WEST OF SCOTLAND LEAGUE - Ayrshire crash at home to Lanarkshire whilst youth team earn a draw

The high hopes of the Ayrshire team, with two wins from their first two matches in this seasons West Of Scotland Inter County League, were severely dented on Saturday 28th October when they suffered a heavy 7.5 - 2.5 home defeat at West Kilbride against Lanarkshire.

Ayrshire never recovered from the defeats of Steven McEwan and Robert McKnight in the first two ties, and the visitors ran out comfortable winners.

match details (Ayrshire names first) were :-

Steven McEwan (Barassie) lost to Paul O'Hara by 2 & 1
Robert McKnight (Barassie) lost to Euan Moir by 2 & 1
George Robertson (Ravenspark) halved with Ross Kellett
Brian Moore (Largs) halved with Chrise Ore
Darren Mallinson (Ravenspark) beat Alan Dick by 4 & 2
Steven Murray (Welbeck) lost to Ryan McKenzie by 4 & 2
Kevin Fergusson (St. Cuthbert) lost to Graeme Rodger by 5 & 4
Stuart Pennington (St. Meddans) lost to Steven Rennie by 3 & 2
Tommy Loy (Ballochmyle) halved with Kenny Ralston
Ian Brown (West Kilbride) lost to Brain Smith by 5 & 4

AYRSHIRE 2.5 LANARKSHIRE 7.5

In the corresponding youths match, played on Saturday at Strathaven, Ayrshire managed a 5 - 5 draw with their hosts, and might well have snatched victory if Kyle Smith's putt on the final hole, for a half match, had been successful.

Match details (Ayrshire names first) were :-

Craig Hamilton (Ballochmyle) beat J. Mullen by 2 & 1
John Shanks (Ardeer) beat P. McCabe by 2 & 1
Euan Brown (Barassie) beat G. Robertson by 5 & 4
Jamie Mackay (Barassie) lost to B. Scott by 5 & 3
Lee Hughes (Belleisle) lost to C. Kelly by 4 & 2
Malcolm Pennycott (Whiting Bay) beat M. Russo by 5 & 4
David Currie (Barassie) lost to C. Tierney by 6 & 5
Kyle Smith (Barassie) lost to C. McLean by 1 hole
Graeme Gimson (St. Cuhtbert) beat J. Fleming by 5 & 3
Michael Roos (West Kilbride) lost to G. Sorbie by 3 & 2

LANARKSHIRE 5 AYRSHIRE 5

Next Saturday Ayrshire face Dumbartonshire, with the senior team away at Kirkintilloch and the youths team at home at Brunston Castle.

AYRSHIRE GOLF ASSOCIATION A.G.M. - Ricky Magee elected President

RICKY MAGEE

At the Annual General Meeting of the Ayrshire Golf Association, held at Ballochmyle Golf Club on Wednesday 25th October 2006, Ricky Magee (Caprington) was elected President of The Assiociation for the next two years.

Ricky takes over from outgoing President Ian Guthrie (Ballochmyle) and is the third member of the Caprington club to serve as President in recent years, along with the late John Boyd (1989 - 1990) and John Rutherford (1994 - 1996).

Alasdair Malcolm (Prestwick St. Cuthbert) was elected Vice President for the next two years whilst long serving Secretary /Treasurer Leslie Crawford (Kilmarnock Barassie) was re elected.

ALASDAIR MALCOLM

Ian Walker (Brunston Castle) was returned for a further three year term as an Executive member, alongside two new Executive members who were elected, Jim McMurdo (Ballochmyle) and the former Ayrshire Champion Of Champions Trophy winner David Miller (Kilmarnock Barassie).

The club representatives present heard reports on a number of aspects of the Associations work over the last year, including coaching, course rating and the achievelents of local players on a county and national level. The various activities of the Ayrshire Junior Golf League were also reported on.

