AYRSHIRE SCRATCH LEAGUES - latest results as league sections progress towards a conclusion

The Ayrshire Scratch leagues are closing in on completion, with several crucial fixtures being completed recently.

In DIVISION 1, Irvine moved into second place behind Royal Troon, with 4.5 – 1.5 home wins over Loudoun and Largs in their last two fixtures.

Kilmarnock Barassie also eased their relegation worries with home wins by 5-1 and 6-0 over Loudoun and Prestwick St Cuthbert respectively.

Present positions in Division 1 are:-

	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PTS
Royal Troon	5	5	0	0	22.5	7.5	15	20
Irvine	6	4	0	2	21.5	14.5	7	16
Largs	7	4	0	3	24	18	6	16
Kilmarnock Barassie	8	3	1	4	24	24	0	14
Loudoun	7	3	0	4	16	26	-10	12
Prestwick St Cuthbert	7	0	1	6	12	30	-18	2

Remaining fixtures:- Irvine Vs Royal Troon, Prestwick St Cuthbert Vs Royal Troon, Prestwick St Cuthbert Vs Irvine, Loudoun Vs Prestwick St Cuthbert, Loudoun Vs Largs, Kilmarnock Barassie vs Irvine, Kilmarnock Barassie vs Royal Troon, Royal Troon Vs Loudoun, Largs vs Irvine, Largs vs Royal Troon

In DIVISION 2, Troon Portland lead, following 3-3 draws away to Rowallan Castle and Turnberry, and a 4-2 home win over West Kilbride, whilst Ballochmyle had an important 3.5 – 2.5 home win over Caprington to move to joint second in the table. Caprington maintained their promotion hopes with a 4-2 home win over Rowallan Castle, whilst West Kilbride had a crucial 3.5 – 2.5 home win over Turnberry to stay in touch with the leaders.

Present positions in Division 2 are:-

	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PTS
Troon Portland	8	3	3	2	25	29	-1	18
Ballochmyle	5	3	1	1	17.5	12.5	5	14
Caprington	6	3	1	2	19.5	16.5	3	14
Turnberry	4	2	1	1	15	9	6	10
West Kilbride	5	2	1	2	14.5	15.5	-1	10
Rowallan Castle	6	0	1	5	12	24	-12	2

Remaining fixtures :- Turnberry Vs Ballochmyle, Turnberry Vs Caprington, Turnberry vs West Kilbride, Ballochmyle Vs Turnberry, Ballochmyle Vs Rowallan castle, Ballochmyle Vs West Kilbride, Caprington Vs Turnberry, Caprington Vs West Kilbride, Troon Portland vs Turnberry, Rowallan castle vs Ballochmyle, Rowallan Castle Vs Caprington, Rowallan castle Vs West Kilbride, West Kilbride vs Troon Portland.

DIVISION 3a fixtures have all been completed, with Ayr Belleisle going forward to the play off match for the championship title and automatic promotion place. Final positions in Division 3a are:-  

	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PTS
Ayr Belleisle	4	2	1	1	15	9	6	10
Troon St Meddans	4	2	1	1	14	10	4	10
Redburn	4	0	2	2	7	17	-10	4

In DIVISION 3b, Ardeer lead the way, with only two fixtures remaining to be played. Despite a narrow 3.5 – 2.5 defeat away to Girvan, a 4 – 2 home win for Ardeer in the return fixture puts them clear at the top of the table.

Girvan maintained their hopes of the championship play off spot with a 3.5 – 2.5 away win at Prestwick St Nicholas.

Present positions in Division 3b are:-

	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PTS
Ardeer	5	4	0	1	19.5	10.5	9	16
Girvan	5	3	0	2	16.5	13.5	3	12
Prestwick St Nicholas	5	1	2	2	14	16	-2	8
Irvine Ravenspark	5	0	2	3	10	20	-10	4

If Ardeer get a draw or better from their final fixture away at Prestwick St Nicholas they will confirm their play off place, but a defeat would leave Girvan with an opportunity to overtake them with a winning score by a sufficient margin in their final fixture away to Irvine Ravenspark.

