all square. At the final hole both players hit good drives and Harvey's chip finished seven feet from the hole, leaving him a testing downhill putt, whilst Jack's chip left him with a four foot uphill putt for his birdie. Playing first, Harvey holed his difficult birdie putt and when Jack's effort hit the hole but spun out, victory was Harvey Broadfoot's by a single hole.

Max Barclay & Cameron McGarvie

The second semi final between Max Barclay and Cameron McGarvie (Prestwick St Nicholas) was equally as close and after fourteen holes Max was a single hole in front. The players halved the fifteenth and although Cameron had an opportunity to square the match at the sixteenth, his five foot birdie putt slipped past the right side of the hole and he remained one behind with two to play.

At the seventeenth, both players successfully negotiated the Alps and the Sahara Bunker in two, coming to rest on the front apron of the green. Cameron putted first, and his difficult downhill putt, left to right and across a ridge on the green, slipped just pas the hole and left him a three foot putt for his par. Coming straight down the slope, Max was a little bold with his birdie putt and it ran five feet past the cup. Putting first for par, max pulled his putt a little left and it remained above ground. Cameron took full advantage, holing his par put to square the match going to the last.

At the final hole, both players drove close to the bunker situated short left of the green and both chips to the hole left them with outside chances for a birdie three. Despite their efforts, neither players was able to convert their putt and the hole was halved in par fours, meaning the match progressed to extra holes.

At the first extra hole, an iron shot from the tee left Cameron in the ideal position for a mid iron shot to the green, whilst Max, who had driven out of bounds onto the railway with his opening tee shot of the match, again flirted with the boundary wall with his tee shot at the first sudden death hole, but the ball fell in bounds and came to rest a few yards from the wall, some forty yards beyond Cameron's ball, which left max in an ideal position to approach the pin with a short iron second shot.

Playing first, cameron pulled his second shot left of the green and was only able to chip his ball to the far apron of the green, next to the railway wall, in three, leaving him with a fifty foot putt for his par. Max meanwhile had played a good second which came to rest fifteen feet short of the hole, leaving him an uphill birdie putt. Cameron made a good attempt for his par from distance, his ball finishing three feet above the hole, but Max rolled his birdie effort to within eighteen inches of the cup, prompting a concession of his par, and the match, from Cameron.

The final of the championship will take place at Prestwick Golf Club on Thursday the twelfth of August, teeing off at 4.30 p.m.

PRESIDENT'S PUTTER - Moorpark complete semi final line up

Moorpark won their recent quarter final in the handicap club team knockout competition for the President's Putter, to complete the semi final line up.

Playing at home to Troon Portland, the Moorpark team secured a 3 - 0 victory to progress to the semi finals where they will be at home to Redburn.

The other semi final sees Auchenharvie 88 play host to Prestwick St Nicholas.

The two semi final matches are due to be completed by the 29th of August with the final scheduled to be played at Kilmarnock (Barassie) during Finals Day on the 5th of Septrember.

AYRSHIRE JUNIOR GOLF LEAGUE - Troon Welbeck off the mark in Group B

Troon Welbeck have won the latest fixture in the 2021 Ayrshire Junior Golf League Championship, qualifying Group B, as the teams compete for a place in the final of the competition at Irvine in September.

The Welbeck team lost their opening fixture away to Ayr Belleisle by 4 - 2 but reversed the score in the return match recently, to boost their hopes of qualifying for the final.

Prestwick St Nicholas have still to play their first fixture in the section. The four remaining sectional matches are due to be completed by the end of  August.

Present positions in Group B are:-

	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PTS
Troon Welbeck	2	1	0	1	6	6	0	4
Ayr Belleisle	2	1	0	1	6	6	0	4
Prestwick St Nicholas	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

In Group A, West Kilbride beat their visitors from Kilmarnock (Barassie) 6 - 0 in their latest fixture, which ensured that Irvine secured their place in the final, with just the West Kilbride vs irvine tie still to be played to complete the section.

Present postions in Group A are:-

	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PTS
Irvine	3	2	1	0	11	7	4	10
Kilmarnock Barassie	4	1	1	2	9	15	-6	6
West Kilbride	3	1	0	2	10	8	2	4