It was also noted with regret that two past Presidents, Morgan Hall and Robin Baker, had decided to step down from their respective posts within the Executive, due to personal reasons, from this A.G.M., and outgoing president Ian Guthrie commented on their invaluable achievements over the years and commented that their presence within the executive and indeed in golf on a county and national level would be sorely missed.

The evening concluded with Douglas Corner, a board member of the Scottish Golf Union Ltd giving members an insight into the proposed changes contained within the recently published Scottish Golf Union governance review document. The presentation prompted a full discussion with a number of questions forthcoming from the floor in regard to the proposals.

WEST OF SCOTLAND LEAGUE - Ayrshire make it two wins from two but youth team crash to defeat

Ayrshire made it two wins from two in the 2006 West Of Scotland inter county league on Saturday with a comfortable 6.5 - 3.5 win over Stirlingshire at the Dunblane New course.

A strong Ayrshire side had some fine wins, with the best fightback of the day being recorded by Steven Murray (Troon Welbeck) who was 4 down with 7 holes to play but won 6 of the remaining 7 holes for a two hole victory. Match details (Ayrshire names first) were :-

Steven McEwan (Barassie) beat Steven Aitken by 2 & 1
George Robertson (Ravenspark) beat Blair Paterson by 3 & 1
David Glass (St. Cuthbert) lost to David Buchanan by 4 & 3
Gary Bryden (Girvan) lost to Lindsay Blair by 3 & 2
Brian Moore (Largs) beat Colin Mundie by 3 & 2
Stuart Pennington (St. Meddans) halved with Steven Ferguson
Warren Blair (St. Meddans) beat Neil Cunningham by 5 & 4
Ian Brown (West KIlbride) beat Tony Wilson by 1 hole
Steven Murray (Welbeck) beat Chris Lewton by 2 holes
Ian Guthrie (Ballochmyle) lost to Jay Aman by 3 & 2

STIRLINGSHIRE 3.5 AYRSHIRE 6.5

In the corrsponding Youths match, held at Ardeer on saturday, Ayrshire found themselves on the wrong end of a 7 - 3 scoreline. Match detailse (Ayrshire names first) were :-

John Shanks (Ardeer) lost to Bobby Rushford (Grangemouth) by 4 & 3
Alastair Leggate (Barassie) lost to Andrew wallace (Glenbervie) by 4 & 3
Jamie Mackay (Barassie) lost to James Donaldson (Falkirk Tryst) by 1 hole
Euan Brown (Barassie) beat Craig McGann (Dunblane) by 2 & 1
Malcolm Pennycott (Whiting Bay) halved with Graeme Robertson (Glenbervie)
Lee Hughes (Belleisle) halved with Alan Brown (Kilsyth Lennox)
Kyle Smith (Barassie) lost to Chris Cox (Falkirk) by 1 hole
Graeme Gebbie (Loudoun) lost to Ross Kane (Grangemouth) by 2 & 1
Gary Neil (Caprington) lost to David Stewart (Campsie) by 3 & 2
Graeme Gimson (St. Cuthbert) beat Brendan Watt (Stirling) by 3 & 2

AYRSHIRE 3 STIRLINGSHIRE 7

Ayrshire play host to Lanarkshire at West Kilbride next saturday (28th October) whilst the youths travel to meet Lanarkshire Youths at Strathaven the same day.

AYRSHIRE GOLF ASSOCIATION - Ayrshire edge out South Of Scotland in annual friendly

Ayrshire took on the South Of Scotland in their annual friendly match on Sunday (15th October), with Ayrshire playing host this year at Brunston Castle.

In the morning foursomes, South Of Scotland took a 3 - 1 advantage, but the local side fought back in the afternoon, taking the singles by 5 - 3 for an overall 6-6 result in the match, which Ayrshire eventually won on a countback over the individual scores in the singles ties.