GARY BRYDEN MEMORIAL SALVER - Kilmarnock Barassie thorough to semi finals

Kilmarnock Barassie

are through to the semi finals of the 2022 scratch club team knockout competition, for the Gary Bryden Memorial Salver.

A 2 - 1 home win in the quarter finals against Turnberry secured the Barassie team a visit to Ballochmyle in the last four.

The remaining quarter finals, between Troon Portland and Prestwick St Cuthbert and Largs and Prestwick St Nicholas, are due to be completed by the 24th of July. 

TRUST GOLF WOMEN'S SCOTTISH OPEN - Appeal for more volunteers for Dundonald Links event

Additional volunteers are being sought to assist with the Trust Golf Women's Scottish Open, which takes place at Dundonald Links from Thursday the 28th to Sunday the 31st of July.

Organisers would welcome applications from local golfers to assist during the event

The letter reproduced below gives further details of the arrangements.

Applicants can access the registration portal at the following web address:-

https://www.cuetoems.com/wso_2022/Volunteer.aspx

Any further enquiries should be directed to Deputy Volunteer manager Mike Hazlewood at

 twso2022@golftroon.org

 

SCOTTISH MEN'S AREA TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP - Ayrshire team to play Dumbartonshire announced

The Ayrshire team to play Dumbartonshire in their final qualifying section match in the 2022 Scottish Men's Area Team Championship has been announced.

The final fixture takes place at Kilmarnock Barassie on Sunday the 10th of July, with both teams needing a win to give them any chance of qualifying for the semi finals, to be held at Powfoot in September.

Alongside regular team members John Shanks (Irvine), Scott Brown (Turnberry) Michael Smyth (Royal Troon) and Craig Hamilton (Ballochmyle) the match against Dumbartonshire sees a first appearance in the event for the new Ayrshire matchplay Champion Shaun Hedger (West Kilbride), whilst former Scotland internationalist Steven McEwan (Caprington), who was a member of the caprington team who won the 2022 Ayrshire Club Championship title, returns to the Ayrshire team after an absence of around ten years.

WEST OF SCOTLAND INTER COUNTY UNDER 18 LEAGUE - Present positions after half the schedule matches are completed

Half of the fixtures have now been completed in the 2022 West of Scotland Under 18 Inter County League, for the Wishart Trophy.

Lanarkshire currently lead the way with two wins from two, with Ayrshire lying in second place, having played only one fixture to date.

Results so far are:-

Glasgow 1.5 Lanarkshire 6.5 at Cathcart Castle

Ayrshire 5 Renfrewshire 3 at Turnberry

Dumbartonshire 2 Glasgow 6 at Hilton Park

Renfrewshire 3 Lanarkshire 5 at Williamwood

Dumbartonshire 4 Renfrewshire 4 at Milngavie

The present league positions are:-

	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PTS
LANARKSHIRE	2	2	0	0	11.5	4.5	7	8
AYRSHIRE	1	1	0	0	5	3	2	4
GLASGOW	2	1	0	1	7.5	8.5	-1	4
RENFREWSHIRE	3	0	1	2	10	14	-4	2
DUMBARTONSHIRE	2	0	1	1	6	10	-4	2

The next schedule fixture is between Lanarkshire and Ayrshire at Easter Moffat, which is due to be played on the 24^th of July.

In August Renfrewshire host Glasgow at Fereneze and Ayrshire entertain Dumbartonshire at Ayr Seafield.

The final round of matches take place in September when Glasgow host Ayrshire at Sandyhills and Lanarkshire are at home to Dumbartonshire at Kirkhill.

GARY BRYDEN MEMORIAL SALVER - Ballochmyle through to semi final as quarter final line up is concluded.

The 29022 scratch club team knockout competition for the Gary Bryden Memorial Salver has reached the quarter final stage.

The final quarter final place was adjudicated on by the Ayrshire Golf Association Executive, following the Ayr Belleisle Vs Irvine second round tie not being completed by the due date. 

After taking all available information into account the AGA Executive ruled that both clubs would be scratched from the competition, which resulted in Ballochmyle receiving a bye into the semi finals.

In the other second round ties played recently, Kilmarnock Barassie won 3-0 on their visit to Troon Welbeck, Prestwick St Cuthbert also had an away win, by 2-1 at West Kilbride, whilst Turnberry recorded a 3-0 win at home to Ardeer.