Match results (Ayrshire names first) were :-

MORNING FOURSOMES

John Shanks (Ardeer) & Scott Brown (Brunston Castle) lost to
Kyle McClung & Euan McLaren by 2 & 1

Euan Brown (Barassie) & Michael Roos (West Kilbride) lost to
Alan Murdoch & Alan Aitken by 3 & 1

Graeme Gimson (St. Cuthbert) & Gary Neil (Caprington) beat
Chris Robinson & David Broadfoot by 3 & 2

Jamie Mackay (Barassie) & David Currie (Barassie) lost to
Robbie McCrieth & Matthew Robinson by 2 & 1

AFTERNOON SINGLES

John Shanks beat Kyle McClung by 5 & 4
Michael Roos lost to Dougie Boyd by 4 & 3
Scott Brown beat Daryl McLeod by 4 & 3
David Currie beat Josh Mungle by 2 holes
Gary Neil lost to Euan Mclaren by 3 & 2
Euan Brown beat A. Murdoch by 2 & 1
Graeme Gimson beat David Broadfoot by 1 hole
Jamie Mackay lost to C. Robinson by 2 & 1

AYRSHIRE 6 SOUTH OF SCOTLAND 6

WEST OF SCOTLAND COUNTY LEAGUES - A Team get off to winning start while youth team draw

Ayrshire began their bid for the 2006 West Of Scotland Inter County league title with a narrow 5.5 - 4.5 win over Renfrewshire at Prestwick St. Cuthbert on Saturday 14th October.

In the first tie out, Club Champion of the host club, David Glass gave Ayrshire a point with a 1 hole victory, to offset Alex Gourlay's heavy defeat in his tie.

Single hole wins by Steven McBlain and George Robertson, along with wins from Brian Moore and Robert McKnight left Ayrshire on the brink of victory, and the crucial half point to ensure a win came from Fraser McCall.

Match Details (Ayrshire names first) were :-

David Glass (St. Cuthbert) beat Iain Colquhoun by 1 hole
George Robertson (Ravenspark) beat David Miller by 1 hole
Alex Gourlay (Irvine) lost to Matthew Clark by 7 & 5
Gary Bryden (Girvan) lost to Gregor Munro by 4 & 3
Steven McBlain (St. Cuthbert) beat Nicky Gold by 1 hole
Robert McKnight (Barassie) beat David Walker by 2 & 1
Steven Murray (Welbeck) lost to Richard Elrick by 5 & 4
Fraser McCall (Portland) halved with David McFarlane
Stuart Pennington (St. Meddans) lost to Keith Hamilton by 3 & 2
Brian Moore (Largs) beat Gary Price by 4 & 3

AYRSHIRE 5.5 RENFREWSHIRE 4.5


In the corresponding youth match, played at Caldwell the same day, Ayrshire fought out a 5 - 5 draw with their hosts.

Match results (Ayrshire names first) were :-

Craig Hamilton (Ballochmyle) beat Scott herald by 3 & 2
John Shanks (Ardeer) beat Steven Higgins by 3 & 2
Alastair Leggate (Barassie) lost to Michael Daly by 1 hole
Jamie Mackay (Barassie) beat Chris Rossi by 1 hole
Euan Brown (Barassie) lost to Ricardo Ribbechie by 1 hole
Lee Hughes (Belleisle) beat Gary Shepherd by 5 & 4
Graeme Gebbie (Loudoun) lost to Ricardo Scarafile by 3 & 2
Gary Neil (Caprington) lost to Callum Morrison by 1 hole
David Currie (Barassie) beat Thomas Lawton by 5 & 4
Graeme Gimson (St. Cuthbert) lost to Michael Campbell by 2 holes

RENFREWSHIRE YOUTHS 5 AYRSHIRE YOUTHS 5

Next Saturday (21st October) Ayrshire Face Stirlingshire, with the A Team travelling to Dunblane New whilst the Youths are at Ardeer.

SGU Amateur rankings - Ayrshire players well represented in 2006 lists

Ayrshire players are well represented in the recently published 2006 Scottish ranking lists.

In the SGU ORDER OF MERIT, won by Scott Jamieson (Cathkin Braes), the Kilmarnock Barassie duo of Steven McEwan and Robert McKnight (pictured right) were placed 9th and 26th respectively.

In the SCOTTISH AMATEUR GOLF RANKINGS, a derivitive of the R & A WORLD AMATEUR GOLF RANKINGS, McKnight and McEwan were placed 20th and 21st respectively behind the winner, Ritchie Ramsay (Royal Aberdeen)

With his win in the US Amateur Championship, Ritchie Ramsay also secured top spot in the 2006 WORLD AMATEUR GOLF RANKINGS, with McKnight and McEwan placed at 179 and 184 respectively.

The 2006 SCOTTISH JUNIOR GOLF RANKINGS, won by James White (Lundin) saw 9 Ayrshire players in the published list.

Besdt placed was Michael Stewart (Troon Welbeck) in 4th place, with fellow boys internationalist Cameron Gray (West Kilbride) in 21st place.

Ayrshire Boys Champion John Shanks (Ardeer) was 34th in the list, 4 places ahead of Ayrshire Boys Matchplay champion Kyle Smith (Kilmarnock Barassie) in 38th place.

The other Ayrshire player in the top 40 was former Ayrshire Boys Champion Jamie Mackay (Kilmarnock Barassie) in 40th place.

Other Ayrshire players who featured on the published listing were :-

Euan Brown (Kilmarnock Barassie) at 45th =
Fraser Lawrie (West Kilbride) at 75th =
Andrew Abercrombie (Largs) at 85th =
and
Stuart Henderson (Kilmarnock Barassie) at 103rd

SCOTTISH GOLF UNION - 5 Ayrshire players in 2006-2007 National Squads

Ayrshire are well represented in the recently published S.G.U. national squads, with thre players in the Under 18 squad and 2 in the Youths squad.

In the under 18 squad, Cameron Gray (West Kilbride), Michael Stewart (Troon Welbeck) and Kyle Smith (Kilmarnock Barassie) - pictured left - make up half of the 6 players squad, whilst Robert McKnight and Steven McEwan of Kilmarnock Barassie are named in the 6 player Youth Squad. 

Ayrshire boys help Scotland Under 16's to win over England

Kyle Smith of Kilmarnock Barassie (pictured left) and Michael Stewart of Troon Welbeck were in the Scotland side who defeated England 8 – 7, in the Scotland v England U16 Boys International played at Hartlepool Golf Club on 8th October.

For the Scotland team, victory gave them the Eddie Shamash Trophy for the first time, since the inception of the annual competition in 1998.

Scotland teailed after the morning foursomes, but during the afternoon singles the Scots fought back to level the match with their English counterparts before edging a narrow win.

3 ½ -1 ½ behind at lunchtime the Scots fought back with wins from Scott Fraser, Tom Spencer, Kyle Smith and Frazer Ogston. Halved matches from
Michael Stewart, Mark Bookless and Sam McLaren gave the Scots a crucial one point advantage at the end of the match.

JUNIOR ORDER OF MERIT - West Kilbride results alter final placings

Due to an error with the results submitted from the West Kilbride Boys open, the Junior Order Of Merit final placings published recently were affected. The correct results have now been submitted by West Kilbride and the final placings updated accordingly. The only alteration to the top 7 places is that of 7th place, where Fraser Lawrie (Largs) moves up to 7th place, ahead of Kyle Smith (Kilmarnock Barassie) the final standings are :-