The remaining quarter final ties are due to be completed by the 24th of July. 

SCOTTISH INTERNATIONAL TEAM - John Rushbury appointed national team manager

 Ayrshire Golf Association Past President John Rushbury has been appointed the Scotland men's team Manager for the forthcoming year by Scottish Golf. 

His responsibilities in the next twelve months will cover the Home Internationals, European Championships and World Championships (Eisenhower Trophy).

A member of Royal Troon and Rowallan Castle golf clubs, and presently engaged as the Ayrshire men's team manager, the first tournament for the Scotland team under his charge takes place from the 5th to the 9th July at Royal St George's Golf Club in Kent, where the Scotland side will compete in the European Amateur team Championship.

AYR BELLEISLE OPEN - Entries now being taken

Entries are now being taken for the 2022 Ayr Belleisle Open, for the Rozelle Cup, which takes place over the Belleisle course on Sunday the 31st of July.

There are prizes in two handicap classes as well as for scratch scores, and the entry fee is £5.

Links to the entry form and poster, reproduced below, are available on the left of this page, under the 'Entry Forms' heading.

Closing date for entries is Tuesday the 21st of July.

AYRSHIRE CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP - Inaugural championshp win for Caprington at Irvine Ravenspark

Caprington GC won the Ayrshire Club Championship for the first time in the 22 year history of the event, when the 2022 competition took place at Irvine Ravenspark on Sunday the 3rd of July.

Fourteen member clubs entered the championship, for the R.L. Crawford Trophy, in 2022 where the best two scores from three constituted the team score for the competing clubs.

The Irvine GC team of George Robertson (79), John Shanks (70) and Gareth Lamb (74) established the early leading team total of 144, which ultimately gave them second place in the tournament.

Steven McEwan laid the foundation for the Caprington victory with a two under par return of 69, the best individual return of the day, and alongside Robbie McFarlane (74) and Marc Smith (83), the Caprington team total of 143 took the lead by a single shot from Irvine. 

Despite some good individual scores in very testing, breezy, conditions, none of the remaining clubs could get closer than five strokes adrift of the Caprington club's winning score.

At the conclusion of the competition, the trophy and prizes were awarded to the successful team by Ayrshire Golf Association Vice President Andrew Gilligan.

Final results were:-

WEST OF SCOTLAND JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP - Campbell Kerr pipped for title at Hilton Park

Joseph Kelly (Cambuslang) won the 2022 West of Scotland Boys Matchplay Championship, hosted this year by the Dumbartonshire Golf Union at Hilton Park, beating Campbell Kerr (Loudoun) in extra holes in the final, played on Wednesday the 29th of June.

With 2 birdies in the first 2 holes, Campbell took an early 3 hole lead. However, birdies from Joseph saw him back in the match which finished all square after 18 holes, with both players being around level par for the round.

At the first extra hole a steady par saw Joseph clinch victory. A great match played in a great spirit by both players. 

Campbell is an Australian who only arrived in Scotland last week for a 4 week stay. He probably thought a Scottish summer meant dry sunny weather but the rain earlier in the week revealed what usually happens.

In the strokeplay qualifying event, played on Monday the 27th of June over the same course, Sam Somerville (Bearsden) won the West of Scotland Junior Strokeplay Championship with a scratch  score of  71, 1 over par, on a countback from Stewart Forrest (Lenzie). 

One shot further back in 3rd place was Charlie Greaves (Glasgow) on a countback from Fergus Allan (Windyhill).

The boys returning the top 8 scratch scores went forward to the Matchplay Championship on Tuesday the 28th and Wednesday the 29th of June.

 For the first time girls played in the event and Rebakah Sherry (Clober) had the best net score over Katie Ronnie (Kilmarnock Barassie) and Jennifer Doyle (Turnberry).

 In the boys handicap competition the winner was Ivan Bourke (Kilmacolm) with a net 59, second was Seumas MacCuish (Douglas Park), net 60, with Adam Cochrane (Lenzie) third with a net 62.

The full matchplay draw and results, and the boys strokeplay returns are listed below:-