550 - JOHN SHANKS (ARDEER)
440 - MALCOLM PENNYCOTT (WHITING BAY)
335 - ADAM FOLEY (AYR BELLEISLE)
325 - JAMIE MACKAY (KILMARNOCK BARASSIE)
305 - EUAN BROWN (KILMARNOCK BARASSIE)
260 - CRAIG McLAUGHLIN (LARGS)
230 - FRASER LAWRIE (LARGS)
190 - KYLE SMITH (KILMARNOCK BARASSIE)
170 - DAVID CURRIE (KILMARNOCK BARASSIE)
150 - STUART HENDERSON (KILMARNOCK BARASSIE),
MICHAEL ROOS (WEST KILBRIDE)
CRAIG McCALL (PRESTWICK ST. NICHOLAS)
125 - JAMIE ACHISON (LARGS)
110 - SCOTT BROWN (GIRVAN)
DAVID HEWITSON (BEITH)
100 - ROSS DONALDSON (AYR BELLEISLE)
CAMERON GRAY (WEST KILBRIDE)
85 - JASON BUTLER (IRVINE RAVENSPARK)
75 - DAVID GILLESPIE (CAPRINGTON)
ALASTAIR McINTYRE (ARDEER)
70 - CHRIS BUTLER (IRVINE RAVENSPARK)
60 - NEIL HAMILTON (KILMARNOCK BARASSIE)
50 - DAVID BROWN (PRESTWICK ST. CUTHBERT)
CHRIS O’DONNELL (BEITH)
RYAN EVANS (KILBIRNIE PLACE)
45 - STEPHEN STAMPER (GIRVAN)
40 - STEPHEN McCONNELL (PRESTWICK ST. CUTHBERT)
ALAN TODD (AYR BELLEISLE)
CHRIS LAWSON (KILBIRNIE PLACE)
35 - SCOTT CLARK (AYR BELLEISLE)
GREG KEAN (ARDEER)
KIERAN HOWIE (WEST KILBRIDE)
30 - RORY ACHISON (LARGS)
25 - JOSH NORDBO (LARGS)
20 - ANDREW MILLER (PRESTWICK ST. CUTHBERT)
CHRISTOPHER YOUNG (CAPRINGTON)
CRAIG HESSETT (AYR BELLEISLE)
J. McPHILLIMY (KILMARNOCK BARASSIE)
MARTIN RONALD (IRVINE RAVENSPARK)
C. GOODWIN (LOUDOUN)
ROSS BLACK (ARDEER)
GREG McPIKE (BALLOCHMYLE)
ANDREW ABERCROMBIE (LARGS)
10 - LIAM McLEOD (KILMARNOCK BARASSIE)
MARTIN KENNY (CAPRINGTON)
KEIRAN BYRNE (NEW CUMNOCK)
CHRIS BENNETT (ARDEER)
SCOTT DOUGLAS (BEITH)
A. WRIGHT (KILMARNOCK BARASSIE)
5 - CRAIG TELFER (PRESTWICK ST. CUTHBERT)
GARY HERBERTSON (BALLOCHMYLE)
SCOTT LIDDEL (PRESTWICK ST. NICHOLAS)
ANGUS RITCHIE (TROON WELBECK)
CALLUM ROBB (IRVINE RAVENSPARK)
GARY PATTERSON (BALLOCHMYLE)
CRAIG LAWSON (KILBIRNIE PLACE)

2006 Junior Champion Of Champions Trophy winner - Steven McEwan (Caprington)

 

AYRSHIRE JUNIOR GOLF LEAGUE - McEwan retains Champion Of Champions Trophy

Steven McEwan, this year representing Caprington, retained the Champion Of Champions Trophy last week, having won the title 12 months ago whilst representing Kilmarnock (Barassie).
McEwan created a little history, bein the first player to win the title on two occasions, representing different clubs.
In a very sporting final, played in the true spirit of the game over Troon Darley on Sunday 1st October, McEwan beat Adam Sweeney (Largs Routenburn) by 3 & 2.

REYKJAVIK JUNIORS VISIT AYRSHIRE

This week, Ayrshire played host to 12 junior golfers from Reykjavik Golf Club in Iceland, who arrived on Friday 29th September, to sample some of the links and inland courses in South Ayrshire before returning home on Tuesday 3rd October.

The trip for the group of 9 boys and 3 girls was organised by club member Halli Heimisson who himself, as a junior, was part of a similar group who visited Ayrshire in 1997 and played a number of courses throughout the county, culminating in a match against a county select on their final day at Prestwick Golf Club.

Once again, as in 1997, Prestwick Golf Club were happy to actively support junior golf, and the group played the historic links on the day of their arrival this year.

South Ayrshire Council also ensured that the trip would be an enjoyable and memorable one for the visiting party, arranging for the group to play at the Darley, Fullarton and Seafield courses during their visit, whilst South Ayrshire Depute Provost, Clr. Mary Kirkpatrick, welcomed the visitors on their arrival in South Ayrshire and handed over small momentoes to the visiting players.

In a busy schedule, the party also intended to take in a visit to Turnberry as well as playing at nearby Brunston castle.

During the 1997 visit, Ayrshire presented a salver for competition between the visiting juniors, and on that occasion the prize was won by Halli Heimisson, who organised this years trip.

The Ayrshire Golf Association were glad to repeat this gesture in 2006, and Alasdair Malcolm took the opportunity to hand over the salver on behalf of the Ayrshire Golf Association when the Reykjavik party arrived at Prestwick Golf Club on Friday.

Alasdair Malcolm of the Ayrshire Golf Association presents a salver to the visiting juniors from Reykjavik Golf Club for the party to compete for during their stay. 

AYRSHIRE GOLF ASSOCIATION - Victory in Arrol Cup gives Cairney the 2006 Doc Thom Order Of Merit title.

John Cairney (Irvine Ravenspark) is the 2006 winner of the Doc Thom Salver for the Ayrshire Order Of Merit after a victory in the final qualifying competition, the Arrol Cup, at Prestwick St. Nicholas took him clear at the top of the table.

Cairney's total of 131 at St. Nicholas gave hiom a four shot victory over A. Docherty (Cowglen), with Chris Harkins (Ayr Belleisle) and Steven Wallace (Prestwick St. Cuthbert) one shot further back.

Harkins, who also gained points in the penultimate event, the Welbeck Links, hoisted himself into third place in the Order Of Merit as a result of his late season performances, just behind former winner Barry Crawford (West Kilbride) who took the runner up spot.

Final Placings in the Order Of Merit were :-

325 - JOHN CAIRNEY (Irvine Ravenspark)
197.5 - BARRY CRAWFORD (West Kilbride)
165 - CHRIS HARKINS (Ayr Belleisle)
150 - TOMMY McINALLY (Loudoun)
130 - STEVEN McEWAN (Kilmarnock Barassie), MICHAEL SMYTH (Royal Troon), STEVEN MURRAY (Troon Welbeck)
122.5 - GEORGE ROBERTSON (Irvine Ravenspark)
115 - DEL CHAMBERLAIN (Troon Welbeck)
100 - J. Colraine, T. Loy, B. Moore, B. Ferguson
67.5 - S. Wallace, C. Hamilton
60 - L. Innes
55 - A. Walker
50 - R. Dixon, I. Walker, N. Black
45 - A. Belford, G. Wilson
30 - K. Hamilton
25 - S. King, G. Gimson
20 - K. Fergusson, A. Leggate
17 - D. Booth, S. McBlain, A. McLean

AYRSHIRE GOLF ASSOCIATION - Ayrshire team crash out of 2006 Area Team Championship

The defending Champions, Renfrewshire, who claimed the crown for the first time in nine years last season ended Ayrshire hopes of progressing to the semi finals of the 2006 Area Team Championships when they swept to a 7-2 win in their final Group C match at Paisley on Sunday 24th September, to seal a place the October semi-finals at Glasgow Gailes.

The Ayrshire side never recovered from a 3-0 defecit after the morning foursomes as Renrfrewshire kept their bid for back-to-back Scottish Area Team Championship titles on course.